Very confusion...: Who stole the sole?

You've been Mong Kokked!

Not the kind of thing you want to hear someone say to you. I've been what?!?! You've been Monged sounds like you just got your wallet stolen by a bunch of kinds on the short bus. You've been Kokked. Well. I mean that just sounds like buttsecks really. Not cool.

But you've been Mong Kokked? Ouchies.

There's a whole mess of shoes stores in this place on Kowloon side called Mong Kok. Like a street full of them. Some genius decided to nickname it shoe street. Must've been a goddamned slow day down at the brain farm. Anyway, on 'Shoe Street' you can shop around a bit (provided you've an aggro local or a front-mounted human spatula to help you fight through the crowds), & ultimately find yourself a pair of reasonably priced running shoes. Rad. However, there is always the small chance that you'll pay full price for a counterfeit knock off. Now, I bought myself a pair of Nike running shoes the day after I got here. They look pretty awesome I must say, but they've got one of those cool chips in them that lets you hook remotely up to your iPhone. SInce I now have one I thought I'd be hella fly & get all connected up. But there's one of several unfortunate things going one here:
1. I'm an idiot & can't get it to work; or
2. Someone pinched the damned chip out of the sole of the shoe & I've been Mong Kokked; or
3. It's a fake shoe & I've been Mong Kokked; or
4. The shoe was beaten around so badly in transit (or by it's previous owner) that it's irreparably busted & I've been Mong Kokked.

Dammit.

What's in a name?
It's a silly name when you come from an English speaking background, but somehow it just suits this joint down to the ground. Mong Kok is one of the busiest places on this little ball of rock we call Earth. No, really. I truly mean that. It's one of the most jam packed pockets of seething humanity you are going to see anywhere in the world. Certified. This photo was taken on Sunday afternoon as I walked to the Langham Hotel (more to follow on that bling bling later) & it is the quietest part of Mong Kok I've ever seen. If you look in the bottom lefthand side, there's totally space there. People, people:

No! The one with short hair! The Asian guy! Oh, dammit, you missed him.

Everyone who comes to visit me in Hong Kong must come to Mong Kok with me. I know nothing about the place & we'll get lost almost instantly, but it's just so worth seeing.

Don't wear hooped earrings.

Okay, enough about that, let's talk about the Langham. It wasn't a life changing experience, but there is a lot to be said about a quiet, spacious beer garden where you pay HK$480 (about $65) for all you can eat gourmet pizza, which is surprisingly enjoyable & awesome, & all you can drink bubbly, wine & beer. They have Monteith's Golden Ale. Anyone that's tried Monteith's Golden Ale will know what a front-of-pants experience it is drinking that liquid heaven, anyone that hasn't should be reaching for their car keys right now to go & get some. Seriously, you should go. The blog will still be here when you get back. So anyway, it's a three hour Sunday session, which is pretty rad as it's enough to get saucy & stuffed, but not so long that Monday is a complete shitfest of hungover horrors. More than anything, it's open to the elements (with umbrellas etc. to block out the sun like people love to do) & somehow doesn't seem to suffer from the constant drone of background noise that afflicts every other inch of Hong Kong lower than 150m above seas level.

I chewed through about 7 beers in the time I was there, so I was clearly a bit tipsy by the time I left. Had a great time just doing a real Aussie kind of Sunday session. Very enjoyable. Observe poor quality photos taken with the iPhone: