Market Madness

Spent the day at the big weekend market. They have over 15,000 stalls. I spent 5 hours there and probably saw 30%. There is everything you could imagine. Lots of pets- fish, birds, cats, dogs. Lots of clothing, and lots of bags. Lots of everything. And food everywhere. Since I am still not settled and still have traveling I didn't want to get a lot of stuff to have to schlep around. So I ended up buying lots of food. LOTS!! It is all so good.

I sat at lunch with a honeymooning couple from Sydney. The man was wearing a Yankees hat. I asked him why he would do such a thing, his reply "To keep the sun out of my eyes." I told him I thought he could find many things less embarrasing to wear for that purpose. There is a lot of Yankee paraphanalia. I especially saw a lot of people wearing their gear in Honk Kong.

Red light district

Last night I met up with Travis, a contact Colleen gave me. He is a teacher in Bangkok and was out with a few buddies. We met at a nice pool bar and then went to a dance club. In transit they decided they wanted to stop at a go-go bar and asked if that was ok. There is a big prostitution scene here and I think it's concentrated in one area. It's not very blatent, or maybe I'm just oblivious. But as we walked down the street men stood in doorways, or approached us and invited us to come see a ping-pong show. There are lots of venues that have naked women showing their vaginal talents. We did not take anyone up on a ping-pong show.

We did enter a go-go bar where there were about 20 women in bikinis on stage- each moving, with different degrees of enthusiasm, next to a pole. There was music and it was on the dark side, but it was not an uncomfortable scene. Unless someone had told me I wouldn't have known there were women there who could be taken home for money. I definately felt sad for some of the women. Some actually had small numbers pinned to their outfits so customers could request someone from the stage. Some looked bored silly. Some looked like they were having fun. One girl I spoke to looked about 15. She said she was 20 and had worked there for a year. They were all very friendly. And I don't mean that in a pick-me-up kind of way.

On my own

I am back from Hong Kong. Totally on my own for the first time really. It is good. It is what this trip is about. Yet at the same time I am totally excited to meet people. Where I am staying in Bangkok is a backpackers haven. Everyone is traveling and it is really easy to meet people. I met a nice guy on the bus from the airport. Turns out he is a teacher in Chiang Mai and he gave me loads of advice on getting a job up there.

The past two nights I have been out till past 4 with all the fun people I am meeting. There is a rockin night life here.

Hong Kong Travels

I came to Hong Kong on the 2nd to meet up with Janet, who had been in Indonesia for work. I think 6 days has been long enough to get my lifetimes fill of this city. It only took a few hours of being here to be homesick for Thailand. The Honkers are so fast fast fast, push, push, push. It is a flashy and crowded city.

My first day here Janet and I went to Macau- basically a Portugal Island. As we waited in the customs line a lady of about 75 barged up and pushed me over trying to get in front of me. Quite amusing, but left a bad taste in my mouth for Honkers.

We saw a couple monestaries, saw a HUGE buddah, took a tram ride to the top of the peak, took a hike, walked through a few markets, got our palms and faces read, took a ferry to Hong Kong Island, rode the longest escalator in the world (20 minutes), and ate a lot of dumplings. The highlight of the trip was hanging out with Janet. What a fun chick she is.

The craziest thing I saw was a fish market where they have lots of sea creatures out for purchase. Many are swimming in little pools. I watched one woman pick a big fish; after it was weighted a paid for the supplier took is butcher knife and knocked the fish out (or rather, killed it) with the side of the blade. There were innards flying out.

Also they had cut fish lying in ice. The were cut lengthwise, in a special way that the heart stayed intact. That way the heart could continue to beat and supply blood around the body and keep it fresher. You could actually see the little hearts beating.