Unrefrigerated meat always tastes better, or so I guess. The markets of Central on Hong Kong Island, China, sell a variety of meat and produce. The fish is packed on ice. The same cannot be said for the pork. Captured: September 13, 2008. s

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A popular tea stand on Stanley Street (the Street of Camera Shops), Central District, Hong Kong SAR. Getting a decent shot was difficult. There was always too many damn people in the way. I wasn’t brave enough to try the tea, it was the color of a mud puddle.

Capture: September 13, 2008.

This is one of the most common photographs taken in Asia. Every night of the week sees professional photographers, and people like me, with tripods set up on Avenue of the Stars in Kowloon, their lenses trained on the bright lights of Hong Kong Island.

How could you not take this photo? The clouds roll in from Victoria Peak, covering the skyscrapers. The phallic IFC2 building spotlights the sky. It’s freakish. It’s mysterious. It’s gaudy beauty. There are dozens of colorful metaphors I could use.

I hate you, Hong Kong. On your streets I feel like an adulterous husband sneaking guiltily around. How could I love the bastard child of opium-laced British Imperialism? I hate you, Hong Kong, and Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, Central, Wan Chai, and Causeway Bay.

But this photo: I can almost forget about the bitter expats that fill your bars and the fact Jackie Chan is still allowed to make films. This scene: That is why I love you.

And hate you.

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Signs in a back alley, Central, Hong Kong Island. If you haven’t been to Hong Kong, it is something to see.

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved.”
– Helen Adams Keller

I’m off to Hong Kong today. Why? Why not. A ferry ride, a quasi-English environment, maybe fish and chips, it’s all good. This will be my last chance to get away before school starts again. I’ll spend the morning prowling the backstreet markets of Central on Hong Kong Island and snapping away.

A lion guards a business on Hollywood Road (the antiques district) in Central, Hong Kong. In Chinese mythology the lion will protect a home or business from ghosts and evil spirits.