Star Ferry

In Hokkaido it was a case of which bento box haven't I seen before. Here in Hong Kong the question is how to fit in all the foods that I am nostalgic for in this short visit. I found another porridge shop for breakfast, and also some radish and yam cakes. There are still some signs of the old hostess bar Wan Chai on Lockhart Road, but this area has gone upmarket.

I've decided to take a ride on a Star Ferry. They used to be the main mode of crossing between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. Now they only run a few services, and one of them is Wan Chai to Hung Hom. There were few people at the terminal. It might have been because it was Sunday, but I think patronage is way way down also. The crossing was quite short, less than 15 minutes.

It was even quieter at the other end; there were some anglers at the waterfront and not much more. I wondered if I was still in Hong Kong. It felt like I had ended up in a forgotten village where there are only three bus services out per day.

A short walk found me at a luxury hotel which has an expensive waterfront view. However I saw a hotel courtesy shuttle so guests have to go elsewhere for excitement.

A bit further on and there were signs of civilisation, HK style, i.e. shopping centres. Looking for a cool drink, I discovered that KFC in HK also sell passable Portuguese tarts.

After having a lunch of wonton noodles at a food court, there wasn't much else in Hung Hom to detain me so I hopped onto a train. Hung Hom MTR station is fairly new, my 2009 guide didn't have it on the map. although it has been a rail station for a while. Because it is the terminus of two lines, you see people getting off and crossing the platform to the other line.

The carriages are fairly new too.


At Sham Shui Po I risked my sanity again to brave the crowds and bought a USB flash drive to burn up a bit more money. I had mistakenly keyed in 50% more when I got cash out of the ATM on arrival. Never mind, I spotted a CD shop yesterday. I can easily spend lots on jazz CDs.

I then headed for Causeway Bay (Tung Lo Wan, Copper Gong Bay). Don't be fooled by the name. You won't find picturesque bays at the places so named. In addition to urban sprawl, many "bays" are now inland due to land reclaimation. At this rate, maybe they won't need the cross-harbour tunnels years from now because they will have filled in the land between the island and Kowloon.


There really isn't much of interest in Causeway Bay other than fashion stores. You won't be too far wrong if you go by the premise that a lot of human behaviour is driven by the need to impress others. Most HK people can't afford big houses or cars (and those who can flaunt them) so the outlet for this drive is fashion and techno toys, e.g. mobiles and personal organisers.

And that was enough for the day, except for a serendipitous visit to Wan Chai markets. Even though it's an old-fashioned produce market, it's air-conditioned. On the way back I found the new age provision and coffee shop that is supposed to have yak cheescake but being Sunday, it was closed. And I don't think I will have the time to go there tomorrow. Oh well, have to leave something for the next visit.



For dinner I decided to try a pizza restaurant I spotted on the way back, for variety. This was an Asian chain serving the American pizza experience. The paper place mat had a corporate fable about how pizza came about. According to it, the south of Italy was often invaded by foreigners (ok so far). So the grannies had to cook simple nourishing food from basic ingredients for the fighters to keep up their morale. Hmm, my mind boggled. I pictured the eldest son returning with his followers from the day's battle:

"Nonna, not Margherita pizza again? It's been 8 days in a row."

"Mangiate!" commands the matriarch.

"Men, I promise you," says the leader in a resigned voice, "when we have beaten off the tourists, we'll emigrate to America where we can have any topping we want."

Anyway the 4 mushroom pizza was ok for the first couple of slices. I don't think shitake mushrooms are traditional Italian, but I have made shitake work in ragu so that wasn't too bad. But the crust was missing something. Somehow I managed to finish the 12 incher, with the help of a draft beer. I'm going to have a good Aussie Italian pizza when I get back. We're so lucky we have real Italian cuisine in Australia.