A Moment in the Life of Joo

An Offering on Return

2009-05-09T06:37:00.000-07:00

This blog has clearly been on its way to the funeral pyre judging from the amount of posts I have made since my return from the Himalayas earlier this year, but I've just been too busy to go shoot, edit and post photos. But here I am! I've just finished sorting images from Shau Kei Wan and the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence that I went to back in December - been a while, hey? It felt good to do some photo work and even though the results were not as good as I expected, I still had fun just being a little more creative than cutting out little flowers from crepe paper.

So... The first set of images that I've uploaded to Flickr are from some of the temples that surround the Shau Kei Wan area. Shau Kei Wan, being one of the oldest fishing communities on Hong Kong Island is host to some of the island's oldest temples, the record being taken by the Tin Hau Temple. There's nothing incredibly special about the temples other than their age, nor is there anything incredible about the area, except for its history, but it was still a nice peaceful walk.

Animal Fat or Fat Animal?

2009-01-01T08:13:00.001-08:00

7 days in India and I’m in dire need of a personal trainer as I am under severe threat of looking like 80% of the Punjabi population. I can’t help it though – the food is simply too good and available in abundance. Being plump is a mark of a good upbringing and health here (smart people) and if you refuse to eat, they take it like the worst possible offence and you’re immediately made to feel guilty and forced into taking 5th helpings at the table. 2 more days here and I am sure that I will return to Hong Kong looking like an obese hippo calf. Just like the one I saw today at the Mahendra Chaudhary Zoological Park at Chattbir.

Covering an area of over 400 hectares of forests and common land, the park has a total population of 5,000 animals and birds making it one of the largest zoos in the country. It is also one of the coolest zoological parks that I’ve been to as the animals are kept in open areas (safariesque) that mimic their natural habitat rather than stuck inside cages (though there are a few of those as well).

I love all animals but I think my love for all-thing-kitty-like was very obvious today because I started squealing and frightening everyone around me every time I saw tigers, lions, leopards, panthers, kittycats, etc. I can’t wait to get back to mine in 2 days!

I thout I thaw a putty tat!

Colours of Chandigarh

2008-12-31T08:53:00.000-08:00

Being an experimental civil development project, Chandigarh does not have much to offer in terms of tourism except those places that I covered on my first day here: the Rock Garden, Rose Garden, Sukhna Lake, and the Leisure Valley. And since we came here earlier than expected, we had to head back out of town to keep from boredom.

Well relaxing was the most important thing on the agenda. Having woken up at the break of dawn every day so far to travel, we decided that we would sleep in a little and actually have a vacation. So at noon, we left the house and headed out of the state of Punjab to Haryana. Our first stop was Pinjore Garden, which were designed in the 17th century for Aurangzeb, one of India’s cruelest kings during the Mogul rule. It is also said that these terraced gardens were created on the spot where the Pandava brothers (from Hindu mythology) rested during their exile before, as a sign board reads outside the gardens, “disappearing into oblivion in the Himalayas.” I found that amusing.

The gardens were beautiful though. I know I overuse this word, but I mean it every time I say it. They were very well manicured and for something that was built in the 17th century, they still look as though they were created last year. We walked around there for a good long while mum told me about her childhood visits here and how she used to climb trees and sneakily pick fruits from there – and my god, were there fruit trees!? Hundreds of them! A bazillion species of mango, peach, lychee, guava as well as apricot, plum and many more! Of course most of these were out of season, but that didn’t stop us from picking a few and nibbling on clover-like leaves. All the while, I kept thinking how amazing it is to walk on grass (damn you Hong Kong!)

After the gardens, we went to the Mansa Devi temple (one of the lower-ranking goddesses that I mentioned yesterday) and then to the Patiala Mandir (another temple). Both temples were nearly empty and therefore less…uh…commercial. I actually enjoyed looking around and appreciating the culture there.

From there, it was an hour’s drive home and by then the sun had set. We don’t have anything planned for tomorrow. I’m probably just going to lounge around at home and waste my time this way or that. We’re leaving for Delhi on the 3rd, but I have nothing to do until then. Maybe a little shopping? At least the first two days of 2009 will be relaxing. We’ll see what the rest of the year brings!

Happy New Year!

Cherry Blosson at the Pinjore Garden

Main gate at the Pinjore Gardens

(left) Mansa Devi temple; (right) A truck's rear: trucks in India (and Pakistan) are so heavily decorated that the pretty designs on them almost excuse them for polluting the roads with their heavy diesel smog. Almost. What I find hilarious is the mantra written at the back of most of these trucks. A mantra that rules the India's traffic - Horn Please. Or a variation thereof.

Illness at Dharamshala

2008-12-30T22:26:00.000-08:00

Today was a bit short of horrible for me. It all started off all fine and dandy, but over the course of the day, plans had to be changed because my health started deteriorating (thanks to h. anemia).

As always, I woke up with my ears screaming in pain from having slept on them with noise-canceling headphones shoved inside all night. I was curious to see what Dharamshala looked like since I didn’t get a chance last night, so I stepped out on to the balcony to be blinded by a bright white light coming from the base of the mountain where we were staying. Turns out that we weren’t actually staying in Dharamshala; we were half way up a mountain next to the valley where the city is. The view from my hotel room overlooked the city, but like I said, there was that blinding white light – sunlight hitting a huge cloud of fog that had settled over the entire city. It was mesmerizing and at the same time annoying because that would mean that it would be freezing beyond anything and I wouldn’t be able to take photos.

Still, we had to go, but before leaving, I had to sit and stare at a woman sitting a short distance from my hotel wearing a skimpy sari in the cold, making cow patties. Having been brought up with western social standards, this sounds absolutely disgusting, but these village folk have seen this since the day they’re born and it was interesting looking at the speed with which the woman worked and that too, without any repulsion. Almost made me want to go help. Almost.

But anyway, we finally got out of the hotel and I was told that we wouldn’t be going down into the foggy city, but higher up the mountain through the local canton area instead, along a very narrow and dangerous road that will take us up to the peak of the mountain. At Naddi, we got a full view of the Dholadhar Hills while walking on wet roads with melted snow from last night. Surprisingly it was quite warm in comparison at the peak because of the sunlight. They told us that there had not been a lot of snow fall this year – the mountains are usually stark white with feet over feet of snow, but many of them were barren. Global warming, I hate you.

From here, we went back down across Dall Lake (cute) which is surrounded by a dense pine forest (very cool), through Bhagsu Nag where we visited a temple sponsored by the Indian Military (with the nastiest toilet I have ever seen), and then up to Macloed Ganj, home of the Dalai Lama and his temple/shrine when he stays in India. Out of the whole day’s plan, this was the place I was looking forward to visiting the most because taking my previous experience, I was expecting a place of calm and peaceful worship. Instead, as soon as we entered the area of Macloed Ganj, we entered a Tibetan-refugee market busy with hawkers and very scared looking people (thanks China). At the temple, we walked along what should have been one of the most peaceful religious sanctuaries in the world, but instead, we were greeted by sad monks, posters of political prisoners and pictures of those dead in Tibet over the past few months. The whole atmosphere brought me back to reality. Buddhism has always been a religion I associated with peace and one that I always ran into when I felt troubled, but even that has been broken now. It made me think a lot, but I won’t go into that just yet because I am still confused where I stand religiously, if anywhere.

The temple was cute though – there was no fancy architecture or anything. Instead, it was a simple and modest building that to be reflected the lives of the people it served. I was disappointed with how commercial a part of the temple had become, but I can’t blame them. The money the temple makes goes into a charitable trust to keep the monastery up and this is one place, where I think corruption does not exist.

Anyway, as soon as we came back down to the hotel to collect our things, I started feeling extremely ill. I forgot to take my medication yesterday, which just threw me into major fatigue by noon. Because of that and another couple of issues, we decided that we would head straight back to Chandigarh instead of Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar as we had planned. This meant that we would have to cancel our trip to the temples of several goddesses along the way, but as the superstition goes, once you visit a higher-ranking goddess, she does not let you turn around and visit those of lower-rank...and we had visited one of the highest yesterday (Chamunda Devi).

The ride back was very long and I was on the brink of passing out from nausea because of my medication, but we finally reached Chandigarh, ate a huge amount of food and here I am in bed. Plans have yet to be made for the rest of the days I’m here.

Oh and while on our trip to Naddi, I was asked several times why I have not chosen to go into computer engineering or "a reputable career" and why I have not started coaxing my parents into finding a bride for me since I'm 23 already and "getting older very fast." I didn't know whether to laugh or throw those people over the cliff we were standing on.

View of the Dholadhar Hills from Naddi (and an oddly shaped tree!)

Traditional houses in Himachal are made of wood and slate. This is a closeup of a wall (no cement!)

Dalai Lama Centre at Macloed Ganj

Palampur et Dharmsala

2008-12-29T19:14:00.000-08:00

I had zero energy to blog last night after getting back from the trip, so I am doing it now and backdating it. Yesterday was simply a day of travelling from one point to another. We left the snow-capped Rotangarh mountains to head down to our next hillstation Dharmsala (or Dharmshala). En route, we hit some of the most beautiful winter scenery with dried out apple orchards, yellowed leaves, long spans of green (farms) against yellow (leaves) against brown (soil) against white (snow). The journey took forever and rolled across some very very windy paths (which was a bit sickening to be honest), but the air was fresh for the most part and I enjoyed the trip. We even ran into a religious group from a tiny hamlet (there were many of those) along the way. Every so often, they hold this ceremony of carrying an idol of a goddess hoisted on a single pole between two men to different hamlets and villages nearby. The procession takes with it a bunch of men with really cool musical instruments and some who go empty handed. They believe that some form of "life" enters the idol of the goddess and as the two men carry it along, it becomes heavier and heavier and makes the whole procession go forward/backward, and what not... they claim that it gets to be so heavy that sometimes you need more than 10 people to hold up the light statuette! It was really cool to see this...

From there, we headed through a township called Palampur where we stopped by the Bhaijnath Temple, which is a UNESCO world heritage site. This ancient and small temple was so incredibly beautiful with its worn architecture that still stands along the Dholadhar Hills in full majesty. Amazing sight.

Our last stop along the way was at the Chamunda Devi temple. Today we'll cover the rest of the goddess' temples in the area, so I'll explain the concept in tonight's post. Very cool experience that involved entering a small cave!

That's it really, we came up to our hotel in Dharmsala fairly late, so it was really dark outside. It seems like a cute city, but more on that later. I'm going to visit the Dalai Lama's shrine on this side of the border today!

Here are some photos from yesterday. They're not of best quality, but I don't have time this morning to sift through all of them:

The apple orchard I mentioned

Snow-capped Dholadhar Hills (that surround Dharmsala and Palampur)

The temple where the procession started

Kullu Manali

2008-12-28T06:11:00.000-08:00

There have been some arguments today about issues I hinted at in earlier posts, but I shall not go into those. Besides those, it's been a great day honestly. I got my first look at himalayan snow, had my first (and hopefully only) experience of nearly falling into a (shallow) river while peeing, and many more.

We started the day at the break of dawn when all you could see outside was white. Fog. Nothing else. I would post a photo of what the view from my room looked like last night and this morning, but frankly, the photo of the fog is on another SD card and I'm too cold to go and get it. Picture this... White. Then hold your arm out - that's about the visibility range we had this morning. But that was only until while we were in the valley at Bilaspur. From there, we drove up and down and all around until we reached the top of one of many mountains and then headed down into another valley that had fog roll around in it like a bowl of dry ice. It was really a beautiful sight and such a cool experience going from 100% visibility to 1% half way down the mountain. From there it was a long but beautiful drive along the rising river bed. We went through a couple towns (Sundarnagar, Mandi, Pindoh, and Bhuntar) until we reached the ~~over populated~~ busy city of Kullu. This city is famous for it's festival celebrations, but since there are no festivals and events happening, it's pretty much dead. There was not much to do here except for driving up to the top of the mountain and looking at the city below (pretty), looking at the grounds where the festivals are held (dull), and going to see the primary school that my grandfather used to go to (amazing). The school apparently has not changed one single bit since his time there when Kullu used to be a small village settlement. Even the furniture in the principal's office is the same as it used to be! I got a little emotional there..it was such an adorable structure too.

From Kullu, we then started a 40km ride against the flow of the river (uphill) to Manali - a tourist hot spot, but where I was hoping to see snow. Along the way, I must have taken about 18,00000 photos because again, the scenery was nothing short of gorgeous! Snow capped mountains against autumn trees, a slightly dried out river bed with giant boulders...oh it was amazing in my opinion. Oh and of course there were clear blue skies and air so fresh that southern Ireland seems polluted in comparison!

It had apparently snowed a couple days ago in Manali, but we didn't see it. Instead we saw the most polluted city in Himachal so far (imo). I did however, get to go to the hot springs there (dull) and a temple that's been around from the time of the Mahabharata (one of India's greatest legends)! The story goes that a daughter of a monster (rakhshasa), who was really quite kind, was married to one of the 5 sons of this brilliant king. They both had a son who was the only person who could destroy the monster because of his strength and so everyone lived happily ever after, etc. Oh and apparently the place where the daughter used to sleep is where the temple was built... and people still go there to see the platform. I unfortunately did not get to go inside because it was so crowded, but the architecture was really interesting, with a little influence from both India and China since it's close to the border.

After taking two really unstable bridges from Manali, we headed to Rotangarh, which is a snow laden area closed by the military in the winter. I don't know why they do this and I don't know how we got in, but we did and it was...well let's just say that a jaw dropping WOW would not be enough. By this time, the sun had started to set and everything was orange, pink, blue, white, pretty! 10 minutes later it was dark.

And we made our way back to Kullu, where we're staying tonight. Here are some photos from today.

The hotel we're staying at in Kullu.

My first peak at the snow-capped mountains in northern Himalayas!

I want to eat these mountains!

Sunset on our way back from Manali.

Entering Himachal Pradesh

2008-12-27T08:55:00.000-08:00

And so we reached our first hill station (Bilaspur) in the foothills of the Himalayas today and what a beauty it is! The town is actually a whole bunch of village-settlements stuck together along a wide stretch of the valley. We started our trip early this morning and it took us just about five hours to get here. The views were spectacular, but again, because of the winter fog, parts of the valley and mountains weren't visible enough to take decent photos. We did have some luck in some of the sunnier areas, where I think I must have taken about 300 photos! It was all just too gorgeous!

I am having trouble logging in to my yahoo account at the moment (some security issue?), which means that I cannot upload these photos to Flickr just yet so I won't count them towards my 365 just yet...but I had to share these three. They are of course, unedited:

This was taken soon as we started heading up the mountains. There were so many of these monkeys there! Made me laugh!

Just before making our way back to the hotel(which is amazing), we walked around the river bed, where this photo was taken

This is the view right out of my hotel window! How pretty is that? :)

Post 53: Chandigarh

2008-12-26T07:37:00.001-08:00

I think I have now officially been on the most boring flight ever. It was 6 hours to New Delhi, but my god it felt like it would never end, and seeing that it was on Christmas day, it felt even worse because I wanted to be on the ground eating turkey and what not. Instead, I ate a turkey sandwich drenched in soy sauce in the plane before landing in a pool of smog that made me cough the minute I set foot outside the airport.

Thankfully, we got in the car just minutes after and started making our 6 hour car ride up to Chandigarh. The ride would have been 4 hours or so, had it not been for the thick fog that settled in and reduced the visibility on the road to no more than a meter. It would have also helped if we had remembered the address of the house. But anyway, we stumbled "home" at 9.00pm local (11.30pm HK) after starting out at 7am (HK).

This morning, we decided to explore Chandigarh and my god it's so beautiful! Hence it's slogan - the city beautiful, I suppose haha. We started out the day with a visit to one of the most famous destinations in town...The Rock Garden, which was designed by this guy purely out of his passion and dedication to the arts. He started years ago by collecting broken tiles, porcelain utensils, glass bangles, etc that people threw out and used them to create these statuettes of animals and people in the woods. When the government started to clear the woods, they found his creations and threatened to demolish them, but clever Mr. Chand got public opinion on his work and the site became Chandigarh's most famous tourist destination, with several more expansions made over the past 10 years. I have to say that I was incredibly impressed by the amount and quality of work put into the gardens...and to think that he did it all by himself! There are not really many words I can use to describe it, so you're just going to have to wait until I upload the photos to Flickr. It was awesome stuff!

From there, we went to see the Rose Garden, which is possibly one of the largest city parks I have ever laid my eyes on. It was simply huge. Unfortunately, the evening fog had started to settle in by that time, so the view wasn't as great as I had hoped, but picture this - green and blossoming roses for what looked like miles in every direction you look. I was just glad that I could walk on the grass after looking at Hong Kong's "DO NOT WALK ON THE GRASS" signs for 12 years.

En route, we drove by my mum's schools and university and the house that she was brought up in. My eyes and jaws dropped and got lost somewhere soon as I saw the place because it was... enormous. Greek columns and all. I never associated my mother to anything like that, and it was just very strange to see that. Interestingly, my parent's Hindu wedding also took place there too.

All along the way, we've been eating extremely heavy Punjabi food that's laid with a ton of homemade ghee, served with a pan full of homemade butter, and topped with fresh cream that would probably be enough to feed an entire Indian wedding party (trust me, that's a huge number). It tastes amazing, though I think I'll be at least 7 sizes too big by the time I return to Hong Kong in a week.

Because of a slow internet connection, I'm having a little trouble uploading the photos, which is why the formatting of the post sucks today. All my photos from the trip are also going to be unedited because I don't really get much computer time.

(Top left) Recycled porcelain sculpture $at the Rock Garden; (top right) Rose Garden; (bottom) Ducks and geese at Sukhna Lake

Post 52: Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men

2008-12-24T10:28:00.001-08:00

Christmas is finally here and so is the spirit of the season that I have been waiting for. As Chuck mentioned earlier today, perhaps it is because the day is finally here and we don't really have a choice to escape the spirit - it's almost as if it's forced upon us. Maybe so, but whatever the reason may be, I am glad that it's here. I feel giddy; I want to put up lights, decorate a tree finally, buy presents, write over-the-top messages in Christmas cards and what not! Only problem is that I am leaving town tomorrow morning to a country where...well Christmas isn't really on top of the list. Either way, I have my iPod packed full with about 6 CDs worth of Christmas carols and my bag is full of chocolate oranges which I bought earlier.

Plans for the actual trip are still changing. Now there is some strange concern about altitude sickness which was overlooked earlier? I'm getting a little frustrated by all these little things because I honestly don't want this to become another one of the family-oriented trips where I have to meet 8,000 people in a day simply because we happen to share some sort of blood-bond back from the age of the Neanderthals. I have nothing in common with these people, nor do I wish to explore any new common grounds.

But anyway! Should everything work out as it's supposed to, I think I'll have a good time there! As long as I can get some peace, I'm happy. Well, I'm off...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Post 51: Bananas in Ears

2008-12-23T06:43:00.001-08:00

If you have not watched this and this, you have not lived. Sure, it's probably one of the most annoying things ever uploaded on Youtube, but at the same time, it's all one of the best things. Ever. That is, if you like being creeped out by annoying unicorns that take your kidneys! I can just feel that this is going to be the new trend after the Llama Song!

Charlie, when your life's a mess,

When you're feeling blue,

Oh you're in distress!

I know what can wash that sad away!

All you have to do is,

Put a banana in your ear!

Put a ripe banana right into your favourite ear

It's true! So true!

Once it's in,

Your gloom will disappear!

The bad in the world

Is hard to hear

When in your ear,

A banana cheers,

So go and put a banana in your ear!

Himalayan Heights

2008-12-22T09:32:00.001-08:00

As I might have mentioned before (though I cannot be bothered to actually check it myself), I'll be going to the north-western Himalayan range for Christmas. The plans were finalized and tickets were bought literally two days ago and still we're not sure if we may have to change plans en route because apparently the area is being surrounded by dense fog these days. We shall see! Anyway, here is the route map of the planned trip so far:

View Larger Map

We'll start off in Chandigargh and head north to Pinjore and then up to Kalka where we will first stop to go up to the Timber Trail by cable car and then back down to take a train to Shimla. From there, we'll head to Kufri, where hopefully I can take some snow shots, and eventually make our way west to Bilaspur where there is a fort and several temples to be seen. And if we have time, we'll head up to Kulu and the Great Himalayan National Park.

Post 50: Curiosity

2008-12-20T10:02:00.000-08:00

I was going to write a very witty post here about the idea of curiosity and why it is that we are curious, but as it happens, I've taken my antibiotics which are quite close to knocking me out at this point. And because of that, I've forgotten most of what I was going to write. So I'll leave the issue out for you to think about and discuss, if you so wish: does curiosity kill the cat or make kittens? We, like most living organisms are always looking for answers and solutions to some sort of problem...If there is no problem, we wonder what the problem may be so that we may ponder on its solution. Why? Maybe it's just for the sake of experimentation/knowledge, or for making life easier for us, or simply to get a thrill out of the experience. What is the point of acquiring knowledge about random things? For instance, why is it important for us to know if a grain of sand might weigh eh much on a Tuesday? What possible significance does it have in our life? Mitä järkeä? Quin és el punt?

I realise this entry is random and that is partially due to the fact that I am severely doped at the moment, so excuse me before I make a total fool out of myself...

Post 49: Indifference

2008-12-19T08:42:00.000-08:00

Christmas is my favourite time of the year. The tacky decorations, over-the-top traditions, heart-attack-inducing food, presents that I don't necessarily want, writing cards to people I haven't spoken to in years, et cetera are just some of the things I love about the holiday. The nicest thing about the winter fest though is that people...somehow...through some bizarre force of nature, become...well... nice. Just for a day, but it's something.

Needless to say that with all the excitement of the things mentioned above, I always start becoming really bouncy around the start of December. And by the time the actual date comes around, I'm usually told (lovingly) that I need to be sent to a mental asylum. At least they can't say that I don't have the holiday spirit!

Well, they CAN say that this year, because I have none this time around. Christmas is next week and I haven't decorated my house, the weather is disgusting, I haven't written a single card or mailed any presents. I have not even thought about Christmas dinner, which is usually something I start thinking about on the 27th of December the previous year! So what's the deal?

For one, shit happened. Family arguments, lack of job when I needed it, etc resulted in all my plans for Christmas being changed, cancelled, changed again and so on. In fact, plans have been made and cancelled so many times now that I am just so indifferent towards it all and cannot wait till the holidays are over. On second thought, that would mean going back to work, so maybe I'll keep the holidays and just lock myself in my room. That sounds like a lot more fun...But I digress. In all fairness though, I really do appreciate my mum's effort to make me feel better after all the drama that's been going on. She's taking me down to the foothills of the Himalayas to see where she grew up! I've never been to that area and it's been so long since I've seen proper full on snowfall that it should be a lot of fun. I'm just hoping that the plans are sorted soon!

I could not resist posting this!

2008-12-17T16:26:00.000-08:00

Change in 365

2008-12-17T07:41:00.000-08:00

I think it's become pretty obvious from the past week or so that it is nearly impossible for me to take photos of things during the week, process them and upload them (with an entry) everyday. My schedule as I've mentioned before has been incredibly full: I wake up at 5.30am and come back home at 5:00pm after which I have 0-energy to spend on photo taking, etc. Mind you, I'm not even feeling that inspired just because I'm so tired and brain dead.

So, I think I need to make a little change in this blog and change it from a "one photo a day" blog to simply "365 photos." It's probably a more realistic goal. I'm glad that I was able to finish nearly 50 days without stopping for the most part though. I guess sometimes life gets in the way, hey?

Day 48: Tracks!

2008-12-12T05:33:00.000-08:00

I think it has been quite obvious over the past couple of days that I have not been very good at updating my blog. But as I mentioned in my last post, it's simply because by the time I come home, I am so incredibly exhausted that anything that requires even a minuscule amount of brain power is boxed up for another day. I can proudly say though that I have at least been taking photos despite the fact that I hardly have the energy to lift my camera and that I have not really been inspired as that would require extra brain power.

But anyway, enough whinging. Let's talk about the photo of the day: I mentioned a few days ago in this post that even though I have been living in Hong Kong for over a decade, I had never known that the Light Rail (LRT) even existed. Mind you, I think it's a well known fact that I barely even cross the harbour, let alone go into the New Territories because...well why would I? I'm a typical islander as they call us...someone who considers Kowloon the Dark Side and the New Territories, China. But anyway, I've been really enjoying riding along the LRT mainly because it's over-ground unlike the MTR and there's a lot to see considering that I've never been up there! One of my favourite things about the LRT is that it runs on proper railroad tracks that cut across the middle of the roads! Sure, we have the tram tracks on HK island but they're just two steel I-beams embedded in the road...the LRT tracks are hardcore though! And wherever there is a railway crossing, there's a jumble of tracks criss-crossing each other which just looks wicked! Will have to try to take a photo of that one day. The tracks in the photo are at the Shan King (North) station.

I know it's pathetic to be all giddy by the sight of train tracks, but I absolutely love trains! So yeah!

Day 47: EMAAB

2008-12-11T05:00:00.000-08:00

EMAAB: Early Mornings are a Bitch.

That's the thought I've woken up with everyday this past week because I've had to wake up at 5.30 am to make the trek to Narnia (i.e. where my schools are). And seeing as I don't get back from work till around 4pm, it's not surprising that the only thing I want to do when I get home is curl up in a dark corner and mumble golem-style.

But anyway, at the school that I taught at today, I was told that one of their criteria for hiring teachers is their religion. I found that a little offensive and 15th century-esque, but then there you have it. And so when they asked me about my religious background, I conveniently left out the fact that I quit the church many years back. Having a job is more important than proving my religion to people I don't speak with, I reckon!

Today's photo is of my dream catcher in the (extremely early) morning light!

Day 46: Test of English

2008-12-10T04:41:00.000-08:00

There's not much to report about today, except that I went to sit the TOEFL exam in hopes of strengthening my university applications for next year and may I just say that it was one of the most tedious and boring exams I've ever had to take, though at least it wasn't as moronic as the GRE. Heck, I was honestly trying not to fall asleep after reading a fourth of six passages about worm innards. And that was just the beginning... the listening, speaking and writing sections were even more dull.

And I know that my English is not world-class, but the fact that I could point out some very basic grammatical errors in the question paper amused me beyond words.

Oh and the picture of the day has nothing to do with anything, but just for information's sake, that's the Wan Chai Market. It's one of the last architectures of its kind in the territory, and yet it's still set down for demolition soon. It's already been evacuated from what I could see... sigh...

Day 45: All's New When Nothing's New?

2008-12-09T07:21:00.000-08:00

All's new when nothing's new? What does that mean? I personally don't know... it's just something that popped into my head whilst trying to think of a witty title for today's post. It obviously didn't work, but I'm sure it makes sense to a philosopher somewhere.

But honestly, I haven't done anything today except work and feel extremely exhausted. I realised though that teaching kids really takes a whole lot more out of you than teaching teenagers and adults mainly because when you're teaching adults, you're mostly just exhausting your mind, but with smaller children, you're doing that and exhausting yourself physically as well. Add on top of that, the fact that you're trying to communicate with kids who don't understand a single word you're saying and it can seriously make you want to hit your head on the wall and knock yourself out. Still, when they actually understand you or sing the song you've been trying to teach them, it is a whole lot more rewarding.

Have to say though that work was much better today than it was yesterday. I think I just need to settle into the mindset of being a teacher for younger children rather than the older ones I'm used to working with. We played a lot of games today and they were genuinely happy to see me when I entered their classroom. Some of them even gave me hugs after the class. One of them compared me to his class teacher and called me thin in comparison to her in front of her...First thing that came to mind was "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA oh that's a first", and though I told him it was not a nice thing to say, I secretly kept thinking "bless you! you're my favourite student already!" hahaha

Today's picture was taken at another park near the school where I ate my lunch. I don't know why I find the tiling so interesting, but I noticed that one of the kids dropped their little heart sticker that they'd gotten from an earlier class exactly where it is in the photo and thought it made for a cute shot.

Day 44: Mr. Justin

2008-12-08T07:12:00.000-08:00

Today, I started actually teaching instead of just training-and-teaching. The difference being that I nearly wanted to pee in my pants because I never realised little children could be so intimidating. In fact, I wonder if I would much rather teach high-school students (who I hate with a passion on a good day) than 5 year old Tommy who threatens you with crying at the top of his lungs if you don't give him a sweet. But at the same time, they're just so cute that they can get away with it.

So what does this have to do with the picture for the day? Well one could interpret it as "oh god, please help me" but instead, it was just taken at a playground near the school. I thought the floor tiling made interesting patterns and this one in particular is reminiscent of the fact that I am teaching at Christian schools... or something (good to know, my bullshitting abilities are still kind of up to standard).

Oh and I love the fact that the kids call me Mr. Justin because they can't pronounce my last name to save their lives. Bless 'em!

Days 42-43: Out in the Wild

2008-12-07T06:28:00.000-08:00

I have not been able to update this blog on time over the weekend because I was out camping in Sai Kung. I know, I know... hiking, camping and Justin? It doesn't really sound like an obvious mix, but truth be told, I love camping, but then again, relaxing out in nature is one of my favourite things. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the hiking because a day and a half later, I still can't move without groaning.

The hike, as it turned out, was supposed to be a fairly gentle walk as I had heard. It starts from Pak Tam Au in Sai Kung (route map)and surely, for the first hour or so, the trail seems to be innocent enough with its paved paths with minimum incline leading to Chek Keng (half-way). It is at Chek Keng though that the first stage of hell starts. The path is still paved, but the incline becomes very steep until you reach the top of the hill and then there is an equally steep downhill path that leads straight to an abandoned hamlet. Easy enough for most people, but with the thought of possibly dislocating your kneecap and memories of the pain that it causes pounding in your head, while you carry nearly fifteen pounds of weight on your back, things become a little difficult! But thankfully the path from the hamlet Tai Long to Ham Tin is fairly flat and eventually opens out in an enormous beach with a massive surf, stark blue waters and the finest sand amongst any of Hong Kong's beaches I have visited. It was truly an amazing site!

But this beach, despite its seclusion seems fairly commercial and so with an aching back and legs that felt like they should belong to somebody else, we started looking for the trail that went over a little hill that separates Ham Tin Wan (where we were) from Tai Wan (where we wanted to be). And as it would, with our luck, the trail was steeper than steep, reaching at least a gradient of 60 degrees at it's steepest points... and it was off road... through an overgrown path. But with determination, we managed to cross over and any pain we might have experienced while we made our way up there left immediately because the view was spectacular! I'm not even going to try to describe it. Here is an unedited photo of the beach:

After arriving at the beach and finding that we were unable to move much, we realised that there is an easier, more beaten down trail behind the hill we had just crossed, but like I said, the off-road path was worth it even though we might have broken every bone in our body if we'd fallen off the edge.

So at the beach, we set up our tents and got to making a fire, which was easy enough. From there, my memory's just full of barbecued food, wine, horrible songs and trying to name constellations as they rose over us. Yes, we saw stars... lots of them... in clear light. It was probably the first time in Hong Kong when I've appreciated the night sky! It was simply too beautiful.

And so after a good long rest and catching a very beautiful red sunrise at the beach, we trekked back (over the deadly hill again for some bizarre reason) and got back to Ham Tin Wan where we decided that it would be too boring just to go back the way we had come and so took the way towards Sai Wan, hearing that the path was shorter and easier from there. Oh how very wrong we were. The path (though thankfully paved) started with a billion stairs that crossed two hills, and then flattened out as we walked over some cliffs and finally rose and dropped again into a smaller, but equally beautiful Sai Wan beach. We thought that we had reached a bus stop by this point, but again, as our luck would have it, we found out that it was a long walk back to civilisation. And so we walked. And walked... over a mainly uphill path that never seemed to want to end until we reached a junction. Here the option was to either walk along the foot of the hill (fairly level walk with slight incline), or to take a steep off-road walk that makes a short cut from one side of the hill to the other. Now, any sensible person would have said "look, there's many people here at the junction, but no one is using that path; the foliage is so overgrown that it would hinder visibility and the fact that it looks so steep is probably just the least of our problems...plus, if there's anything you learn from watching films about people taking short-cuts, it's that you should never take them...so lets take the flatter road." As it turns out, we were not like these sensible people and decided to take that path anyway because...well because we could and if I would have had the energy to hold my 5000 pound camera at this point, I would have taken photos, but I was on my last energy bar and no water, so I left it in my bag. But I have to say that I am so glad we walked up that trail because the views from there were again...dare I use this word I overuse now, beautiful. The hike looked over the High Island Reservoir and the islands that rest within it. But with determination and an increasing need for water and clean clothes, we made it to the other side in no time from where we took a bus to Sai Kung Town for some fresh seafood and ended the day there.

All in all, the hike and camp was so much fun that I think I can officially say that it was one of my favourite weekends in Hong Kong, and that Tai Wan beach is one of the most amazing places I have seen here. I'd really like to do it again!

Oh and here's a photo of Sharp Peak that was behind the beach we stayed at.

Day 41: Embers

2008-12-05T06:20:00.000-08:00

I originally wanted to write something about this day from the book that I am currently reading (Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door by Lynne Truss), but I can't seem to find the excerpt. Unfortunately, the verse had wrapped up my feelings about humanity as they stood on the day, but ah well! haha

Day 40: Nothing but the truth

2008-12-04T06:20:00.000-08:00

“Quotes are nothing but inspiration for the uninspired.” - Richard Kemph

This is exactly the reason why I sometimes use quotes to back up my pathetic blog entries... because no matter how busy my day might have been, sometimes it is just hard for inspiration to come by. Take today for instance, I went to teach today - I had a whole range of emotions flowing through me before, during and after the lessons, but I just could not translate them into a photo. Heck even while I walked around a part of Hong Kong that I've never been to before (Yuen Long) and went on a transport system that I did not even know existed here (Light Rail), I still could not see anything that I wanted to take a photo of.

And so I came home and dug into my humongous book of quotes, poetry and information that I used to use during those uninspired days at university where we were required to spit out a new design concept at the click of a button and came across this quote by Richard Kemph which I thought was hilarious and so true. Then I went out to the harbour in hopes of taking a picture of total darkness at night with a bit of a reflection from the surrounding buildings and ended up with this quirky Rothko-esque image! It has not been photoshopped at all, but I think I shook the camera while I was shooting it. The ISO for sure was at 800-1200 (hence the grain) and the purplish/bluish lights are the reflections in the water from buildings across the harbour. It's not pretty, but I found it interesting!

Day 39: Starting School

2008-12-03T04:42:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow, I will start work on my first full-time contract...ever. Sure, I've freelanced and had my fair share of part-time jobs, but there is a strange excitement about starting something new...even if it is just a different type of contract (right?). And though, I'm sure that this excitement will last me a total of one day before I get on my knees and pray to god that the end of semester come closer, I'm also ~~hoping against hope~~ sure that I will enjoy the experience.

Oh and while we're on the topic of god, I have to mention this: most people who have known me for a while, know that I quit the Christian church a good long while back. I am not an atheist; I just simply disagree with certain concepts the religion has to offer. But what schools should I get landed with? Well here are the names...lets see if you can guess:

Shan King Estate Baptist School

and worse...

The New Territories Assembly of God Church W.Y. School

In fact, this past summer, when I first started teaching, I was offered a full time contract with another school called the Christian Alliance SW Chan Memorial College that I turned down in hopes of securing a stable contract with Cirque du Soleil, which didn't happen because they started firing people instead of hiring them. So technically, I could have had a contract since the beginning of September...but anyway...the point is that either Hong Kong only has strangely named Christian schools or I am just destined to be stuck in this religious wormhole...Whatever the case may be, at least I have a job!

And I am truly thankful for that. So let's see how it goes tomorrow! Hope it'll be as much fun as my mother claims!

Day 38: Light and Dark

2008-12-02T06:02:00.000-08:00

Today, I did nothing of consequence. Surprised? Well don't be because it is the second last day before I start working full time as opposed to the part time work that I have been doing so far. I took the afternoon and evening off especially to do nothing and by nothing, I mean nothing. I slept, when I shouldn't have and I'm almost sure that I will have trouble sleeping tonight, but the good thing is that I don't have to go to work until later in the afternoon tomorrow since I finished everything I needed to get done for the week today and e-mailed all the stuff to the boss.

So why the lamppost? No reason, really. I just thought it was pretty. The photo was taken at the docks in front of my apartment building. Speaking of lampposts, I remember reading this quote a long time ago and it still makes me laugh so I thought I'd share it: "Asking a working writer how he feels about critics is like asking a lamppost how it feels about dogs" (John Osborne). And same is the case with art and design! So true, so very true!

Day 37: Polarity

2008-12-01T07:36:00.000-08:00

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Day 36: Wisdom and Lactic Acid

2008-11-30T07:31:00.000-08:00

I went to take a walk out to cover central Lantau Island today... in particular, the walk started from Shek Mun Kap village and ended at Ngong Ping, home of the Po Lin Monastery and the Tian Tan - or Big - Buddha (route map here). The walk was listed in my book as being moderately strenuous and sure there were some very steep climbs along the way, but the weather was so perfect today that in general it was a very pleasant hike! Heck, it was even really chilly by the time it was all over!

Along the way, there was a lot to see as always including views of Chek Lap Kok airport, some secluded monasteries, rock pools and streams, HK's longest standing bamboo grove (yikes, snakes!) and of course spectacular views of the Big Buddha and the Wisdom Path (pictured) at sunset!

My only disappointment was that most of the path was paved as I honestly prefer walking on unpaved paths, even if they're beaten down trails. I've come to realise though that most of the public trails in Hong Kong - and China from what I hear - are paved! Why? I don't know. But anyway, it was a great walk and the pictures have been added to the backlog, which is getting smaller as we speak thankfully! But just for the heck of it, I've posted a list of the upcoming photo sets in order on the side-bar of the blog! Check it out!

Today's Flickr Uploads: Mist on Dragon's Back

Unfortunately I went to Dragon's Back on a day when the mist decided it would be a good idea to sit on top of Shek-O, so these are the only pictures that I thought were good enough to post. Hopefully I'll go back to this trail in a few weeks to get better shots, but obviously with the backlog I have at the moment, I don't think taking new photos is a priority!

Day 35: School Days

2008-11-29T07:54:00.000-08:00

Today was my first day at the new job. I was extremely scared at the start of the day wondering if I would be good enough or if I would find the students annoying, etc but my god, as soon as I got there, I switched into this strange teacher-mode that I did not know existed in me and started working...calmly! It was amazing!

I was really happy with how my classes turned out in the end as well. Two of them are extremely active (though in a good way) and one of them is very quiet, but only because they're shy...not because they've been conditioned to sit and listen all the time... I was also really impressed by their command of the English language coming from a Chinese Medium of Instruction (CMI) school...The discussions we had in class were hilarious... One of the things I was trying to do with them was to ask them to imagine their ideal school environment including the types of teachers, facilities, transport to-and-from, subjects, etc and they came up with things like wanting boxing arenas and a section of HK Disneyland in their schools as well as wanting to go to school on spaceships and including Supernatural Studies as part of their core curriculum. It was all too cute!

All in all, good day! The photo to the right is the school building... I think I had the colour temperature setting adjusted to tungsten, hence the bluish tinge under sunlight, which I thought was interesting. Below are also a couple of photos of the smallest of my three classes (hyper!):

Today's Flickr Uploads: Hamlet at Peng Chau

Day 34: The End of Another Road

2008-11-28T07:28:00.000-08:00

Having been in Hong Kong, I always have liked to think that I am immune to the pain one feels when someone close to them moves away. After all, people come and go so often here that it's almost impossible to live here and make friends unless you build up that emotional barrier... the only thing is that over the past year or so, I've felt my barrier slowly fall apart as people I have been very close to have moved away one by one...from the best of my friends to my family... It's really not a nice feeling.

Unfortunately today, I had to say goodbye to one of my dearest friends as she is moving out of the country... I've only known her for two years, but as with most of my close friends, it feels like I have known her for an age or more already and though I wish her all the best, I know that I'm going to miss her a lot!

And hopefully soon it will be my turn to say goodbye to Hong Kong...

Tips, Tricks and Turn-Outs

2008-11-27T08:25:00.000-08:00

I found this a very useful website with tips and tricks to maintain a Project 365 blog. The writer is very strict with his rules, but they are definitely helpful I think. For example, I don't always take a-photo-a-day (like yesterday) because I don't always feel inspired and when that happens, I look for a cop-out (as he suggests), which in my case involves taking an older photo and editing it to suit the general mood of the day. Since my photos most often depend quite heavily on post-processing, I feel like I have made just as much an effort as I would just to take a cop-out photo and so that is how I justify it, although I am trying to keep it to a maximum of 3 times a month.

Also, while searching for random 365 groups on Flickr, I came across Project 365; looking into a few of their discussion topics, this particular topic where people post their first and 365th photo caught my attention because I found it amazing to see how much improvement has been made in the posters' photographic skills. That is exactly what I am hoping to do with this project, so I feel even more motivated now!

Day 33: Something's Missing?

2008-11-27T06:48:00.000-08:00

Ever get the feeling that you have to do something extremely important but you just don't know what? Or even that you know what it is, but you just cannot get round to doing it no matter how important it is? Well I'm somewhere in the middle of those at the moment because I feel like I know what it is that is so important, but I can't quite place my hand on it. Awkwardness.

Today has been fairly uneventful except for the fact that I went for a staff meeting at the office they gave me a billion pieces of paper to look through for a class that I am supposed to be teaching on Saturday. I wish they would give me a little bit of training before throwing me into that environment, but what can you do...can't complain because at least I have a job, right?! Besides, next week I'll start my training and permanent position for the rest of the semester (and hopefully next one) at two schools in Narnia...i.e. middle of absolutely fuck all no where near the Chinese border. The good thing, though, is that I'll be teaching folk themes based around the topic of Christmas and seeing as that's my favourite holiday ever, hurrah!

I'm scared shitless, though!

After the meeting, I went and hung around at the Academy and talked to my design assistant from last year. She's a tiny little girl with an extremely charming and positive personality. It's always good speaking with her, but I'm upset that she's not being treated right by her current head-designer, who ~~unfortunately~~ coincidentally was my assistant in my second year at university. I had thought that she would be a competent assistant, but she was so incredibly negative and demanding and pushed me off the edge so many times during the performance that I simply began to loathe her. We stopped talking to each other after the performance, but from what I understand, it's a common thing for her, so at least I know that it was not my fault! Heck, my ex-assistant and I get along just fine and had an absolute blast working together. But anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing what she has to do since she's going to design her own performance this year! I don't know what it is, but it feels amazing to realise that she's grown so much since I first mentored her in her first performance at the Academy. It's nice to know that I have been a part of her learning, and that's one of the strongest reasons why I want to lecture...

Anyway, I finally got home and have done nothing except wonder what it is that's important that I am forgetting to do. I also played with my pets and gave Pogo all the attention he's been missing because of me feeling sick for the past few days. I realised that he is very difficult to photograph though because of his shiny coat! Oh well! He's adorable! I love my pets!

Today's Flickr Uploads: Peng Chau Foliage

Day 32: Boredom and Surprises

2008-11-26T04:45:00.001-08:00

Today has been quite dull. I did some work, got bored, stayed bored and eventually became so bored that I started watching Stylista. After watching two consecutive episodes, I asked myself the same question that I did in yesterday's entry: "why do I do this to myself?" It must be some form of masochism whereby I like to have my brain fried.

Other than that, the day has been fairly dull. I was called in to go to work today, but had to reschedule the appointment for tomorrow instead as I'm feeling severely ill. Unfortunately, it's taking a toll on my pets as well...in particular Pogo, whose feeling extremely neglected. Poor thing just wants attention and I can't seem to give him any without hacking all over his face, which is why I'm trying to stay away from him.

I also had a rush of sudden panic go through me earlier in regards to my graduate applications, but thankfully that subsided and I was able to complete most of my application materials. I'm hoping for the process to be over by the end of the week so that I can concentrate on other things. Surprisingly though, I also realised today how full my schedule has started to look lately; I signed up to the igoogle service (similar to My Yahoo page, only better) and tried to fill in my schedule and it seems like the rest of the week is packed for me, mainly because of work, but I don't know how my schedule's taken a complete 180 after having absolutely jack all to do! I don't even remember making these appointments and even more surprisingly, I somehow have managed not to double-book time slots in my schedule as is quite common with me considering that I never look at my diary and have quite a shit memory.

Anyway, the picture of the day is (quite obviously) just some wooden pegs that I saw in Macau yesterday. I haven't taken any photos today seeing as all I have done is stare at the computer screen all day. And since the image suits the general theme of boredom, I decided, why not!?

Today's Flickr Uploads: Upside-down at Peng Chau

And that concludes my dried seafood set!

Day 31: Tuesday at Fernando's

2008-11-25T07:31:00.000-08:00

I went to Macau today and just like every time when I come back from there, I have to say that I love it! No... LOVE it! I love the people there, the colours in the streets, the food (oh god, the food!), the compact cars, the scooters (yay!) and just everything really...well okay, almost everything. I hate the pollution driving down from Zhuhai, but even the moon isn't perfect right?

Well the trip started with the usual hour long ferry ride that can drive even the most sane people bananas (which it did). After that it was just a lot of wandering around the city for the sake of wandering around the city really, though this time I didn't stick around the main tourist spots (except St. Paul's, but then that's a given). Instead, I walked around the backstreets of the peninsula and got some very nice shots, which of course have been added to a backlog of 8 billion and 2 photos now. Why do I do this to myself?

After wandering around for a good few hours, it was time to eat and what better place to eat in Macau than the extremely popular Fernando's. For those who haven't been...picture this: Portuguese restaurant in a very big cozy wooden cabin next to a breezy beach with a beautiful sunset, steak and a glass of sangria. In other words, it was perfect!

And then came that ferry ride again that made me go all coo coo!

The picture to the right was taken at a small temple in the streets behind St. Paul's. Looking at this photo as well as many others that I took today (including the one posted for "yesterday's" entry), I noticed that I had a very simple, but linear concept in my head today for some reason...perhaps those were the only things that inspired me? I would post more photos, but they'll eventually get covered in the "Today's Flickr Uploads" section anyway, so there is no point repeating. Speaking of which though...

Today's Flickr Uploads: Dried Stench at Peng Chau

If I didn't like dried squid so much, I'd throw up.

Day 30: Faux-Monday Reflections

2008-11-24T17:09:00.000-08:00

Well, like I mentioned, I accidentally deleted the photos I took for Monday, and so the image above is actually from Tuesday! Why the heck not! It was an awesome brushed steel door that I saw at Macau...I loved the reflections.

The First

2008-11-24T16:22:00.001-08:00

I know I have not posted Monday's photo yet. Truth is, I accidentally deleted my photos from the camera today (doh!), though there really wasn't anything interesting in them anyway. So I'll take a few photos tomorrow and post up two and we can pretend one of them is for Monday. Till then, I thought I should dedicate an entry to something I just read about a few minutes ago: the world's first digital camera! Without it, I would not be faux-photo-blogging (mostly because I would've been too lazy to scan my film photos)!

In December 1975, Kodak engineer Steve Sasson invented something that would, decades later, revolutionize photography: the world’s first digital camera. It was the size of a toaster, and captured black and white images at a resolution of 100×100 - or 0.01 megapixels in today’s marketing terminology. The images were stored on cassette tape, taking 23 seconds to write. The camera uses an ADC from Motorola, a bog-standard (for the 1970s) lens from a Kodak movie camera, and a CCD chip from Fairchild Semiconductor - the same technology that digital cameras still use today. To playback the images, a special computer and tape reader setup (pictured below) was built, outputting the grainy images on a standard TV. It took a further 23 seconds to read each image from tape.

Day 29: Spirituality and Sickness

2008-11-23T06:26:00.000-08:00

I went on another heritage walk today, covering the temples and heritage parks in the Wong Tai Sin District.

I have, for many years, claimed that Kowloon is the dark side of Hong Kong, but the more I explore it, the more I realise how many hidden treasures there are in the peninsula and I was glad to have seen some of those today. The first place I went to was the Nan Lian Garden, which is a Tang dynasty garden in Diamond Hill with classical structures, water ponds, rocks, etc that are all designed and arranged to imitate nature and the elements as per Chinese customs and Feng-Shui. The garden was in one word, gorgeous! The structures were colourful, the flowers still in bloom, the bonsai trees standing beautifully and what not...!

The next stop was the Chi Lin Nunnery, which stands next to the Nan Lian Garden. The buildings at the nunnery are also built using the architecture style of the Tang dynasty (i.e. without using any nails, etc) and are the only buildings in Hong Kong to be built with wooden roofs. There's some huge statues of the Buddha in the nunnery which are just as beautiful as the architecture. Loved it! Mind you, I love most monasteries and nunneries I've visited...there's a certain calm there that just relaxes you completely...

Next was the Wong Tai Sin Temple. Unfortunately I didn't take that many photos there because it was all a little too cramped and the light was a little horrible to get a decent shot. Any way, this temple is one of the largest temples in Hong Kong as it caters to three of the most popular Chinese religions in Hong Kong: Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. There were some gorgeous buildings here as well and maybe if I have time (and patience) during the Wong Tai Sin Festival next year, I'll go and take some proper photos.

Lastly, I went to the Kowloon Walled City Park, which sits over the remains of the village by the same name. It was apparently the only settlement in the Hong Kong territory that remained out of British jurisdiction during the colonial rule. It's also the last place of refuge that the emperor from the Song Dynasty took during the attack from the Mongols before drowning himself. The Japanese destroyed most of the city during the second world war to provide materials for the Kai Tak Airport though and eventually it was agreed by the PRC and British authorities to completely demolish the village and build a park over the location...this park wasn't really as impressive as the Lan Nian Garden, but it was amazing to see some of the architecture that still stood from ages back! Don't get me wrong, it was a beautiful park, but the wear on some of the remaining structures do make it a sad sight, especially with the history connected.

Overall, I had a really good time walking around all these places. I'm always surprised at how little of Hong Kong I've seen despite living here for so many years! And each time I do see something new, I'm always impressed by it! Hopefully I'll have seen most of it by the time I leave.

Oh and after my trip, I got sick. Flu season! Huzzah! But anyway, here are a few more ~~unedited~~ images from the walk. Left to right: Entrance to the Nan Lian Garden, Golden Pagoda at the Garden, Oriental Carp, Chi Lin Nunnery

Today's Flickr Uploads: Peng Chau's Harvest n' Rubbish

Day 28: Criss-Crossed Mentalness

2008-11-22T04:32:00.000-08:00

I feel like I have a lot to say, but not much that I'm actually going to because it's just going to come out as crude sarcasm and/or cynicism and I don't really want to litter my blog with unnecessary bickerings. Anyway, it can be summarised by one single line: some people are just thankless gits. We knew that already though, right?

Shame that I refuse to rant though, because I don't have anything else to say today haha. I haven't really done anything exciting besides watching a little TV, working on my university applications and sleeping when I shouldn't have. No regrets though...I felt like I needed the rest. I'll be working on the applications again tonight and reading before hopefully clonking off to sleep again!

So why this picture? I know it's not particularly pretty, but I've always loved the criss-crossing patterns of the tram line outside my apartment building and so I thought I'd take a shot! Unfortunately, it was dark and cloudy by the time I got there, but oh well!

Today's Flickr Uploads: Peng Chau Colours

Finally moved on to the Peng Chau set after the last pictures from Cheung Chau were uploaded yesterday...took a while, but then I'm known to take 50 billion photos a day leading to my backlog of 80 trillion photos.

Day 27: Stable Contracts

2008-11-21T04:40:00.000-08:00

I have finally managed to secure a stable job; I'll be teaching language and folk-theatre to little kiddies, which honestly is not something I would want to do in the ideal world, but I'm happy enough that I've managed to get the job considering the current economic situation for theatre companies. The job comes with a fair amount of perks, as well as a shiny and a fancy office in the building pictured here. Plus, it's good for my resume!

Besides that, I'm still doing freelance work for a Colombian magazine that printed my photos a few months ago and possibly have a chance to work with Nathan Welton (photojournalist) when he comes to Hong Kong.

Today's Flickr Uploads: Dead Food at Cheung Chau

Day 26: At Camp!

2008-11-21T03:52:00.000-08:00

Today, I went to set up camp in Lantau. The weather was quite perfect for the hike that started the day, but it did get very cold by the end of the night, but still it was a very good day that involved us getting lost for the entirety of the hike, ending up at a gorgeous beach where there was a noose hanging on a tree, being attacked by adorable dogs that wouldn't stop following me and sitting on my feet, having a huge meal, getting lost in the dark on our way back to the campsite, trying to burn the campsite down by making a makeshift fire, burning my finger in the process, more eating, talking to random outdoor activity coordinators, speculating whether the king cobras in the region would be in our tents, running around like we were in the Blair Witch Project and eventually knocking off to sleep until we woke up to cook nasty noodles and hiking back to the pier where we ate McDonald's instead!

Here's a couple random photos including (from left to right) the gorgeous sunset at the beach, me with one of the cuddly dogs, tents (after destroying one of them), and our Blair Witch fire.

Day 25: Northern Winds

2008-11-19T06:58:00.000-08:00

I love living in the west; the sunsets are so beautiful here and the atmosphere hardly ever feels polluted. There are also not many tall buildings around here to block the heavy northerly winds and in general, it is quiet (save for the horrible construction work in my building).

Day 24: The Deathbed of a Day

2008-11-18T03:13:00.000-08:00

It was the cooling hour, just when the rounded
Red sun sinks down behind the azure hill,
Which then seems as if the whole earth is bounded,
Circling all nature, hush'd, and dim, and still,
With the far mountain-crescent half surrounded
On one side, and the deep sea calm and chill
Upon the other, and the rosy sky
With one star sparkling through it like an eye.

-Don Juan, Lord (George Gordon Noel) Byron

Today's Flickr Uploads: Docked in Cheung Chau

Day 23: Whence He Came

2008-11-17T07:50:00.000-08:00

I didn't really get up to all that much today, but it was all good in the end and I'm glad to say that I'm in quite a positive mood... Looks like that awful mood-inducing injection from last week is finally wearing off!

Taking my good-ish mood with me though, I went back to the HK Academy for Performing Arts (pictured) to get transcripts and reference letters sorted for my university applications. It's funny though because as long a time as I spent at the Academy, and even though I can still navigate very well through it's incredibly confusing labyrinth of an interior, I still felt very distant from it. The first thing I thought about when this came to mind was how it must have felt for some people to be cut away from their dæmon (His Dark Materials), only not as traumatic. I know, I know...that's taking it too far, but it's just that despite how much I bitched and moaned while I was at the Academy, I really did enjoy my studies there and it's what I did there that's given me a clearer light into what I want to pursue as a future career. And the day I walked down the stage in my hideous purple academic regalia, I really did feel a pang in my heart because I would have to give up something familiar...something that had, dare I say it, become a part of me.

But anyway, it was really nice to go back and see some familiar faces and talk to some of my lecturers (who I adore, honestly). I find it hilarious that I never could be as open with the students at the Academy as I was with the lecturers. Then again, a lot of students there had the maturity level of an ant in a tutu. Long story short, I had an excellent visit there.

Later when I got home, I decided I was in the mood to cook, so I made Singaporean chicken curry, some fish fillets, baked some bread in my tiny oven and made some yummy vegetable soup. I love cooking! Just wish I had an oven that was bigger than a shoebox...literally!

Today's Flickr Uploads: Rocky Shores at Cheung Chau

Day 22: Nothing to the Effect of Anything

2008-11-16T05:43:00.000-08:00

Today, I did nothing of consequence except take an incredibly long, but involuntary nap (drowsy medication), watch a bit of TV and play with the pets. I tried to take Pogo out for a walk, but half way through I got so tired (again, because of the meds) that I decided to turn back, but not before buying some envelopes! How exciting! Well at least they are eco-friendly envelopes. Woo...

While on my walk with Pogo though, I thought I would add to the talks about the apartment-building-construction-series by proving my point about feeling like I'm living in a concentration camp. Remember the barbed wire I talked about on Day 3 of this blog? Well here is a photo I took of it. Thankfully it's being taken down now, but who knows what they'll do next.

In slightly more interesting news, I just saw this list about pet-calendars that I thought were adorable (minus the one with images of dog poo). I want the proverbial cat one!

Tomorrow, I will embark on my one-week university application preparation, which will hopefully give me enough time to mail the materials to the colleges next week. I have also decided to completely redecorate my apartment just to be annoying to my pets because it resembles a pigsty right now...only pigsties are cleaner and classier.

Today's Flickr Uploads: Sad Cats of Cheung Chau

I saw these two kittens wandering around the urban trail on the island. One of them looked so injured and sad. I wish I could have brought them home and honestly, it took me a lot to say no to myself for doing just that. If I had my way, I would buy a thousand acre land and open a pet-rescue centre.

Day 21: Inner Peace, Outer Pain

2008-11-15T05:56:00.000-08:00

I know I say this every week, but I love walking. With all the transfusion therapy that I'm going through these days that leaves my moods in hell and keeps me nauseous, walks are just what I need I think. The fresh air and the gorgeous scenes clear my head and do my body a whole lot of good. So with that in mind, I went on a walk today which I thought was going to be much shorter than it really was, but then what do I expect for trying to conquer half of Hong Kong island in one afternoon...

Mind you, it wasn't a difficult walk at all. I thought it was quite relaxing with 90% of it being on flat terrain, and of that, 80% being paved as it is a catchwater trail. The views especially were fantastic, ranging from an urban mish-mash in the north to the absolute peace of the south. Sure I wish it was less hazy, but it was still pretty... and I'm extremely proud of making it to Stanley from Central. Haha... Click here for a rough route map of my trip! 14 kilometers covered in just under 6 hours... took so long because there were many rest and photo stops involved. Shouldn't take you longer than 3-4 hours otherwise.

The only downside being that my legs are dead now because of all the walking on concrete...but, at least I'll be getting a good night's rest tonight.

Today's Flickr Uploads: Cheung Chau Clutter

Day 20: A Different View

2008-11-14T08:28:00.000-08:00

One of the most beautiful things about Hong Kong is its mix of old-and-new. I’ve always commented on the fact that this is one of the few places in the world where a broken down “dai-pai-dong” (roadside restaurant shack) can stand next to a pristine five-star hotel and still look like it actually belongs there. I could even go as far as to say that it is the mix of old vs. new that really givers the city its charm, yet it’s a shame that the government does not see it as such. It is an even bigger shame that they are quite adamant in destroying what little heritage landmarks we have left here in order to make room for more steel and glass towers that lack personality and serve as nothing more than dull office spaces that squeeze the life out of people and convert them into living zombies.

I have had major issues with the Urban Renewal Authority here. When I found out that they had a hand in projects that involved the replacement of iconic Victorian architecture (e.g. City Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Centre), it didn’t really bother me that much, perhaps because this had been years before I had come to the city…though it did hurt a little to see Hong Kong lose part of its heritage. But having lived here for 12 years and becoming so familiar with the environment, I have now started to feel a sharp twinge of pain every time I hear the name of the authority that claims to want to bring Hong Kong into the future. However, I honestly believe that sometimes it seems that they’re simply out to destroy our colonial history. Wouldn’t be surprised.

Just over the last two years or so for example, they have managed to destroy the Central Star Ferry Pier, Queen’s Pier, Wedding Card Street and many more. They have also threatened to get rid of the Victoria Prison and Central Police Station, the Blue House, and some others that I can’t think of from the top of my head. What I don’t understand is that if this is supposed to be a leading city, shouldn’t they be able to hire “leading” city planners and designers and decorators to maintain our city heritage? Does everything need to look like a stone or glass block? Take the Cultural Centre for instance…what’s the point in that building? The Victorian railway station that stood there was about the same size and would have served as a fantastic cultural centre with a little bit of remodelling inside, instead of building that dungeonesque boomerang building of roughly the same size. The Queen’s Pier also did not need to be torn apart for a bypass to be built – the bypass could be constructed around it. Easy. Pricey, but easy. But then the government doesn’t care about anything more than how to make more dough anyway…

I’m sure many people would say that I’m being naïve and that progress is inevitable, change is good, land is expensive in Hong Kong, blah blah blah. Is it really worth it in the end to lose your history though? Is it so wrong to preserve the few monuments that watched, if not took part in making the city what it has become today?

Macau has gotten it right...and notice how the Macanese are so much more patriotic towards their city? Because they understand it and appreciate it; because their history isn’t torn away from them.

Anyway, these two photos below are from Wan Chai. The photo to the left is the Urban Renewal Authority’s way of justifying the destruction of Wedding Card Street. The words “stylish, hip, trendy, chic, grand, modern” are plastered all over the street now. Modern my foot… the towers will look like most every other behind-the-skyline towers in Hong Kong – bland. But then bland is chic apparently… the other photo is part of a kids’ mural near Wedding Card Street. This part is focusing on the demon (Urban Renewal folk) destroying the homes on the street. Kids are smart. We should listen to them more.

Today's Flickr Uploads: Blue and Green Cheung Chau

Day 19: A Humid Issue

2008-11-13T03:57:00.000-08:00

Well it's become more and more obvious over the past few weeks that my apartment is about to go into pieces. Literally.

Since they started the renovation work on the outside of the building, I've noticed damp patches build up on some of the outer walls of the building. Now, in normal circumstances, I wouldn't care because the water would simply evaporate and if it does start to mold, I can simply wipe it off the surface or blow-dry it for a bit. These are not normal circumstances, however, 'cos as soon as the water leeks through the walls, it peels the paint away because my landlord is was stupid enough to have the whole place painted in water-soluble paint and I know for a fact that it was not because he wanted to be eco-friendly. In fact, who in their right minds would use water based paints in a humid sub-tropical location?

Honestly, I should not have to pay rent to live in a place where the paint is peeling, mold is growing and where I am woken up very early in the morning with extremely loud drilling noises that drive me and my pets crazy. Though I think having this oddly decorated head in my room is already a sign that I've gone mad. Don't ask me why it's there...it just amuses me. Every so often, I change the way it looks and each time it gets more and more hideous. Before this, for example, he was just wearing woolly earmuffs, that have now become my dog's favourite chew-toy.

Today's Flickr Uploads: Trail-walking in Cheung Chau

Day 18: Liquid Sex

2008-11-12T03:14:00.000-08:00

Chocolate Martini : Liquid Sex

Day 17: Winter is a-coming.

2008-11-11T08:29:00.000-08:00

Winter has decided to come a little early this year in Hong Kong. As a rough estimate, the current weather conditions right now are the same, if not worse, than the cold-wave spell we had last January. Sure the temperature hasn't dropped below 20 degrees or so, but if you have ever lived through Hong Kong winters, you know that number doesn't really mean anything because it's the wind-chill that really is the killer here. But man, it's kind of scary how obvious the weather problems have become because of global warming.

On the plus side, winter skies are beautiful and are throwing gorgeous sunsets over the harbour. This photo was taken at twilight from the docks that my building stands behind. I'm proud of myself for keeping steady enough to take the shot without using a tripod. Oh and I live in the wide building to the left, in the front.

Still, despite the bone chilling cold, I never get sick of watching kids walking around town dressed like Randy in A Christmas Story. Only, it's nowhere close to snowing here. Oh how parents love to torture their children (and themselves seeing as they don't dress any better).

Winter also means that Christmas is coming! My favourite time of the year - something I look forward to starting 26th of December of the previous year. Unfortunately, this year's Christmas is promising to be the worst I've ever had! Though, I'm hoping to be able to afford this or this lomography camera to keep myself occupied.

Day 16: Electrocution

2008-11-10T00:15:00.000-08:00

Today's been a day of running errands, singing papers, talking to ~~people who think too highly of themselves~~ bankers and wondering why the management of the building I live in is out to:

(a) kill me, or
(b) make me feel like I am living in a concentration camp.

This photo was taken outside my apartment, in the main lobby, that I mentioned on Day 3 of this blog. Only last time, they did not have nearly burnt out wires hanging out in the open within reach of short people. Maybe having an obvious fire hazard out in the open and/or maintaining a feeling of a badly maintained concentration camp is how they are hoping to get the residents out of here so they can sell the apartments for sky-high prices after the renovation is complete.

And for the record, I did not take this photo today, though the scene has not changed in the slightest since I took it a week ago, so I did not see a point in taking another shot.

Day 15: The Ten Thousand

2008-11-09T08:04:00.000-08:00

Today was fairly eventful which helped a lot to keep my mind off things...well except the first thing I did because that is one of the things I want to keep my mind off of, which is that I went for a blood transfusion. And as with every time I have to go do it, it either leaves me incredibly tired or as was the case today, incredibly hyper. And so, I decided I would try to accomplish what I really should not have done in that condition and headed up to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery in Shatin.

The best way I can describe the place is to give a reference to the Tiger Balm Garden that were shut down many years ago (shame), but I'll get to that in a minute. First, there was the entrance... Now when one thinks of an entrance to a monastery, one assumes that it will be welcoming. Well this one couldn't have wanted to tell you to go away and mind your own business. For one, the entrance was near what looked like a ditch in a farm. From there, you start walking uphill along a modest slope with several gold fibreglass Buddhas on either side of you... But then you turn the corner and you see another one of Hong Kong's 80-degree-gradient steep slopes with steps... not just a few steps, but about 500 steps...literally. But to cheer you up, there's 500 or so more of those gold fibreglass Buddhas on either side of you to keep you amused. I even saw one that had a marijuana leaf for a fan (though I'm sure that is not what the artist wanted to portray).

But in all honestly, it was not too bad because I took it slow and it had all been worth it once I was up there (as it always is). Now the reference to the aforementioned Tiger Balm Garden: gaudy. That's what the monastery is...gaudy. There's lots more of those gold statues that line every boundary of the holy place, 4 very scary looking statues (including one of a big blue dog that's there for no explained reason), a 9 story bright red pagoda (which was actually very cool) and oh yeah, a gold-gilded body of the founder of the monastery with very large letters in front of it saying "Corpse of Rev. Yuet Kai." That bit was slightly creepy. But no, I'm being a little too cynical about it all. It was actually very cool I thought and almost had the exact charm the colourful scenes at the Tiger Balm Garden used to have. Added on top of that, there were some beautiful urban views of Shatin valley below, but the coolest part was that the walls inside the temple were lined with rows upon rows of Buddha statues (pictured above). There's 13,000 in all just within that small building...it was amazing. In fact, the whole monastery holds countless Buddha statues, and the name "Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery" comes from a Chinese saying whereby "Ten Thousand" is merely used to describe something myriad.

Here's a couple more photos:

On my way down, I even came across a honey/bee farm and nearly got crushed by a mountain of bamboo trunks. It was fun.

Day 14: Warped and Twisted

2008-11-08T01:56:00.000-08:00

.........Harsh words & violent blows
.........Hidden secrets nobody knows
.........Eyes are open, hands are fisted
.........Deep inside I'm warped & twisted
.........So many tricks & so many lies
.........Too many whens & too many whys
.........Nobody's special, nobody's gifted
.........I'm just me, warped & twisted
.........Sleeping awake & choking on a dream
.........Listening loudly to a silent scream
.........Call my mind, the number's unlisted
.........Lost in someone so warped & twisted
.........On my knees, alive but dead
.........Look at the invisible blood I've bled
.........I'm not gone, my mind has drifted
.........Don't expect much, I'm warped & twisted
.........Burnt out, wasted, empty, & hollow
.........Today's just yesterday's tomorrow
.........The sun died out, the ashes sifted
.........I'm still here, warped & twisted (-Anonymous)

Day 13: Blue

2008-11-07T06:06:00.001-08:00

Here I Lie
As Cold As the Moon

Day 12: Moods and Dreams

2008-11-06T03:15:00.000-08:00

Ever since I was little, everyone used to label me as their little ray of sunshine. Cheesy as it may be, they had good reason to say as such because I was possibly the one of the most calm, happy and stable persons in my family (taking well after my grandmother). I never really got angry, didn't even get too sad and upset. If I cried, it was because I was in physical pain, not because I wanted a new toy or anything of the like. In fact, when I could, I would give what I had to my brother so that he would stop crying. Things haven't changed much in that respect till date (minus the crying), but it all worked out fine back then when we were complete emotional opposites and we fed off each other...

And then we turned 15 and it all went downhill from there throwing me off balance and in turn our relationship with each other. First came a whole series of events that needn't be mentioned that eventually pushed me in the pits of depression. My moods started changing; I became angrier and more upset over everything, but having been conditioned a certain way it did not how I felt inside, because I had to show the world that I was perfectly all right. I could not talk to anyone about how I felt and that broke me in even more pieces ...and so I started rapid cycling. I felt "normal" one minute, anxious another, depressed another, and so on. All at the same time keeping it inside me and pulling a smile in front of everyone and sucking it all in, making others happy, but at least getting satisfaction from the fact that I was accomplishing something and doing what was expected of me. From being the dominating central ground for my family, I submitted even to myself. Craig noticed.

Most of it, I'm glad to say, is over. Though I still hurt when thoughts about being abandoned by those that I spent my youth trying to please come to mind... but what good does that do? I constantly ask myself that. What is the point in being unhappy? If unhappiness is all there is, then nothing is worth living for. And in that rite, I think going through all that in the past has made me stronger. I may still get moody, but they pass more quickly now; I try simply to be thankful for what I do have and so, am able to reach at least a state of contentment and ground myself enough to find an inner balance.

Question of the Day: Is it okay to just be content? Or is that not sufficient?

In other news: Kylie Minogue is coming to town. I saw the ticket prices to her concert tickets that are much more expensive than what Bjork and Madonna's concerts cost. I can buy a small island for that money!

Day 11: Historical Understanding

2008-11-05T05:32:00.001-08:00

The above is an exhibit on neolithic life in Hong Kong; the men are supposed to be building a stilt house, though to me it looks like Jesus about to carry the cross to his crucifixion.

I love museums. Strolling through one is like having an ~~unpaid~~ enjoyable job. One feels much accomplished after making a trip through it! Plus they're fun. Random knowledge is always fun...for me anyway! And so, I have decided that I'm going to go through all museums in Hong Kong before I (hopefully) make my way out of the city. And believe me, they seem to make a museum out of literally anything here... there's a museum about life aboard a particular fireboat, another one about a road (Lantau Link) which is part of a ~~tourist trap~~ visitor centre. There's museums about tea ware (slightly understandable), international cuisine (Foods of Mankind Museum), an exhibition out about the Hong Kong public housing estates that honestly have no unique aesthetic qualities of their own, and so on. In fact, there are a total of 45 museums (including resource centres). That should keep me busy for a while.

Day 10: On Freedom

2008-11-04T01:06:00.000-08:00

Freedom is a concept of the imagination.

Happy Election Day, America!

original image here

Day 9: The Hitch Hiker's Guide to Joo

2008-11-03T04:15:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wondered what would be said about you if someone chose to write your biography? Or if you suddenly had an inclination to share your own story, what would you say? Would you concentrate on the more dramatic aspects of your life or just about the mundane things that were important to you, though were not particularly significant? I suppose some would find a balance, some would just go on about the mundane things in their lives like eating turnips, whist others would make their own story more salient if that is the right word.

But how much drama can one person encounter in their lives? Well I for one have too much on my own plate with my accidents and the whole family drama worthy of a soap opera, but they're not particularly nice read about. And so what is it that draws us into reading these biographies? Is it inspiration that we're seeking? Motivation perhaps? That maybe if we read about their experience and apply it to our own lives, we might be able to achieve the same goals? But why would you want that? Shouldn't you strive to set and reach your own goals? Then again, no one is unique any more. It's even a long shot to say that a thought is unique anymore...though it might be unheard of. So what does it matter anyway?

Well I don't really care honestly because biographies and autobiographies are too real for my taste. I do enjoy reading historical biographies because I am interested in their cultures and customs but I cannot be bothered to read about that random actor who has an Award under his armpit talking about eating turnips and discussing the meaning of life like he is the next Dalai Lama.

I choose, instead, to stick to fantasies and fiction: fake stories about people with extremely random, coincidental and over the top lifestyles because they're interesting... even though most of the ideas in those writings are not unique, they are still different from what I'm used to in real life and that in itself is intriguing enough, and then added to that, I start thinking "what if..." and that just gets the imagination rolling to the ends of the universe.

What if I got a letter from Hogwarts about a graduate programme they've just started?

What if I was bitten by a vampire and my best friend had a spirit of a wolf?

What if I was stuck in the middle of the universe with a lunatic as in the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy that I am reading right now. I hadn't realised how funny the book really was last time I read it! Then again, I was 13, sitting in the South Island library (that stank), completely oblivious to what the jokes were going on about. Needless to say, I only read half the book because I was so bored with it, but now I can't keep my eyes off the pages! The adventure is intriguing and it's gotten my imagination rolling and even though it's not quite the same as travelling through outer space, I've also been looking through the The Leisurely Hiker's Guide to Hong Kong and planning out my own earthly adventure this coming weekend. :oD

Also, Bookmooch has finally lifted the temporary suspension on my account for being overly active with mooches. I've already jumped on and successfully mooched Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl (which I read when I was in high school and loved) and Chinese Cinderella, and am waiting for confirmation on The Soddit: Or, Let's Cash in Again. It's funny that as much as I don't understand the need for biographies, two of these three books are just that, but then again, their lives were not normal. Any sense of normality was taken away from them. Or maybe I'm just a hypocrite :)

Question of the Day: What would be a good book to mooch?

Day 8: Inspirational Gusts

2008-11-02T03:07:00.001-08:00

I always find it hard to feel inspired in Hong Kong. One of the reasons being that I feel most inspired artistically when I am close to nature and at first glance, one does not think of Hong Kong as the land of nature even though it's quite obviously there. In fact 60% of the land here is uninhabited, and many of the landscapes here are spectacular - sure it's not Ko Phi Phi Leh, but we are still in a tropical region and if you know where to look, the views can be just as exquisite here. And if not the views, then at least the experience alone can be breathtaking. After all, we have our very own ranges of cliffs, tropical blue waters in the north, beautiful sunrises and very dramatic sunsets, vast marsh lands, our very own (and very famous) urban jungle, and what not. We have everything. It may not be world class, it may not be picture-perfect, but the ability to go from one environment into another within mere minutes has always fascinated me. I love Hong Kong (minus the awfully rude people and boring city life).

And the city life is what I believe to be the reason of my lack of inspiration at the moment: the pollution, the rude zombies trailing the streets, and just the general vibe (or lack there of) drags me down and takes whatever energy and motivation I have away, so I do not feel like I am free enough to wander around and take in anything.

But thankfully, I have been so incredibly bored lately, that I've pushed myself to go out anyway and I cannot even begin to say how full of life I feel. The fact that I cannot use my new-found energy and inspiration because of lack of work is another matter, but the fact is, I feel like I am me again, and I feel like I know what I am capable of doing at least. And just in that spirit, I planned to go for a walk to one of the northern trails today, but because of the weather, decided to stay in the south and covered part of the Shek-O Country Park, which was - there are no better words for it - amazing.

Sure the weather was very misty because of an upcoming rain storm, but the winds were so strong that if you'd stand too close to the cliffs, they would surely knock you off. And the views were so subtle in match to the weather that the whole experience was just plain surreal. And beautiful. And if I were a talented enough photographer, I would have captured that beauty, but as it stands, most of my photographs came out misty, except for this one, which I thought looked like a Chinese painting. (provided that you look at it from a bright monitor that can show you the colour differences between the deep reds, greens and black). All in all, beautiful scenery that gave me a lot to think about. Not all of which was good, but thinking is good. At least I know where I stand.

Day 7: Swimming in Fear

2008-11-01T04:09:00.000-07:00

Considering that I am aquaphobic, it is funny that I should feel that my "home" is on an island, and that I relate to the element Water the most - what I fear is also what I respect the most. F*cked up or wise? I don't know, it's not something that I can control...it simply is as is.

I do believe though, that fear is a way for our subconscious mind to protect ourselves from harm: I am ophidiophobic (as well) because I was bitten, people are afraid of heights because...well one would imagine that it's a bad thing to fall to one's death!... Fear is therefore healthy I think as long as you don't let it overrule you and as long as you can come to terms with it, respect it for what it is and why it is there. I may be afraid of deep water (well drowning, specifically), but it is my body's way of protecting me based on past experiences (i.e. nearly drowning at the hands of that awful swimming teacher in South Island). Snakes on the other hand... well I let that fear overrule me. I do not respect them and wish they would all die and burn in hell...so I know it is not a healthy fear because it limits me greatly as I am even afraid to look at images of the slithery sh*ts. But it's getting better... I saw a whole episode of Survivor this morning that showed very long fill-in shots of 3 species of snakes in Gabon without flinching.

But anyway, back to water... I grew up on an island in the middle of a heavy typhoon zone. If there is one thing I know, it's how dangerous water can be and yet it calms me; I am fascinated by it. I don't know why. But keeping with that spirit, my cousin and I decided to take the yacht and go sailing for a few hours in the western and southern waters this afternoon. The weather was perfect with very high gusts of wind and very choppy waters closer to the harbour. In the south, the water was fairly fresh and we even went swimming for a while in the shallow waters around an island in the East Lamma channel. It was just the two of us, an endless body of water and a fairly isolated island behind us with an empty beach...all in all, it was a perfectly relaxing day. Hong Kong does have its little paradises...you just have to find them :)

And no, this photo does not show the paradise goodness of Hong Kong. I did not take my camera with me today because I wanted to enjoy the day through my own eyes instead of the lens for a change...it's the best I could do of the 4 photos I took in total.

Day 6: The Day I Cleaned Again

2008-10-31T04:37:00.000-07:00

.................Fresh, Clean, New.
.................Theme of the Day.

Day 5: Bloodlust

2008-10-30T07:16:00.000-07:00

Today, I did nothing.
Though the colour was Red - Blood, Lust.
Sometimes together, sometimes apart.

Day 4: The End

2008-10-29T13:54:00.000-07:00

Today was even more uneventful than the day before yesterday. I was going to head to the History museum, but things such as this amazing idea about taking a (much needed) nap got in the way. Of course, it's messed up my sleeping schedule now, so since I couldn't sleep, I decided to finish reading Breaking Dawn and here's a short review I wrote about it on Bookmooch:

Once you're done reading this book, the world will seem to be a happy, sappy and mushy place. It is by no means a work of art (like the other books in the series), but it is still a very entertaining read. I'll definitely recommend the series to others, but be warned that the moment you try to look deeper than the surface of what is written, you will be lost because the books are shallow and lack substance. The characters are hollow, the relationships are often weak, the plot leads to random places at times and the blatant fundamental (but hypocritical) Christian concepts can get a little annoying. So save yourself the trouble and just read them as pure entertainment. Stephanie Meyer's a weak writer in most rights, but she knows how to hold the attention of her readers to deliver a general glance at the story, which works great for escapists as the lack of brain power needed to get through the series is reason enough to pick them up!

Needless to say that despite the lack of substance in the story, the very predictable happy ending has left me in a state of utter mush unlike many critics who've written about the story being dull and unrealistic etc.

As I was reading it, I thought I was agreeing with them, but towards the end of the book, I don't understand why they say that? Rather I don't see why it is important for the book to be realistic in order to be a good read. Have they forgotten that some of the most loved stories out there are fairy tales? And honestly, how realistic can one expect books to be when they are about vampires and werewolves?

I suppose one argument towards that could be that the characters and the story are not relate-able to everyday life unlike, say... Rowling's work. But does that really matter? Could you relate to Belle? To Cinderella? Yet you loved their stories.

So what makes Twilight different? Doesn't Stephanie Meyer constantly make references to the fact that this is Bella's fairytale?

Anyway, I don't get it and I don't know if I care really. But then, like Bella, I see the world through rose tinted glasses, so maybe I do relate to the story...

Question of the Day: Why is reality such a grey picture?

Day 3: A True Nightmare Before Christmas and All Other Holidays

2008-10-28T04:39:00.000-07:00

The building where I live has been under construction for nearly 3 months now, every day of which has been miserable because of the intensive drilling and half naked - and usually incredibly unattractive - men staring through my window into my room.

The renovation has not only made my building look like a demolition site, but has also turned the corridor where I live into something that could very easily be out of a film about the holocaust; I feel like I am now living in a badly maintained concentration camp and/or an equally badly maintained asylum of some sort. Heck we even have barbed wire on one of the walls on the side of the building! Pretty.

The point of all of this? I'm just trying to understand why people in Hong Kong feel the need to constantly drill and renovate their apartments every few months. I often question if it is just my bad luck that every time I move to a new place, the people who live directly above me feel the need to renovate their place (in as loud a way as they can think of). The current upstairs-landlords have already renovated their apartment 5 times in the last 2 years that I have been here and my immediate neighbour has fixed up their flat twice. And there are sections along the main road where my apartment building stands that are closed throughout the year for maintenance work and random digging and re-filling. What the hell?

Question of the day: Can the Hong Kong government seriously not think of a better way to spend their money than encouraging urban renewal of the same areas every 5 minutes?

Day 2: Breaking Backs and Making Love

2008-10-27T06:18:00.000-07:00

Today was utterly uneventful as I did absolutely nothing except for killing more of my braincells by watching Survivor: Gabon and reading an extremely mushy and sappy vampire romance, Breaking Dawn (4th in the Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer).

And I would be lying if I said that I did not fall in love with the series. Sure, it is not the next Harry Potter and His Dark Materials as some people claim it to be, but it's great entertainment - after all, who doesn't love to read about a "perfect" romance with the "perfect" lover?

But that was it. That was my whole day...and I'm ending it by calling a few universities to get some final information before I place my graduate program applications through. Paperwork. Hurrah!

Question of the Day: Why does the idea of perfection entice us so?

Day 1: Dead Fish and the Stairs of Mordor

2008-10-26T08:47:00.000-07:00

After going to Bangkok and looking at their horribly constructed steps and stair systems, I never thought I would use the words "Stairs of Mordor" again, but going to Peng Chau definitely changed that...and what's more, I was treated with an abundance of dead, sun-dried fish. Pleasant smells.
The walk around the island started innocently enough, with flat terrain for most of the northern part of the island and very slight gradient slopes heading down towards the southern farms. But then I reached Finger Hill, the highest point on Peng Chau.

From the first glance, the hill looks innocent enough, being no more than 95 meters in height - a quick 30 minute climb, one should say...but that is before you look at how steep the slopes are and worse - how horribly constructed the steep steps are as you get closer to the top. In fact, it felt as though the steps were literally constructed on a gradient of 80-90 degrees! And of course, as luck would have it, they were endless. Unfortunately I do not have a decent image of these steps as I was too busy huffing and puffing loud enough to blow my house down in Kennedy Town from there.

But I managed to climb up without too much trouble and all in all, I'm very proud of myself. I did not think I could do it with the recent heart problems I've had, but all I needed was some sugar and water when I got up at the top summit before I was ready to head back down to join the dead fish.

Question of the day: Why do they cover the dried fishes' heads with paper?

365 Days in the Life of Joo

2008-10-23T00:58:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder what it is that keeps you going through life? What makes it worth living when the world around you and the world within you is collapsing? When sadness is the only rational option and when failure becomes your friend? What is it then that keeps you motivated, that gives you a reason and hope? That allows you to live in a cocoon where the world seems a happier place and though it shuts all that is around you, it makes you think. It makes you happy. It keeps you going. It makes you wonder.

It's the little things. The silver lining. The moments you take for granted each day as you struggle to pull a smile when all is grey.

This is the world I'm looking to explore. Taking a single moment from my day and presenting it through a photograph, be it to express my emotion, sum up my day or simply show an inspiration or thought.

365 photographs, for each day of the year.

EDITED (Sunday, 26th): My god this entry sounds depressing and drabby! This blog is not serious. It's a fun project for me, and yes, I'm hoping to just look more into the "little things" through it. Hope you (el reader) enjoy going through it and oh - quick note: all photos that are part of the "365 project" are most likely going to be unedited. I'll post edits later if I can be bothered :)