Day 3

Like every other day in Hong Kong, this one starts with me wandering around looking for good food to eat. I've come into the habit of stuffing my face with at least one dahn taht a day. I'm not here to lose weight.


On the way back from my morning face stuffing, I passed by these guys working on the street. I liked the juxtaposition of elevation and the contrast in their body language.



We met up with Carol again and she showed us "Times Square" and IFC/Central on the Hong Kong side. I remember fumbling for my camera when I saw this guy on the bike passing by. Barely got him in time. I think this is one of my favorites from the trip. Thanks Carol!



After Carol dropped us off at Central, our journey into Soho began with this innocuous looking escalator. Little did we know that it went on forever.



I should post a neon sign every day.

Day 2 ends

Yes, in retrospect it was a short day. As it turns out, the more touristy the place, the less photos I seem to take. Also, I decided I was not going to take a lot of night photos because each photo would remind me that I wanted to by a D700 before going to Asia.

That night Carol treated me and Aaron to a delicious seafood dinner. We walked down an alley with merchants selling fresh fish and eventually came to a place where she was a regular. They selected and weighed the fish while discussing the best way to prepare the dish and then somebody carried the fish to the restaurant and put down the order for us. The restaurant dispatched the food and transformed it into a delicious meal. I wish my appetite wasn't so rattled by the jet lag.

No pictures of the food, just one on the way back from Lantau island.


Yes, I love neon.

Day 2 pt 2

After my early morning exploration, I met up with Aaron at Prince Edward station and we took the train out to see the giant buddha on Lantau island. Once we exited, we saw some of the newer housing developments that surrounded the station. Hong Kong's architecture is interesting to me. For one, it shows a lot of foresight in city planning. By controlling population density, they can more effectively make a "new settlement" grow; both in population and amenities. Consider the simple case of if you were to populate a new island. The Hong Kong mentality would be to send a cruise ship full of people. The Los Angeles mentality would be to send 1000 small yachts. It's pretty easy to see which civilization would work better. If it weren't for the automobile, LA would be a horrible place to live.

All that being said, perhaps they took things a little too far...


If you look closely, you can see what looks like somebody trying to escape their small apartment



I wonder what the apartments look like inside. By the way, those are TWO separate buildings built right next to each other.



We had to take a cable car up to the monastery. You can see the apartments to the right. If I ever visit this island again, I'm either going to hike that trail you can see next to the tower or bike. On the way in, I saw a bunch of people biking in so I'm assuming there's a nice trail out there.



We make it to the top. Exiting the cable car, you can just make out the buddha in the distance through the fog. The first thing that struck me was actually how "disneyland" like everything was. That should have been a big clue about this place. Aaron ruined it for me later.

Day 2

I start out my second morning in HK as I did my last one. Wandering the streets for things to eat. dahn tat (egg custard tart) is a must, and I usually supplant that with some sort of other tasty item, and then wash it down with a tasty drink. I don't remember now what I ate on which day.

I do remember though when I saw this lady that perhaps at that exact moment, we were feeling the same thing.

day 1 ends

I eventually meet up with Harry, get some Hong Kong style iced milk tea (dong lai cha), some curried fish balls and then hop on a bus to go to the harbourfront area: Tsim Sha Tsui to meet up with Aaron for some dinner.



Took this while waiting for the bus. I already had an obsession for neon signs before HK, but I think it got a little worse. Looking through my pictures, I have a lot of random ones with just the sign. Nothing else. This was one of the better ones.



We make it to TST for sunset. It is super foggy the whole time I'm in HK, Vietnam too. It makes for an interesting sunset.

We ended up eating at a sub-par seafood restaurant in a trendy area. Probably the only bad meal I had in HK.

day 1 pt 2

When I travel I tend to grab a map, memorize where I am, and where I need to go and then stick a compass in my pocket. This way, if I ever become disoriented, I just have to check if I'm going in the general direction rather than whip out a map to signal to everybody that I'm a tourist.

This was the plan for my first day out. Hit the Ladies Market (flea market), Nathan road, Fa Yuen Street, goldfish market, flower market, bird market and then head on back. I'd then shower and then meet up with Harry and Aaron for Dinner.


I'm not going to ask whether there's a humane way to make these fish these colours. There probably isn't



Apparently, people buy a lot of fish here. There were dozens and dozens of shops like these lining the streets



On my way to the flower and bird market



Some birds for sale. This place I will not visit again. There's something creepy about 100's of birds calling out from cages, many of whom have escaped and fly about you. Also, birds generally eat worms, and insects, which is the other thing that they sell there. I'll spare you the pictures.



That's over $50US a pop!

Day one cont'd

I call Harry when I arrive at the Cityview hotel in Yau Ma Tei. Lucky for me they have an airport shuttle that waits for you at Kowloon station. 2 more points for HK.

We plan to meet up later so I have the morning and the afternoon to explore by myself. My first day in Hong Kong seemed to last forever. Time seems to tick by that way when you have some time to yourself. Which is probably why Asia this time passed by in a wink, whereas Japan seemed more timeless for me.

Here are some pics from my morning walk.



Setting up for the ladies market




Hong Kong, much like Tokyo has lots of alleyways with really soft light pooling into them.



The city is still waking up

Starting all over

So now that I am back I can do proper posts with images that I've actually colour corrected.

Day one


Airports to me constitute the first impression of a country. It's that moment when you meet a person for the first time and they either look you in the eye and shake your hand firmly, or you get a passing glance with a rubbery grip. Hong Kong has a nice airport. It is convenient, well laid out and clean. Furthermore, like any proper airport to a major city, there is a train that will take you into the city. Definitely a good first impression.



I was expecting crazy architecture and neon lights. I've seen the pictures. But standing infront of something like this building and staring (like a tourist) is the only real way to appreciate how this city has come to terms with its architecture and its advertising.

Missing it

Found myself missing vietnamese food today.

Grabbed some Pho and some Nem Nuong. Yum. Would have been nice to wash it down with this:



They didn't have it :P

More Halong

Here is another.

We got lucky that day as the clouds disappeared for a bit of sun. All these pics are out of Picasa so there's very little image manipulation I can do. It really was that nice that day. Especially considering we technically signed up for the tour on the wrong day and so shouldn't have been there anyways.

back in LA

sad.

Asia was awesome.

Here is Halong Bay.



*EDIT* Made it bigger by request

People

I'm about to leave Singapore now. For such a modern city, it's suprisingly hard to find cheap internet. This one cost me $7.80 to buy tea. It seems like the poorer the country, the more available free internet there is. Strange.

Anyways, not much has been done here due to the CRIPPLING HEAT. This place is HOT and HUMID. It's pretty ridiculous. At night and in the mornings, it's quite nice though. Definitely one of the most impressive cities I've ever visited. I could probably live here for awhile. Here are some random Vietnam pics:


Fits four

EARLY morning smoke



Selling at the market



We rode past some REMOTE villages on our cycle tour. These kids were pretty fascinated with us. Didn't know what to do or say, so they just sat on the ground.



This village was less remote and the naked kid ran out from his hut to meet us. The Mother quickly followed.



We biked up a dirt path into a green tea field where workers were picking leaves. I tasted a couple at their insistence. It tasted like strong tea.



Stopped for a lunch break from riding. I think I'm in two of my 3000 pictures. All courtesy of mirrors.

mopeds

No entry on Vietnam would be complete without an ode to the moped. We only saw two accidents, both of them minor. The crazies that ride these things are the bravest people on the planet. Second only to the pedestrians when they try and cross the street.

First prize goes to this guy HOLDING ONTO the refrigerator he just put on his moped.




A lot of the walls in Vietnam are blistered with this stenciled numbers. I have no idea what they mean, but they look cool in a picture.





A store selling helmets. Luckily, everyone seems to wear one here.




Just liked they way these were stacked next to each other, just like the architecture behind it.




I never could quite capture the insanity of how densely packed these suckers get. I think I would need an aerial shot. Here was an attempt.




I snapped this one during an insane rickshaw drive through the city. Definitely a fun ride.




I leave Vietnam tomorrow. I ended up taking over 2000 pics here alone.

planes trains and automobiles

On the last day of our trip to Halong bay, we took a bus to a boat. Hopped on another bus. Ate lunch, then took a different bus to a van, that van took us to Hanoi. We got on a taxi, which brought us to our plane (which we boarded after first taking a bus there). Finally, exiting the airport we were ripped off by a security guard there and ushered into an SUV taxi. We paid about double the rate. Don't trust people in uniform. Below is one of the memorable moments in our van ride from Halong to Hanoi. The man running the van kept adding people along the way. It was ridiculous.

catching up

I'm in Ho Chi Minh now, and have been once again graced with internet access. Being the snob I am, I'm reluctant to post the pics I like best since I don't have a colour calibrated monitor out here, but I'll here are some from Hanoi and the bike tour:

A calm in the ridiculous traffic in Hanoi




We ate at this local lady's house/restaurant




This is a view from the last leg of our bike tour. The road below is the path we took.

bike tour

Dear Jane,

Please spot the health code violation. Those hands are that of a CUSTOMER by the way.

The ride itself was awesome. I have better pics. I'll share them later.

In Vietnam

I am in Vietnam now.

First day continued

I spent the day roaming around the Yau ma tei area, stuffing my face as much as I could. The apartments here have the most interesting facades. Strewn with air conditioners and clothing lines, each unit is tightly packed to the next. After several hours of walking I met up with my friend Harry for some dinner and some pool.

Arrived

 

So I made it to HK. Flight was shorter than I thought due to an overflowing array of movie choices. I also lucked out and for once didn't get the fat person spilling over my chair next to me. It was actually empty. Thank you global recession.

I've forgotten how humid weather feels like because I always seem to visit Toronto when it's nice and cold. Yes, that's right NICE and COLD. HK is a little on the muggy side, and a lot on the smoggy side.

On the plus side, so far, I am taller than everyone that I've seen. (I didn't count the white people)

left overs

kollaboration9_20090221-6, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

My camera is back from the shop and squeaky clean. Here are some left overs from the show

boots

kollaboration9_20090221-14, originally uploaded by akim_hobo.

The Jazmin sisters' boots.

The guitar of Kina Grannis