Random city photos

A scene from my life — almost 11 pm last night on a double decker bus, on my way home after seeing a theatre performance. This is the Kowloon entrance to the Cross Harbour Tunnel, an 1.8 km underwater tunnel linking the HK island and Kowloon peninsula. Instead of the underground, I always prefer crossing the harbour by ferry or tunnel bus.

I walk past this well-known cheongsam shop in Central quite often and am always attracted by its show window. These cheongsam are of more traditional style and are hand-made by expert tailors who are, in my opinion, artists. The shopkeeper wouldn’t let me take photos inside so you have to bear with the reflection…I don’t have anything elegant like this, the only cheongsam I have is in cotton with Financial Times print on it
Link: Cheongsam on the cover of Life magazine

There are some interesting folk tales about the tradition of these posters, but I only remember that these guys are generals of the Tang dynasty; and their images are supposed to ward off evil spirits. It is also important that when you stick the posters, the generals are facing each other to bring harmony to the house.
This is actually a display at an exhibition, we don’t see many of these posters in urban HK now but I am sure the generals are still guarding doors in some suburb areas ;-).

No formal zoo in HK but we do have some hippos in the park. A happy family here and if you look closer you’ll find the hippy hippo with a flower on its head ;-). By the way, the green plants in the background are lotus leaves, when dried, they give a pleasant fragrance and are very often used to make rice dumplings.

So I was told that waterlily and lotus are the same flower and I hope you wouldn’t be bored with yet another flower photo. Really I think this photo has a calming effect which I need on Mondays (or maybe you do as well).
I have 10 more beautiful lotus photos which I’ll post in the coming 10 days…Just kidding…OK, if you click here and have a look at them then I’ll post something else tomorrow…deal?

When I posted the lotus photo on June 9th I didn’t know there would be a Lotus Show at the HK Park. The show is open from yesterday so I went early this morning (I thought I would beat the crowd, but NO!) There are over 100 kinds of lotus at the park and they are all gorgeous! And as you can see, there are many many photography enthusiasts as well.

At the Avenue of Stars in Tsimshatsui, tourists are having fun taking photos with the “film crew”. It is just a beautiful scene on a beautiful day by the beautiful harbor. Have a good weekend everybody!

Actually, summer solstice was two days ago
This may look familiar to you, yes it is (again) a view from my window and I took this photo around 9 pm last night. The sky was kind of bright with the clouds providing a beautiful backdrop for a night view. You are looking at Kowloon in the far background with the yellowish lights and the hill.

I took this photo in Tsimshatsui. Being able to relax and sleep anywhere anytime like this is considered a blessing in HK’s fast-paced and stressful city life.

The weather is so nice today being both sunny and breezy; and I have to share these fluffy and beautiful clouds with you

I walked past an alley and saw this interesting scene of a free bird hanging around with the caged ones, as if it was listening to their songs.

Apart from the World Cup, flower is a popular subject of DP blogs recently, so I am making a flower collection today. I’ve chosen sweet william for HK and here are the links to other flower photos last week: Roses in Sharon and Rheingau , waterlilies in Montchauvet, geraniums(?) in Szentes, , hibiscus in Akita, lavendar in Brussels, marigold from Oulu

DP bloggers: let me know if you have a flower photo last week

I took this photo at Stanley, a seaside village and tourist attraction at the southernmost part of the Hong Kong island. Stanley is famous for its open-air market which is quite touristy but there are also neighborhood stores such as this roadside florist which is simply good to look at.

Finally rain stops and the sun is out (intermittently). I took this photo at Tsimshatsui seaside promenade and there were quite a few people fishing. The local traditional way is to hold the fishing line directly instead of using fishing rod. With the harbor so polluted I doubt if they would eat the fish though.

It’s time for a food pix ;-)…that’s our dinner at the Maxim’s restaurant (yes, same name as the famous one in Paris). Maxim’s is a restaurant chain, it is usually not the best place for adventurous gourmet seekers but definitely a safe place for tourists or sometimes, for locals who are looking for more basic dishes.
Btw, how’s your chopsticks skill? Since I was holding the camera, I couldn’t show you the perfect way…maybe next time.

Stephen Hawking is, literally, the talk of the town today as he’s here to give a talk. But these kids probably don’t care about the origin of the universe, they just want to catch a game before it rains again.
Just to share a bit of Stephen Hawking with you — at the Q&A he was asked about his future goals, he humbly mentioned a few subjects about the universe, then added those might be easier than to understand women. He obviously has a good sense of humor.

I took this photo about 2.30 am this morning (or last night?) when there was a heavy downpour with the loudest thunders I’ve heard in years. If yesterday’s photo reminds some of you of Jackie Chan’s movies, then maybe this one will remind you of Wong Kar-wai’s movies or…ghost movies?

The two bright and shiny landmarks of Central (IFC and the Center) seem to be two big brothers poking their heads out to check out these apartment buildings in the western district (yes, over-imaginative sometimes and it runs in the family, see the June 10th post). I didn’t have my tripod with me so I was really just holding my camera against a railing and held my breath…and the exposure seemed to have taken forever…

Do you like Chinese tea? This is a set of beautiful 17th century tea cups in the Museum of Tea Ware. Made with the then innovative overglaze techniques, they were decorated with 12 flower-of-the-months, from top left: prunus, apricot blossom, peach blossom, peony, pomegranate, lotus, rose, osmanthus, chrysanthemum, orchid, narcissus, and wintersweet (the audio guide told me). I wonder why Jasmine was not included then? (the audio guide does not take question!)