Sculpture on Hong Kong Sea 2009 (addendum)

An unlikely vision that made me gasp and want to
rub my eyes upon first beholding it -- a boat
filled with plants, floating on the waters of Repulse Bay
(with The Twins -- and the two small humps
in between them -- in the background!)

An old-fashioned camera is part of anothermountainman's
Sculpture on Hong Kong Sea 2009 offering -- and offers
a different view of that mirage-like vessel

The artist behind the visions photographed above,
crouched beside yet another of his contributions to
that one-day artistic event (this one pieces of
reflective material on which shadows fall and,
in the process, create interesting patterns)

As I reported in my previous blog post, I spent part of last Sunday afternoon taking in the one-day arts event that was Sculpture on Hong Kong Sea 2009. Unlike most people who did it the other way around, I went for the option of starting my viewing of the works from the Deep Water Bay end of the scenic 1.2 kilometer coastal walk that ran through to Repulse Bay.

Thus it was that it was only in the last one third of the walk that I came across the set of works that got my vote -- and we were asked to vote by the organisers -- for favorite (or was it best? in this case, it's the same) sculpture that I saw on display that day. Heaven on Earth/ 1/2 is its title.

The following is how its creator, a Hong Kong artist who is known as anothermountainman as well as Stanley Wong Ping Pui, introduced it in the English language section of the event's programme notes:-

mirage in his eyes/

oasis from your angle
for me... it is heaven on earth

And as far as this viewer is concerned, it was a genuinely artistic effort that was magical and beautiful as well as imaginative and whimsical; and a work that showed off how the ordinary can come across as so very special when it is combined with creativity and appears in an unexpected place. Furthermore, I also consider that such a creation serves to emphasize that as long as individuals like Mr. Wong live and go about creating art here, the Big Lychee really is a long way away from being the cultural desert some people genuinely -- but, to my mind, mistakenly and unfairly -- believe it is.

Culture vulture weekend

Ng Chin Pong's Nothing Compares --
on display on the Seaview Promenade
looking out towards Repulse Bay, Nam Wan
(South Bay) and their surrounding areas

Chris Rothermel's Capta Lux --
also on view today on the Seaview Promenade
as part of the Sculpture on Hong Kong Sea 2009

As this weekend winds to a close, I can only look back and note that it's been one of the more culture vulture weekends I've had in a while. For yesterday was spent visiting a museum (the Museum of Coastal Defence -- one of whose current special exhibitions is devoted to the Hong Kong Garrison of the People's Liberation Army) and the nearby Tam Kung Temple, then viewing a Hong Kong film classic (King Hu's The Valiant Ones) in the evening, while I am writing this blog after having returned from attending the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong's all Haydn concert earlier this evening.

Then there were the couple of hours or so spent checking out the one day (only) event that is/was Sculpture on Hong Kong Sea earlier today. If truth be told, the 30 works of art installed out in the open air by the scenic surroundings of the Seaview Promenade that stretches from Deep Water Bay to Repulse Bay over on the southern side of Hong Kong Island were of deeply varying quality -- with at least one being rather justifiably deemed as "shit" by one man whose comments to his companion were on the loud (and opiniated) side.

On a more positive note, I just as honestly think that there were some installations that really worked in me in terms of getting me to stop and appreciate them -- and actually be amazed by the creativity of the idea behind them as well as enjoy their visual effects. And as it so happens, I don't think it coincidental that these appeared to be the ones whose artists took to heart the project organizers' strong encouragement "to take into account the specific site and its surroundings, to make a piece that would enter in some sort of dialogue with the place..."

So thank you to the organizers and the participants of this art festival -- not least for giving me a good reason to finally set foot in Repulse Bay (which, for all of its physical beauty, I had been previously reluctant to because of its reputation for being where the snobby rich hang out and tourists go to gawk). And I do hope that there will be more days of art like this one to look forward to in the future.

Technology (This week's Photo Hunt theme)

In recent weeks, I've played host to visitors from Chicago, Vancouver and San Francisco -- none of whom I took hiking but, instead, had dinner and spend time with in the lively, pulsating urban Hong Kong hubs that are Central and Causeway Bay. Listening to their impressions of Asia's World City reminded me how surrounded by technology as well as fast-paced life often is here.

As an example, everyone's noticed that Hong Kong escalators looked to have been programmed to move faster than the rest of the world's! Gone unmentioned though, I guess because it's so super obvious, is how escalators are such a common and ubiquitous part of the Hong Kong urban landscape.

And, come to also think about it, video screens in public areas. Indeed, it was only when hunting in my photo archive for this week's Photo Hunt that I noticed that, with none of them having been the central intended subject, I nonetheless have quite a few photos of public areas where video screens prominently figure.

For the record, the photos above are taken inside (from top down):-
the enormous -- and yes, box-shaped -- Mega Box shopping mall in Kowloon Bay; an Airport Express train carriage (that, incidentally, also has wi-fi); and one of the tunnels connecting the MTR's Hong Kong and Central stations.

(And speaking of the MTR, I have to say that hardly a day goes by without my not being grateful for Hong Kong have great public transportation systems and technology! ;b)

Out and about in Hong Kong's rural north (Photo-essay)

In recent weeks, the temperature has gone down to levels that are ideal for hiking in Hong Kong once more. While this is a state of affairs I wholly welcome, it also makes me realize that I'm now twelve hikes behind in terms of documenting them in photo-essays -- something which is not helped by my most recent hiking photo-essay before this one having been put up over two months ago.

So without further ado, here's presenting a set of photos from a hike that I went on back in the first week of May(!) with two friends in an area accessible by green mini bus from Fanling that's closer to Shenzhen than Hong Kong's Central District or even Tsim Sha Tsui; the first part of which was along the short but interesting Hok Tau Country Trail that included a hike up a small hill and down through an area of organic farms, one of which was offering strawberry picking opportunities at the time that we visited...

This is Hong Kong? Yes, it is -- and every bit
as much as its concrete jungle bits, actually!

The flowers of what I believe is the big-leaved acacia
that's native to Australia but also
to be found in the Hong Kong countryside

The stone stairs leading up (or down -- depending
on which direction you're approaching it) the hill...

...yields views on one side that extend all the way to
what looks like the city of Shenzhen over on the other side
of the Hong Kong-Mainland Chinese border

...and rural Hong Kong, complete with organic farms,
over on the other side

A more close up view of part of that same landscape
-- one that most visitors to Hong Kong don't see

As the trail descended down the hill into an area
flanked by organic farms that use natural fertilizer,
we smelt as well as saw things that emphasised
that we were very much in the countryside! ;b

On the wilder side of the trail:
yet another beautiful flower my flower books
have not been able to help me identify
(but helpful reader JimmiJames thinks is a bauhinia flower) ;(

The Twins (Hong Kong hills, not Canto-pop duo!)

The southern hill of The Twins
viewed from the kaito ferry enroute to Po Toi

View of Stanley (town and peninsula)
and surrounding bays from near the top
of that same hill earlier today!

I feel so tired I can hardly think or write straight. The reason? I went on a hike earlier today that included hikes up (and then down) the two Hong Kong Island hills known as the Twins. On paper and compared to other peaks in the Big Lychee, they're not that high -- with the northern Twin being only the 105th highest peak in the territory (at 363 meters) and the southern Twin being just the 93rd highest peak (at 386 meters). (Go here for a list of Hong Kong's highest mountains, peaks and hills.)

But the hike did involve two hills -- rather than just a single one -- and what people have estimated as being between 2,000 to 3,000 steps. And... well, just look at the photos above! (And yes, this is one of those cases where I feel that pictures do tell a story better than mere facts and words.)

So what else do I feel other than tired and somewhat achey? A sense of achievement, actually. And an "at last!" euphoria -- because I had first caught sight of the (northern peak of the) Twins more than two years ago and now have finally climbed what I have come to think for some time now as pretty intimidating hills! :)

Birds (This week's Photo Hunt theme)

Years ago now, in what can seem a different lifetime, I lived and worked in Tanzania -- mainly in the urban areas of Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar Stone Town. However, I felt I couldn't leave that East African country with going on safari to -- and in -- some of its national parks at least once. And, so, towards the end of my stay there, I went with an Irish aid worker friend (with the very Irish first name of Fionnuala) on a tour of Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Tarangire National Parks (and, for good measure, also spent time in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area's Ngorongoro Crater and visited Olduvai Gorge).

As we toured the national parks, Fionnuala and I thrilled over the wild landscape and, of course, the spottings of animals such as giraffes, elephants, lions, cheetahs, zebras, hippopotamouses and wildebeests going about their life. Our Tanzanian safari guide-driver, however, only ever seemed excited whenever he spotted some rare -- i.e., not flamingos, of which there were hundreds at Lake Manyara and thousands at Ngorongoro Crater! -- birds! (To the extent where he would literally bring the four-wheel drive vehicle we were in to a skidding halt and shout out its name whenever he spotted some unusual feathered creature that caught his eye!!!)

While I don't think I ever achieve his level of excitement at spotting any avian animal, I nonetheless have to admit to being pretty happy at the photos of birds that I managed to take on my Korean visit last month. In particular, I like the ones that this Photo Hunt entry allows me to show off because: the photo at the top is of a sight that many fellow visitors to the Jongmyo Shrine that day passed but didn't notice as it was above eye-level for most; and the second is of the Korean magpie that I have subsequently learnt is seen as a symbol of Korean identity (even though it is found in other parts of Asia -- and sometimes also is called the Chinese magpie!). :)

Scared poles! ;D

I didn't know until my recent Korean visit that
the Koreans had totem poles a la native Americans!

Scared -- not once but thrice at least
(cf. the small as well as large print)! ;b

Teeheehee! Brian's story about a mix up between snakes and snacks over on the hot pot post's comments thread got me chuckling when I read it this morning. It also reminded me of a funny sign I saw at the Korean Folk Village at Yongin that prompted the following exchange between my mother and me:-

Me: "Scared? Why should the poles be scared?"

My mother: "Aiyah, they're not scared poles. They're sacred poles!"

And is it just me or do the faces on the poles look like they're in on the joke too? ;DDDDDD