Free Day in HK

• Woke up at 7:45, made it to breakfast by 8 and let myself take the full hour to eat slower and try everything I wanted to.
• THEY HAVE NATTO HERE. I even saw someone take some of it (how can they stand it??)
• Left the hotel around 9:45 to the Tsim Sha Tsui MRT subway station, rose to Mong Kok and transfered to the green line to come up at Diamond Hill. The escalator up put me in the Plaza Hollywood Shopping Mall, but I got out and went towards the nunnery. Before I got there, I saw the entrance for the *** garden, which I knew was associated with the nunnery. What I didn't know is that they are the same, so the entrance I went in was for both (and free). It was just a nice place to look at the plants and koi in the pond and chillax for a bit.
• Took subway to Mong Kok, where the concierge said I could find a souvenir. One street was all electronics, one was all clothes, and one was all pet fish (not what I had expected when he said it was a "fish market."
• I ended up finding ONE vendor on a side street and buying a horse painting. Who knows if I'll actually use it, but I have it :P
• Walked to Tsim Sha Tsui and found the hop-on/hop-off bus with the intention of riding the full loop.
• When we got to the Central Pier (on the Hong Kong Island side), I was asked to leave. They said all passengers had to exit at this stop, and since my pass was only good for one hop-on I would need to purchase another one-way for 35 HKD.
• Instead, I bought a 3.40 HKD ferry ticket back to Tsim Sha Tsui, stuck it in my pocket, and decided to walk around while I was here. I knew SoHo (one of the artisan areas) wasn't too far so I tried to find it with my map. I eventually came across a place that was packed with people, so I'm assuming that was it.
• Walked around looking to see if I could find a postal card or a souvenir I might like better, but basically everyone was selling the same stuff - traditional female Chinese shirts, or watches.
• I stopped by a bakery I passed to try the egg tart (haven't had one in Asia), and it was so good!
• Walked back to the ferry with the intention of taking it and going back to Tim Ho Wan again (so cheap and so good!), and asking my concierge where in the heck to find a postcard.
• Right by the pier there was a music festival going on (Dragonland), so I walked over to see the lineup. Mike Posner was the voice I was hearing, and Carly Rae Jepson was next. I sat down nearby to type bullets up until here and pass time until she started. I wasn't willing to pay 1000 HKD to get in, but wanted to see if she sounds the same in-person as she does recorded. It sounded great, but when did she get short blonde hair?? I was one of 20+ people standing and watching the screen from outside of the gates, and I'm surprised the guards were ok with that.
• Took the ferry back, meaning to sit on the Hong Kong Island facing side, but apparently the ferry can drive in either dorection without having to turn around. Oh well.
• Walked to my hotel to drop off my bag and count my money. I had 82 HKD, so I kept my plan to go try more things at Tim Ho Wan. I gave up my idea of finding another postcard because I didn't want to add on another thing to do.
• Now that I knew where I was going, I made it there in only about 20 mins (Google thinks it's a 30-35 min walk)
• Ordered all-different things, and unfortunately they were out of one of them so I tried to exchange that item for another and the waitress was not having it. I couldn't tell if they were also out of the replacement options I gave, or if their system wouldn't let them edit an order once it's places. She just kept saying no.
• If you've been to a dim sum restaurant you know that ordering is not like a normal restaurant. You fill out the card and they take it. At Tim Ho Wan, when they take your order card a receipt is generated for you to hand the cashier when you're done.
• Since I now had 23 extra HKD that I thought I wouldn't have, I went into the Olympian City mall to Gong Cha, a bubble tea place I had seen yesterday. I got a taro milk tea with boba (my go-to), and it came out to 21 HKD. 2 isn't enough to get anything, so I guess that'll just be a souvenir.
• Walked back to the hotel (9:30) to pack and post pictures and get ready for Tokyo! My ride comes at 5:45am.