Those who overlook

There exist in big cities a special group of being - ad-men. These majestic symbols of consumerism make you feel bad for not buying anything.
In Hong Kong, they are everywhere. And they are big. Making you and me look small.

Lady staring to distance as people walk past.

Star tutors overlooking people walking in Mong Kok

Lady decorated with a lot of gold residing next to a housing building

Huge lady sticking her tongue out

Jewellery lady overlooking

Yao looking as protestors walk past.

Ad-man holding a camera

Big charming lady and two little passengers

Lebron James's pensive stare

Lady enjoying herself while people walk by

He holding a camera while she looking sexy

Pensively overlooking while workers handle the old poster

Street scene in Mong Kok

Model in charming winter clothing; labourer shirtless and sweating

Girl looking up from an ad about luxury property

Ad-men are always there for you.

What is the difference between Cantonese and Mandarin and Chinese?

To understand it the easy way, there is one written language (*Chinese) shared by many spoken languages (Cantonese, Mandarin, Shanghainese, etc) in China.

Some more details:

(1) Mandarin is the official spoken language in China, spoken by most Chinese people (as first or second language - some Chinese have their own regional languages)

(2) Chinese government called Cantonese a dialect; while in fact it's a language

(3) Cantonese is the official spoken language in Hong Kong and Macau and the sixth biggest language (by speakers' population) in the world (second biggest in China)

(4) Cantonese is more difficult to learn than Mandarin (mostly because it has 9 tones, Mandarin "only" has 4)

(5) Hong Kong people take so much pride in Cantonese - we think Mandarin is "meh" 

Flash cards for learning Cantonese. Not my creation.

*There are actually two versions of Chinese writings: Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese. Simplified Chinese sucks.

Looking up

There're a lot of strays cats in HK. All very vigilant - they have to be and it's their nature. Makes one think how much habituating (and food) it takes for them to become domestic cats.

Random stray cat. They run away when you get near - unless you have food of course.

Summer is ending

Finally the crazy summer and its heat are coming to an end.

Wilting flowers. Sign of Autumn.

Hong Kong—In China's Shadow

Go look at Mark Leong's photography of Hong Kong here. The title "Hong Kong—In China's Shadow" is very fitting. It does show the density, complexity and anxiety of HK (in the backdrop of China).

Photo by Mark Leong

#WTFHK - A classic meme in HK - Bus Uncle

Bus Uncle was a huge viral meme back in 2007 in HK. Truly classic.

The story goes like this: Bus Uncle was talking on phone loudly (this happens often in HK), the young guy behind him patted Uncle's shoulder and asked him to lower the voice.

And then you can see what happened afterwards in this video.

The beauty of this video is that Bus Uncle's way of cursing is very sophisticated and ingenious.

"If I can't f__k your mom, who the f__k should I f__k?"

-Bus Uncle

Bus Uncle got famous and then he went for the Chief Executive (head of HK) election. There are weird people in HK... 

Neon lights in Hong Kong

A street in Sham Shui Po

Karaoke parlours and nightclubs and "Finnish saunas" - all belonging to the sex industry

A street market in Sham Shui Po.

Mong Kok has the highest population density in the world.

Giant Buddha

Hong Kong is not a religious place. Most people just don't care much about religion. (Some say money is our God though)

But anyway, there are quite a lot of temples, monasteries and religious statues in HK. And the most famous one must be Giant Buddha in Lantau Island. It's one of the major attractions in HK. Pretty majestic.

Deva offering to Buddha.

Sleeping dogs

Sleeping Dogs are a big thing in Hong Kong now. 

(*Sleeping Dogs is Grand Theft Auto (GTA) with a Hong Kong map.)

Here's a real sleeping dog.

Who doesn't like cats!

Hong Kong people are no exception!

"Eh?"

Endless construction

Construction work is everywhere is Hong Kong and it's endless.

And Hong Kong (the rulers of HK in particular) seems to take much pride in this Constructionism - the belief that getting rid of "useless" stuff (like historic buildings, farm villages, nature reserves, etc) and building "useful" stuff (shopping malls and more shopping malls) is always and unconditionally good.

Building some luxury apartments that only the crazy rich people can afford.

Crossing

Walking past the yellow-lined crossing.

Sunday

Sunday is the only time in a week when domestic helpers (usually Filipino or Indonesian) in HK have their day off. 

They don't go to fancy cafes to meet. They gather in parks, in plazas, under footbridges or other open areas that people can stay for free.

They sit on stairways, cherishing the last few hours of holiday.

Chance

Chance put them sitting together - this will most likely be their only chance.

Looking up in HK

In a jungle.

Where in the world can protesting be a tourist attraction?

Not long ago, Lonely Planet named Hong Kong as one of the top 10 cities to visit in 2012. And one reason being:

"The mood in China’s most liberated city is edgier and more vocal than ever. This will be a particularly exciting year for Hong Kong, as it continues its march towards full democracy. Rallies are infused with theatrics and eruptions of song, dance and poetry, reflecting the city’s vibrant indie music and literary scenes."                                    

Read more here.

So, protesting is actually a tourist attraction in HK.

Why is that? 

(1) There are so many people participating. Two months ago, there were more than 400,000 people in the rally against "National Education". 

(2) It is all peaceful. So peaceful that you really can't believe it unless you see it yourself. No cars turned, no windows broken, no shops burned down, no police killed, no riots, no rubbish left on the streets! There were 400,000 men and women, young and old in the pack of people under the scorching sun. How is this possible? I don't know... considering several hundred people can already make a deadly riot in other places of the world. 

And we did it again. 8,000 university students gathered to say no to "National Education". All peaceful, there were songs, shouts and speeches.

Hong Kong Government House

View of Tsim Sha Tsui from Hong Kong Government House.

Hong Kong Summer

It's been a long and melting hot summer.

People protesting only adds to the heat of the city.

HK people protesting against "National Education" in front of Hong Kong Government House.