R&R for an Asynchronous Term

Gotta work on Saturday. Struggling under mounds of marking. Been plodding through a relentless term since mid-August and it's only going to be more, or at least more of the same.

So I went to a market fair at the Helena May above Central. And it was lovely. They sold me 15 secondhand books for less than $70.

It was interesting to see this high calibre event, too. Research, if you will. I was only there for about half an hour, but saw the difference to local fairs. 

The vendors put together polished spreads on their table. It wasn't so much their choice of goods, since they brought things like organic soaps, shawls, greeting cards, jewellery, social enterprises supporting communities from developing countries, cheese, baked goods, knitted goods, cutlery ... but everything was made of a better quality, better packaged and better presented. It also helped to be indoors drinking in the elegance of the Helena May itself - a gorgeous colonial building.

Earrings were mounted on shop cards and pinned in neat rows onto velvet cushioned stands. Where the vendor had more than one stand, those were matching. One vendor set out soaps and jars of hand cream on wooden boards engraved with the shop name and logo. 

The books were still books lined spine up on tables. No change! But professionalism shone from just about everything else. It's a fair I'd love to join one day. Meanwhile, there's the upcoming Big Picnic and Handmade HK fair to look forward to.

And this: possibilities to visit some markets in Taiwan. Rent for two 4-hour days is NT850, or HKD200 or so. FeldieJournals' future ventures...?