Ladies' Market Dec 5: Ladies' Market in Mong Kok Kowloon, frequented by bargain finders, tourists, and gawkers alike. I ended up stopping by briefly to pick up some gifts.

     Janet! Dec 5: So Janet and I have known each other since we were 8 years old. I used to beat her up in karate classes, or was it the other way around? I must have taken too many blunt blows to the head from her, so I can't really remember. We met up in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, and went out for dinner to catch up on old times.

     Family Reunion! Dec 6: So it wouldn't be a proper Hong Kong trip if I didn't visit all my cousins. So here's me with some of my 1st cousins on my dad's side. There's 13 of us (cousins) on my dad's side. But only 3 (Aileen, Darren, and I) of us on my mom's side.

     Causeway Bay. Dec 7: Here's some photos of when I was roaming around Hong Kong Island. There was some sort of commercial being filmed right outside of Sogo so I decided to be a tourist and take a picture of them. For some more Engrish, check out the store named LAMER. MIA though were l337 and p0wn4g3. Bad jokes, sorry, someone stop me.

     Kowloon Tong. Dec 7: Just a couple of photos of the top of the giant Christmas tree in the mall attached to City University.

     The Search - Sheung Wan. Dec 8: So here are some photos of my long foot trek all over different parts of Hong Kong in search of a pair of double broadswords. I had been missing my own pair of swords, which were back home in Calgary, and were hoping to buy a new set for London. So I started off in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Island. I did not find the martial arts store, but I did manage to end up in the herbal and restaurant supply wholesale district. Check out the deer head!

     The Search - Mong Kok. Dec 8: Next stop was Mong Kok on the Kowloon side. There was a really good martial arts supply store there before, run by a very old respected master. Then the police arrested him last year of selling illegal weapons, such as brass knuckles, three sectional staves, nunchuku, etc. It was a little odd though, since that stuff had always been freely available all over Hong Kong. There were not any stores that had a nice pair of swords though, but I did get to hang out in some of the markets and take some pretty nice photos.

     The Search - Shum Sui Po and Jordan. Dec 8: I finally made a stop in Shum Shui Po next, since it was the fartest away from where I lived. There is actually a really good martial arts store there, but with my luck, it was on a four day hiatus. I shouuld have dropped by sooner in my trip. I made a final stop at the big Yue Wah department store in Jordan, as a last ditch attempt. Lo and behold, they had a pair of double straightswords for a very high asking price. Sadly, it was broadswords, not straightswords that I wanted. They did however have a large collection of three-sectional staves and nine-section chain whips, which aren't terribly legal in Hong Kong anymore. They had a crafts sale on that day though, and I bought some souvenirs for my friends instead.

     Hong Kong International Airport. Dec 9: My grandparents, my mom, and I. Hopefully I will be able to go back again in 2008.