HK

First stop: Hong Kong

Planned to stay for a few days to visit Gong Gong and some of the family. Usually when we visit we go to a restaurant and eat and then while we're waiting to go to the next restaurant we eat. We've never taken the time to see the sights beyong Ocean Park and the Peak, so I always assumed there wasn't anything to actually do in Hong Kong. This time we made an effort to do/see things we haven't done in previous trips, like see the police museum and see a kung fu demo.

The public transportation in HK is pretty well organized. My uncle said it's the only system in the world that turns a profit. Despite this, the prices for getting around are pretty cheap compared to Toronto. Also they have these signs.

There is no loud talking more bothersome than oblivious loud talking

I think the translation is pretty evident even if you can't make out the English. Took the 15 bus from Central up the peak about halfway and got to the police museum, which had a lot of interesting displays including a Viet refugee boat (aka a coracle), a buttload of guns, batons and bomb disposal equipment and a DIY heroin facility. The museum also had a display about the criminal goingsons in the Kowloon Walled City which I'd wanted to see in person but I guess I was about a decade too late.

Unfortunately, the attendant said no photos allowed so we didn't get any pictures beyond the outside of the building. Didn't want to get in trouble with the HoKoPoPo.

This cannon is actually military and has nothing to do with policing. A cop found it after WWII and thought it would look pimp at his musem.

Sunday is the day all the Filipino nurses get off work. The streets and parks were TEEMING with short Filipino people. Here's a before and after picture of the park outside our hotel.

FILIPINO LADIES IN DA HOWSE

Filipino ladies in your house... cooking, cleaning...

Made me feel like a giant. I was twice as tall as everybody else milling around me on the street but I couldn't avoid getting swept away by a tsunami of foreign home care workers.

On to the kung fu. A bunch of bad mudderfudders get together in Kowloon Park every Sunday to put on a kung fu and lion dance demo. I spent way too much time fiddling on my camera's full manual settings, so I missed a lot of good stuff but the head sifu didn't come out to the end. By that time I think I got the hang of it.

Lion dance - this one is called "Snake Listens"

Mom chilling with dragon all up in her grill

Then the dragon goes to town on the snake

YEAH GIT EM

DRAGONS RULE SNAKES DROOL

Demonstration of a spear form. The Chinese spear is known as "the king of weapons" because of its long range, versatility and general badassedness.

Chinese double edged sword demo - this guy was moving so slowly there was more blur in the seniors under the green tent than there was in his sword

The famous flag waving child assassins of Kowloon

WAVE IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT

Why there are like a billion versions of running in the summer Olympics but not a single flag waving event is beyond me

The guan dao (halberd)

I thought these kids were going to fight each other when they came out together

Even though it wasn't a fight... it was still good. Like in high school when there's going to be a fight and everybody makes a big circle around the kids and then the teacher shows up and makes them shake hands... that kind of good.

Butterfly swords. Or rather, butterfly chunks of wood.

If they give real weapons to the kids, I bet this guy did something really dumb to have to use fancy cutting boards instead of swords.

Or maybe they're real weapons painted brown.

Head sifu - crazy fast. So cray cray.

Kowloon park hedge maze for children/large yorkies

Hong Kong Island waterfront from Tsim Sha Tsui Avenue of Stars

This guy was somehow going up river without paddling and without a motor

 Later on we ended up at the Avenue of Stars on the Tsim Sha Tsui Waterfront. Made the journey especially to see this guy.

LE BRUCE

LE WIFE

Kowloon waterfront from HK island

Holy hell do I ever hate blogger. There is honestly no more cumbersome way to post photos. Will fix formatting later. Right now we're heading to the medical museum. Hopefully we'll have some obscene and gross pictures to show next. Later skaters.