So the second day of my trip happened to coincide with the Double Ninth Festival (Chung Yung Festival). The Chinese calendar is usually a month slower than the Gregorian calendar, which means if you'd like to be there during the Double Ninth Festival, you'll have to be in Hong Kong in October. It is a public holiday, where visit the graves of their ancestors to pay their respects.
I cannot remember how I came across Hong Kong Cemetery, probably while I was looking up for events and festivals I can go to just a few days before but I met up with an old friend who agreed to visit the cemetery with me. We took the very old looking bus there, all the time being really fascinated with it. Mainly because how old and small it looks compared to the double decker buses running in the city!
Visiting a cemetery probably may not be on many people's itinerary, but we spent more than an hour there taking the place in. Loads of people to and fro, with flowers and food items in hands to pay their respects at their ancestors' graves. Awkward conversations between relatives you only meet once or twice a year. We sat down, people-watched and talked for a long time. We talked about how we were when we were 10. We talked about our lives, our parents, our future, our views of the world.
It's a really old city
Split between the dead and the living
So I thought to myself,
Sitting on a graveyard shelf
As the echo of heartbeats,
From the ground below my feet
Filled a cemetery in the center of Queens
You said, remember that life is not meant to be wasted
We can always be chasing the sun!
So fill up your lungs and just run
We'll always be chasing the sun
We visited Mong Kok in the evening, because if you have not tried the street food in Hong Kong, you haven't been to Hong Kong! Unfortunately, I am not a big eater but I enjoyed whatever I tried. There are barely any photos of the food I tried because clearly my hands got a little too busy with the food and it was so crowded I didn't want to have my camera out and juggle my food at the same time. It is important to know I'm not an acclaimed multi-tasker. I took photos with my phone instead, they turned out pretty good.
The streets around sell so much variety of stuff, whatever you can think of someone somewhere is probably selling it. We also visited a Starbucks that was decorated and furnished with local influence (no photos because it was so crowded and dark). The building across the road is a trap for action figure enthusiast. Once you go in, either your wallet or your heart will break (when you leave the building empty handed).