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Hong Kong: the city

Posted on December 26, 2006 by Jeremy Toeman

Hong Kong skyline

In this second (of only three (thank goodness (didn’t anyone ever mention how nested parentheses were bad (no) (well they should have!) ) ) ) post about my recent stay in HK, I’m here to talk about the town itself.  Now, seeing as how I didn’t really get to explore all that much, it’ll be blissfully shorter than my typical post (ahhhh (stop it) ).  What makes this one interesting (in my over-parenthesesed (was that even a word?) opinion) is how the city preps for Xmas.

In a word: Griswold. 

IMG_1838 jt xmas buildingsWhat does that mean?  Well, while the third installment of the National Lampoon Vacation series wasn’t great, the scenes with Chevy Chase lighting up his house for the season were classic.  It seems as if the city planners for Hong Kong were somewhat, shall we say inspired by the film.  Literally dozens of office buildings were lit from floor to roof with patterns, sayings, and lots and lots of colorful lights.  Take a gander through the pictures below to get a better perspective of what I’m talking about – it’s really quite impressive!

IMG_1836 jtIMG_1837 xmas buildingsIMG_1840 skyline nightIMG_1842 skyline dayIMG_1843 xmas buildings dayIMG_1849 jt skylineIMG_1852 skylineIMG_1983 jt xmas buildingsIMG_1984 jt xmas buildingsIMG_1985 jt xmas buildingsIMG_1994 xmas buildingsIMG_1998 xmas buildingsXmas Decoration

IMG_2080 jtI did get some time to walk, train, streetcar, taxi, and ferry around Hong Kong.  The city has an interesting mix of architecture styles.  On any given block you might find a decrepit, run-down apartment building right up next to a shiny new, glass-encased office complex.  And then there are the occasional “mashups” where an older building recently got a bit of a face-lift, with the first few stories showing off a new facade, built around the older interior. 

One particularly interesting stop was the toys outlet (cleverly hidden on the 16th floor of an office building).  In the small store lays years of treasures, including very old-school, original Star Wars action figures, Transformers, GI Joes, and more.  This place was an excellent stop on the tour, and I must recommend it for any fans or collectors

IMG_2007 cobblestone streetIMG_2008 under the xmas treeIMG_2009 coconutsIMG_2010 jt at club san franciscoIMG_2033 jt in times squareIMG_2034 jt in times squareIMG_2039 jt cabbage bicycleIMG_2062 toys outletIMG_2063 sunny dayIMG_2064 jt sunny dayIMG_2081 crowdsIMG_2082 streetcarsIMG_2084 jt streetcarIMG_2090 jt waiting for shuttleIMG_2092 flagsCanadian Bar in Hong KongIMG_1834 road signIMG_1835 energy plazaIMG_1833 hotel lobby

IMG_2018 jt at ladies marketI had a chance to go pick up some genuine watches for a couple of folks back home when I visited the famous ‘Ladies Market’ in Mong Kok.  We showed up at around 11am, but interestingly this was apparently too early for the region.  The market didn’t really get going for a couple of hours.  We killed the time by avoiding the stinky tofu stalls in the vicinity, then stopped by the row of gun stores prior to moving on.

IMG_2012 setting up ladies marketIMG_2013 setting up ladies marketIMG_2015 cat on a leashIMG_2016 jt gun shopIMG_2017 questionable street foodIMG_2022 kids and their gunIMG_2023 jt at gun shop

The DVD StoreAs I mentioned yesterday, I did get to spend the better part of a day in China.  As per my last trip, the roads were both in poor condition and congested with an utterly ridiculous driving situation.  Horns are used to inform your opponents of imminent impact, lanes are a suggestion at best, and you are welcome to use any gear, especially reverse, whilst on a freeway.  I’ll talk about the factory visits in an upcoming post, but we did get a chance to stop in at a DVD “store” on our return. 

While I didn’t pick up the Golden Girls DVD collection (per the picture), I did grab a copy of the entire Arrested Development series.  Don’t fret – I’m going to buy the set myself as I am such a fan of the show (are you?), but I just wanted to have the copy with the Chinese writing.  Plus, it was about $9 for the 15-disk collection. I checked out a couple of the disks – the quality is fine and all the episodes are present, but they aren’t all DVD-copies (there it is)!  A few disks were simply shows downloaded from the Internet and burned to DVD.  How do I know?  Well, the Fox logo and commercials from a local NYC station were a bit of a clue… Duh!

IMG_1865 chinaIMG_1866 jt chinaIMG_1868 chinaIMG_1869 cemetaryIMG_1894 jt with cool van upholsteryIMG_1911 chinese WindowsIMG_1950 jt in train station

IMG_2098 jt hk airportGetting to the airport is extremely convenient in HK.  Make your way to the airport express station in Kowloon (my hotel had a free shuttle service), then hop a 30 minute train to the airport.  The best part is you check-in at airport express, and don’t have to lug your bags around.  Nice!  Free wifi in the terminals too.  Double-nice!

IMG_1956 airport expressIMG_2094 airport expressIMG_2095 airport expressIMG_2097 hk airportIMG_2099 free wifi

Safety Tips for your Washing MachineAs a final tidbit, I thought I’d share some of the funnier signs I saw around town.  Most of these come from the subway, and you really need to zoom in to the full-size view to see the humor.  Without a doubt, Safety Tips for Washing Machines (on the right) was my favorite.  Why?  Because it was located in such a useful place.  You know, somewhere very convenient to get tips on using a washing machine.  Like a subway station.  Check out the others below for more fun.

No Hawking!Don't Keep Corrupt Acts Under WrapSuper English Force and Math E Magic PowerHow to Wash Your Hands

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Posted in Travel | 2 Comments
« Hong Kong: the food
Hong Kong: the tech »

2 thoughts on “Hong Kong: the city”

  1. Andrew says:
    December 28, 2006 at 3:18 pm

    My favorite purchase in HK was my copy of Lord of the Rings 2: The Two Towers before it had even come out in theaters… for $1.25 I thought that it was worth the chance; I soon realized that it was a bad 80’s fantasy movie, but somehow that made the disk even more valuable to me.

    Reply
  2. Assaf Loya says:
    March 9, 2007 at 5:36 am

    i would like to know where i can find this toys outlet youv’e been speaking about in your story
    i am now in hong kong and looking for a place to buy these kind of things

    thank you

    Assaf

    Reply

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Jeremy Toeman is a seasoned Product leader with over 20 years experience in the convergence of digital media, mobile entertainment, social entertainment, smart TV and consumer technology. Prior ventures and projects include CNET, Viggle/Dijit/Nextguide, Sling Media, VUDU, Clicker, DivX, Rovi, Mediabolic, Boxee, and many other consumer technology companies. This blog represents his personal opinion and outlook on things.

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