Hong Kong, Part 2

Though we went to Hong Kong for a shoot and a few meetings, we ended up having most of last Wednesday to ourselves, to explore the place and get some food that agrees with my finicky Korean traveling companions, the same guys with whom I traveled to Beijing.

Hong Kong has some similarities to Beijing, but more differences. I actually really quite liked Hong Kong (most parts of it) and because practically everyone speaks English, more or less, I felt quite comfortable there.

 The neighborhood of our hotel. Because Hong Kong has so little land, they've built up rather than out (much like Seoul). Lots of really tall, quite narrow buildings. Our hotel is in an area called Happy Valley (Wan Chai District, but all the cab drivers understood me when I said Happy Valley), which made me happy. Sometimes, it's the little things.

 The view from my hotel room. Somewhat like Korea, Hong Kong tries to keep things green, even if it's just a few plants or a couple trees. I most definitely appreciate that. I don't know if it's true, but my mother always told me that if my eyes needed some resting, I should look at trees or grass, look at the green of nature. I still believe it's true, because my mommy told me so.

Buildings outnumber trees, of course. Lots of tall, shiny buildings, lots of run-down, worn-out buildings, all kinds. It's kind of amazing that there's still room to drive around in Hong Kong. Traffic is similar to LA or Seoul-- it's almost comforting to know that people, no matter what their race, drive in pretty much the same fashion. Though Hong Kongians drive on the wrong side of the road, of course.

Construction is EVERYWHERE in Hong Kong. I'm not exaggerating, either- it was very rare for me to be able to see a clear view without the sight of cranes or skeletons of buildings. It's a city that's constantly renewing itself, it seems, with mini-facelifts and chemical peels.

Old buildings and new buildings, all jammed together in a small area. It's remarkable what small footprints some of these buildings have- I kept expecting them to sway a little when it was windy, but they managed to stay perfect upright.

Crumbling buildings with new buildings in the background. They co-exist peacefully, for the most part, with the higher-end shops in the newer buildings, while the fun, cheap shops are in the run-down buildings.

This building looked like it was once rainbow-hued, but the paint's faded and chipped. The weather was unfortunately cloudy the day I took this photo, and I didn't bother re-touching it, but you get the gist.

I like this building. It brought to me an immediate 70's flavor, with that avocado color and the panels of glass. I'm not up on my architecture, but I'm pretty sure 70's wasn't what they were going for. Oh, well.

Most of the newest buildings seemed to be made of glass and steel, all shine and no nonsense. Pretty in their own way. I have very dichotomous taste, and Hong Kong really gave me both extremes, in terms of architecture.

Last building picture! I think this was the Hong Kong Space Museum, which we didn't go into. Why get education when there are all kinds of much more interesting things to see and drinks to have??

We stopped in on the Hong Kong Filmart for just a few minutes, to see our company's booth and meet up with our CEO and the guy from Marketing that was manning the booth. Because we visited on the last day of the film market, it was pretty empty.

 I'm so mature, right?? This was the entrance to the hall where our booth was located. I look extraordinarily pale because I'm standing right in front of a glass wall. I'm not actually that white.

My traveling buddies! This is a crappy picture because it was texted to me. My CEO just sent it to me a couple minutes ago, so I'm including it. Don't we look happy? We always look happy in pictures, but trust me, we were exhausted by this time.

Next week, I'm going on a quick jaunt to Beijing (with different traveling companions, sadly) for a few meetings, then to Australia (back with these kids) for a shoot. April's going to be a wild and busy month! I'm going to try to moblog, since I'll have data roaming and all that. We'll see if I have the energy and time.