Bird Garden and Jade Market

Today I headed out for another adventure. I got off the subway at Prince Edward station and went to the bird garden. There are stalls selling birds, live food, and bird supplies. There were awesome wooden bird cages, but I felt bad for the birds that lived in them because they were so tiny. The bird garden is also a place for people to come and talk about their birds, mostly old men who bring their birds out to 'socialize' in the garden.

One of the small wooden cages...many of the birds there seemed to be sparrows and other types that we wouldn't typically keep as pets in America.

This guy was awesome, though he probably didn't have a very good life living in the bird market waiting to be sold. Although it was an interesting place, I don't see how any of the birds could have been in the best of health.

These guys had come to the garden with their owner and were drying off after a morning spritzing.

This parrot was a talker. I'm not sure what he was saying but it was loud.

I'm pretty sure these are Myna birds...so neat!

Of course there were love birds. I couldn't believe how many birds they fit into each cage. There were also parakeets and finches at the market.

The flower market was right next to the bird garden. This part was less crowded, but further down the sidewalks were just filled with flowers.

After the bird garden I headed down to Yau Ma Tei to go to the Jade Market. I stopped to eat lunch first at a small restuarant, and was momentarily surprised when the waitress seated me at a booth that was already occupied by a man. Then I remembered that in Hong Kong, they just seat you where ever there is room. So, I had lunch with an architect that lives on Hong Kong Island. He was quite nice and we had a good conversation. He did ask me about Obama...lol.

At the Jade Market there are about 400 stalls with vendors selling anything from watches featuring Chairman Mao to strings of pearl and jade. The best part is bargaining with the vendors. One of my purchases was this cricket box. It was just too neat for me to pass up. The top is glass and there is a wooden cover that can slide into place on top of it. There is another compartment on the other side as well.

I loved this necklace so much that I bought four in different colors. It only cost me $11 for all of them.