This morning, I waited until 9am to venture outside, once rush hour was over. After a quick Western breakfast (hooray for Delifrance!), I jumped on the MTR (subway) to Prince Edward station, in the north of Kowloon. I spent much of the morning wandering the streets there (Fa Yuen and Tung Choi mostly), checking out the stalls of the Ladies' Market. But other than a few doodads and a handbag, I didn't buy much. Compared to what I saw in Hoi An, the clothes seemed a bit ordinary, not to mention expensive (and the lack of fitting rooms was a problem too!).
Much more rewarding was my stroll through the Goldfish Market, where I took loads of snaps and made a few videos too. It's not strictly a market, but rather a street lined with shops selling all manner of critters. True to its name, most were aquaria selling many varieties of fish, and quite a few turtles of every shape and size. There were also other amphibians, including frogs and salamanders, and even a few shops selling puppies and small furries (rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas and hamsters). There were two specialist rabbit shops on the street, only one of which was open - but it had the sweetest and friendliest little lop-eared bun who came hopping over when I approached its cage and sat up to be petted (a bit like my Timmy at home, in that respect!). Only after I'd been stroking it for a few minutes did I see the sign on its cage saying "please do not touch" in Cantonese and English. Oops.
Despite all this, I found the market a little bit troubling given the conditions I witnessed. Most shops had what looked to be pretty clean tanks for the fish and turtles, but some did not (and the fish didn't look too good). Plus, in all cases, the tanks were hugely overstocked (as the photos I took will show - I'll be posting those in due course). Surely packing fish into tanks and displaying them in little plastic bags for hours, days (or maybe even weeks?) on end can't be very healthy?
I got back to the Y around lunchtime, and then around 1.30 I headed next door to try to have tea at the Peninsula Hotel - an archetypal and very traditional Honkers experience, according to my mother-in-law. As I mentioned previously, I've read that afternoon tea at the Pen can be a bit sketchy these days, with hordes of tourists in ball caps and shorts pouring in off the cruise ships (and indeed, my friend PD told me that during her stay there a number of years ago, people began queuing at noontime for tables). I was prepared to wait up to a half-hour or so, given that they begin serving tea at 2pm. But to my surprise, when I arrived the lobby was largely empty and I was shown to a table and seated immediately.
The tea on offer was only partially traditional. The full monty consisted of: "Finger sandwiches, savory flaky pastry [i.e. a very posh sausage roll], quiche, mini French pastry, fruit tart, traditional [lemon] tea cake, Vahlrona ganache chocolate tartlet, premium Peninsula truffles, light tiramisu with green tea and crunchy hazelnut macaroon, fresh-baked raisin scones, Devonshire clotted cream and strawberry preserve, and choice of tea [I plumped for the Peninsula Afternoon blend]." And the price? Afternoon tea at a good hotel is never cheap, of course. At the Pen it's HK$268 for one person, or HK$398 for two, plus 10% service charge. So for me, the damage was almost $50 - certainly hair-raising, but not as expensive as tea at the Ritz in London, for instance.
Despite the unorthodox elements (quiche? tiramisu?!) the food was mostly quite good - particularly the sandwiches and both the sweet and savoury pastries (people here are very big on their sweeties - there seems to be a patisserie on every street corner). But the scones were lacking - they seemed a bit heavy and somehow not very fresh - which I reckon is a problem, as they are one of the centrepieces of the whole meal. However, they did at least serve as a vehicle for the clotted cream, which I haven't had for a number of years and which was good.
Of greater concern, however, was the standard of service. It was nowhere near as attentive as it ought to have been. Partway through my meal, I began to wonder if - as a single diner - I was somehow invisible to the wait staff. It wasn't until the end of my meal, nearly two hours after I first sat down, that anyone asked me if everything was satisfactory. Earlier, I had to ask for more hot water as none had been forthcoming, and it took a good ten minutes to get the attention of a waiter. And when I got the bill and handed over my credit card, I sat reading my newspaper and waiting for over twenty minutes, with no card slip in sight - I had to flag down another waiter and ask for my card back!
So while I generally enjoyed the experience, it was a bit peculiar, and not quite what I was expecting. When one is in the swankiest hotel in town, and paying quite a lot of money to have afternoon tea, the food should be uniformly excellent and the service faultless, in my opinion. I certainly wouldn't rush to go back there, if I'm ever lucky enough to be in Hong Kong again.
The rest of my day has been spent just wandering the streets. I love walking around in this city, especially in the early evening - the lights and the crowds are a real buzz. And it seems like every few paces there's some wacky little shop, selling things you've never seen before. I spent about an hour in a large branch of the wonderful SaSa (a chain of cosmetics and skincare emporia) just staring at all the products on offer and picking up some more odds and ends for myself. I spent loads of time in drugstores on my last trip here, so you'd think there would be nothing left to see - but you'd be wrong!
Time now to head over the road to Starbucks and go online for a bit. Macau tomorrow - I hope that the forecasted risk of showers doesn't materialise!
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