Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Bird Market

This is a spectacular and charming little part of Hong Kong! A touch of "old Hong Kong" and a big hit with kids.

The Bird Market is both a traditional Chinese garden and a place to buy birds (of nearly ANY sort) on Kowloon side.














It's also a place where old-school Hong Kong bird owners take their caged birds for walks (like a pet dog). They hang their birds from a high pole and relax, chat, or play cards. And of course, show off their birds.





We tried talking with a few of the exotic types. It sounded like a few spoke Chinese! Oh, the look of wonder on my daughters' faces when a bird spoke and sounded very-near-human.

Getting a blow-dry.




This guy was startled by us at first, then marched over and painstakingly climbed up higher to get a better look at us:

climbing up - using his beak too

showing us where he'd like a scratch...

That hits the spot!
I just love seeing the beautifully crafted bird cages. Could photo these things all day.





And the bird food!!  Bag of live crickets, anyone? (Watch out - a few of these guys get loose and walk around.) 

ABear particularly enjoyed seeing these squirmers

The birdsong, twitters, and tweets are reason enough to visit this fun little corner of HK.
GETTING THERE is also part of the fun! We took the STAR FERRY, of course!



Hong Kong Side - Skyline (That's IFC2)

Kowloon Side Skyline (ICC on the left, on reclaimed land, and the performing arts center [nutcracker!] in the middle)
 We love the Star Ferry - only pennies to ride and the best skyline in the world!

Lastly, the day wouldn't be complete without the local playground - a demand from our toddler, when she spotted it. Provides a bit of entertainment for Mom and Dad too as it shares space with an elderly exercise area (common around here) and a typical 'Chinese Hong Kong' park scene:



The Elderly Fitness Corner - often overrun by curious children

playing Mahjong


Wad of money on the table for this card game!
 I don't know why- but I kind of love this homely little building:

Easy afternoon of 2 hours. Probably 3 hours with travel.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Goldfish Market

The Goldfish Market in Mong Kok is not really a "market" so much as a street lined with various goldfish shops.


Goldfish represent GOOD LUCK and having a tank full of them is supposedly excellent fengshui. Who knew there were so many different KINDS of goldfish?

bagged and ready for purchase
We visited the Goldfish Market on a public holiday, when - it turns out - most of these stalls are closed. But enough of them were open to offer the kids a diversion. And we saw many kinds of fish - reptiles too!

absolutely crammed into tanks at this particular shop




a tightly-packed shop for aquarium accessories 
oodles and oodles of pre-bagged fish

PetCo? You've got NOTHIN' on Mong Kok!