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Feline citizen

Hissing cat quoting Lewis Carroll: You must be mad......or you wouldn't have come here. The truth behind all these HK photos -- not all of us are friendly! LOL. Regarding cats, I think people can be referred to in these groups and quotations: Cat lover: The idea of calm exists in a sitting cat. -- Jules Renard (yeah, like this one?) Cat hater: Your cat's missing? Have you checked my bumper? -- anonymous for obvious reason (LOL) Neutral:I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals. -- Winston Churchill (isn't Sir Winston an interesting figure? A man of wisdom.) Whichever group you're in, have a good week! Tags: street scene|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Citylights

These are some shots I took on Thursday night around 11 pm from a bus when it drove past the streets near Lan Kwai Fong (<--link), the hub of nightlife in Central. Very different life from what we see in this photo, but I think I would like a little bit of both :-)...how about you? Link: an extra photo here Tags: Central|Lan Kwai Fong|street scene|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

On a Jaguar

I took this image on a Jaguar...not Jaguar the animal but Jaguar the car; and not me on the Jaguar, but the image is :p. A distorted reflection of a street in Wanchai -- I took this photo last week on a brilliant sunny day. There are lots of luxury cars in HK so maybe I can do a series, "On a Mercedes", "On a BMW", Audi, Lexus, Cadillac, Infiniti...Just my rambling on a lazy afternoon :-), have a good weekend everybody! Tags: Wanchai|street scene|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Oh Crab!

I bet it looks bizarre to you...LOL! This is a 3D advertisement built onto a bus stop in Wanchai, and the product is obviously, crab. To be more specific, it is Shanghai crab, a famous delicacy from Shanghai and its vicinity which is in season during autumn. Like all yummy food, this kind of fresh water crab has a dark side -- it comes with a lot of cholesterol and is kind of expensive. But still, it has a lot of fans in HK (me included ;p). p.s. since Dawn asked -- a real Shanghai crab is actually about the size of a lady's fist. Tags: Wanchai|street scene|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

City Hall

Is this considered retro style now? The Hong Kong City Hall was built in the 60s and is made up of two parts, the high block and the low block. The 12-storey high block is possibly one of the most photographed spots in the city as there's a marriage registry in the building. I have seen many beautiful night photos of the exterior of the high block and here's my best attempt. Can you see "w" there? I remember playing this game when I was small -- use your imagination and you can actually find quite a few alphabets in the right side of this photo :-) Link: a day time photo of this building, official page of the Hong Kong City Hall Tags: Central|street scene|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Drizzle

Heaven left the sprinklers on all day and the city has become grey and a bit paler with the drizzle. I took these photos in different parts of Central this afternoon; and since I can't (again) decide which one to post we have another collage. It is a grey day but hey, it's Wednesday afternoon now and we are a bit closer to weekend now :-) Tags: Central|street scene|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Chances are

The last time I posted a song with a photo(<-- link) it seemed to work pretty well so here's another romantic scene and song for you. The photo was taken at a beach at Lamma Island on a beautiful day last week. The song is "Chances are", I believe it's an older song (anybody knows?) but I first heard it in "Ally McBeal" by Vonda Shepard and Robert Downey Jr <-- I like him :p...Chances are you'll like it and I'll be really glad?? Link: the lyrics Tags: Lamma Island|street scene|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Dr Sun Yat Sen

Do you have a building or road, park, arch, association, library, Chinese school named Yat Sen, Chung Shan or Zhongshan in your city? Dr Sun Yat Sen must be the most "named after" Chinese in the world. He is a giant, the only figure who held a supreme position in the heart of Chinese and respected by both the conflicting political parties in Mainland China and Taiwan -- he is one of the very few beliefs that they share. Dr Sun Yat Sen led China to break through from 4,000 years of autocratic monarchy in 1911 and guided the country to a baby's first step towards democracy. In this time and era, we know no hero is flawless and people have discussed Dr Sun’s several decisions in relation to today's divided China. But he remains the courageous hero who took up a job no Chinese had even dreamt of in those days and set the scene for modern China, his 140th birthday was honored by many Chinese communities yesterday. This photo was taken at the University of Hong Kong where Dr Sun studied medicine and the quote on the banner is from a speech he made at the university in 1923. Links: a close-up of the sculpture, wiki page on Dr Sun, a HKU pdf document with historical photos. Tags: Dr Sun Yat Sen|University of Hong Kong|Pokfulam|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Last night

This photo was taken on Nov 11 just before midnight, when about 1,500 people gathered at the (now "old") Star Ferry Pier in Central to bid farewell to the clock tower and the pier. It is a place of many HK people's daily life, where we met our dates and friends; attended weddings and shows nearby, traveled to school or work, shopped and dined in Central or Tsimshatsui. It's a place with tons of collective memory of HK people, and now it is giving way to yet another valuable real estate development plan. The bells of the clock tower had marked every quarter-hour since 1957. It rang for the last time at midnight Nov 11th 2006, and I've recorded it for the memory: Links: A collage of scenes last night and previous posts about the Star Ferry Central Pier here: Star Ferry, Perfect Match, Boarding the ferry, Clock tower Tags: Central|street scene|Star Ferry|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Guess

QUIZ WINNERS ANNOUNCED, SEE FOOTPRINTS! The answer is here! :-) ************************************************************** Here's another quiz and I hope everyone would win...unlimited postcards, one each to those who guess what this is/what these are? I cropped the photo and pushed the contrast. More hints? I could go around this subject to take photos and we've been to this place before (<--not very helpful I know, lol). The answer will be posted in 24 hours so...have fun and have a good weekend :-)

A few nice things

Today we have a collage of various scenes in Herboland -- two adorable baby rabbits, a dutiful gnome guarding the plants, the friendly entrance and the tranquil herbal tea corner are just a few of the things bringing beauty and magic to this wonderful place. Tags: Lamma Island|Herboland|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Dangerous passion

Passion fruit trees in Herboland (see yesterday's post). I actually laughed out loud when I read on the net that in some cultures, people believe that "after eating a passion fruit, you fall in love with the next person you make eye contact with"! Geez, that can be dangerous, either you make sure the "right" person is around; or the "right" person will actually look at you (and not a super model) after he/she bites into the fruit. And then equally dangerous is that passion fruit flowers and unripe passion fruits contain cyanide. So, ripe or unripe, watch out if you are given a passion fruit...mmm...on second thought, who do you want to give a passion fruit to? Ripe or unripe? ;-) Tags: Lamma Island|Herboland|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Herboland

Herboland is an organic herb farm in Lamma Island and this photo was taken yesterday afternoon from its little tea house. Two young city professionals, Gary and Gavin, gave up their designer jobs and pursue their dreams by setting up Herboland in Lamma Island, a community where there is no convenience stores, supermarkets, MacDonald's or chain stores. I think this is Gavin in the background (I talked to him but forgot to ask his name), a lucky guy to be doing something he loves as a career. Links: more about the vibrant community of Lamma Island, Herboland and a newspaper interview with Gary and Gavin. Tags: Lamma Island|Herboland|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Close encounter

Baddestdoesn'tlast. Myapology,andespeciallytoOlivieraboutyesterday'spost,myspellingisusuallybetter. Here'sasceneprobablyquiteuniqueforHK,italmostseemsthisbusiscrashingintothebuilding, somekindofconsistentmadnessinthecity. Youcanalsoseesimilarsceneinthispreviouspost. Ifyouarereadinguptohereyoumustbeaverypatientpersonwithgreatsenseofhumor! LOL Plusmauvaispasdernier Désolé, etsurtoutàOlivierdela posted'hier,monorthographeestd'habitudemieux. EsticiunescèneprobablementtoutàfaituniquepourHK,ilsemblepresquecetautobuss'écrasedansle bâtiment,quelquegenredefoliecohérentedanslaville. Vouspouvezvoiraussilascènesimilaire danscetteposteprécédente. Sivouspouvezlirerejusqu'àprésentvousdoitêtretrèspatientaveclegrandsensd'humour ! Tags: Pokfulam|street scene|Hong Kong|photos

Baddest

To mtch my baddest mod because I hnded in a baddest paper tody, I'm posting ths baddest phto I tok on Hallwen. Ths is a resturant/bar in Causewy Bay. there were lots of gobins and daculas arund but I just ddn't ctch any in this only phto I tok that niht. Anywaz, tomorow is anothr day and of curse I promse myself (again) I'll start early for the next asignment. The dadline is Dec 18 in case you worn to help remnd me...geez, I'm going to bad now... Tags: Causeway Bay|street scene|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Dai pai dong

I took this photo in a side street in Central, just steps away from first class office buildings and high end shops. I think the few westerners here look pretty cool as they were really getting into local life and were so at ease eating at a dai pai dong. The term "dai pai dong" literally means "big license stall", referring to the bigger size of the actual business license issued to this kind of outdoor eateries. HK people probably have very mixed feelings about dai pai dong, they carry a collective memory of carefree style good food with vibrant atmosphere, while the messy environment and undesireable hygiene standard are hard to fit into the city nowadays. The government has been replacing dai pai dongs with indoor food centres and there are only 28 active and non-transferrable licences, when the current licensees age and inevitably die, dai pong dong will eventually disappear. p.s. oops, almost forgot to show you this wider shot ;p Link: a very detailed and interesting wiki page on"dai pai dong" Tags: Central|dai pai dong|street scene|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Relax

I've had enough tennis for the week. I'm still in school so I'm going to relax by doing economics. Maria Sharapova OK, if any one of you relaxes by doing marketing paper please send me an email, I'll let you know about my next assignment. :-) If not, you can probably relax by gazing at this photo of a tranquil corner at the university and have a good weekend! Sharapova can also speak for Kala of Honululu DP who coaches canoeing and works on beaches we have to take vacation to see; in the meantime, this line from Mission Impossible speaks for me this very moment -- Ethan Hunt: Relax Luther, it's much worse than you think. Tags: University of Hong Kong|Pokfulam|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

Imagine

QUIZ WINNER ANNOUNCED, SEE FOOTPRINTS! Link: the answer ********************************************** Oh, I'm still stuck at my desk so I want to have a bit of fun with a quiz today. What is this? (Or what are these?) Found as shown in the university main building, I didn't move or set up anything but just clicked my camera, then I cropped the photo and pushed the contrast and this is the result. I have four postcards made with this photo (<--link) which is one of my favorites, I have turned comment moderation on and will announce the first four who give the correct answers in 24 hours. And if you think this photo doesn't show HK then let me tell you, it does, in a symbolic way -- HK has a bright and colorful side as well as a dark side! ;-) Tags: University of Hong Kong|Pokfulam|Hong Kong|photos

Chair for solitude

I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society. Henry David Thoreau There are several reasons I took and post this photo: the Green chair (yes Rudy :-) I notice!), the tiles (beautiful, isn't it?), the sunlight and shadow (I miss Bob's Barcelona DP), the feeling of solitude (because somebody said "one is inspired only in solitude" and I need some inspiration), and lastly, it's not a bad shot, isn't it? :-) I have made good progress with the assignment...So how's your day/yesterday? p.s. this shot was taken at the same building a few months ago. Tags: University of Hong Kong|Pokfulam|Hong Kong|photos|daily life

The graduates

I was trying to take this shot (<--link), while these girls eagerly moved in with tripods and cameras to take their graduation photos. I gladly let them have the spot, afterall, they have worked hard for four years to get here :-). This photo was taken at the university main building; as I'm still working on my assignment (deadline on Monday), you'll see more of my favorite images taken around here ;p Tags: University of Hong Kong|Pokfulam|Hong Kong|photos|daily life