out into the unknown.

Music by Rex Orange County - Corduroy Dreams

We finally stepped out of our comfort bubble of Causeway Bay & Sheung Wan, out into the Unknown. On our first adventurous weekend, the HK 5 went to Central for the first time. Only a fifteen minute walk from our work, the city had a whole different atmosphere. Tons more people, tons more stairs and a lot of side street markets. First stop, was Man Mo Temple. Man Mo Temple was beautiful. The interior was stunning, with the woven basket incense hanging down from the ceiling, and the lanterns hanging on a rack with people's prayers on red paper. The smell of the incense was overwhelming, making my vision blurred as people prayed to their loved ones in remembrance of them, bringing them gifts of fruits and food. Along Hollywood Road, Frankie and I stumbled upon one of the most instagrammable places in Hong Kong. Graffiti street art, full of houses. It was crazy how many people were there to take a picture. We were one of the many people. After a week of Chinese food, we were all craving some western food, so we met up with the others and went to Shake Shack and Shake Shack definitely satisfied that craving. It was YUMMY! After a bit of walking around, the others went home to grab their laundry, whilst Frankie and I went to explore the area more. We found street/cart restaurants in the rain under some tarpaulin, found some yummy food places, and lots of little antique shops on Cat St. Because it was raining, most of the stalls were closing for the day, so we made our way back home after a long exploration.

Across to the other side of the river, Kowloon, we went to Mong Kok were all the best markets are. We went to the famous Ladies Market for its' hundreds of stall of inexpensive bargain-priced clothes and accessories. We saw brands of Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Champion, Ralph Lauren, Supreme, CDG and more. We also walked past, Sneaker Street, Pet Street, and the Goldfish Market. It's horrible seeing cats and dogs in tiny boxes wanting to be set free and seeing the hundreds of fish, lined up in plastic bags filled with water. It's shocking to see all of this, but it's the norm for Hong Kongers. We ended up also going Yuen Po Street Bird Garden and passing the Flower Market. After an adventurous first weekend, we had an early night in, ready for our second week in Hong Kong.