Continued from PREVIOUS PAGE – click here. I decided to split this entry up into two parts, as the bandwidth was killing me.
^^ There’s something nice and artistic about the blur in this photo. Don’t u agree? 8]
^^ The valet area at the Sands Casino. My aunt won 225 HKD’s, then we lost it all between all of us. It was fun no doubt.
^^ All you can eat buffet! WOW! They dishes here were awesome! Everything from sushi, to fresh oysters, to European cuisine, to Asian stuffs, to etc, etc, etc, etc. Yummy! So yummy! Wine and booze however weren’t a part of our hotel package – duh! 8]
^^ The front wall and entrance to a cathedral that remained standing after massive bombings during World War Two – I think it was WW2… Ah whatever.
^^ A winding path on the right side of the cathedral lead up to a fort with diffused cannons on its walls.
^^ That’s a statue of Mary and Jesus I think. Not sure actually.
^^ That odd looking building on the left is a casino. It has a dome for a base. You can actually see the Macau Tower on the right side of the picture.
^^ Macau is not developed for the most part and still lacking. It has roughly more than double the population of Ditchmond.
^^ After I got back to HK, I stumbled on Colored Rich – a store in one of NT Plaza’s stores. I got a Monkey journal and a Monkey pencil case. 83
^^ One night, after coming back from Lok Ma Chau, Dai Goh received a phone call from his Tong SaiLo, which is also my DaiGoh but younger than the DaiGoh I’ve been talking about. He’s a Cheng in the same village, but his bloodline is slightly different than mine – meaning his great great great great grand is different from mine, but our great great great great great grand is the same person. Understand? Meaning his originating ancestor is the same as mine, but that ancestor had five sons, in which he was from one of the other sons. [sigh]
Anyway, I won’t say much about him here, but this car here belongs to him, and I had the unfortune and fortune of riding in it with him. I say, it has awesome power, but I felt a bit car-sick. Also, now I know what 2+2 really means. On the way to Mong Kok (pronounced Wong Kok damn it), I sat in the back. WOW, BREAK BACK GALORE! On the way back to the village, I sat in the front. Nice. Very nice. BTW, 2nd DaiGoh said insurance for this car costs $60k HK, which translates to about $8955 cdn per year. He considered getting a Lambo but the insurance would have costed $150k HK which is about $22388 cdn per year. Crazy.
^^ I love taking artistic photos of architecture. If only I have a better camera and more time and money of course!
^^ Monkeys!
^^ On the way to Tuen Mun – a fave place for retired people and foreigners to live.
^^ That’s a model of the Tsing Ma Bridge. During a storm, traffic is redirected inside the bridge. There are 3 lanes on either side above the bridge, and one lane on either side below. A train going both ways runs in the middle.
^^ Tsing Ma Bridge – about 2.2 km’s long.
^^ On top of a historical site build in the early 1900’s, then later bought by the government.
^^ On a beach overlooking one of the bridges.
^^ On the same beach, this is a picture of a plane high above.
^^ Night Market.
^^ At another hot pot place with DaiGoh and Mun SiFu. DELICIOUS! YUMMY!
^^ Hong Kong Island side at night. This was on the way to Lan Kwai Fong.
^^ My aunt and I.
^^ The main court yard.
^^ A large temple.
^^ Going up the steps to Big Buddha.
^^ There is a museum and sanctuary inside Big Buddha. There is also a relic of sorts – a ‘pearl’ that is supposed to be thousands of years old and comes from the bones of Buddha or a Buddha. Not exactly sure. I didn’t get a chance to read about it.
I also stumbled on Anita Mui’s dedicated site, where fan’s left letters, stuffed toys, flowers, and photos of her. Her site was sponsored by her family, friends, and fans most likely. If u don’t know who Anita Mui is, she is a rather famous Hong Kong-based singer and actress since the 80’s. She died a few years ago from cancer. (LINK)
^^ A room full of monkeys!
^^ A tourist village near the Lantau Island Buddhist Temple.
^^ You might be able to see it in this picture. If you look at the original blown up pic, you can actually see the backside of the Big Buddha located just behind the mountain peak in the middle of the photo.
^^ On the bus back. Just some tall apartment buildings along the way.
^^ I dedicate these two pics to Andrew Sega’s “Point of Departure”.
^^ This is a building you will see over and over again. It’s uncanny that I would visit the places around this building a bit more frequently than I would have thought before.
^^ “Lai Liu Ha” means “Pee Freely Shrimp” – I don’t know why until a few days later when I got a chance to eat Pee Freely Shrimp. Though the style of cooking was yummy, the shrimp had a mildly gross after-taste, like something pissy…
^^ These cuttlefish prompted me to want to own a giant walled fish tank full of my own cuttlefish. My house in the future will be beautiful and stylish with cuttlefish to complement everything. 83
^^ Unfortunately, I also am an omnivore, and seafood is one of my fave type of foods. Though the restaurant here in Sai Kung was expensive, the dishes were really yummy!
^^ This scenery reminded my parents of a long ago Shatin.
^^ L-R: Dad, mom, and aunt.
^^ Dessert at Honeymoon. Mine was a Sesame & Soya Curd Pudding – and just right at the sweetness level! YUMMY!
^^ Another family dinner, but this time, with TWO tables full of people.
^^ Joanne, my 2nd youngest cousin at 2.5 years of age. She is so adorable. 83
^^ Yes, that is indeed a very large can of beer. In Canada, at least in Vancouver, I have only seen the middle-sized can ones. That Kaiser is MASSIVE!
^^ Another view of my village.
^^ That’s a cooked Piss Freely Shrimp.
^^ My mom can be pretty freaky sometimes, but that’s where my freakiness comes from. Wow what a balance!
^^ On the way up the river arm from my village.
^^ See those apt buildings on the left in the distance? Behind that is my village. My DaiGoh and I are on an overpass near the Star Seafood Floata Restaurant about 1.5 km’s away. This was the night before my flight back to Hongcouver.
^^ The morning of the flight.
^^ A last look at the village.
^^ Star Seafood Floata during the day. We had our lunch here before going to the airport.
^^ Yup, a 20 floor parking building. Do you know what? This reminds me of the time a couple of days before my flight in the underground parking of New Town Centre. There was a car wash and polishing shop there. When I saw it, I was like “WTF?” And my DaiGoh shook his head and said in Cantonese, “Yup, it’s chee seen (crazy) and been tai (perverted).”
^^ Reminds me of a track in “Need For Speed 5: Porsche Unleashed”.
^^ On the way to the airport.
^^ The Disney Land resort. My DaiGoh wanted to give us a quick loop around. I couldn’t see much, but I have to admit, since I was a little boy, I wanted to go to Disney Land/World, and it gave me a tingling sensation when I entered the long driveway. I was disappointed tho, as I did not actually get to see the inside. Plus, this Disney Land is supposedly losing money due to its distance from the main city and stuff…
^^ Continuing on to the airport, inside the airport, and on the super long walkway to Gate 43 out of 80 gates. Check out the model of the airport and you know the left arm attached to the main building? Near the end of that left arm on the left side is where Gate 43 is. [sigh]
^^ When I looked at the time stamp of this picture, I noticed that it was exactly 30 days and 25 minutes later. Coolios!
Right, so that concludes this massive photo blog. I know it will be a huge load for my bandwidth, but it was well worth it. I still have about 250 more pictures I will never upload here, and a whole bunch of video too I can show u if u come over. I might get u drunk first, so I can take advantage of u tho. [wink]
At the start of my trip, I received some form of ‘fever’. Most of me wanted to meet Jessica, but a bit of me still didn’t want to. This was explained in an MSN conversation with Albert later that week. I also tried meeting up with June, but I couldn’t get a hold of her – not that I fully wanted to either.
Throughout my time there, I also had some bits and pieces of thoughts pop up of Cindy and the things were supposed to do together, especially there in Hong Kong. For all the places I visited with my DaiGoh or with my parents/family, or when I was by myself, walking around slowly, enjoying the scenery and the ambience, I thought of her, my friends, my past with various females, and my future in which I do not know anything about.
When I went to Hong Kong in October 2002 then left, flying off, setting my eyes upon the entirety of Hong Kong’s night life below me, and then Mount Fuji and the shimmering lights of the cities of Japan many miles below me on the way back to Vancouver, through the clouds, the sun, moon, and the turbulent winds, I gradually and spiritually let go of the bound feathers that connected me to the concept of Virginia. When at last, when we flew over Vancouver Island and I took the photo of the plane’s left wing and the horizon beyond, I saw a blue – the blue that I see in my dreams – my heart drifted upwards, then settled back into place as we descended. I freed the imprisoned doves that I had suppressed inside the tiny cigar box that represented the connective emotions I had for Virginia back up there, back there in Hong Kong in 2002.
Today, two days after being back here, I ponder on that ideal, but this time it’s different. I touched everything in Hong Kong, but I didn’t achieve much in the process. I am back here, and there are obligations to fulfill, goals to reach, and many obstacles to experience and pass on by.
[“String Theory” by Paul Van Dyk]
Good morning everyone…
6:04am
Wow Li, that was really thorough. I don’t think anyone ever needs to go to HK ever again!! You’ve got it all covered, and more!! Your “angry” face pic isn’t all that angry. I think it actually compliments you since your skin has cleared up! 🙂
Well unfortunately, my pillow on the bed I slept on wasn’t all that comfortable that I realized a few days before my flight back here. So now, I have this huge sore neck and shoulders and a small pulsating headache. I also unfortunately, lost weight. It took so long to gain all the pounds I lost last year and the beginning of this year, and all the pounds I gained on top of the regained pounds. [sobs and sighs] Yay for replacement meal shakes!
I have a few videos to upload in a day or two. I’ll keep everyone posted. 8]
BTW, I got your other email. Thanks for the cat pictures. I think it was a duplicate link tho – meaning, I think you sent it to me not too long before already. I really like the treachery picture with the gray cat looking back at the black and white cat… Hehehe… So awesome! 83
And not a single pic of a hottie, eh? *sigh*
Joking aside, my eyes hurt now. That was alot of reading and pics to veiw. Have you ever heard of teh term, Moderation? I mean really. xD
Yeah, not a single pic unfortunately. I also wanted to go to Victoria Peak and take pictures of the thousands of kites flown up there around this time of the year, but again, no chance to do it, or rather bad timing.
BTW, Ariel actually printed this entire entry. It was 103 pages long!!! 😯
Well, I finally finished going through your holiday bible that I printed(much to my husbands disgust).And I want your camera,those pics specially at night are beautiful.I am not sure about those pee freely shrimps though…the crabs yes(yum).What do you miss the most?
Hey! I got your email, so I’ll tell u in detail about the villages there. I mean, this thread is my massive bandwith killer. Haha! So bad. Erm, yeah I actually DO have some night-life clubbing pictures, but I decided not to post them here in case any one there sees them here. 😉 You know what I mean? [ahem]
Umm… Let me think… Ah yes my camera is a Samsung L60 6.0 MegaPixel digital camera that I got for $299 cdn. The SD Card is a bit slow, but it stores a gigabyte of stuff. All of those pics were either taken by freehand or with the support of a concrete block or hard-top of sorts. That’s why some images are blurry at night or in darker places. Unfortunately, I did have a lot of clubbing pictures. It’s just that, most of them either came out blurry or just plain dark, or the constrast made everyone’s faces white. Rest assure though, IT DOES WORK! I only got the camera a couple of weeks before going to HK, so I didn’t have much time to experiment in dark places… [sobs] And who knew that taking video wouldn’t suck up much battery, but playback of video would?!?! [sigh]
What do I miss the most? I can tell you that being there for only three weeks, it didn’t give me enough time to absorb the experience. Thus I don’t miss much. However, to answer your question, I would have to say that I miss my family there the most, and the land that they are associated with – eg: the whole village story.
When I was in Macau two weeks ago, in the Taipa Square Hotel room (floor 14, room 25) I stayed at, I wrote in two different places, a little blurb. I won’t say what they read here, but if you ever happen to go to Macau and stay at Taipa, make a note to check it out. 8]
As I flew back to Vancouver, I remembered thinking, “Of all the places during my trip to HK, I only made my mark in one place that I will most likely never visit again.” [chuckles] I was thinking of scribbling my name and message everywhere in HK before I flew there a few weeks ago. Heh, never happened. I don’t know why I didn’t do anything. It’s weird. Really uncanny. 8/
The second primary thing I miss the most was the fact I was able to go anywhere and still be back at home at the same time. Where as here in Richmond/Vancouver, I have for a very long time now, felt I no longer call this place my home – or more so, that I cannot feel that this is my home. Not that HK is my home, but it’s closer to where I think I want to be.
Then again, maybe I am just avoiding my problems, my dilemmas, and stuff.
It’s 4.5 days since my arrival back here, and it feels like all that happened in HK was either all a dream or it all happened in one day. What I worry the most out of all this is the passing of my grand parents on my mom’s side before we can go back there to see them again.
Last thing I miss the most, would be the journeys that awaited me there. This included everything from exploration of the itsy bitsy’s of the alleys, the mountain scenery, the great outdoors, the channels, rivers, farms, other villages, city cores, lounges, etc, etc, etc and the people, the language and dialects, the possibly business alliances, the intimate rendezvous of certain someones – basically the massive many potentials of Hong Kong. Here in the GVRD, my potential is limited to what I have now. Over there, my potential exceeds what I have now by a lot.
So then you might ask, “Why don’t you take a chance and go there? Start a new life there?” I would love to, and when Patrick and Laura took their chances to pursue their spiritual and mental desires overseas, I imagined myself doing the same, but the thing is, what I have now are obligations I need to attend to. I cannot just pick up and go and leave 3 years of hard work behind.
ANYWAY… Wow, this could be an entry by itself! 8]
That frog looks like Jabba the Hut. All that is missing is Princess Leia in a gold bikini!
I remember actually being at that cathedral i Macau! COOOL! I didn’t remember much of Macau but I definitely remembered that place!
I find it funny that I haven’t been to HK in about 15 years and the taxis and double decker busses still look the same! hahaha…damn, I need to go back to HK.
p.s. you lucky bastard got to ride in that Porsche! I want I want
We need YOU in a gold bikini next to the Toad Jabba! 8X
That particular Carerra S is Tiptronic. I asked him why he chose Tip over Manual and he replied that it’s Hong Kong with all the starting and stopping, it won’t be very convenient. I think that makes quite a bit of sense. The only time he gets to go anywhere above 120 km’s/h is on the freeways which has cameras every 25 clicks or so.
Nevertheless tho, it was awesome, especially when he made those turns at 80+ km’s/h… 8]
Mmmm,now I am intrigued….What did you blurb in two places in Taipa Square Hotel room (floor 14, room 25)?
You have to tell ……………
You have to tell!!! 8D
It’s good. I’ll make sure leave more marks. A cousin has been encouraging me to go to England to visit him in London. So maybe I’ll remember to scribble stuff everywhere there…