This is a continuation of my diary from my RTW trip from November 2003.
I spent the Sunday on the South side of the Island browsing around the Stanley flea market. Lots of people trying to sell me marble name stamps and jade lion bookends. It was fascinating and some of the clothes were selling for great bargains.
On the way to Stanley Market, I crossed over the water by ferry from our hotel again and was met by an extraordinary scene in the Central District.
The pavements were heaving with hundreds of women all sitting around having a picnic on the pavement. They seemed clustered into groups. So some were sewing, some knitting, some telling everyone elses’ fortunes and some getting highly excited about the poker match they were involved in.
I couldn’t work out what was going on at all. They weren’t waiting for anything and they didn’t seem to be demonstrating against anything. As the tram pulled out of the station and headed further through Central there seemed no end to the crowd. All of the women were sitting by the walls of the banks, out of pedestrians way, chatting and enjoying their picnic and the weather.
Thankfully someone on the tram explained what was going on. All the women are Filipino and work as maids in Hong Kong. Sunday is their day off and they cook for each other and collect centrally to spend time among friends.
As I returned from Stanley Market in the early evening, the women were still there. The groups in Admiralty district were obviously livelier than the handicrafts section by the banks as I came across group aerobics and choreographed dancing!
Sadly I thought it was too intrusive at the time to take a picture of them, so you'll have to make do with a tram instead.
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