Random city photos

I really like this bronze sculpture by Ju Ming in Central, in fact, it is one of the world famous Tai Chi series. It is amazing that Ju can so vividly express the fluidity of tai chi movments through angular lines and rustic materials. This sculpture is a permanent display at the Exchange Square, somehow I imagine that it plays a role to keep the money men sane! Links: another view of this sculpture , Ju Ming Museum in Taiwan

The first time I saw baked chestnut in Europe it was like running into an old friend in a foreign land. Then later I realised it is a popular winter snack in a lot of countries. Here’s how baked chestnut is made here — with a big “wok” and some kind of heated small dark pebbles and sugar. A tasty snack but it will soon go out of season. I vaguely remember it is called Maroni(?) in Italian, just wonder what it’s called in other European languages…

This is Connaught Road in Central around 10 pm on a weekday evening. About 120 years ago this was the shoreline of the HK island. Nowadays it is a major passage linking the island to other parts of HK, or even the world — check in your flight at the Central terminal (behind the building on the right), take the 23-minute airport railway ride and you’ll be on your way.

In the narrow and busy streets of shopping districts, you’ll find more than a few of these itinerant traders. As cellphone is part of fashion these days, some are very eager to get rid of their (maybe only 3-month old) cellphones and be seen with the latest models. So this is how these traders get into business; they buy used cellphones and resell them, mostly in Mainland China, for profits. (PS. in this photo, the woman is the buyer…)

Yes, there is free transport from Central to mid-hill on the HK island — the Central/Mid-levels escalators. It is 800-meter long and makes a 135-meter vertical climb/descent between Central (near the sea) to the Mid-Levels area, saving a lot of traffic along the narrow zigzag roads on the hill. The escalators go one-way uphill or downhill depending on the time of the day. See more photos on Wiki.

It’s hot and humid today and when I was waiting to cross the road in Causeway Bay, I looked up and saw this. Tsing Tao beer is made in China and according to Wiki, it is “the number one branded consumer product exported from China”. The Tsing Tao brewery was founded in 1903 in northern China. By whom? Who else but the German settlers!

I am still in the celebration mood, so here’s a collage of the first 100 photos. (Surprisingly, Picasa arranged them in the correct date order!) Remember the fish, bauhinia, Deep Blue, mail boxes or the ferry ride? See any photo you like in particular?
I promise there will be a new photo tomorrow.

Dear Visitors,

This is the 100th photo for you! For this occasion, I’ve chosen a photo I love but never got to post — I really like the subtlety that the only tulip in focus is partly visible.

If you are a frequent visitor, I hope you enjoy HKDP as much as I do; thank you so much for your “footprints”. If you are an occasional or first time visitor, I hope you’ll become a frequent visitor soon! Muchas Gracias/Merci beaucoup/Viele Dank/ Ringraziarla/Dank u/Obrigado/спасибо/ Takker De/謝謝/ありがとう/당신을 감사하십시오/شكرا

Do you like Monday? How about rainy Monday? Here’s another shot from my window this morning — someone just decided not to wait for the bus and grabbed a taxi, behind the taxi is a green-top minibus. Have a good week everyone!

HK is rainy and windy today; and having always mistreated my camera, I decided to be nice today and let it stay in. I took this from my window and I just like the effect of the moving tree. Don’t you think it looks rather frantic while the trash can is just staying cool? How’s the weather in your city?

This is a retail property; and it is common scene that they are covered with signs of real estate agents fighting for the attention of the next highest bidder. I guess this tells us a bit about the madness of property speculation here. So don’t be surprised if you don’t see much retail activities in “retail” properties.

I took this 2 days ago when HK was under typhoon alert, and this young man was playing by himself amidst rain and wind. This image reminds me of “Hoop Dreams”, a highly-acclaimed documentary feature which I like very much. When I searched on the net, I realize it is…wow, 12 years old. And those were the good old days when I could go on movie marathons for free because of work ! Anywaz, do you think the ball went in?

Just a 5-minute walk from fancy brandname stores (LV, Gucci, Armani and whatnot) and the business center in Central is this narrow street where you can see some vibrant and colorful local life. OK, maybe you can’t see much on the street from atop but you can tell from the many signs fighting for your attention.

Knowing these bamboos are being taken down is absolutely good news to me and my neighbors! Our wishful thinking is that it signifies the construction work of an apartment building nearby is almost finished (peace on my side of earth). I’m not sure if bamboo scaffolding is used in other Asian cities but it is an expertise of local construction workers. You can see a bamboo scaffolding in the background or click here to see another photo.