Lantern lady

One of the people living in the sparkling city (see yesterday's photo) -- this lady works in a lantern shop and kindly agreed to let me take this photo while she assembled a "starfruit" lantern. We chatted for a while and she was sooooooo nice, just before I left I found out her last name is also "Tang", which is same as mine. :-) Link: another shot of some assembled starfruit lanterns Tags: lantern|Sheung Wan|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Enter the king of cliche

I had pondered which photo to post since last night. Personally, I like the colors and light of the other one taken at 6:30 pm(<--link), but I finally decided this one (taken at 7 pm) is more appropriate as the king of cliche HK photo. Sorry about the glare, I can get rid of it but have decided to leave it there. Now I've got rid of the feeling that I "owe" you a photo from the Peak...yay...LOL. Btw, do tell me which one do you like :-) Tags: the Peak|Victoria Harbor|Hong Kong|photos

Prelude

Today, I made a trip to the Peak before sunset and took about 200 photos. If I post them all, they would last until March 2007, LOL. Anywaz, this photo was taken around 6 pm when tourists were getting ready for one of the world's best night scenes. No HK photoblog is complete without a night scene from the Peak, and HKDP will be made complete tomorrow. ;-) (Michelle, are you ready for the king of cliche?) Link: the Peak Tags: Victoria Harbor|the Peak|Hong Kong|photos

Conversation terminator

Do you watch TV while having dinner? Well, HK people often do; TV goes well with rice as some jokingly say. I took this photo last night with my cellphone at a self-service restaurant. I was surprised to see that they have installed some small TVs on the tables. Maybe because more people are eating alone these days? But what a pity. Wouldn't it be nice if this father and daughter could share some quality time chatting instead? Tags: Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Birds' happy hour

Around 5:30 pm a few days ago, outside some office buildings in CyberPort, birds of the same feather flock together for Happy Hour...beer? Probably not but maybe they've got some peanuts. If you look closer, you'll see another bird at the centre background...not of the same feather so it's a loner ;p Tags: CyberPort|street scene|Hong Kong|photos

The return of the fish

It's been a long time since the last lantern photo, TEN DAYS exactly! I think I've waited long enough. I went to Sheung Wan where there's a half block of shops specializing in making laterns and other paper products; as you can see we have lanterns in the shapes of rabbit, starfruit, accordion and of course, fish. Seeing this fish lantern reminds me of the fish series in late February and that was FUN, if you want to revisit or if you haven't seen them the links are here: paper goldfish, fengshui fish, floral anglerfish, Victoria and the fish, new dish, dinner fish, and I ended the series with a post on cats...;-) Tags: Mid-Autumn Festival|lanterns|Sheung Wan|street scene|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Busy harbor

Just a photo to show you the Victoria Harbor on a busy day. This photo was taken from Central (HK island) looking towards Tsimshatsui and western Kowloon. Lots of activities going on with the hydrofoil, barges, ferry, a couple of small boats and even two helicopters, and just behind that giant advertisement of mooncake is a cruise ship at the terminal. Tags: Victorial Harbour|Tsimshatsui|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

The creepiest one

To me, these wigs are the creepiest, probably because of a local ghost story about a wandering spirit in a university campus with long hair and no face...I took this photo in broad daylight, no way I would go near them when it's dark, what if they turn around... LOL, Felicia of San Diego DP asked if the creepiest one would be a George W Bush mask (see yesterday's footprints); that's a good one Felicia, I have already shown a Bush mask earlier in my...mmm...April 1st post. Tags: Halloween|ghost story|Central|street scene|Hong Kong|photos

The scariest one

Magic Mirror on the wall, Who is the scariest one of all? HK is busy and even more so when we have two highly commercialised festivals in October. While some check out the lanterns and ponder about mooncakes, some worry about Halloween..."what should I wear"? The scariest one for me in this photo is the giant spider but tomorrow I'm going to show you the creepiest one of all ;p Tags: Halloween|Central|street scene|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Shopping and eating

Min described HK as a place for "mai dong xi chi dong xi" which is "shopping and eating" in Mandarin (see footprints of "Chinatown" post). It is quite true as you can see in this photo taken in Causeway Bay when a few tourists were heading to the "Food Forum" after a shopping spree. The Food Forum is a 4-storey space above a shopping mall with 20 fancy eateries, the red squares in the photo are actually a directory of those restaurants. Bon apetite! Tags: Causeway Bay|street scene|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Red sun

It was hazy yesterday and I took this photo just before the reddish sun disappeared behind some thick haze. This is from CyberPort, the western end of the HK island. I think this cargo ship was entering the port, maybe with mustard and olives for the supermarkets? Links: A pretty relief map of the HK Island and you can see the positions of CyberPort and some other districts I have shown before. Tags: CyberPort|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

This never happened before

Today's post is really about a song (press play if you're not at work or click this link but it may auto play on some computers, so check the volume;p). The first time I heard this, I thought it was the music but it's actually the voice and the non-fancy style of the singer that makes it special; it is very much like a friend singing in a house party or school hall party. I later found out who the singer is, he's famous...do you recognise the voice? Btw, is this song an oldie? OH...the photo...it was taken at Tsimshatsui by the Hong Kong Cultural Centre :-). Tags: Hong Kong Cultural Centre|Tsimshatsui|street scene|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

There and back again

Monday...forget about lanterns, grocery shopping or lingering by the harbor. Most people, that's including me, get back to work. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh... and I have an exam tonight on marketing, I need some luck ;-). That's why we have an archive photo today, taken at the International Finance Center on a sunny day showing people in the "web". update: just got home after exam...I didn't do very well and made a stupid choice, now I really need some LUCK :-( hoping for a marginal pass...but I think I'll forget about everything tomorrow. Thanks! Have a good week everyone. Extra: Wiki link to a Chinese historic event 75 years ago on this day Tags: International Finance Center|Central|street scene|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Chinatown?

"THE BIGGEST CHINATOWN" -- that is how HK is described in last night's Globe Trekker TV special on Chinatowns around the world. This is the first time that I heard of this perception and I'm confused...it has never occurred to me before that I'm born in a Chinatown!!! LOL! Maybe that's why I had mixed feelings during my 2-month stay in Beijing two years ago; maybe that's why the culture, people and language were familiar and strange at the same time --because I was a Chinatown Chinese in real China? Is that your perception of HK as well? ps. today's photo shows a replica of old fishing junk for tourists in the Victoria Harbor, it has engines and the sails are decorative ;-) Tags: Victoria Harbour|Causeway Bay|Hong Kong|photos

Back at the supermarket

These are all soy sauce, a must-have for Chinese kitchens...dark soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, chili soy sauce, low sodium or premium...I believe there are even more varieties in the super supermarkets in the Mainland and Taiwan. For me, I don't have the bottled ones but a bunch of those little packets I got from sushi delivery. If you are interested here's the website of one of the brands, you can also find some recipes there. Tags: supermarket|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Lanterns

From now until the Mid-Autumn Festival, I think I'll show you Chinese lanterns from time to time, because they are colorful, romantic (when lit with candles) and represent fun time for children. I didn't realise the Festival is approaching until I saw this shop in Central yesterday. ps. The Festival is on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month which falls on October 6th this year. Tags: Mid-Autumn Festival|lanterns|Central|street scene|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

After the rain

After a huge downpour in the afternoon which set off a rainstorm warning, the weather cleared up at night. We were happily back on the streets either shopping, heading to dinner places or just getting some fresh air in Causeway Bay. Tags: Causeway Bay|street scene|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

At a supermarket

I was at a supermarket and here's a small section of the condiment shelf. Guess what I picked? Pitted olives and hot English mustard (very good!). Of course, we have a much wider range of soy sauce and oyster sauce. I'll show you later. Tags: supermarket|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

White dove

The symbol of peace (minus olive branch) gazing out at the sea -- I took this photo at a beach a couple of weeks ago. I went to Catholic school up until I finished secondary school so we prayed at school everyday. When I was small we prayed for world peace especially during Christmas and New Year. I thought then peace was something easily achieveable like getting good grade if we studied hard enough (yes, I was really small). I even thought when peace would be achieved next year we would move on to pray for something new. I sounded angry yesterday but well, we should never give up hoping, maybe we are approaching peace everyday though by nano millimetres.

Tribute to unseen victims

A floral tribute not only to the 3,000 Americans who vanished five years ago, but also to the 60,000 plus civilian Afghans and Iraqis killed by the stupidity of the Bush administration in the last five years. Unlike the repeated replays and publications of images at the World Trade Center, not many images of how these people suffered and died, and how their families grieved were ever seen. These people existed, suffered or died as innocently as the Americans; their fate was sealed on that same day but there is no memorial, no books, TV specials and movies to remember them. I hope they are not forgotton by the world.

Aberdeen the seaport

I want to show a wider view of the city today, so here's a photo I took at the Aberdeen praya promenade. Aberdeen is a town in the southern part of the HK island and it is home to the local fishing industry, as you can see there's a line-up of red stern trawlers. The bridge is one which links Aberdeen to Ap Lei Chau (another island). Link: an interesting website on HK's fishing industry. Tags: Aberdeen|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Let's go movie

Just a shot at the cinema as weekend is here! HK's cinemas are mainly showing "Lake House", "Pirates of the Caribbean" and a couple of Korean and Japanese movies these days. If you want to know more, well, the website address is there ;-) Have a good weekend everyone!

Holy cow! They're here!

Here they are, the colorful cows in the very heart of the business centre and seem to be neglected by people. I'm sure kids will love to see them but they don't have a lot to deal with in the business district, right? I wonder who picked the venue...anywaz, this is the Cow Parade, a charity art exhibition touring a number of cities, and this collection showing in HK originates from Prague. Links: more cows in HK, Cow Parade website, Cow Parade photos in Paris, Buenos Aires, Manila, Edinburgh (DP bloggers, if you have a Cow Parade post, please let me know, I'll add your link. Thanks.) Tags: Central|Cow Parade|street scene|Hong Kong|photos

Street art

I'm showing you some street art today. In the foreground is "Courting" (but I forgot to note the artist's name); in the background by two up-and-coming artists, a local adaptation of Rodin's "The Thinker" and an original art called "The Starer". ps. has anyone had chips lying down like that? I suspect I will choke and the chips will be all over and it won't be very romantic... Tags: Admiraltystreet sceneHong Kongphotosdaily life

Shakespeare knew

"The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together". William Shakespeare Maybe Shakespeare meant to predict about the worldwide web ;-) I took this photo in the International Finance Centre with the glass ceiling casting net-like shadow in the courtyard. Tags: International Finance Center|Central|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

New and sad beginning

"So what have they come up with this year?" I guess local educators have much much more to ponder about than this boy does. When the new school year officially started yesterday came the sad news that a Form 3 (Grade 9) retained student committed suicide, leaving a note saying the pressure from school was unbearable. There are lots of madness going on in HK's education system which led to this tragedy and I just feel sorry for that boy. Tags: street sceneHong Kongphotosdaily life

Small head, big dream

The smaller the head, the bigger the dream.---Austin O'Malley The dream of HK's little girls (aka princesses) is to own all of these. Or is this dream universal? I took this photo at a streetside stall selling all the hair accessories you can think of, and this is only a small portion of the merchandise they carry... Tags: Wanchai|street scene|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Lining up again

Hong Kong people is good at lining up, for pretty much anything. Maybe that's why we have a group of statues lining up outside the British Consulate-General in Admiralty. Yes, it is British, the American flag is actually of a hotel right opposite to it. These statues seem to echo the ones by Ju Ming (link to previous post) of people lining up in the rain. Links: another view, about the British Consulate-General Tags: Admiralty|street scene|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Daniel Wu & hot dog

Don't even think about it Daniel! I know you're the hottest guy in town, you're also a kung fu expert, an actor (who can act) with a degree in architecture, but no no no, you can't have it. I captured Daniel coveting my hotdog while I was waiting for the movie "Lady in the Water". Have a good weekend everyone! Link: about Daniel Wu Tags: Daniel Wu|Cyberport|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Photo #201: Doorway to...

Why this doorway? Because it is there...or...because it is green. And because it is a doorway to history, to life, to culture. Also because it is a theme day today, here are the links to other doorways in the world: Porto -Copenhagen -Trier -Hyde -Greenville -Trondheim -Manila -Williamette Valley -Cottage Grove -Alexandria -Kuala Lumpur -Guadalajara -Szentes -Sydney -Wellington -SharonAlbuquerque -Washington DC -Chattanooga -Antigua -Rotterdam -Portmouth -RydeSaarbruecken -London -Newcastle -Singapore -AlisoViejo -Seattle -Delta-San Diego -JakartaVallauris -Brussel -Seattle -Stavanger -Paris -Saint Maxime -HK, ie here -Oulu -TrujilloBerlin-Vantaa-Melbourne Due to time zone differences and other factors, the theme photo may not be displayed until later. If you view after the date (also depends on the time zone) then you may probably find the theme photo in archives. Tags: Central|street scene|door|Hong Kong|photos