I am a creature of habit. My hotel in Hong Kong was situated across a public square that I walked through daily. So ingrained in my mind is this prosaic ceremony that I can recall every detail from the advertised price of traditional remedies in the medicine shops, to the faces of the gweilo lined up at McDonalds ordering strawberry ice cream cones, to the hare krishnas causing spectacle with song and dance while soliciting their creed (and monetary donations). While it may seem boring to have such a predictable routine—especially while on holiday—I now relish the ability to close my eyes and return to such sweet vivid memory in my life.

This public square became the starting point for my journey to several markets within the city, including the bird market, flower market, ladies market and Temple Street night market. There was also a pet market, which I would normally be excited to visit, but I read that it wouldn't be a happy place filled with boops and zooms so avoided it. Watching a fish try to escape a food stall one day was all my sensitivity could handle.

The bird market, known as the Yuen Po Bird Garden, and flower market are adjacent to each other. Neither one is very big—the bird market just constitutes a small lane—but they are interesting to visit. Birds are a popular pet in China and this area acts as a place for locals to take theirs out for show, somewhat similar to a dog park in North America. In mid-afternoon, this was THE area for senior citizens to congregate and socialize with a bamboo cage in one hand and deck of cards in the other. There were also several shops selling all manner of fowl and the insects they consume.

The ladies market and Temple Street night market are very similar. They both have a maze of stalls selling mass produced, cheaply made merchandise that is of dubious quality and origin. I walked through them and became bored after awhile. There's only so much knock-off Supreme clothing that one can take. The only thing that caught my eye was a pair of Gudetama (!!!) pajamas that I bartered down from 300HKD to 80HKD (roughly $13.00 CDN). They are an XL and I can barely fit into the pants. Perhaps the only difference between these two markets were the prostitutes chatting up the foreigners in the Temple Street area. As I travel alone, I'm always leery of being mistaken for one but then remember that I look like a journalist and there are few men into that kink.

On that topic, Hong Kong has the most sex shops of any city I've visited.

Birds for sale at Yuen Po Bird Garden, Hong Kong (©Deborah Clague, 2018).

Yuen Po Bird Garden, Hong Kong (©Deborah Clague, 2018).

Seniors socializing at Yuen Po Bird Garden, Hong Kong (©Deborah Clague, 2018).

The flower market, Hong Kong (©Deborah Clague, 2018).

Temple Street night market, Hong Kong (©Deborah Clague, 2018)

Area near Temple Street night market, Hong Kong (©Deborah Clague, 2018)

Temple Street Night Market: #hongkong #destinationhongkong #china #templestreetnightmarket #templestreet #nightmarket #travel #solotravel #solofemaletravel #discoverhongkong #girldiscoverers #theworldismyoyster

A post shared by Deborah Clague (@debclague) on Mar 10, 2018 at 4:59am PST

One of Hong Kong's many sex shops (©Deborah Clague, 2018).

Meat market in the Central district of Hong Kong (©Deborah Clague, 2018).

The despondent face of the fish that tried to escape (©Deborah Clague, 2018).