Made it to Stanley at last!

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Stanley Markets and the Eastern Side of Hong Kong Island!!

Well today we had another amazing experience. We got up later again and decided to head off for Stanley Markets. We walked the subway to Middle Road to mail postcards again and then headed over to the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR Station to Central. The Train was quite busy - I wasn’t even sure that we would all fit in, but surprise surprise we did!

When the train stopped at Admiralty a very close thing to a fight broke out between 2 guys. Number 1 had been talking EXTREMELY loudly into his phone while on the train. Mark seems to think that guy #2 took exception to the loud behaviour and told #1 to shut up or his phone would find a new and not very comfortable home. Well they squarked like 2 loud gorillas until they both got off the train. The train then resumed moving onto Central which is where we stopped. Getting off and using the overhead walkways was to make finding the buses easy and hassle free. The Exchange Square building has a big bus depot just underneath, so it was easy to find a 260 (Express to Stanley) which is just so cheap (about $13 Hong Kong - or $AUD2.60) for an adult. The bus took a route through the middle of the island - we sat up the front so that we had an excellent view of where we were going. The buses here (and their drivers) do not have a sense of danger we have discovered as they cut people off, move at amazing speeds and negotiate roads that make you almost cringe with how close they hug the side of the roads and the middle line when it suits! The scenery however was wild - straight through the heart of town, up the mountainous roads and then down the other side of the island near Repulse Bay and with views of the ocean. Housing here is either very high apartments or the very expensive real estate of single houses with amahs and pool cleaners, private pools and barbed wire fencing.

We found our way to the markets by following the easy to follow signs. The market itself is located within a set of Market streets. We finally got there at about 12.30pm which was roughly about ½ hour to get there.

The guidebooks said that the markets are more set priced and had a lot more clothes in larger sizes, shoes etc and that the bargains were not as great. That is probably true. We did buy a few things, while wandering up and down the aisles (or is it alleys?) as they are extremely close together.

We did look at the clothing stores, and there are some extremely good clothing stalls, the artworks that abound here at fairly reasonable prices (I did see quite a few that drew my eye but the whole freight this is just too difficult to arrange) but paintings (originals not copies) for about $480. We also saw lots of pots, dishes, plates & linens. Some of the linens are very competitively priced but again being very aware of the amount of shopping we have done means that I worry about carrying all the items home.

A little way down the main alley we did find some interesting shops. In them you can find Jade Products (although many of these are hideously overpriced and we are not sure of the ‘real’ value of these items.) Charlotte is so keen on buying a Jade Dragon but we have not seen one at a reasonable price for the size she wants. They seem to average at about $288 - $600 ($AUD57 - $AUD120) so you see what I mean. With no Certificate of Guarantee it is just not worth taking the chance. Anyway we will see what she decided in the next few days.

Mark found a wonderful little shop that sells ‘copy’ Rugby shirts. Well priced at 2 for $150 (that is only $30 AUD) so yes he got a couple. What a steal! I bought a nice white dress shirt, some special dress umbrellas for the girls to use with their Chinese Suits and a few hair pieces. (Hair items are extremely cheap) We saw all sorts - Tibetan dress silver pieces, tacky and garish bright slides and ties and bands.

There were lots of pearls that we looked at, the usual ‘touristy’ stuff - purses, bags and various accessories, and so on. There was also not so much of the “Missy missy” as we experienced in other markets though. Some shop owners do call you over but for the most part you can wander with reasonably immunity.

Leaving the Stanley Market at about 4.00 pm we caught the bus to Tsim Sha Tsui back. It ran in a different route around the edge of the Island. Again we saw lots of houses, with barbed wire and some with the bars on the windows. This was interesting given what Derek had told us while in China about fires killing many in buildings with bars on the windows. Bamboo grows wild all over the island and we certainly saw lots of it! We then followed along to see the fish markets, various schools and even the prison.

It was interesting to take the Aberdeen tunnel under the harbour on our way (on the bus still) back to Tsim Sha Tsui.

We also met two very interesting ladies during the day - both were from Maine in America who were spending time in Hong Kong while they arranged their visas to teach English. Their first port of call was Taiwan, they hopped across to Hong Kong for 2 days while they organized their visas and then will return to Taiwan tonight.

Dinner for the night was at Ned Kelleys. An interesting little restaurant with very good live Jazz music. The meal was more interesting. The Asian Platter which Mark had was very fatty, I had Chicken. Again very interesting but the chips were yummy.

The taxi over was fantastic. We had a lovely driver who spoke English and used to be in the Merchant Navy. The taxi back was a lot quicker so we arrived back by about 10.30 pm and ready to sleep.

Tomorrow being the Special Administrative Region Establishment Day, many of the shops will be using shorter hours and some of the inhabitants will be on holiday. So we are not sure how much we will be doing.

Bye!!

Interesting facts:

What do the X’s on the buses mean?
Each of the XX’s on the buses refer to the business that own or run them. There are 3 companies in Hong Kong that run buses, and they run overlapping routes. The numbers and letters on the bus then describe which route the bus runs. Once again you need the octopus card to catch it.

Prices at the markets. Each market specializes in different items. Be prepared to check the costs of the items at the markets to see which carries the item at a lesser cost. Ie Mahjong sets are cheaper at the Temple Street Night Markets, Watches range from market to market Temple Street Night Markets and the Ladies ($20 - $25 starting price) up to $40 at the Stanley Markets.

What are the bars on house windows for? These were described to us by Derek. Apparently with the gymnastic training of some of the thieves this is the only way to keep them out of the houses. In China any building over 10 stories (and only the stories from there up) don’t have to have the bars. Consequently because in many instances the buildings don’t have lifts people are unable to escape fires and die.

Marks Input

The bus ride was a great way to take a tour of the island. By utilizing the 2 buses we were able to cover most of the island and at a very reasonable rate (cost).

The rugby tops were the cheapest in the all of the markets in Hong Kong. While they are not IRB sanctioned (home made branding) we got nearly everything and everyone you could want (and mind you they were about the only place we have seen them).

Yesterday was a good example of everywhere we went (and we only did the main alleys) each little sidestreets also hold shops. You could easily spend a month just checking out all the shops on offer. There are so many hidden treasures.

Charlotte’s Input

Walking through the markets and seeing all the beautiful items including the Jade dragons.

Elizabeth’s Input

The thing I like was being on the top and front of the Double Decker bus and seeing all the new and exciting places that we haven’t seen before like the Stanley Market, the schools, the stores and most of all the dolls! We did find some for about $10 but I didn’t buy any. The umbrellas were beautiful too. I bought one to go with my Chinese clothes.

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Photos

A wedding Car Hong Kong Style
One of the things we noticed about weddings in Hong Kong is that they are not afraid to add their own individual touch and many of these are very "çute" like this baby Mickey and Minnie on the front of this car!

Peak Hour Hong Kong style!
The roads are like this almost all day everyday! With so many people commuting and the choices of travelling options it is no wonder that the trains run litereally every few minutes and the taxis and buses number in the thousands!

Housing in Hong Kong
This is one of those just plain interesting items you come across every now and then!