KAWS at Harbor City

I walked by the Kowloon ferry area today and saw the KAWS sculpture amongst a colorful, graphic background. Check it out (and the rest of the exhibit) if you are in Hong Kong too.



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Red Bull Flutag in Hong Kong

I haven't really see much of a creative culture/sub-culture or a whole lot of individuality/unique self-expression here in Hong Kong. Maybe I am not sure where to look, but it's not as apparent here as it was in Tokyo.

That being said, I was happy to hear that the Red Bull Flutag was debuting for the first time in Asia in Hong Kong. It was at the Kowloon Heliport. Glory, an old high-school friend of mine, currently living in Hong Kong, told me about the event. I had seen it when it rolled through Portland, OR a couple years ago, so I thought it would be interesting to see what people would come up with here.




Turns out that inspiration here included a lot more cultural influences (very neat to see, but I couldn't get any good photos). Back in the States, I think it was more about pop culture-influence, instead of US culture/traditions. There was one based on a Chinese-style wedding, one on Mah Jong, and another on dim sum. There were pop culture ones to, like a Bruce Lee, Ding Dong (aka Doremon), and Lost. (Funny, because I had a Lost-related dream the night before. It was about how Jack's house was a time machine. WEIRD.)






I really thought the way the Lost plane and the Ding Dong plane were constructed were shoe-ins, but...they nose-dived right into the water! The wind was so strong that it knocked the Ding Dong plane before it even had a chance to launch. They ended up dismantling a few parts to get it going on the ramp, but it still fell short.

We ended up taking off before the last two or so since it started to rain. I didn't check to see who was the winner, but it was probably the ones we didn't watch.

Another thing I noticed: the crowd was SO tame. Glory blames it on the lack of beer (no one was selling it at the event, only Red Bulls, which were not free), but I think it is also because people here are so much more reserved and polite (? or passive? I'm not quite sure what it is). At the Portland one, people where squished side by side and tippy toe-ing, trying to get a glimpse of the flights, but here, we had a good amount of room, and the energy was completely mild. It's a little strange.



Still trying to understand what Hong Kong and the people here are about, but I'm not getting a whole lot yet...

PS. Excuse the crappy photos. Bad lighting, overcast, drizzly rain, bad angles.

Lantern Festival And Fire Dragon Festival

I arrived just in time to join the Mid-Autumn festivities. There was a Latern Carnival and Fire Dragon Festival in Tin Hau on the same night. It was already the second day of the three day celebration, but I'm glad I was able to even catch it at the right time.

The Fire Dragon Festival was really neat. A giant dragon is made out of thousands of incense sticks, which are lit, as volunteers parade around the grounds. I couldn't get a really good picture to capture the dragon; I wish I could have captured the smell too because the incense was very fragrant.





Right down the block was the Lantern Carnival in Victoria Park. I didn't understand the scope of this Carnival, but it was huge! The crowds were pretty overwhelming, especially having just arrived to HK that day, but I made it through and took some nice photos. All the kiddies had their own lanterns or other light-ups like glow sticks and wands. It's a cool family-fun event.










Cute little airplane lantern. And kid!









Happy Mid-Autumn Moon!

Hello From Hong Kong!

Whew, it is humid here! I missed the typhoon by a couple days, but the humidity is still lingering. There's the option of running into freezing AC buildings, although I hope I do not get sick from the jumping temperatures (*knock on wood*).

So, the back-story...I'm staying in Hong Kong at my Step-mom's place and using it as a hub between my travels to Japan and SE Asia for the next couple months. I will be in HK for about a week at a time for a total of 3 weeks. I have some family here, a friend who is visiting from Seattle for 5 days, and my Dad here for a couple weeks, but most of the time I will most likely explore on my own. This is my third visit to Hong Kong. Last time I was here in 2002, but it was part of a tour, so I didn't really get to take time and travel how I would like to. On this visit, I'm hoping to explore more parts of HK (other than the tourist spots), get to know my family better here, and practice my Cantonese (doing ok so far).

....My first day went pretty well. Didn't suffer much from jet lag at all (thanks to these no-jet-lag pills Katie gave me from our Europe trip), so after getting in at 6:30am, I took a short nap and was ready to hit the town with my Dad. My Step-mom had to work, but since it was the day of the Mid-Autumn/Moon Festival, she could leave work early (as in 4pm. Normally, she works until 9pm!). In the meantime, we met up with my dear cousin, Elisa, for an afternoon break in the Sheung Wan district, right by her office building. I had the shui gow dumplings with egg noodles, and of course, Hong Kong-style tea.


Dad on the MTR (subway)


Cousin Elisa


My shui gow dumplings+noodles and HK tea

After that, my Step-mom picked us up and we headed over to Tsim Sha Tsui to have dinner with her good friend, Joann. We walked along the waterfront before dinner, and saw Hong Kong Island from the Kowloon side.


Peninsula Hotel and Kowloon Hotel Buildings


Bruce Lee statue along the waterfront


Step-mom, May, and Dad, Peter, getting grilled cuttlefish at the waterfront


Hong Kong Island


Hong Kong Island

After dinner, we made our way over to Tin Hau for the Lantern and Fire Dragon festival. Photos and more to come on next post!