Bugs that visually enthrall more than... bug! ;)

An insect known as a skipper
whose shape looks closer to a fighter plane's
than any other one I've seen before!

One of the most prettiest butterflies I have ever seen
(especially in flight) -- and that I saw for the only the first time
ever this afternoon (and wish I had a better photo of!)

Another Sunday, another hike. This afternoon -- one whose weather was predicted to be fine but hot (with a maximum temperature of 31 degrees Celsius) -- saw my regular hiking companion and I going along the Shek Pik Country Trail that had been announced as having been permanently closed a couple of years ago due to landslide damage caused by a typhoon but ended up being re-opened last month.

One reason for this choice of trail to hike on today was because the route (from Ngong Ping down to the side of Shek Pik Reservoir) promised to offer views of the third largest reservoir in Hong Kong and other parts of Lantau from different angles then I had hitherto seen them. Another was that the path has been described as passing through wooded areas that I imagined would have lots of trees offering up welcome shady covering.

As it turned out though, the sky was actually pretty overcast for much of our outing -- so we didn't need that much tree cover and the views weren't as photogenic as we would have liked. Still, it wasn't as though that wasn't much that was interesting to look at over the course of our hike; only, instead of panoramic vistas, my regular hiking companion and I found our attention frequently turning towards all manner of critters that we saw flying about in the air, crawling, hopping or moving about in other ways near and at ground level, at rest on leaves and such, etc., etc.!

Among the creatures we spotted along the way were praying mantises, spiders, grasshoppers, cicadas, moths and something that scurried across the path so quickly that I couldn't identify it... though I will vouchsafe that I had initially thought it was a large rat, only it had a much longer tail than I'd expect a rat to have! But due to their sheer beauty, some of the more colorful as well as larger of the around 240 species of butterflies that are to be found in Hong Kong were the absolute highlights of our insect spotting-filled outing.

One of the more surprising things about hiking in Hong Kong is how diverse can be the wildlife on view. As an example, I observed to my regular hiking companion at one point in the afternoon that we had caught sight today of at least five types of butterflies for the first time ever -- and this despite my coming close now to completing hike number 100 in Hong Kong and her having lived and hiked in Hong Kong for even longer than me.

To sum it all up: when hiking in Hong Kong, it frequently can be visually rewarding to not only gaze out at the distant scenery but, also, check out what interesting sights may be closer at hand. At the same time, it also is highly recommended that one does pay attention and look down to see where one is walking on -- especially on the trickier bits of paths that sometimes skirt pretty close to mountain edges, like was the case for stretches of the Shek Pik Country Trail that, overall, we decided may be easy in terms of exertion but nonetheless is somewhat more demanding of a hiker's care and attention than some might think!

Digital (This week's Photo Hunt theme)

When I saw this Photo Hunt theme on the tnchick's list a few weeks back, my reaction was along the lines of "Oh, an easy one". After all, every single snap in the photo archive on my computer was taken on a digital camera. However, when I decided to restrict myself to shots showing digital items, I discovered that I actually didn't have that great a choice of photos!

To be sure, I could have made things easier for myself by proceeding to take fresh shots of such as some of my digital video discs (DVDs) or digital audio compact discs (CDs). But that just seemed too obvious a thing to do. So on I proceeded with my hunt through my photo archive -- and finally came up with a pair of photos that fit this week's theme... though it's true enough that I had to go back some three years for one of them!!

For the record: that photo -- showing a digital countdown clock for the 2008 Beijing Olympics on prominent display in Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok Airport -- dates back to a time when China, including Hong Kong, was in the throes of Olympics fever. (Wow, was it that long ago now? How time really can fly...)

And while the photo below it in this post is taken in more mundane surroundings (i.e., the inside of a green minibus), it actually is the more digital item-filled -- with two digital displays rather than just one. More specifically, the larger of the two displays in it shows the speed of the vehicle -- and yes, I happened to take a photo when the minibus was travelling at only 9 kilometers per hour! -- while the smaller one indicates the fare price (HK$7.40) to be paid to the driver -- either electronically using an Octopus card or in cash form.

On the subject of minibuses: they are a form of public transportation that somehow seem more local than the bigger double-decker and other buses and the MTR. So for me, it was a sign that I had truly "arrived" in the Big Lychee when I took to regularly riding them. Also, the Hong Kong film fanatic part of me often does think of Lost in Time, Derek Yee's touching romantic drama whose main characters are minibus drivers... so yes, riding in a minibus can often make me feel like I'm in a Hong Kong movie even after all these years (four plus now) that I've been a resident in this part of the world. :)

Visa-free vs -required travel musings

Himeji Castle -- located in a country (Japan)

which I need a visa to enter

View of Heidelberg -- a picturesque town in country (Germany)
which I can enter without applying in advance for a travel visa

"Where in the world do you want to holiday next?" This is a question I've been asked more than once in recent weeks -- partly because the past couple of weekends have been long weekends for many in the Big Lychee -- courtesy of Hong Kong's public holidays this year including Good Friday (April 22nd this year), the following Saturday, Easter Sunday (April 24th), and the Monday after Easter, May Day (May 1st) and the day after May Day (May 2nd) -- during which many a person I known has flown off for a short vacation.

My reply has honestly been: "I don't know yet". But I'll also admit that I've been considering going on a Scandinavian cruise for the first time ever this year or visiting Venice (not least because of the beautiful photos of the place that can be found in blogs such as Churches in Venice and Trekcapri's) or Vietnam... or returning for another visit to Japan -- only with the latter there remains the bureaucratic hurdle of applying for a visa; something which I won't have to do should I wish to travel to the other destinations I've been thinking of doing.

If the information on Wikipedia is to be believed, a Malaysian passport is ranked pretty high (i.e., number 13 in the world) in terms of travel freedom and visa-free access. And it's true enough that there have been times and places in the world where I've been happy to have had a Malaysian passport -- including when living and travelling in Africa, where I found that Malaysia being a part of the British Commonwealth made it so that I did not need a visa to visit Tanzania (except that I also successfully applied to be a resident of Tanzania proper and also Zanzibar in order to work and live there for two years), Kenya, Zimbabwe and Zambia (on account of those African countries being fellow members of the British Commonwealth).

Incidentally, I have often recounted the -- in retrospect -- funny experience of how it was that I literally walked across the Zimbabwean-Zambian border by way of the bridge that crosses the Zambezi River close to Victoria Falls because I wanted to see the amazing natural phenomenon from both countries -- and, at the border, when asked by the Zambian immigration official how long I intended to stay in his country, miffed him somewhat by honestly telling him that I just wanted to stay long enough to view Victoria Falls from the Zambian as well as Zimbabwean sides! (Fortunately, the guy wasn't upset enough to deny me entry into his country -- and I spent only a few hours in Zambia before walking back to Zimbabwe later that same day!!)

In contrast, I would not be able to walk across the border between Hong Kong and Mainland China without first acquiring a China visa -- something which I actually don't possess at the current time -- and, in fact, only have applied for once... years ago when I went on holiday to Beijing with my mother! (And for the record: for all of my having now lived in Hong Kong for more than four years, I still have paid a single visit to neighboring Shenzhen...)

On another ironic note: I also require a visa to visit the U.S.A., a country where I lived, studied and worked for close to one and half decades of my life. (Again for the record: I never did apply for a green card, never mind citizenship -- not least because, as I told many a (then) disbelieving American friend, I actually didn't think I would want to spend the rest of my life in that country and would want to leave it one day...)

All this I actually don't mind too much. On the other hand, it's true enough that I wish that Malaysians didn't require a visa to visit Japan. And if that were the case, I definitely would travel to the Land of the Rising Sun more often -- to sample its food and other attractions that I really wish I could conveniently avail myself of... though even with the visa requirements, I do plan to pay visits to such places as Nikko, Kamakura and Shikoku some day soon (as well as already have had the pleasure of visiting such destinations as Mount Aso, Dazaifu and Himeji along with the cities of Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Sapporo, etc., etc.!)

An easy but still scenic Lamma Island hike (Photo-essay)

Close to a year ago, my mother came over to Hong Kong for her first post triple bypass-surgery visit -- and I discovered that she actually was able to complete the Lamma Family Walk. Granted that the easy hike we went on that took us from Sok Kwu Wan to Yung Shue Wan didn't see us going to the top of such as the 353 meter high Mount Stenhouse which is the highest peak on Lamma Island but it nonetheless yielded some nice scenic views.

Also for the record, some years ago, I went on this same hike with Pictures, Thoughts and Comments's sbk and sometime blog visitor "eliza bennet" -- and I reckon that it's a good measure of my fitter condition these days that it felt much easier for me to complete this second time around. So, despite Hong Kong's air pollution record and such, I actually do reckon that I'm in better health post moving to the Big Lychee than in the few years leading up to my move (when I was living in Malaysia and traveling about by car than foot)!

View of Sok Kwu Wan and beyond from its pier

The front of Sok Kwu Wan's modest sized Tin Hau temple

The opening of the Kamikaze Cave from where
the Japanese planned to launch suicide boats
during the Second World War

Fresh vegetables for sale along the way

Sok Kwu Wan left in the distance
not even half way into the hike

Looking northwards towards a pavilion in the foreground
which partly obscures the cement works on Lamma

A more pristine view from near another pavilion
further along the hike

They may pale when compared to those at Po Toi
but I still think these rock formations on Lamma are
quite interesting to look at and fun to photograph!

To be continued... :)

Square (This week's Photo Hunt theme)

This Photo Hunt entry contains photos taken in Hong Kong and its sister Special Administrative Region of Macau.

The upper photo shows the kind of square table with a permanent Chinese chess board (marked out in ways that divides the playing areas into what looks to be numerous squares) on its top surface that is frequently found in official "sitting out areas" in Hong Kong. (N.B. because Chinese chess is a two person game, there always are two chairs permanently attached close to the table -- it's just that I "cut" the second chair out when moving on for a close-up shot of the table! ;b)

The lower photo is of the Fountain of Luso taken in Macau's Lilau Square. A Portuguese residential quarter developed around that which historically where the main source of natural spring water in Macau was found and which now is situated deep within the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Historic Centre of Macao area.

A (once) popular Portuguese saying went to the effect that "Anyone who drinks from Lilau never forgets Macau". However, each time I've passed by the square, I've never seen anyone, Portuguese or otherwise, deigning to drink the water that still comes out there -- albeit as more than a trickle than healthy looking flow, and from out of the mouth of a metal cherub who may look cute enough but, frankly, not necessarily all that clean!

Romance and Sex -- Hong Kong Cinema-Style!

Love, lust or just doing what comes naturally
butterfly-style!

Don't Go Breaking My Heart (Hong Kong-Mainland China, 2011)
- Johnnie To, director
- Starring Louis Koo, Gao Yuanyuan, Daniel Wu, Lam Suet

This past weekend, more than a month after the 35th Hong Kong International Film Festival began, I finally got to watching one of its two official opening films. One reason I had delayed my viewing of it was that I had been rather put off by its trailer (which had looked like Johnnie To was trying to pin some of his action sensibilities onto the romantic comedy with less than satisfactory results). In addition, some reports and reviews I read of the movie had made it seem as though that the Milkyway Image boss who had, for many years, proudly deigned to pander to the Mainland Chinese market, had finally, sadly given up that particular fight.

In the end, however, curiosity got the better of me -- particularly after I read Stefan S.'s positive comments on this romantic comedy which revolves around a now Hong Kong-based female executive who's originally from Suzhou (Gao Yuanyuan), a handsome local high flyer (Louis Koo) and a talented Canadian-born architect (Daniel Wu). And how glad I am post-viewing this charming offering that I did go ahead and check it out after all -- if nothing else because I finally got to see an English translation of the lyrics of a song I have loved for ages now after first hearing it sung by Faye Wong!

More seriously though: its director may be well known for preferring to make crime dramas over romantic works but the fact of the matter is that when Johnnie To puts even half of his heart into it, he comes up with gems like Needing You... (as opposed to Linger -- which I still can't believe he really directed rather than merely lent his name to). And it's not a bad thing at all when I state that Don't Go Breaking My Heart reminded me quite a bit of the 2000 office romantic comedy starring Sammi Cheng and Andy Lau.

For one thing, this 2011 Johnnie To romantic effort is largely set in the world of offices where people fall in love as well as work. For another, this movie's female protagonist -- like with Sammi Cheng's Needing You... character -- most definitely has some cute personality quirks that many viewers will undoubtedly find endearing. And most strikingly, she finds herself having to choose between two attractive men who both have strong feelings for her.

Ultimately, however, what made me come out of my viewing of the film feeling very satisfied was that Don't Go Break My Heart actually goes along a different path after a stretch which got me worried that the story was going to develop way too similarly to how Needing You... had done. And for the record: yes, I definitely agree with the female protagonist's choice of man to marry.

Also, yes, I do think many a heterosexual female viewer will invariably put herself in the female protagonist's shoes and empathize with the difficulty she has making her important decision -- even if the truth of the matter is that it is only in their dreams and fantasies (or in the movies they watch) that they would get to be wooed by one super attractive man, never mind two, at any point in their lives! ;D

My rating for the film: 7.5

3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy (Hong Kong, 2011)
- Christopher Sun, director
- Starring Hiro Harayama, Leni Lan, Tony Ho, Vonnie Liu

Close to a week ago now, two friends collectively e-mailed invitations to several friends -- male as well as female -- to go and view the Hong Kong movie that's currently the talk of the town. In the end, however, only three of us went this past Monday evening to go take in a screening together of 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy.

Before the over 2 hour movie came to an end, one of the two women who had initiated this excursion had walked out of the screening while the other was so shocked by what she had seen that she felt physically sick and decided she couldn't have dinner after the film after all! And while I didn't have as extreme a reaction to this soft porn work that also has its share of violence as them, I must say that I do really regret having contributed to its box office -- and towards what I fear will be a wave of flicks like it in the near future.

Strange as it may sound, 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy actually started out promisingly -- with opening credits that looked admirably artistic as well as made good use of the effects of 3D. But within a few minutes, whatever promise this film with an unexpectedly mean streak held of being aesthetically pleasing quickly disappeared. For even while it does have higher production values than some might expect, there really isn't much beauty in this 3D retelling of a Ming dynasty tale about a lustful learned man who decides he wants a bigger member than his own that already had been made into a Hong Kong film back in 1991 and, indeed, I'd go so far as to say that there is much that is ugly about many of its characters, overall story and so much more.

More specifically, early on in the movie, a woman gets described by another character as the perfect female -- perfect in personality as well as physically. Within seconds of this supposedly serious (as opposed to sarcastic or jesting) assertion, this same woman proceeds to throw a major temper tantrum that prompts her to act incredibly cruelly towards a fellow female. And I have to say in all honesty that not only is the actress who played this supposed major beauty not all that great looking, her looks are actually so unremarkable that I don't think I'll be able to recognize her if I see her in another film.

For that matter, I feel the same way about all the women I saw in this offering -- all of whom additionally seemed to look similar to one another. Put another way: none of the actresses in this offering evinced the charisma or had the kind of looks that, say, Chingmy Yau, Carrie Ng, Patricia Ha, Julie Yeh Feng and other memorably sexy sizzlers from past eras of Hong Kong cinema.

On a perhaps related note: none of the women in the 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy ever looked like they were experiencing true sexual ecstacy -- only the men. And for the record: this is something that more than one female viewer has noticed, as I found upon having conversations about the movie with those woman friends I know who have also viewed the work.

Small wonder, then, that the general conclusion of many a female who checked out the movie is that it was, in the words of one gweipo, "by men, with men, for men". Indeed, I personally would go so far to describe this effort as distinctly misogynistic and thus most emphatically not a work that was all that pleasurable to watch or one that would put women "in the mood" (the latter of which I reckon makes for a pretty damning criticism of a soft porn work!!)!

My rating for the film: 3

A hike of two halves (photo-essay)

Close to a year ago, my regular hiking companion and I went on a hike along Smuggler's Ridge and more that I've come to think of as one of the worst I've been on in Hong Kong on account of our encountering a bunch of stupid people in cars doing such as illegally feeding as well as gawking at whole troops of excited wild monkeys during the last leg of the hike through Kam Shan Country Park. But upon looking again at the photos I took over the course of the hike, I got to remembering that the parts of the excursion that had taken us through Shing Mun Country Park and the northern portion of Kam Shan Country Park had actually been enjoyable enough.

More specifically, things only started to get unpleasant shortly after we went south of marker M120 of the Maclehose Trail along a paved road that private cars were driving up (illegally?) along from the entrance to Kam Shan Country Park from Tai Po Road. So, as it turns out, I do have some good photos to positively remember the hike with after all (along with some that made me angry even after all this time :S ). At the same time, here's definitely stating that this is one trail that I don't plan to hike along again any time soon until the situation with illegal feeding of monkeys in the area gets dealt with more satisfactorily by the authorities...

I'm guessing that the shape of this structure
near the hike's start was inspired by
the historical Shing Mun Redoubt in the area

An entrance to the Shing Mun Redoubt that's
really close to the hiking trail

So if you have a torch and a sense of adventure, one
can't help but want to venture into at least part
of the redoubt to have a bit of a look around

Before too long, however, the hiking trail and views to be had
along it will get you wanting to head out into the open
once more (and yes, that is indeed Lion Rock in the distance)

Looking northwards from the southern edge of
Shing Mun Country Park

Monkeys at home in Kam Shan Country Park

Illegal feeding of monkeys and humans gawking
(in the path of a pair of hikers) in Kam Shan Country Park :(

Since this hike is one I remember most vividly for the large number
of monkeys (and annoying people) encountered over the course of,
here's ending this photo-essay with a monkey-grooming photo!