Something Fishy is Going On

Last month, Elise’s fourth-grade class did a unit on ecosystems. They cut the top four inches off of half a dozen plastic two-liter pop bottles. The kids turned these into makeshift aquariums by adding water, sand, a sea plant or two, a snail, and three or four small fish including one bottom-feeding cleaner fish. And –poof- they had themselves several self-sustaining ecosystems.

After the unit was over, Elise was one of the lucky ones who got to bring an aquarium home. Not surprisingly, she was quite excited to finally have a pet even if they didn’t invite petting. What was surprising though was the fact that the rest of the family got into these newest residents of the seventh floor.

We left the plastic aquarium on the dining table and spent several meals staring at the fish and talking about all things aquatic. Julie brought home an oversized, clear glass vase from Ikea to use as a bigger fish bowl. Elise talked us into taking her to the fish store to buy a replacement fish for the one that died. We all got very excited when the guppies had babies. We all got very sad when the adults ate them. Julie used a recycled plastic scoop to fashion a mini tank-with-in-a-tank in order to provide a safe haven for the next batch of babies.

This past Saturday, our big weekend outing was to head down to an older part of Hong Kong called Mon Kok to visit the aquarium street that has nothing but fish stores.

We left the apartment just after lunch, but didn’t get to the fish store until almost 4:00 o’clock, because first we had to visit the flower markets which are just down the street from fish street. The flower markets are street after street of florists with all their goods spilling out onto the sidewalk. Flowers or every variety and color.

And then we had to stop by bird street, where there were stores -stalls really- of birds, cages, and bird supplies. It was fun to look at all the birds some of which were not in cages and we were able to touch. As fun as that was, the real entertainment came from watching all the old men who brought their birds in cages to see and be seen on this Saturday morning. I’m not sure who was strutting and preening more, the cockatoos or the old men.

We finally made our way to the street that had nothing but stores with fish and turtles and aquarium supplies. We were in fish heaven. The girls looked and dreamed. We saw some amazing fish.

Looking at all the cool aquarium supplies and the exotic, colorful fish was awesome, but alas, we left without buying anything.

It was getting late.

It was time for dinner.

I asked if anyone else had a hankering for seafood. They all just rolled their eyes and headed for the nearest Indian restaurant.

-Jack