Taiwan Quake

A Taiwan earthquake has severely limited communications between South-East Asia and North America. Under ocean cables were damaged, and as a result, my internet is rediculously slow. They say it will take 2-3 weeks for things to return to normal, so until then I will be posting less often.

Siu Sai Wan

I realized recently that I have not posted many photos from the neighbourhood that I live in Hong Kong. It's called Siu Sai Wan, and is pretty much as far East as you can go on Hong Kong Island. If you take a boat out of the harbour going East, we're in the last big building you would see before the Ocean. Our apartment doesn't have an ocean view, rather we look at a mountain, but the prominade and other side of the building have great views.

This first picture is where we live. The building is called Island Resort. It's 60 odd stories high.



These are some boats in the bay down the road from us. It's mainly a industrial area, and this is where a lot of boats drop off their cargo. It's not very large, compared to the docks near Kowloon.



The next few are just random pictures walking around the street. It's not the most exciting place to walk around. There's mainly office buildings and industrial studios. No shopping malls! Only a few located where the main residential buildings are. Our building is on top of a mall for instance.




This is a hard-court soccer field to the side of our building. Most of the time you can just walk on and kick a ball around, but they do have many organized games that go late into the night sometimes.



This is the 6th level of out complex. It's the 'main lobby' area where you can walk around, see the pool, have a glance out over the ocean etc.



This pictures gives a good idea of how tall the buildings really are.



This is the view looking back towards central Hong Kong Island. You can't see the central district, but if you follow the harbour to the left, that's where you would get.

Jumbo!

Jumbo Floating Restaurant. It is what it says it is. Although being quite a 'jumbo' sized restaurant, the famous Hong Kong diner is not actually floating! gasp...! It has been rooted in cement for at least a few years, I'm not sure how long. It's proper name should be 'Jumbo Island Restaurant.' I don't know why they had to suppport it, maybe it's was a sinking Jumbo. Who knows.

I had heard a lot about this place called Jumbo, and I've been excited about it for the past week. It didn't even matter to me what the food was like, I just love the name, and the fact that it 'floats.' Also it is possibly the most cheesy overdecorated restaurant I've ever eaten in. It's so great! When you get to Jumbo, you actually have to take a small ferry out to Jumbo. It only took about 2 minutes, but you get to see a lot of really expensive boats on your way to Jumbo.

For dinner we ordered the 'Special Seafood' set menu, because it looked like a good variety from the menu, and it makes ordering nice and easy as the menu was also jumbo. Where we ate was on the 2nd floor of Jumbo, and we had a window seat facing towards the pier we had just taken the ferry from. I'm not sure if locals ever eat here, as it's very touristy, but the tourists sure were having fun. There was a large group at one table, and they took full advantage of the photo-op area where you could dress up in Chinese costumes and sit on a throne-like seat, in Jumbo. Me and Mai didn't do this, as it was a jumbo rip-off (you had to pay to use your own camera). Also I'm sure it would have been slightly embarrasing to the doll (who came along in the purse...)

The food was pretty good at Jumbo. Everything had seafood in it, except desert. I'm getting better at chopsticks, but slippery scallops are still a little tricky. The fish was very good, and the deep fried crab claw was very amusing. It looked like a crab was trying to crawl out of the deep fried ball, haha.

After eating, we walked around Jumbo. You can walk around the entire restaurant outside, and see the area they keep all the fish. It's very fresh, as they pull out the fish when you order it. They had someone on a microphone call out to a lady who scooped up the fish when someone from inside had ordered it. Can't get much fresher than that.



I'd highly recommend Jumbo, it's a lot of fun and the food is pretty decent, but a tad over priced. But you pay for the atmosphere as well, so it's worth it. Jumbo Jumbo Jumbo!

I said Jumbo 19 times!

mmmmmmm Testarossa

What did I happen to see just around the corner from my apartment? Oh I dunno...

Just my most favourite car ever! The Ferrari Testarossa. I love bimmers, but if I could choose any car to own I'd have to say this would be my pick. Soooooo nice. Old'skool Ferrari is classic. And at under $100K US, this would be the only Ferrari I could ever come close to owning, so it's not too crazy an idea, hahaha.

Gucci, Prada, and... LOWEPRO!

Today I accompanied Mai and her mother on their shopping trip. Mai's mom is in town for the weekend, and from what she says Beijing isn't much fun, so they had to shop shop shop while in Hong Kong. As much as looking at purses all day (and some occasional clothing) doesn't really inerest me usually, I decided to tag along as it's Christmas, and I had no other family or friends in town to do anything more productive with. We went for lunch at a nice and quiet Italian restaurant in Causeway Bay. This was unusual as almost everyone in Hong Kong speaks ridiculously loud. You can often here people at least 100metres away and they're only talking to their friend beside them. So this was a nice change.

My title emplies the trendy upscale bags seen in malls around HK, but I had my camera bag with me, I thought it very high-end, haha. I paid only a fraction of what these other bags go for. I'd rather buy a lot of beer, or a new camera lens.

Only a couple more day(s) until Christmas, depending on what part of the globe you are from. I'm getting excited. Today I even bought some Canadian steak for our Christmas dinner. I wasn't about to buy a $1200 turkey. The Maple-Leaf beef wasn't exactly cheap, but it'll be better than any cow from China that's for sure. Mmmmmm...

Holidays!

Hooray! I am on holidays as of Wednesday (Dec20th) afternoon, and I don't go back until January 2nd. Being a teacher has its perks. So far, it has been nice to sleep in and enjoy doing nothing. It is almost Christmas, and for a change I don't have any last minute shopping to do. Which is nice because I don't really want to go shopping in the madness that is Hong Kong malls. For some reason, my building seems to add more decorations every day, the lobby has become quite an intense overload of Christmas shlock. I can't even imagine what they do for Chinese New Year. The plans for Christmas this year aren't too crazy. I am really looking forward to Christmas eve, as I have booked a table at the famous 'Jumbo' restaurant! Hahaha. Just the name means it has to be good. The other awesome thing? It's a floating boat! To get to the restaurant, you need to take a small boat, hehehe. I can't wait, even if the food is bad, I'll be happy, because we're eating dinner on a floating boat. (I hope it isn't as bad as the floating casino)

On Christmas morning, Mai and I will be opening the presents sent from my family back in Canada. This also marks the first time I will not be with my immediate family for Christmas. I did spend one Christmas in Mexico, but that was a family vacation. It is not as warm in Hong Kong as Mexico, so I can sort of imagine snow and all that regular Christmas stuff. I really don't miss the -30 degree weather though.

Also I bought a new webcam a few weeks ago, so I am capable of video messaging, which is so much nicer than long distance phone bills. Free = nice. Skype is the best program out there from what I can tell, as it costs nothing, and the voice over has no delay (messenger does) plus the video seems to be pretty good as well. Hooray for the internet!

Dragon Lust

I ordered this awesome t-shirt about 2 weeks ago. I have since received it in the mail, and it is frickin cool! It's from a Hong Kong based company, and they ship anywhere in the world for very cheap. Really high-quality shirt too. I haven't washed it yet, hope the print doesn't wear off. More cool shirts at gmtee.com

Wong Tai Sin

Every Wednesday and Friday I walk by this temple on my way to school. Other than what it was called, I didn't know what Wong Tai Sin Temple was or even how big it was. Today I decided after 3 months to finally take a peak. It is actually a pretty cool place. Usually I find stuff like this to be typical 'touristy stuff', but the temple was anything but. There was no question I was the only white guy in the place, and probably the only one who spoke English. For the middle of the week it was quite crowded, more than I usually noticed. The temple consists of a few buildings and some nice gardens. Today there were hundreds of people burning incense with many people holding bundles of up to 20 sticks at a time. They would place the bundles in various spots (little hut-like structures) and many of them were focusing on the main alters of the temple. I don't know yet if this was a special day/week, if it has anything to do with Christmas(likely not) or most likely something to do with New Year's or the season changing. Usually there will be a few people burning incense, when you get off the MTR there are street vendors selling them, but today seemed unique with the large crowds. The oddest thing I saw was a man carrying a full sized pig on a wooden board, wrapped in red celophane. He was taking it towards the main temple. I must find out why...

More pictures >>> here.

Update: 10 Seconds on Google Reveals.....

Haha! I feel somewhat silly. According to most sites, this is one of the biggest temples in all of Hong Kong. And I walk by it every week and didn't know it's significance. Wow, funny stuff. I guess a lot of mainland Chinese people hold the temple in really high-regard, and the incense burning has to do with connecting to the spirits (I sorta knew that) Here's some proper info:

"Wong Tai Sin Temple, a Taoist temple established in 1921, is one of the most famous temples in Hong Kong. It is also renowned among overseas Chinese in Southern Asia, Europe, and America.

Wong Tai Sin Temple is named after Wong Chuping. When Wong Chuping was 15, he began to follow Taoism. Forty years later, he achieved enlightenment and became immortal. People called him Wong Tai Sin from then on. It is said that he punishes evils, heals the wounded, and rescues the dying. The influence of Wong Tai Sin spread from Guangdong Province to Hong Kong in the early 20th century. With his mercy and his power, he is said to grant whatever is requested."

That would explain all the kneeling and begging.

"Wong Tai Sin Temple is known for its fortune-telling. The fortune sticks (or lots) in Wong Tai Sin Temple are very accurate. Many people who visit the temple come to have their fortunes told. Generally, worshippers entreat the fate of the same year. They light worship sticks, kneel before the main altar, make a wish, and shake a bamboo cylinder containing fortune sticks until one falls out."

Cool. I saw so many people doing this, and had no idea what they were doing. It looked like a game of sorts.

"The stick is exchanged for a piece of paper bearing the same number, and the soothsayer then interprets the fortune on the paper for the worshipper. Wong Tai Sin has many worshippers in Hong Kong, so the joss sticks and candles burn exuberantly all year round, especially during the Chinese Lunar New Year and Wong Tai Sin's birthday - the 23rd day of the eighth lunar month."

Hmmm, this doesn't explain why so busy today, but I guess it is a tourist spot, so maybe it is because of Christmas and the New Year. (Not Chinese New Year Yet)

"Wong Tai Sin Temple is also called Sik Sik Yuen. The architecture of Wong Tai Sin Temple is in the traditional Chinese temple style: grand red pillars, a magnificent golden roof adorned with blue friezes, yellow latticework, and resplendent multi-colored carvings. Aside from the Daxiong-baodian or Grand Hall, Sansheng Hall and the Good Wish Garden are also worth seeing. Also at the temple are the Nine Dragon Wall--a replica of the renowned Nine Dragon Wall in Beijing, and the Good Wish Garden - a miniature copy of Beijing's Summer Palace."

Hmmm, I didn't see this, I'll have to go back.

"Additionally, Wong Tai Sin Temple is the only temple that offers facilities for wedding ceremonies in Hong Kong."

Hahahaha. Of course! It's Hong Kong. Well that was a cool history lesson. Maybe I should find things out a little sooner so I know what's around me. That's the problem with Hong Kong. The goverment is so dead set on distroying it's history, that any that remains is usually hidden quite well behind some large skyscrape or a shopping mall. This temple, by the way, is right on top of an MTR station (that means they either moved the temple, or the MTR was built under it) and a mall is across the road... sigh...

Source:Travel China Guide

Ocean Park

Ocean Park - Sunday December 17th.

Mai and I finally decided to go to Ocean Park. We had been planning on going for about 2 months now, but never got around to it, and Mai's friends bailed so we had no one to go with. Except the doll...

For +12ish, it sure was cold outside. The sun was shining as well. Oh what's that?! Oh wow! It's blue sky! I thought I'd never see that in Hong Kong. Actually this is the south side of Hong Kong Island, so it doesn't mean the other side was nice and pollution free. Anyway, back to OP.

The land on which the park is built is almost all on the side(s) of a mountain. It makes for a very cool cable car ride up to the main level, where all the good rides are, as well as dolphins and such. We didn't see the dolphins, but while they were having a show, the park was quite empty so ride lines were short. The best ride was easily the roller coaster. They have two, but the one that goes upside down 3 times was more fun. I used my PanasonicD-Crap to take a short video. It's pretty low res, but I'll see if I can post it before too long. What also makes this roller coaster cool is that it is on the downslope of the mountain. At parts you feel like you're going to fall down the hill. Mai almost lost her shades, but nothing else fell off.

Also in the park we saw some sharks, lots of people taking pictures of sharks, and some people taking pictures of people taking pictures of sharks. All in all, lots of cameras. Other rides we went on were the swings, the big tower turning thing, the 'abys' freefall, a big ship that Mai floated on (haha), and the cool train roller coaster that really felt like it was going to fall apart. The last ride we went on was not so smart, as it was a water-plunge coaster. Ya, I got wet. Mai got more wet, haha. Her boots filled with water, and we were both really cold.

So we treked back up the escaltor (stood idily) and returned to the main entrance to see the jelly fish! Wow, for a tiny little rubbery creature, they sure are cool. We waited in line quute long, but it was worth it. It was like a night club for jelly fish. Very cool. We missed out seeing the panda, as he looked like he was sleeping in his den.

Ocean Park was fun, but it might have been more enjoyable if it was warmer. I might not go out of my way to make sure I went here on a shorter trip to Hong Kong, but if you're staying awhile I would give it a try. The roller coasters and jelly fish are worth it.

CRAP ROLL

Mai beat me to it, but I spotted this spelling error. Unfortunately it lived up to its name.