Hong Kong Day 2 – Hong Kong Park and Temple Street Night Market

Sham Shui Po

We slept like kings, well – if kings had really small hard beds and air conditioning. Either way it was nice to sleep in til 10am for the first time in a while. We eventually dragged ourselves out of the apartment around midday and headed back to HK island with the intention of seeking out the park for a look around.

It was HOT so en route we promptly got distracted by H&M for a while, then checked out the Gordon St wet markets around the corner. They were pretty gruesome, all manor of meat hanging everywhere– live fish and crustaceans splashing about in tanks on the floor, the smell was something to behold – especially in the heat!

HK Park Fountain

Next we attempted to tackle the park – which was easier said than done! We were wandering about in a bit of a daze as it was, and got lost a few times inside the many, many giant shopping malls which all seem to be connected by foot bridges ten floors up and look exactly the same inside. After much frustration we made it! Much like central park in NYC or Hyde park in Sydney it is such a welcome and quiet distraction from the chaos just a few hundred metres away.

Inside there were some interesting water features which you could go inside, the oldest colonial building in HK (now a Tea museum of all things) – plus a few lakes and a massive aviary which we headed straight for. Inside they had hundreds of species of birds in a huge enclosure which stretched from the ground about 10 or 15 stories of a building high under the netting and would’ve been a couple of football pitches in length and width, so they all seemed happy enough. We hung around and watched the lorikeets and parrots get fed, then spotted some HUGE crested pigeons on the forest floor – all around there were birds swooping from one side to another, chasing each other about – we could’ve stayed all day!

Star Ferry views

Alas, we had to mosy back to civilization for a quick shower and meet up with Becky again once she’d finished work. We tried to head up to a place called the peak which involves a cable tram ride up the hill to the highest point of HK Island for sunset and to take in the views, there is also a giant Buddha up there which looks out over everything – but unfortunately, about 2000 other people had the same idea as us at the same time so when we arrived there was a GIANT queue and the prospect of standing around for a good couple of hours there and back didn’t really appeal in the humidity, so we decided to go and meet Jon and head for drinks instead!

Cocktail fun.

After another scenic ride on the Star Ferry over to Kowloon to meet the boy, they took us on a mission through the lobby of a rather fancy hotel, into the lift and up around 20 floors – then down a hallway past a huge indoor swimming pool…at this point we asked where exactly we were headed as it felt like the opening scene in Goodfellas where Henry takes them on their first date in the Copa Cabana. Soon enough, we’d arrived and it all became clear – rooftop cocktails! We sat and enjoyed the views across the water of the city and lights show for a couple of hours before jumping into a taxi and heading for Temple Street. This is where the massive night markets are held, and also the location of a collection of fresh seafood street restaurants which are also a must-do for HK – we were already keen on them so were glad when the kids suggested it. After watching some pretty hilarious locals doing street-side karaoke, laughing our heads off at the seedy looking sex toy side markets and a stroll through the actual Temple St market – which pretty much sold anything you could possibly ever want (well, a slightly dodgy version of anything you could ever possibly want at least) we sat down at a fairly typical street-side “restaurant”.

Coolest cats in HK

Good kitty.

It was chaos. Packed with tourists, surrounded on all sides by kitchens churning out food non-stop. If it wasn’t for the reputation of the food and the fact you were in Asia – you’d never stop and eat there, as every so often there was a waft of sewage or the occasional rat/cat/dog darting out of the kitchen. We swiftly ordered 4 local beers from the waitress, who are on commission for a different beer apparently and quickly became rather angry at our choice! We shared a few random dishes and sat chatting for a while – really enjoying the ambience and seeing this more traditional side of the city.

Temple St Markets

After hitting the markets again (I got some uber cheap TOMS shoes and Lisa almost got a wig) we were all exhausted and called it a night it was already midnight!