Kung fu and bird flu

Some last impressions to sum up Hong Kong:

Nazma met the extended family on both my mother and father's sides for the first time. The meetings weren't the nerve-wracking trials-by-fire that we might have expected: they were incredibly gracious and even openly fawning at points. A little Cantonese goes a long way, it seems. We also got to meet my cousin's 5-month-old son for the first time. Apparently he looks like me. How this happened, no one can say, and I'll thank you wags out there to keep your jokes to yourself.

They do this killer martial-arts demonstration every Sunday in Kowloon Park. Locals outnumbered tourists by about 30 to 1, so we figured it was pretty authentic. They get pretty freaky with the balancing during the lion dances, and even the kids get into it: check out this little guy with his sword in mid hi-yah.

Dimwits that we are, we decided it'd be a good idea to wander over to the bird market and check out all the songbirds and exotics. What we had forgotten was that everyone there right now is on high alert over the avian flu, so of course we get there and find the place deserted. Where is everyone? So we're feeling pretty good about having the place to ourselves, wandering around the place checking out the toucans and the parrots and the apartment-style cage dwellings. I think we realised two days later, in the middle of the night. Even frenzied hand-washing won't save us now.

And now, off to Bangkok.