Golden Bauhinia Square

But first--I have my Chinese name in written form!

Surname first, given name second.

The Q has a "ch" sound.
The lines above the letters are tone marks.

After class I went with a friend to Wan Chai so she could complete her application for a Hong Kong ID card (she's staying two semesters). We'd actually been to Wan Chai two weekends ago, it's in between Causeway Bay and Central, but that didn't remove any of the adventure!

First: lunch. Somehow I've been eating a lot of western food lately = boring. So the cramped restaurant and its windows papered with Chinese characters seemed like a good bet. Actually, we would have walked on by if the lady in the doorway hadn't stopped us and said there were English menus.

She led us in and sat us down at a table (after wiping off the soy sauce) where two other people were already sitting. Waiters delivering dishes squeezed between tables and talkative people. Several tourists. Bottles of soy sauce on every table (like ketchup. the soy sauce, not the tables). I'm having trouble capturing everything...[insert frustrated growl].

I ordered "fried noodles with three kinds of meat" because I'm not yet brave enough for a fish head. At least my dish had some element of surprise, even if the meats could be quickly identified as ham, pork, and beef. It was the kind of place where I actually would have liked a cup of hot water to dip my chopsticks into...figures they'd give us tea. We were brought hot dishrags though. And what yummy food!

We walked through the nearby market; it covered more streets than I realized! The last time we'd been to Wan Chai we'd only been down one.

And we definitely hadn't walked down this street...

But I didn't photograph the more gruesome sights (half of a flopping fish...)


Here, look at dragon fruit and pears instead!


Next we walked a few blocks to Central Plaza.

We still had time before the appointment, so we explored the building for a bit.

And--of course--it had a shopping arcade. Which ended at the third floor because we took the escalators to the floor above and found only intimidating wood paneling and a person in an intimidating doorway.

Then it was off to the Immigration Tower where we went up several flights of escalators because we couldn't locate the lift. We waited in a room reminiscent of the DMV...

And then...bump badda bum!...the Golden Bauhinia!

A gift from Mainland China when Hong Kong went from being a British colony to a Special Administrative Region of the PRC.

So know I've seen what all the fuss is about.

Alas, I never saw any garbage-collecting boats...