June 10, 2022
One of the platforms here that I like visiting is Dreemport, especially when I don't know whose certain article to read. I'll just gonna go to the Curation section and curate the given articles. In that way, I'm engaging with others through reading their submitted articles while earning DREEM tokens and participating in the ranking challenges.
For those who don't know, we can promote our articles on Dreemport, not just the ones posted on the Hive chain but also those posted on different platforms where you are blogging. You can visit this article below, in case you want to know more about it.
Building A Better Name With Dreemport
Aside from promoting articles on Dreemport, one thing I like there is the weekly challenges in collaboration with another community. Recently, the creator of one of my favorite communities, Ecotrain, had bid goodbye to Hive as he wanted to enjoy his life more and focus on more important things. Thus, the collaboration of Dreemport with Ecotrain ended. I was lucky to be part of one of its challenges and won some rewards. You can read my entry here if you want.
And here it is! The very first challenge of Dreemport in collaboration with the Market Friday community. It's not just a simple Market Friday challenge though as Dreemie even makes it more challenging, yet fun, and I challenged myself to participate because I like the concept.
You can read the full details here.
Welcome to Kowloon City Market!
In more than four years of living in Hong Kong, this is where I usually do marketing as vegetables and meat are fresher compared to the ones in supermarkets. Besides, the prices in other stores are much cheaper too and you can bargain if the vendor is your friend.
The Kowloon City Market is a one-stop-shop market as there are variety and a large selection of seafood, poultry, vegetables, and fruits to choose from. You don't need to go out to another market as all kinds of food can be found here.
Before I go to my favorite stalls, let me give you a tour of this market.
This market is always cleaned by staff and has decentralized air-conditioners in all parts so customers would feel comfortable while shopping. It is also organized and easy to spot the stalls where you want to buy food.
As you enter the market, you'll see the seafood stalls located on the right side along with other vegetable stalls. You can buy different kinds of seafood fresh from the tanks. They are kind of expensive though. Well, seafood is expensive here in Hong Kong and prices vary from what district and city you will buy seafood.
There are three districts in HK, the most expensive rentals and products are in the HK Island area, next one is here in Kowloon District, followed by New Territory. And seafood products are usually harvested in New Territory areas, so it is cheaper to buy seafood there.
On the left side are vegetable and fruit stalls.
For healthier food, you can shop at the Organic Corner.
There are also stalls where you can buy different Chinese herbs for soups. I guess these are the secret to the Chinese people's long life.
And stalls selling beancurd products. I like buying bean sprouts here and cooking them with tofu. It's healthy and perfect for vegetarians.
At the end area of the first floor are poultry stalls where you can buy fresh chicken, butchered and undressed right in the shop. Some frozen chickens with good qualities are also sold here.
This is where we usually buy fresh and frozen chickens. Prices vary depending on the tags of the chicken. The ones with green tags are more expensive. You can also buy black chickens here for soup. And aside from seafood, fresh whole chickens are expensive too. Should I buy one? Hmm..later 🤣.
There are flower shops too where you can buy flowers, perfect for your vase on the table.
Ride on the escalator to the second floor to see meat stalls selling pork, beef, and lamb, freshly butchered in the morning and delivered right away to corresponding shops.
And also some kitchenware and other merchandise.
A badminton playing place and a Chinese restaurant are located on the third floor of the market.
This is where we usually buy fresh pork. The pigs are raised in Hong Kong poultry farms, so the prices of pork in this shop are quite higher compared to other meat stalls inside this market. The ones from mainland China farms are preferably cheaper. But the quality of the meat here is, of course, better.
Look at what he is holding 😁
The staff is friendly too and accommodating. He would sometimes give me a discount, for instance, the pork is worth HK$125, and he would only ask me HK$120. And during Chinese New Year, he usually gives me red pockets with HK$20-50 inside. It's not bad at all if I will convert it to our Philippine money. That's also his way of giving thanks to his regular customers.
The last part is where we usually buy vegetables. Compared to other vegetable stalls, the ones sold here are fresher and have better quality, but of course, with higher prices. This stall was recommended by my boss and is the most visited stall in the market in terms of buying vegetables. Some of their vegetables are harvested from Hong Kong farms, some from mainland China, and others are imported from other countries.
I've been buying vegetables here for more than four years already, and this stall is owned and operated by a single-family. The parents, as well as children, are the ones working in this stall and assisting the customers. The oldest son is the nicest and most friendly to the customers, especially to the Filipino workers. He also knows how to speak English, so it's easier to communicate with him and ask about certain vegetables we are looking for.
I took some courage to ask the guy vendor if I could take some photos of them and I explained to him that I am a blogger and I want to write an article about this market. Gladly, he permitted me to do so.
The ones at the back are his sister and father
Yes! I did it Dreemie! 🤣
He's a busy man and there were customers coming, so I didn't bother him anymore after taking the photo. But looking at the photographs posted on the side of the stall, I could say that they have been selling vegetables here for a long time. They look younger in the photos compared to their current looks, which only proves that they've been here for a long time.
The customers in the photographs are some Hong Kong celebrities. That also shows that their products have good quality that celebrities are buying here. I wish I could spot them someday and take a photo with them 😅.
Talking about what can I buy with $10 in this market, let me convert it to Hong Kong dollars first. US$10 is equivalent to HK$78.48 and using that amount, I can only buy a little I guess. Given that Hong Kong is an expensive country, I have to budget it very well and make sure to only buy the necessary ones. Since my meals are covered by my boss, I usually buy food that I usually eat in the morning, like fruits, teas, and others.
If I want to buy fruits, I usually go to the supermarket outside this market, because fruits are cheaper there, as well as other products, or in Wellcome Supermarket where I can buy bananas from the Philippines and it's cheaper too.
And here are the products I bought worth US$10.
- 1 Apple - HK$12 ($1.53)
- 2 Oranges - HK$24 ($3.06)
- 1 pack Green tea - HK$37 ($4.71)
- 1 Cucumber - Hk$5 ($0.64) for my pickles
- TOTAL: HK$78 ($9.94) I still have 0.06 change 😅
Dreemie also asked to mention the most expensive product on the market. I mentioned above, seafood is expensive here, but the most expensive for me is the whole chicken worth HK$300 or US$38.22 and that's about 3 catty.
Should I buy one?
My boss answered it as we really did buy whole chicken today! What a coincidence. Not my money though, haha.
Ready to steam after cleaning!
And tada!! Steam chicken for dinner. This is yummy if eaten with ginger soy sauce.
And talking about the most beautiful item in this market, here it is.
Why? Simply because flowers are the most beautiful creatures of nature that can be found everywhere, even inside the market 😁.
Thanks for this awesome challenge. You guys can join too. Visit and subscribe to Market Friday Community. Create an account on Dreemport, participate in this challenge, and submit it there.
I'm done so let me eat one of the oranges 😁.
And here's the pickled cucumber I made.
Have a nice market Friday!
(All photos are mine)
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