Ladies Market

I am slowly adjusting to HK time! It is currently past 4 AM and I am still awake. Now hopefully tomorrow I don't wake up with the cows (as Alex puts it) as I always did in the States.

Today, I got an octopus card! An octopus card is the HK metro card and it is such a convenient tool to have. Not only is it used for taking the metro, but it is also used for EVERYTHING. You can use it on any city bus, to pay at convenient stores, to pay at markets, etc. All the Seven Elevens here have machines where you can add money to your octopus card. Very cool.

After using my new octopus card to get on the bus, my Great Aunt Seven, Aunt Joanne, baby Wai Ting, and I went to eat our first meal of the day. (At 2:30 PM, haha) We went to eat at a little pho place and it was SO GOOD. So much better than pho in the U.S.!  Connie, you have to try the pho here, someday. And btw, an entire bowl of pho plus a coconut drink costs a total of 4 U.S. dollars. Isn't that nuts? Yum, works for me!

After eating, we walked around and took a few pictures of the scenery outside.

Then, we were off to Ladies Market! Thanks for the suggestion, Cindy :)
Ladies Market is actually called Tung Choi Street, but since most of the stands sell products for women, locals started calling it the Ladies Market. The name stuck and they even added it to the street sign!

Ladies Market consisted of a series of open stalls selling a little bit of everything. I could not bargain to save my life, but my aunt helped me get great deals!
Here's how to do it:
1. Pick the item you like, compliment the sales person, and ask for the price. Example: "Hey pretty lady, how much does that watch cost?" (this is literal Cantonese to English translation, so it sounds like you're hitting on the girl, but no its not like that haha)
2. No matter what they say, tell them "Wow, that's way too expensive!" and walk away.
3. They will chase after you and say "Wait come back, how much are you willing to pay?"
4. You lowball them with a ridiculously low price. They'll say "Oh I can't sell it to you for that."
5. You say "No, thanks then." and walk away. They'll chase after you again and give you a price in the middle of what you asked for and what they originally told you.
6. You say "It's still too expensive, no thanks." and keep walking. They'll chase you again and give you very close to the price you asked for. You pretend to think about it, and then pay the lady and take your item home!

My aunt used this method exactly and it worked every single time. I was amazed. I bought a dress, a watch, and a pair of sunglasses for a total of 160 hong kong dollars, which is equivalent to only 20.50 U.S. dollars! Here is a picture of me wearing the dress and watch I bought. (my cousin was jumping)

After shopping, we walked around and I got a glimpse of HK city life. It is so crowded! At a certain time in the evening, the roads become blocked off to cars because there isn't enough space for people to walk. The roads become sidewalks and they still managed to be filled with people!

After walking around Mong Kok Street, we went to grab dinner at a Wonton Soup, place. I took your advice, Connie! It was delicious as expected :)

<-- the reason I am awake now. Caffeine.

Before we went back to the house, we stopped by a grocery store to buy some fruit. We bought this pink and green fruit that I have never seen before. They called it the fire-ball fruit. It was really sweet and is apparently very good for you. This was our dessert, yum :)