In Chinese tradition, the middle of the seventh month is the ghost month where the ghosts and spirits come back to visit. The ‘temples’ for the festival were constructed out of bamboo and tin sheets. These structures can be assembled and taken apart in a matter of days.
During the festival the living descendants pay homage to their ancestors by burning incense, paper money, and leaving food in front of alters.
The food was prepared on site, anyone interested can join in on the feast.
There was also an auction on the side. The host is very extremely loud and was competing for attention with the main show.
There was a golden alter on the side and during intermission another set of performers dressed in black and ran in circles…for 10minutes.
The elderly people enjoying the show or catching up with friends.
The primary objective of the show is to provide entertainment for the dead, hence they are always performed at night. There are lots of lot banging and high pitch noise, apparently it attracts the ghosts (wonder how they found out?!).
I think they did very well with the make-up and costumes. Personal favorite is the guy on the right (I assumed he’s the bad guy!).
As a kid, I often walked by these festivals with my mom. Even though I didn’t understand any of the rituals or the foreign dialects, it was interesting to re-visit these very traditional practices.
People heading home after a long work day.
At the bus station.
While waiting at the taxi stand a driver takes a few minutes to clean the hood of his taxi.
Lamma Island is one of the biggest island in Hong Kong. It is very popular vacation spot offering many beach houses and famous seafood restaurants.
I woke up at 7am, got on the ferry from Central and was on the island just a little after 9. I hadn’t done any research so I had no idea what to expect but was delighted to find fishermen working on their floating fish farms.
They work in such a steady and calm manner, as though there is all the time in the world.
For some reason, there were a lot of giant spiders on this island. The largest one was bigger than my hand and the web spans about a meter. My nerves were already strung out walking beside all these spiders but I absolutely lost it when a leaf fell on my neck and I thought one of the spider bit me! I must have looked ridiculous screaming and slapping myself all over….
On the way to the top of the island. Beautiful view but I was completely red at the end of the day from sunburn.
Some historic buildings that have been abandoned. These will probably disappear in a few years from the new development plans for more vacation homes.
Seafood restaurants beside the pier. You can bring in your own vegetables, pick the sea creature from a tank, and specify how to prepare it.
Due to the small living quarters in Hong Kong, those that cook at home like to go grocery shopping everyday in order to get the freshest ingredients and also save space. Therefore there are many local markets near residential area, a place for the shoppers to chit-chat, compare goods, and stay a top local gossips.
Picking the meat of your choice, by hanging it up they can’t hide a piece of fat or inferior grade meat from the buyer. The general practice is to point to the desired item and they will pull it off from the rack for you to examine. It is such a stark contrast compared against the supermarkets in Canada where meat is prepackaged and are wrapped in Styrofoam packages.
“You gonna buy it or not?!”; “Very good fish, cheap cheap!”
Old lady that sells junk under a bridge. I had buy some broken toys from her to take this picture!
All done for the day, see you tomorrow.
