You could call it a tribute to the entrepreneurial spirit of Hong Kong. Or you could say the sharks were out scenting blood.
Either way the streets and environs of the stadium were awash with touts and hawkers yesterday.
On the one hand there was the hard luck story of the (anonymous, of course) Liverpudlian woman selling a $250 face-value ticket for $300, saying: 'My other half had to fly home because his mum has cancer.' Fair enough. But why the $50 mark-up? On the other hand there was the cockney lad in an All Black shirt (anonymous again) who was making no bones of asking $400 per $250 ticket for yesterday and $800 per for today's one-day tickets. With half a dozen of those on offer he stood to make a killing.
Then there was the Honest Joe (possibly an alias) who was willing to give away his Saturday ticket. 'It's my wife's but she had enough watching Friday and decided to go shopping today,' he explained in a somewhat perplexed tone.
Scots' brave face The Scots put a Braveheart face on defeat yesterday. It used to be enough to sport a kilt with sporran, maybe a tam-o'-shanter and a flag with the lion rampant to denote your Scottish sympathies at the Sevens. But this year's version has the added factor of Braveheart fever, still in the air after last week's Oscar ceremony triumph. Mel Gibson's epic film of futile Scottish rebellion was the theme of many a T-shirt. And the spirit of the movie was further fostered yesterday by the descendants of chieftain William Wallace sporting wigs and exotic blue war paint.
Facing up to job Apart from the impromptu cosmetics of the Scots and their war paints, there was an official face-painting tent at the North end of the stadium. Face-painter C. C. Ma reported a brisk trade. 'We've handled more than 100 today,' he said. 'We charge $50 for a half-face and $100 for a full face.'
