Spending My Christmas Day On The Street

December 27, 2021

December 25, was supposed to be spent with a friend and we planned to visit the Winter Wonderland. However, on Friday afternoon, she messaged me via Messenger and informed me that we can't go out together as she swapped her holiday to weekday so she could go to the consulate for her passport renewal. And I felt sad about it as it was supposed to be a happy day for me.

However, I thought of things to do on this day so I won't be bored and sad. Two things came to my mind, either I'll go to the sweet gum woods to see autumn foliage, or execute my BCH gift-giving in the real world. And I chose the latter.

With this, I checked Binance P2P so I could sell my BCH to buy some gifts for my beneficiary. Unfortunately, after checking the list of merchants, they all are using the FPS method that needs to be connected to an HK bank account, which I don't have.

Moreover, the cash-in-person location was too far from our place as it is in the North Territory area, and I am here in Kowloon HK. This left me no choice but to use my cash instead.

So on the day of Christmas, I got up early to visit the nearest street market full of affordable winter clothes. And I already listed what to buy for her, a winter jacket and trousers, a pair of gloves and socks, a bonnet, and some packed food. Her body is small enough that she could wear a kid's size, and it took me a while to look for a jacket that would suit her age and body size. 

So instead of roaming around to treat and pamper myself, I opted to roam around this street to have shopping.

I visited every shop to find clothes that would fit her age and I was even tempted to buy for my own, as the prices were low. But my budget was limited, so I forgot about myself for a while, lol.

But let me take a selfie 🤣.

After buying all the stuff for my beneficiary, I walked back to our city at noon to buy packed food for her, and so I could eat lunch as well. On my way back to the city, I stopped by St. Theresa church to pray. And that's the reason why I opted to walk than ride a bus, so I could visit the church near the area.

The mass was about to end when I got there, so I just offered my prayers.

Outside the church was a pretty Christmas Belen, and churchgoers were taking photos with it.

My stomach was already complaining after the mass, so I continued walking to the city to look for a restaurant where I could have my lunch before buying packed food for my beneficiary.

I opted to visit an Italian restaurant, so at least, I could indulge myself in eating food that I wanted for this day.

Time to look for my beneficiary

After eating lunch, I took out a box of pizza for her and bought some cup noodles, biscuits, and canned goods.

Along with the red jacket, trousers, bonnet, pair of gloves, and socks, I put them all in one big plastic bag with the BCH logo.

Then I roamed around the small city to look for my beneficiary. I visited the tent where I spotted her before but she wasn't there and I only saw her cart outside.

I continued walking to look for her, around the market, outside 7/11 stores where she used to eat cup noodles and checking the small alleys, hoping that I could see her.

But while looking for her, all I saw were other old women pushing carts and street sweepers. This is the saddest view in HK. While others are enjoying their comfortable lives, some are struggling for life. So even old people are forcing themselves to work on the street so they could survive.

At 4:30 I still can't see her around, so I opted to rest on a bench by the sidewalk and think of what to do next.

The city is just small and I know I can see her. If not today might be on other days. And I will always carry this bag of gifts with me each day I'll visit the market.

It was getting dark so I decided to bring back home the bag of gifts, as I still planned to visit a place. It was tiring, yet fulfilling. At least I have the gifts now, and all I need to do is to give them to her once I saw her on the street.

Visiting West Kowloon Art Park/Cultural District

The journey didn't end there as I traveled to another place after putting the gifts at home. This was the place that I wasn't able to visit last Sunday, the West Kowloon Art Park. I believe the views are prettier when it's dark and so I opted to visit the place at night.

West Kowloon brings out HK's vibrant street life.

(The Xiqu Center for Chinese traditional theatre and opera)

(The High-Speed Rail Station going to China)

(A beautiful architecture of M+ building lobby)

A perfect scenery of Hong Kong city at night.

At the park by the seaside, people set up their beautiful tents with lights

I guess they celebrated their whole Christmas Day in this park, as they set up their food as well and others were having games.

A gigantic Christmas tree was located at the end of the park with festive music and different lighting effects and colors.

People were swarming around, taking photos, while others were in their tents, some were along the bay and having fun.

Of course, I can't end the night without taking selfies 🤣.

Okay, I'll end it here as I might post more selfies here, lol. By the way, since I didn't find my beneficiary on the street, I just ate the box of pizza by the seaside alone. It was already cold though but was still yummy.

What about you? How did you spend your Christmas day?

Edited: I found my beneficiary just this afternoon, December 27, I felt so happy that I finally completed this mission. I might post another article about it.

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