Super Band Live in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is not only a financial center, but also an entertainment center, at least in the 90th. Though the entertainment industry is now on the down hill, artists still are fighting their way to Hong Kong and a lot of fine artists make their debut here. Hong Kong Hung Hom Coliseum has always been a shrine for singers. They see it as a great honor to have their own concert in the coliseum, because to do so, one needs popularity, popularity and popularity!

Super Band(縱貫線), which gathers four Chinese top artists (周華健、羅大佑、李宗盛、張震岳), totally meets this criterion. It's been a great night, a great appreciation of many old songs and the stage effect is awesome!

The Peak

probably started from Garfield's hilarious photo-taking scene(click this) with the Big Ben in A Tail of Two Kitties, this photo taking skill has been the hottie in town.

Hong Kong from Lion Rock

from the top of Lion Rock, you get to see New Terrritories, Kowloon Peninsula and Hong Kong Island, almost the panorama of Hong Kong SAR. Weren't for the fog, it should be way grander.

the Mist

There's gonna be about a month in south China (at least in Zhuhai and Guangzhou where I've lived, and now Hong Kong) it's gonna be like this foggy and humid. Don't get surprised if

• your indoor floor got all drenched even if there's no water leak on the ceiling or breach in your water pipe;
  
• your clothes wouldn't get dry for days if you don't have them dried with a drying machine;
• your visibility lowers down to meters;
• your clothes in the closet got all smelly and wet;
• your screens of your TV, PC, mobiles or your glasses got dew on them in the morning;
• the roads and streets look like being flushed even if there's no rain for days;
• your mum tells you to watch carefully when crossing the road or walking on the tiled floors in case of unnoticed vehicles or slippery;
• your lover tells you to drive slowly to avoid hitting things you miss to see in the fog;
• .......

it's the Mist in real life, only without the monsters. So watch out and prepare more unders.....

Tai Long Wan(大浪灣) Hiking

Tai Long Wan is an awesome spot for hiking. Fabulous beach views and mountainous scenery. The hiking path has been well designed and is mature for years, hiking infrastructures are also perfectly equipped. Restrooms, Emergency Help Lines, Direction Board and Landmarks are distributed within reasonable distance. It took us more than 4 hours to walk through the red-dotted path. Arduous task but totally worthy it!

This gives you a general idea where this spot is located:

Central at dusk

taken yesterday around 18:00. the camera sucks, the view's much better than this.

all about LUXURY

on SALE's time, you've gotta queue in line to get to see these luxuries, and it's not even weekend or Christmas day. damn, so many rich guys in this world, why am I not one!

X'mas time

it's so f*king cool around Christmas time, things' getting cheap and malls decorated in such wonderful festival atmosphere, this Christmas ROCKS!

Hong Kong Science Museum

had a trip to Hong Kong Science Museum(香港科學館) this morning. The museum is closely located to Hung Kam station and neighbor to Hong Kong History Museum. It's a pretty good place for kids to learn especially with this little cost, 25 dollars for adults, 12.5 dollars for students. Some words from Wikipeida:

.....A total of 18 galleries cover a wide range of science and technology topics including light, sound, motion, electricity and magnetism, mathematics, life science, geography, meteorology, computer, transportation, communication, food science, energy/energy conservation and home technology. About 80% of the exhibits are participatory so that visitors may learn through direct involvement......

it's SALE time

the halo of Christmas has fallen upon us! it's X'mas ON SALE season! all the sweat and efforts in getting entrance to Hong Kong has finally paid off! it's so uplifting to have in your eyes all these little red "SALE" posted everywhere! all the savings and frugal acts before Christmas has finally come to fulfill its destiny! Thanks to Christmas!

computer festival

Had an arduous trip to the Computer Festival this morning, it's so so so crowded, god, it's like all people in Hong Kong plus Mainland China have come to the festival! You cannot virtually even walk in the passageway, because no matter which direction you intend to go, you can't, people keep rushing in from all directions. I just don't know how they get business done there with this many people! Each stall is encompassed by crowds, and police officers are full alert by the entrance and exit. When I was in there, I kept shouting F*K, S*T, and D*M! Never should've even thought of going there! On my way back to Hong Kong this evening, the festival host stated in the metro TV news, "too many people coming to the festival, those who haven't come, please don't". Damn, he couldnt've said it earlier! So lesson learned, try to keep as far away from any festivals and holiday events!

related news from Yahoo:
http://hk.news.yahoo.com/article/081206/4/9lqv.html

big X'mas tree

There's this big Christmas tree in Festival Walk(又一城). It's about four stories high, sprinkled with little bells and these green and red stuff, which looks like from Christmas trees but actually it's not. The tree is hollow inside, you get to see what's inside only after payment of 50 dollars ticket. With this ticket, you also get to take photos with Santa (someone dressed in Santa) on the other side of this big tree. After the whole Christmas tree trip, you'll be holding in your hand a gift and the photo.

There are also other Christmas decorations in the mall, on another floor, there's this big sleigh and Santa's flying reindeer. It reminds me of the North Pole.

Christmas is coming to town!

Little Hawaii Trail

it's a little mountain path descending from the village I live to Po Lam(寶林). I don't know where its name comes from, coz I've walked through the path once, and it's not at all hawaii-like. There are trees and creek along the little trail, and interestingly, an artificial chess-table in the middle of the trip. This trail has been favored by hikers and residents there.

Central-Mid-Levels Escalator

Discovering new stuff on foot gives me so much interest, 'coz I get to choose which direction to go and where to stop. The excitement comes from UNKNOWN, from everything you see along the walk and any surprises that may not pop up in the "official tour-guide". So when in an unfamiliar environment, try to feel and understand it by putting your feet on the ground, not the ground of a bus.

As for today, I "discovered" the Central-Mid-Levels Escalator, here are some facts about this system from Wikipedia:

• The whole system is 800 meters long with a vertical climb of 135 meters. The total travel time is twenty minutes.
• It consists of twenty escalators and three moving sidewalks. According to Guinness World Records, these escalators together form the longest outdoor covered escalator system.
• In operation since 1993, it cost HK$240 million (US$30 million) to build although it was originally approved in March 1990 with a budget of HK$100m and annual maintenance costs of $950,000.

This time, the excitement comes from all the bars open along the system. It's hard to imagine in the half way of a hill where your body and the ground gives a some 30 to 40 degrees slope, you still get to see so much "bar businesses" going on there. I so need to find some fun there some time.

funny sticker

Found this funny sticker at Sino Center.

Sino Center(信和中心) is a pretty popular shopping hub for youth. It sells comics, games, CDs, Japanese magazines and stuff. When I say Japanese magazines, I meanmagazines with naked girls on the cover, not so tricky to figure out what's inside the magazines. Wanna see bikini girls? Alright, go straight to the third floor of the center, you get what you want.

cross-harbor tunnel

this tunnel connects Kowloon with Hong Kong Island.

The Cross-Harbour Tunnel (abbr. CHT or XHT; (Chinese: 香港海底隧道, or informally 紅磡海底隧道, 紅隧) is the first tunnel in Hong Kong built under water. Since its construction, its traffic has increased, becoming one of the most congested roads (mainly towards Hong Kong Island direction) in Hong Kong and the world.

Constructed by a private company and operated under a 30-year franchise, the 1.8 km-long tunnel crossing opened in 1972, providing the first road link between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island; Cross-harbour vehicular traffic depended on ferries before the tunnel was built.

source: wikipedia

Lan Kwai Fong

Lan Kwai Fong(蘭桂坊) is like the Hub of PUBs in Hong Kong. You'll never be yourself once in there! Sorry for the blurry images, but I did that on purpose, just to showcase the pictures of my mind.

How to get to HKIA fast and cheap

HKIA (Hong Kong International Airport) locates on the reclamated island of Chek Lap Kok(赤鱲角). Not so far, but if you don't make the right decision, it'll cost you so much to get there! Having been there twice just within this month, here's my advice: DON'T take the Airport Express. I have my point:

1. it's expensive. No student discount for Airport Express, it costs HKD60 even if you get on the express from the station nearest(Tsing Yi station) to the airport back and forth. Usually, somewhat 100 dollars is expected to cover the AE fare.

2. Not so "express". Wait another 10-20 minutes for the next express if you missed the last one! And to change from MTR to Airport Express costs just as much time as it takes to wait for an avalaible express, that adds up to around 30 minutes waiting time!

Here's what you should do to save money and time to get to the airport:

Get on MTR, go all the way to Tung Chung station. You may have to change lines for two or three times, but they're instant-interchangeable, which means change lines on the same platform. With student discount, no more than 10 dollars would be charged for the ride. Cheap enough, huh! When you get off at Tung Chung station, you'll find many airport shuttles in the bus hub just at the B or C exit! Shuttles to the airport always start with an "S" in the shuttle number. So get on S64 or S63(something like that) and you're just about 10-20 minutes away from the airport, and the best thing here, it costs only 3.5 dollars!

The first time I got to the airport to see some friend off, I spent more than 100 dollars on Airport Express alone. When I got there, my friend has already boarded!

Yesterday, the same airport, another friend, just 27 dollars back and forth, and I got there two hours before my friend boarded!

Now you have the picture!

HK int'l airport

yeah, it's INTERNATIONAL

under the southern sky