Hong Kong: Sunday

Argyle St. as seen from Mong Kok Station

Today we went out to Tai Po (aka Tai Po Market on the train map). We have two cousins who live out there. I think Tai Po is out in the New Territories region of Hong Kong. This is north of Kowloon. It was about a 20 minute ride on the commuter train from Mong Kok station.

We met with the one cousin who owns and runs a gold jewelry store. My mom wanted to trade in the one bracelet I have for a new one. So I looked at what they had. After trying on a few, I settled on one I like. I think the value of the new one was slightly higher than the old one, so we ended up paying just $645HK (the difference) for the new one.

We then went over to this huge multi-level indoor market to grab a bite to eat. On the ground floor you had the meats and fish. On the next level you had dry goods and produce. On the upper level, you had a huge food court area. It was hard to find a table, but my cousin managed to find something in front of one eatery.



After we finished eating, we met up with my other cousin and her daughter who drove us out to where my mother's older sister (cousins' mother) was buried. It was in a slightly out of the way area. We had to sort of negotiate with the locals for a parking spot. Then it was a winding, weather-worn path down to the tomb (I guess that was the best way to describe it). It wasn't really a cemetery like the one where my grandfather is buried. This looked more to be an older burial place. There didn't seem to be too many tombs there. In any case, after brushing away fallen leaves and other debris, flowers were placed in from of the tomb. Respects were paid to the "landlord" (I'll need to read up on some of the burial traditions), incense sticks were lit and we paid our respects to my aunt. My cousin bought a lot of paper money and other items to burn for her mother. It took a while to burn it all. We had to make sure the flames were all out before we left.


Some plant with huge melons or fruit my Mom wanted me to take a picture of.

While we were waiting for all the symbolic paper gifts to burn my cousin made reservations for us to have dim sum at a country club she belongs to. So, after fire went out we made our way back. Along the way, Joanne (cousin's daughter) asked one of the old ladies tending the gardens nearby if she had any green vegetables to buy. I don't know what kind of greens they were, but she said she did and for $10HK she picked a bag full of greens. My cousin brought the greens with us to the restaurant and asked them to cook it for us. They turned out to be quite tasty. Gotta love fresh picked green vegetables.

I think by now my brother and I have eaten more than enough for today. After we made our way back to my one cousin's store, we said our goodbyes. Before heading back to the train station, we meandered through some of the market areas. After we got back to Mong Kok station, we took the long way back to the hotel and wandered through the Ladies' market again. Still the same wares. Nothing new. Got myself this frosty mango drink along the way... I think we're chillin' before heading back out again. I'm pretty pooped though. All that food and whatnot. :p