Coca-Cola, Congee, and Century Eggs
There are two fall-back activities on which every tourist can depend, no matter where they go, or for how long they stay: eating and shopping. In Hong Kong, one can experience a diverse and overwhelming abundance of both, at seemingly any hour of the day or night.
I had only a few hours on this trip to wander the streets of Kowloon, soaking in the oily aroma of deep-fried mystery foods and the fog-filtered glow of neon. I drank Coca-Cola from a bottle on the street and ate watery rice porridge with an egg that smelled rotten (but wasn’t).
My shopping was limited (by both time and budget) to browsing the giant billboards and perusing odd vending machines. I almost regret not buying a little Feng Shui trinket (advertised in English), or perhaps a pencil eraser in the shape of a tiny food item (advertised in Japanese), but really – what does anybody do with those things after buying them, anyway?