Flowers As Far As The Eye Can See. . .

To get to our next stop -- well, it's not really a stop, as we were walking the whole time -- we took the very pleasant, albeit somewhat crowded Hong Kong MTR, or subway.  It was very efficient -- DC's Metro could take lessons from it, although DC's Metro could probably take lessons from any subway system in the world! 

And to think DC Metro was once state of the art.  Now it is state of the broken down.  But what am I complaining about?  I don't use it!

Three particularly cool things about the subway here.  First, you can pay for multiple tickets at the same time, instead of having to do a separate transaction on the ticket machine for each person.  Second, the route maps inside the subway cars light up, making it easy to ascertain which station is next.  Third, if multiple trains run through the same stops, it shows you what direction the train on the other line is going, so you know where best to transfer.

We came out, walked a couple of blocks, and came to the famed Hong Kong flower market (okay, I hadn't heard about before doing some rudimentary planning before coming to Hong Kong, but trust me, it is famous!).  Storefront after storefront selling flowers and plants stretching for block after block.  And the sidewalks were packed.

How do you sell enough flowers with all the choices of stores each day to make a living?  It's mind-boggling to think about.  Some stores specialize in just one flower (well, I saw at least two stores that were orchid only), while most stores offer a variety.  Some are tiny storefronts.  

Bill took us into one shop that was a high-end Japanese plant store AND coffee house.  Mind blown!  Bill notes that everyone says they are going to open a similar shop in the US and make a killing, but as he notes, nobody has.  He observed you need a plant person to run the plant part and a coffee house person to run the coffee house (probably more efficient than having the plant person run the coffee house and the coffee house person to run. . .well, you get the idea!

Overall, the whole flower market is very cool, and is a must visit if you ever visit Hong Kong.