making nice

Okay. Good news. HK and I are getting along better.

And here's why:

1. We ventured out into the belly of Hong Kong today. The heat was wet and sticky, which simply cannot be helped, but I almost forgot during our visit to Apliu Street. This was like one gigantic garage sale. It's popular for its used and second hand electronic items (some are new), as well as watches. It was absolutely fascinating. Check pictures for real details, but there were stalls full of chains, just chains. (Good thing - I've been looking for a few dozen yards of chain links since I got here.) We saw 4 foot zip ties. Some stalls just had a literal pile of junk that the Hong Kong men - with and without shirts - were sorting through, weighing the value of this busted up fan over the clock with one arm. Jess was on the hunt for a tripod, which he found - new, and a pretty decent price.
2. To get the grit of the garage sale extravaganza out of our hair, we hopped back on the subway to locate some culture amidst the merchandise. Quite randomly (we opened our brochure and pointed), we ended up at Nan Lian Garden, a beautiful shrine with gardens constructed in the Zen-like circular manner. Nan Lian Garden is built to represent something of the Tang Dynasty - we just loved the quiet bit of city, and the grounds were truly beautiful.
3. And then with our new found tripod, we headed to Tsim Sha Tsui, where you stand on the Kowloon side and face Hong Kong Island (where the University is located), whose waterfront is lined with bedazzled buildings and skyscrapers. I'll tell you what - I'd like to be the genius who thought of getting a bunch of those buildings to go in on a light show choreographed to music. Because it's a serious tourist attraction, not to mention the attention the locals pay to it. We got there at 7 p.m. (the show starts at 8 p.m.), and there were people already lined up - everyone cramming for a space on the railing, tripods wedged next to each other. It's like a battle for the best postcard picture or something.
4. I found delicious bread. Jess spotted it actually - granted, it's marbled with chocolate, which made it an instant winner, but could anything be more perfect? It was super soft and delicious. I knew HK liked me. :)

We're going to go visit the big Buddha tomorrow. This will be my third huge Buddha in one month. Go Buddha. I'm seriously considering wearing my swimming suit. And secretly I'm hoping that should we come across a (semi-clean, I don't require pure water - I swim in Lake Powell) body of water, I'll accidentally fall in.