There are the occasionally computer fairs where the bargain hunter can get a extremely good deal on electronics. Unfortunately you really have to be at the head of the queue. It seems everybody here is a bargain hunter and that makes the queue very very long.

The Golden Computer Arcade in Kowloon needed Police to control the flow.

On normal days, that is without the 99% of bargain hunters, prices of goods are usually as low as they can be. The profits margins are extremely small and you can always find a bargain if you have the time to look around.

I have no idea of the story with this chap. Maybe he is just having a quiet lie down or maybe it’s just a place he calls home.

Affordable housing is a big problem for Hong Kongers which drives an unfortunate few on the the streets to live. Sometimes home is under a bridge or corner of an alleyway.

One thing in their favour is the climate. There are a few just a few weeks in the winter where the temperature drops to  dangerous levels for anybody sleeping rough.

Another selection of food spread out for Hot-Pot. The glasses that look like they are filled with beer is actually tea. In Hong Kong tea flows freely. More often than not you whenever you eat out you are greeted with a glass of tea.

This can either be drunk or if you are of a particular fussy persuasion used to sterilize your chops sticks.

At the top of this picture and slightly to the right is my favorite little bit of snack, Dried Fish Skin. Crunchy in the mouth but it’s at  its best when dipped in the Hot-Pot soup then it just melts like butter.

Walking around the streets you can often find street performers dancing or singing. Usually in the quieter areas of Hong Kong.

This performance caught my eye as it seemed slightly out of place. A troupe of belly dancers swaying with swords in their hands. This seemed to be a warning of “look but don’t touch”.

It just goes to show you never know what is around the corner and it’s not always what you expect.

Having Hot-pot is one of Asia’s favorite pleasures. This is usually a family affair or with a group of friends all seated around a table with a bubbling pot of soup in the middle.

Selections of food are ordered and each person cooks or dangles their own little bite in the soup. Cook times are generally quick.

The soups can be anything from seafood to vegetable and  my own particular favorite spiced. Ingredients are just as mixed, although most are selected to cook quickly. This is no way to boil a turkey.

Leaving behind the towering skyscrapers and congestion of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon and you’ll find another side of Hong Kong. Parks and Mountain walks sprawl across the Special Administrative Region.

These rage from a leisurely Sunday stroll with well maintained paths to something that requires a pair of hiking boots and a bit of fitness.

There are campaigns for more green areas in Hong Kong and rightly there should be. But I suspect many of those shouting the loudest have never been out of sight of a pub.

The ashes of loved ones that have departed this world are to be found spread around the hillsides. The graves are visited with symbolic offerings of food, money and goods which are for use on another world.

Many people love animals and if they have pets they often remember that they are pets. For others their pets seem to become substitute humans. The animals can take the form of a companion or more likely children.

Wandering around the streets it wont be long before you come across smartly dressed pets, I`m talking hats, ties, shoes and coats. The usual form of transport is the baby carriage, but in the above picture we have a more well off pet. Driven around town cruising the streets and being driven by their own personal helper.

For some it really is a dogs life.

Hong Kong Demonstration

Annually on the 1st of July, Hong Kong Streets giveway to the March for Democracy and Civil Rights.  Being realtively new to having some say in their Governemt via limited suffrage, the peoples look forward to this day and some even do it in style and mostly peacefully.  In hong kong the people know they do not have universal suffrage and use people power to make their voice heard, unlike in the mature western democracies where the populace have been moulded into thinking their vote really counts.