I'm flying back to Philippines the next day. I lumbered out of the train towards Ladies Market in Mong Kok. A mob scene of Chinese retailers and Chinese-looking buyers met me amidst budget price items that overcrowd within talking distance.
I cracked glances at the Chinese cushions and table runners while my toes cracked intense discomfort from all the walks since day 1.
A Chinese retailer grabbed my hand as if to skip out of a fast lane.
"Here, vely cheap bags. Only wong hundred dollahs. You buy?" She reached out fake Yves and Burberry on my left hand while she held my right.
I wobbled a step backward. She offered me lesser and lesser price as I moved farther. But I wanted to look around. To go after items worth buying as keepsakes.
I went from stalls to stalls. By the time I went back to her she held out a plait of novelty key chains, the kind that comes minted in custom-made metals of the Big Buddha, cable car, tram, Bruce Lee, and the famous Hong Kong Harbour.
I paused for a while. And thought of how our Hong Kong trip went equally tiring and surprising at the same time. I saw the well-lit buildings of the Hong Kong metro, standing half their original size as we looked at them from the Peak. I remember taking the elevators together with the Pakistanis and Indians at the Mansion. The time we got lost in Sheung Wan. And the amazement we felt as fireworks drape the pitch black sky with colors in Lantau.
Everything immortalized in those keepsakes. And these pleasant remembrances from our travels are worth keeping. I feel that personal attachment between a traveler and a destination-- a distinctive kind of experience which can only come alive again in those tiny metal pieces.
Everything immortalized in those keepsakes. And these pleasant remembrances from our travels are worth keeping. I feel that personal attachment between a traveler and a destination-- a distinctive kind of experience which can only come alive again in those tiny metal pieces.
The Chinese retailer stared at me the second time like she seriously waited for hours for my response. She gestured at the plaits of keepsakes in her stall and asked, "How much you my Hong Kong key chain?"
I answered her, I'll get all six.
Photo Credits:
blog (dot) chinatravel (dot) net-1st photo
randomtravelsandrefelctions (dot) com
