We should have known better than to go into Central and Causeway Bay on a rainy Sunday. Fortunately we did start the trip early.

Mr Shallot is going to China tomorrow for a two week work trip about the climate. It’s partly training for him and partly him helping out with an environmental project. Due to the rainforest location, some specific clothing is required which he didn’t have until today. Yes, he has known that he’s going for a while but that’s another story.

Sunday is known as “Maids’ Day Off” as all the amahs / helpers work six days a week. This is their day to go to church, call their family and friends (generally in the Philippines; people are the Philippines’ biggest export and they send a lot of cash back into the country, they are also generally very well qualified but unable to find work there) and to hang out with other amahs away from the places where they work. This generally means that massive groups of amahs can be found in various areas around town, mainly Central and Causeway Bay.

Roads close in these areas to allow for the large groups to gather together. Normally they sit on pieces of cardboard (the concrete is both hard and either cold or hot depending on the time of year), do their hair, manicures, sing and / or do crafts. A large amount of KFC also seems to be consumed while others bring in dishes made at their residences but it is their local foods. Due to the amount of people, the groups can be heard at quite a distance and the Tagalog language is very sing-songy compared to Cantonese and English so by comparison, it sounds like large flocks of birds all singing at the same time.

As with the rest of the HK population, the amahs start out late (probably because they have duties to do at their residences first). This means that Causeway Bay and Central are relatively easy to get around until after about 2pm or so on a Sunday. It’s not that difficult afterwards either as people that live here know where else to walk so that legs don’t need to be climbed over.

A rainy day is totally different.

These days necessitate the large gatherings to move further undercover as their meagre shelters of umbrellas and cardboard don’t shield them very well from rain. HK is also pretty shocking for having indoor seating (eg the only place to sit in a shopping centre is a restaurant, café, cinema or toilet). This means they need to spread out further on the covered pathways while trying to leave a space for others to walk through. They do a very good job of this but it can be difficult when you encounter someone wanting to pass walking the other direction.

It is all good except if you’re in a hurry, lost your sense of humour or have forgotten that this is one of the things that makes HK, HK.

* Thanks to Supertramp for the title to this post.

Many of those in the Philippines are doing it tough right now (well, tougher than usual) due to the typhoons that have hit various parts of it recently. If you can afford to, please donate even a small sum (a little goes a long way in this country).