Ni hao ma?

Woke up pretty early today, well actually been doing that during the entire week. Seems like I don't need as much sleep as I do back home. Not complaining, especially since the day just gets longer and I'll fit in more stuff to do.

Since it was nice and sunny outside I decided to do some sightseeing. It has been raining like mad these past few days, so haven't really taken any nice photos. On my way to the bus stop I saw two colourful parrots who were sitting up there singing. It's small things like this that makes me smile.

My first stop would turn out to be Paddy's Market. That place is just HUGE and packed with people and stalls were they sell all sorts of things, ranging from make-up, toys and clothes to crazy and creepy Australian souvenirs. Being quite overwhelmed by the entire place, I forgot to take any pictures there. Don't worry it's definitely not the last time I'll visit the place.

Right next to Paddy's Market lays China Town. It's definitely not the largest China Town I've ever seen, but it sure is special and it's always fun to explore all the different and unique shops.

The Chinese guarding lion is believed to have powerful mythical protective benefits. As a memory of having been to China Town I bought myself a Chinese lucky charm with a dragon, since I'm born in the year of the dragon. The lady selling it to me told me that I'm lucky to be born in such a great year and that I must be very smart...now where's my Nobel prize?

Since it was past lunch time and I was starting to get a bit hungry I had a look around at the various restaurants around to see what they had to offer.

They had so many different meals to choose from that I had quite a hard time decided what I wanted to have. But in the end I settled for some fried Veggie Dim Sum that were simply delicious. I'm pretty much crazy for anything dumpling like, so it's not much of a surprise that I liked these.

After a well earned lunch I went around to have a look what they had in all the shops.

Didn't really buy anything else (apart from a lovely replica of an antique hair fork), simply admired all the pretty and interesting things they had to offer. I do have to acknowledge that they did have some really nice clothing shops around there, a bit expensive but if I win the lottery I'll be sure to spend a part of my money there.
Next time I end up visiting China Town I'll be sure to buy some tea in one of the shops there. The tea always seems to be better there than if you buy them in a regular grocery store.

Now I think I'll sit down a bit and relax with some brioche cake which my homestay host bought at a market he went to...looks simply delicious!