Up, Down and All Around

Another day of wandering the streets of Hong Kong, and boy are they hot! I've gotta start remembering to bring an extra water bottle because this is sure a far cry from Minnesota weather. Well come on and take a second tour with me-

Welcome to my street

 So pretty much everywhere I have walked thus far (with the exception of the Mid-levels area on the hillside) has been made of building crammed side by side with this little, tiny shops towered over by housing. That's right, most of windows you can see seem to belong to housing after the first 3 levels or so, it's crazy! Some of the stores are only a few feet wide!

Construction everywhere and what are they using to work on the skycrapers?
Why bamboo poles of course, who needs steel?

Seriously there is construction on every block I think, I'm not quite sure what they're doing, but there are bamboo working platforms everywhere. It's all nicely marked, including signs for pedestrians detours, though adding this to only being allowed to cross major streets in only certain places definitely made for a few extra detours on my part.

View across the harbor to Kowloon (which is part of Hong Kong)

 Ah a harbor, reminds me of home...including that stagnant water and fishy smell....Oh well. I'm not sure if there is a pretty part of the harbor for walking, but I don't think this was it. There was a lot of construction where I was and it was a really foggy day but it just didn't strike me as a destination. There were some cool statues though, one for Hong Kong's reunification with China and another gold colored one everyone was taking pictures of, though I didn't get a chance to see what it was actually for. Oh well, I"ll have plenty of time to go back.

You find the strangest things when wandering without a destination...

Storm water drain (this one's for you Dad!)

Where do you go when you don't know any of the local life?
Why the zoo of course! Then it's all nicely labeled :D

 Best part of the zoo and gardens- They're free!! I like free activities. As far as zoos and plant gardens go I wasn't horribly impressed, but on the other hand I was also extremely hot and tired from walking and getting low on water, go figure. I think I"ll have to take a trip back, using the bus this time!

The narrow walkway on Kennedy Road

Welcome to my kitchen

So that was my morning, by the time I got to making dinner in that last picture I couldn't believe my cross-town hike had been the same day. I had to come back and take a siesta in the AC for the afternoon to cool off, then went and explored a few local shops in the PM. I am  now the proud owner of a reading lamp, local cell phone, and some groceries. So now if worse comes to worse I can make myself a pb&j to call home, though I think the first day of work will keep me plenty busy. I hope they have AC!