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That afternoon, Timmy and I drove all over the place. We checked out some of the shopping areas including some of the more popular street markets. These areas are great to walk around and check out if you need to buy gifts for friends and family back home. I can't remember some of the names because Timmy would tell me the names in Chinese, but some of the ones I remember are Ladies Street in Mongkok, Temple Street in Yau Ma Tei, and Apliu Street in Sham Shui Po. Remember I'm from LA so I get to experience the best weather in the world all year round. Walking around in 99% humidity and 90°F heat sucks, but you get used to it pretty quick. Good luck if you're from Arizona though. You'll probably drown walking around HK in July.
The Temple Street night market is actually made up of a couple streets and areas. There's food, shopping, drinks, and of course a ton of people. You definitely have to put yourself into Metropolis mode to handle Hong Kong. My wife likes cheapie accessories because they're cheap to chuck when you're over them. I scored massive points buying a bunch of accessory type stuff here.
At the Ladies Street market, they sell all kinds of stuff. I'm sure it probably started off as a market for women, but as time went by and tourism grew, the vendors started to sell everything. They know that it's the women who love the shop so why not expand and sell everything? If this was America, those would be all NASCAR jackets. I love how there isn't a single one. Also at the Ladies Street market were plenty of fake Oakleys, Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, and other goodies.
Camera nerds unite. Apliu is known for both new and used electronics. You can find old cameras, old home audio (even reel to reel tape players), cables, batteries, and even used drills and other power tools. ANYTHING electronic can be found on Apliu Street.
You need cables? I think you can find virtually any audio, computer, video, or other cable or small battery imaginable on Apliu Street. I bought a 10 pack of those 12V tiny ass garage door opener remotes for $0.20 each. That would have set me back $25.00 over here in the states. You can also bargain sometimes which is kind of fun. It's obviously competitive when there are 90 other vendors selling cables and batteries too.
Everywhere you go at these street markets, you can also buy tasty snacks and drinks. They have sodas and other man made crap, but when you're in another country you gotta try different things. HK is big on fresh fruit juices made of tropical fruits like durian, longan, lychee, and other tropical stuff. Don't go somewhere on the other side of the world and eat McDonald's because that's lame.
At one of the markets, we met up with one of Timmy's friends, Paco, who lost his ID and couldn't get back into China until some paperwork cleared. Paco was originally from HK, but moved up to the land of opportunity (that's China, not America) several years ago. Paco would also join us for the tourist stuff the next couple of days.
This is somewhere on Nathan Road that used to be a well known semi-red light district for hostess bars (bars where girls drink with you), but they've all turned into luxury item stores now. The HK dollar is pegged to the US dollar so the Chinese from China come to Hong Kong and buy the crap out of everything with a name brand on it. If the US dollar is weak, then so's the HK dollar. This was nice because I didn't get killed on everything like as if I went to Japan.
