Travel|Photography

Noodles and Night Photography in Causeway Bay

I chicken out to avoid beef with my dinner…

I decide not to hang around to watch the Symphony of Lights. It’s still my first day in Hong Kong, and I like what I’ve seen of TST (Tsim Sha Tsui) so I know I’ll return.

Tearing myself away from the breathtaking view of Victoria Harbour, I start toward the nearest MTR (Mass Transit Railway) station.

The pavements are busy with shoppers and a seemingly endless line of people trying to hand out flyers, brochures, and other such bumf.

I’m not their target. Perhaps it’s because I’m not the right kind of [half] Chinese tourist. I’m not from the mainland and I’m not showing any signs of wealth either.

I’m happy to be poor and ignored.

There’s a fine line between pride and stupidity — at least in my case. I was still pissed off with Lonely Planet from earlier on so I deliberately ignored its map and advice on TST.

I ended up walking much, much farther than necessary to reach a MTR station. Worse, I had to almost completely double back albeit walking underground to reach a connection back to Hong Kong Island.

I felt I should be looking for dinner but I was unsure whether or not to stop off in Admiralty or Wan Chai. The train passes by those stations and heads closer to the hotel in Fortress Hill. Almost out of options. I step off at at Causeway Bay.

But I don’t surface at the the glitzy shopping mall and department store heart of Causeway Bay. There are plenty of lights and people but this area is filled with smaller stores and restaurants.

There’s a buzz on the streets — it’s after work — and if I’m not mistaken the waft of roasted meats in the air.

And there are still some neon signs left eking out their doomed lives*, causing me to gaze, wonder, and feel nostalgic for a time and place in which I’ve never lived.

I’m leaning towards the beef flank and gristle — the happy medium between the ‘know what I’m getting’ beef stomach and the mystery of beef combinations.

But when I sit down there’s an additional menu offering sirloin steak as the meat to accompany my noodles.

Steak? It could have been anything floating in the soup. But the bowl was hot and filling and I slurped happily knowing that’s all it really takes to fool my brain.

The rest of the evening is mine to while away and take pictures. It seems even busier now: buses and taxis swarm on the roads.

There are people everywhere, and I’m just another someone on the street. Despite the camera I arouse little interest. Looking around everyone inside and outside seems to be just someone else too.

Someone rushing home from work, someone ready for dinner, and maybe someone meeting someone else as the evening turns to night.

*Neon Signs that Lit up Hong Kong’s Nights Become a Dying Art, Bloomberg UK

I’ve managed to squeeze a great deal of mileage out of a single day so if you’re not up to speed the above will seem more than a little confusing. Here’s what happened just before the first paragraph: