Day 16 - Markets & Kamikazes

In the Mong Kok area of Kowloon there are some famous markets – the Ladies’ Market and Night Market, among others.  At our McD breakfast we decide to visit those.  We’ll see if we can fit in a trip to the Big Buddha by the airport on our departure day.

We ride the subway for a couple of stops then wander about the busy side streets.  We do some sightseeing but realize we are a little early and the Ladies’ market really doesn’t get going until about 10 am.  We grab some cold water and wait in a neighbourhood park, then return to wander through the closed-off street filled with vendors’ stalls.  Nadine is thrilled to find a complicated Rubik’s cube variant for Matthew, and the girls buy robes for themselves and the daughters.

visual overload on the streets

typical Ladies' market stall

eyeing robes

Hot and parched by now, we stop at a Mexican restaurant to enjoy a cold Corona before Dan purchases a couple of small luggage pieces.  They were overweight on their bags in Siem Reap, and we’re allowed two checked bags each with no extra charge, so they have decided it makes sense to distribute the weight and check an extra bag.

Nadine drives a hard bargain for the luggage piece

We enjoy a swim back at the hotel and even nap a little before dressing up and heading out to the night market.  We’ve promised ourselves we will fill up on street food this evening, so we head out feeling hungry.  First, we want to stop for a drink, but have trouble spotting a watering hole in the area of the night market.  We follow a sign to the “VIP Bar” which turns out to be up a flight of narrow stairs on the second floor of an old building.  The place is dingy and dark, but full of character with a half dozen Chinese men enjoying a raucous game of dice, and Chinese music videos playing.  The entire place is soundproofed.  The wait staff are very friendly, and the dice players all wave and smile as we leave.

the VIP bar is a rockin' place

We sit down at a little hole in the wall for some dim sum and other treats, then wonder the streets some more.  Dan is highly allergic to shellfish, and much of the street food involves fish, and he doesn’t trust the vendors given the language barrier.  The rest of us are a bit too squeamish to try the proffered intestines, chicken feet, etc.  We look into a second restaurant but turn away when the owner says they don’t serve alcohol.  He then tells us to go into the wine store a couple of doors away and bring something back.  We do just that and enjoy some very good dim sum along with rice & noodle dishes, and some pretty good Argentinian chardonnay.

Mong Kok at sunset

enthusiastic restaurateurs entice the passing Canadians

More dim sum please

After that it’s back to the outdoor bar at the Mira where they happily announce they have replenished their Sambuca supply, and serve us the entire bottle along with glasses and a bucket of ice.  We may have gotten a little rowdy by the time it’s last call, then Nadine returns from a happy room run to giggle, “I’ve found another bar”, so we finish off the night with Kamikazes in a small lounge off the lobby.