The Hong Kong Sunday Ladies

The first morning of the first day in the first country. We begin. We are in Hong Kong, staying in Kowloon (which I, as a Hong Kong newbie, did not know much about). Hong Kong is an island off of mainland China (which I did know); and it is very congested (knew that too). The large hotels are in Kowloon, which is on mainland China, reachable by ferry, train, or taxi. Our first scavenge was to take the Star Ferry from Kowloon to Central Hong Kong and to engage some of the ladies picnicing in the Central area near the Star ferry terminal. That was really interesting. There are thousands of young women seated in groups on the ground, lining the sides of buildings, clustered on grassy spots, and choking the arteries of the underground subway walkways in the area around the station. The ladies are young domestic household help who gather to socialze on their Sunday day off. Most are sitting in groups of five to ten and are eating take out food from styrofoam containers. Many have umbrellas opened around theim, forming a sort of colorful ringed fence around their circle. They sit for hours, talking, eating, playing cards. Many are from Indonesia and the Phillipines. They gather in throngs to enjoy the company of friends on their day off. It was a beautiful sunny Sunday of 75 degrees or so. I think it is a lovely custom. The one thing I thought was a little weird was the ones who chose to spend their sunny Sunday sitting underground on the floor of a dank undergound pedestrian walkway.