One of the 974 things I like about Hong Kong is that it is still possible for me to have an adventure even though I’ve lived here for so long. There’s so many areas to still explore.

Today marks the completion of a month long quest which has seen me traipse all over Hong Kong, into areas I have not previously ventured (no need), encountered a few things I hope to never see again and return with The Precious – La Patisserie Artistique by Thoma Lui. 

It began innocently enoughwith a request from my uncle to find this book. I said “sure” as he was unable to find it in Australia. A quick internet search revealed it was possible to buy it at either of two bookstores. Neither bookstore is still in HK. It also mentioned that it could be bought at either of his two patisseries, Thomas Trillion (you really should stop reading to click on the link and see some of the amazing things he makes.)

This is subsequently revealed to be an alternate fact. 

The Quest

First searching HK Island due to the convenience, I traipsed through an area of Wan Chai that is now forever etched in my memory. It is a market street and one that still has live animals. It has chickens. Walking the out-of-the-way side street (this is the only way I can explain having managed to avoid nthis particular area until now) I glanced up and was face-to-face with freshly plucked chickens, hanging from hooks in an open butcher’s window. In the doorway, a man was shoving a squatting chicken into a bamboo cafe. Stuffing it in with the rest of the yet to be picked birds, this one was having none of it. Like a comic book character, it spread all its appendages as wide as possible in a futile attempt to stay outside the cage. 

The next store had a large moving object covered in a sheet shuffling over the table. A young girl poked and prodded it which resulted in it increasing its squirming. I was already off balance due to what I’d witnessed at the previous store and my first thought was something out of a nightmare. It was a little boy playing. Relief swept over me as my heart rate slowed and the adrenaline diffused. 

The first patisserie was part of a hotel. I spoke to the concierge. He didn’t know of the book and assured me this chef doesn’t write books. After a rather heated discussion, I suggested he let me talk with a person from the patisserie itself. He wasn’t enthusiastic with this idea and insisted he speak directly with them. 

Shame-faced, he returned with the business card of the patisserie and advised this store didn’t stock the book but the main one on Kowloon Side did. 

Already this had progresssed from a simple errand to a quest. I had run a gauntlet of scary things in the market and encountered a roadblock which I overcame. 

The quest was to continue. 

As with any quest of consequence, I would need help. It is not often the hero completes a request without the aid of anyone else. This quest was to be no different. 

A friend was making a pilgrimage to what is affectionately known as The Dark Side and I asked to join her explaining my plan to see how it would fit with hers. Our plans merged. It was now a Mega Quest. 

The Mega Quest

After a second breakfast today, I set off to meet her for our journey over to the other side. As with most who live on one side or the other, we don’t often go to the other side and the particular areas we we needed to go to today we’re not areas either of us were familiar with. We are both pretty good with the public transport options though and took our lives into our own hands when we boarded three red minibuses over the courses of the Mega Quest. 

As the day warmed, we meandered along a lengthy road of flowers, knitting, crockery and a Swedish design store. It was easy to be distracted but we would not be diverted from our mission. We were committted. 

After over two hours, we stumbled on our destination and were rewarded with a colourful display of Chinese New Year pastries. It was their last day. We needed two to sustain ourselves for the remainder of our Mega Quest. We had the first of our treasures. 

Consulting a map, we plotted the course for the next part and set off again. We found our second treasure. 

Our third and final treasure was to be in a very local area of HK and one where little English was spoken. It didn’t matter. We found this one too even after being given what we suspected was incorrect information from the information desk and decided we would explore the building anyway. 

Treasure was found on the first floor. I’m now the proud owner of an environmentally-friendly bamboo straw and brush to clean it with as well as a few other green products too. 

With a great sense of satisfaction and aching feet, we headed home. Mega Quest successfully completed after roughly five hours. 

Another hallmark of a quest is the hero has to learn something or grow in some way. Here is what I have learnt over the past month questing:

– HK has come a long way with environmentally-friendly products yet it still has quite a way to go to make them easier to find and a bit more accessible for everyone

– while red minibuses may say they are speed limited to 80kms, they can actually reach speeds of 93km/hour

– there are still many areas of HK where foreigners are not regularly seen

– I am not a fan of the goldfish markets. It looks like the fish can barely move and in the summer, they must be cooking in the plastic bags they are stored in

– there really is a HK Jockey Club pretty much everywhere

– I need to run the gauntlet at the Royal Easter Show a few more times before I get over my weariness around chickens

* Thanks to The Lord of the Rings Soundtrack for the title to this post.