Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Lizard Oil (青龍油)

I was leaving Ap Liu Street (鴨寮街) in ShumShuiPo, having bought some special batteries for hearing aids, when a glimpse of a big lizard caught my attention. It turned out a woman was selling a kind of cure-all lizard oil. She had a lizard on her hand, while another was lying belly-up on the ground. Her partner was rubbing the oil on an old lady’s arm to demonstrate its curative power. When the woman spotted me with my camera, however, she started shouting at me. I had to beat a hurried retreat, and had no chance to try it.

By the way, those batteries were not for me. They were bought for my parents, and were much cheaper in Ap Liu Street than anywhere else.

Ap Liu Street is one of the most fascinating places in Hong Kong. More about it later.




2 comments:

tabbycat said...

Is that lizard dead or alive? I have lizards and cannot imagine them being willing to lie like that at all. Or being trainable, either.

StephenC said...

The one in the woman's hand seemed to be alive. Didn't know about the one belly-up on its back. That's what I was trying to find out before being chased off :(