THE NONNATIVE

On Hong Kong island I notice that Westerners typically live on the more Western parts of the island... Central, Sai Yin Pun, Kennedy Town. I hear a few around that make it out to Wan Chai, even less in Causeway Bay. I live in North Point, and previously I had been living in Chai Wan, which is about as far east on HK island you can get before you go south. I have a love-hate relationship with the east side. On one hand, it's nice to live somewhere I don't run into anyone I know if I don't want to. The downside is that I am a freak of nature. I see some tourists here and there, but I am the resident weirdo eating curry fish balls outside and giving the guys at the Jocky Club dirty looks. That's me.

The other positive part of living in North Point is that there's a great street market, Marble Road. In fact, I live on Marble Road and walk past a lot of the shops every day. I'm not going to say it's the most amazing market I've ever seen, but there are some discounted clothing stores on my street that have questionable finds. Questionable as in I look at some of the clothes & I say to myself, "Would I really wear this...?" and then I decide that well, I live right next door - if I have to have it I'll buy it tomorrow. There have been a few things that apparently were one of a kind that I totally missed out on. A few stores seem to have hand made knits, I don't speak any Cantonese and they don't speak any English so our communication involves a lot of smiling.

In addition to these stores located on the sides of Marble Road, every day people come in bringing their wares and setting up shop. I gotta love them, rain or shine they're there. I have to say I love living here, aside from being the local weirdo I can walk out my front door and do two of my favorite things: snack & shop.

I live on the block of Marble Rd. that runs between Kam Hong St. and Tin Chiu St., there's not a whole lot right here aside from a fish ball stand, the Jocky Club, and if you do happen to wander over to my area there is a really great Thai Place called "Thai Nap Porn". No joke, I probably eat there 2-3 nights a week & for two people to eat entirely too much food is maybe $80HKD.

Past Kam Hong Street is where there are shops, most of the shop names are in Chinese but on a few I have seen the word "wholesale". I've never had anyone tell me I had to buy wholesale, so I think it might mean you could possibly buy wholesale. Everything has the price listed on them at these stores, outside they display their finest items, most things are less than $100, shirts (dress shirts) are $20. On the other side of the road there are stalls, a few dress stores, a sock lady, pajama man, toy maker guy, they all have interesting things. If you're into bejeweled hairclips - you'll be in heaven.

At the Shu Kuk Street intersection with Marble Road there's way more snacks, I particularly like these ones. I'm sorry, once again they have no name. I also have gone here for a lunch of fried noodles ($15) and a fried potato thing ($6). This next block of Marble Road is truly a street market, there's a whole variety of things down here, bins of $10 t-shirts, dirt-cheap leggings in every color, style, and size, hair accessories, underwear, socks, hats, and jewelry. And of course next to every clothing stall there is a random vegetable stand or butcher.

North Point is also home to a few other fun treats, such as the famous bubble waffle stand: "The ingredients are simple – flour, egg and milk – but somehow the talented ladies at this small stall manage to create magic with their waffle pans. Celebrities, tourists and locals alike all love this crispy snack, and ordering one batch ($12) is never enough. 492 King’s Rd, North Point, 2590 9726"

The Clay Pot Indian Restaurant. A family owned restaurant located on the Electric Road wet market that specializes in Tandoori style BBQ. A small, but very traditional Indian menu made with fresh ingredients from the market on the first floor. Tandoori chicken is of course amazing but to my surprise the prawn curry had hearty prawns and rich curry sauce. 2/F, 229 Electric Road, North Point

So maybe North Point isn't going to be the be all end all shopping paradise of HK East, but there's plenty of things to see and eat. If you're tired of places that cater to the Western lifestyle but don't feel like venturing to the Dark Side, head over to Marble Road in North Point.



North Point, Marble Road