The rain followed me from Yangshuo, so I woke up to wet streets, and gray skies. George and I are in the same room, but on different sleep schedules, so we planned to meet at Pacific Coffee down the road, where there’s free internet and not-so-free coffee.
After waiting for a while, I figure George is avoiding heading out in the rain (which is quite heavy now), so I head back to the guesthouse, and he’s just gotten out of the shower. We sort a few things, then head to the Art Gallery, which is close to the museum.  We’re both a little underwhelmed – I was hoping for some more modern exhibits, but I think we’ll need to find some private galleries for that.
We head to Central, my second time on Hong Kong Island proper, but only the first time spending much time on the surface. We take the giant outdoor escalator up to Soho, and wander around – but I think we’re both a little underwhelmed once again.
After Soho, we head to the pier to check out the water. Hard to see much in the fog, and hard to get an unobstructed view. They’re building a big bridge, which looks close to completion, as long as the two sides meet as planned. Next stop on the subway (I bought an Octopus card, which is a handy way of getting around) is Mong Kok. It’s supposed to be a bastion of electronics stores, but we don’t find anything too out of the ordinary.
We make our way by foot back to the guesthouse, passing through Temple Street Market, which is just getting setup for the night. At the guesthouse I read for a bit, but am kinda sleepy, so I head up to the room and lie down. George has his laptop out, so I steal a bit of music from him.
We head to a very busy (although maybe just because people want to escape the rain) noodle shop, and I have some pretty decent noodles. Just before we get the bill, the ceiling mounted air conditioner starts to leak, so there is really no escaping the rain. George wants fries and a Guinness, so we head to a pub, which seems to be where all the white people in Hong Kong hide out. I want to save a bit of money, so I just get a coke, but when the bill comes, I find it’s 34 Hong Kong dollars, which is about $5 Canadian. Yikes. I ask the bartender if there’s been some horrible horrible mistake, but he assures me there hasn’t been. I’m hoping to avoid going to the bank again before I leave Hong Kong, but it might prove difficult.
Back at the guesthouse, the common room, which is a big veranda, essentially, and has part of the roof exposed, is starting to flood. Eventually the owner gets the idea in his head to clear the drain, and the situation improves, but it’s still too wet, and I’m falling asleep as I read, so I decide to head to the room and sleep.
