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Entries in Hong Kong (2)
Hong Kong: International Flower Show 2023 + About Town
Monday, June 12, 2023 at 2:36PM 
While visiting my Hong Kong in-laws, we all took the morning in the Hong Kong Flower Show. A beautiful experience . . . and another opportunity to try out my new-ish X-T5 Fuji camera.
Acres of extraordinary flowers.
From these exciting yellow splashes, to . . .
. . . to fields of colorful tulips . . . the Hong Kong Flower Show had it all!
I wish I could tell you the names of all these flowers . . . but I did not take notes while there . . . I was only rffocusing on the beauty.
Such happiness expressed in this arrangement!
I think this show had more different kinds of flowers than I have ever seen i one place.
Some of the arrangements were fantistically beautiful.
Thailand had an official entry . . . a large space to showcase Thai flowers and garden aesthetics.
I have to confess a bias: I live in Thailand . . . and I think the Thai exhibit was the very best in the show. There, I said it.
I have these in myb garden . . . astonishing!
Bluebells galore!!!
Japan also had an official entry . . . and it was beautiful too . . . and very Japanese!
Japanese garden style.
A classic formal Japanese garden.
Massivce tulip plantings everywhere . . . the colors were sooooo bright!
Tulip interiors are also interestimng.
More tulips . . . on the way.
Tulips, tulips, tulips . . . I could have done an entire entry on tulips . . . I took so many photos.
I have these in my garden.
A mixed arrangement. Nice.
I wasn't the only person who thought of bringing their camera to the Flower Show. Everybody, and I do mean EVERYBODY, had their cameras and phones out taking photos . . . and there was some elbowing here and there to get the 'best' photo angles.
A lone pink rose.
New yellow rose in colorful company.
Yellow rose showing off.
There was a small pavilion with flower arrangements . . . I think this one won.
A massive flower arrangement. Wow!
A cute "farm" display.
The European-style farm display used grain stalks with good results.
I do not know how they managed to get these fruit trees to blossom at the exact time for the Flower Show . . .
A lovely sunflower and succulent ground cover arrangement.
Lovely color and pattern . . .
Purple succulent splash!
Sunflowers always make me feel happy.
The organizers of this event spent a lot of time placing the flowers in perfect compositions for the many photographers who attended.
These were my favorite.
I want these in my garden . . . but it may be too hot here in Bangkok.
Color, color, color everywhere!
I was very happy with my flower photos from this show.
Colorful puffs.
So pretty.
It seemed at every turn we found more tulips!
Fields of tulips!
I had a great time at the flower show with my photographer brother in-law . . . .
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The Rest Of My Hong Kong Visit:
The rest of my Hong Kong stay was equally photogenic . . . Star ferry in sunset light .
Hong Kong skyline . . .
Many interesting kinds of boats in Hong Kong Harbour.
Wooden harbour "party boats" ready to board.
We took a late afternoon bay cruise around the back of Hong Kong Island to Lamma Island, aka, "seafood restaurant island" . . . This is our cruise boat arriving.
The back side of Hong Kong . . . showing the high density mass housing high-rise estates. I guess it is a good way to house people because it saves the destruction of nature and open spaces.
Arriving at the Lamma Island sea food village . . . where there was only sea food restaurant.
A long stretch of seafood eateries lining the Lamma Island harbour.
We found our table by the bay and set off to secure seafood favorites.
Our live seafood choices!!!
These looked good!
Waiting on the dock for our boat to take us back to Kowloon . . . our stomachs full from the delicious meal!
Our arrival by boat back into Hong Kong harbour at night was truly spectacular!
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Chi Lin Nunnery and Garden Park
It's nice to have in-laws living in Hong Kong . . . they know the cool places to go, beyond the tourist spots, for good photography. These gardens were magnificent! And right in the city.
An astonishingly beautiful place surrounded by the city.
Stunning ancient Chinese styled garden pagoda.
Classic bridge to the Other Side.
Old water-powered mill in the park.
The inner temple at the nunnery.
They did not allow photography inside the temple . . . but it was fantastic.
Stepping out from the inner temple we were greeted with this view of Hong Kong Kowloon side.
When I got home I couldn't resist making a highly altered HDR "Art" photo from the nunnery.
Dr. Jeff Harper
We went back to Hong Kong in February of 2024 to visit family . . . for the 10th time.
Even though I have been to Hong Kong many, many times, I still find interesting things to photograph . . . like the back of this neighborhood school.
The city street in front of our hotel in Kowloon.
The famous bamboo scaffolding of Hong Kong. Amazing.
Where the Hong Kong apartment dwellers go to tend their spiritual needs.
I took a little artistic liberty with this photo . . . but it is an iconic image of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong For A 3-Day Week-End
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 5:33PM 
It's always nice to visit Hong Kong. My wife's sister lives there, so we always get the royal treatment. This is the view from the Hong Kong side looking to the Kowloon side.
My Hong Kong brother-in-law,Johnson Li, and I like to go on little photographic expeditions. Stanley Peak is always good for some moody shots.
Hong Kong is so developed and redeveloped, so over built, and so modernised that when one sees a vestige of the old days, an infrastructure relic, you are taken aback.
Of course the eating never stops: delicious suckling pig anyone? Yes, those ARE little red light bulbs in the eye sockets and, yes, they did blink on and off. A macabre touch, to say the least.
In addition to eating, there is the Hong Kong national pastime, shopping. The same luxury global brands are for sale in each and every mall . . . a kind of Shopping Hell!
But not everything is crass commercialism. Some tiny bits of "Old Hong Kong" can be seen here and there . . . like these old fishermen's houses at Stanley Market.
The old Stanley Market, near Repulse Bay, though touristy, is a nice change of pace from the Mega Malls.
Stanley Market is a real, working local markeet in addition to a tourist destination.
Many South Asian tourists find their way to Hong Kong, no doubt a holdover from British colonial days. The shops reflect the tastes of the visitors.
Beautiful and colorful Sari accouterments . . .
. . . and baubbles . . .
. . . and knock-off bags.
Around the back of Stanley Market one could purchase exact replicas of the famous Chinese terra-cotta warriors . . .
. . . already crated and ready for shipment, at a cost below what you could imagine. The proprietor said that the shipping would cost more than the warrior. I really wanted one for our garden. However, my nephew J Harper warned me, "Yeah, but I saw in a movie where they can come to life and cause all sorts of mayhem." I am forewarned.
I see these personal chops every time I go to Hong Kong but have yet to buy one.
Dr. Jeff Harper
It is very difficult to depict how Hong Kong really looks in photos. It is layered from the modern . . . .
. . . to the pre-modern, old order . . . .
. . . to the post-modern intertextual storiedspace.
For me, this photo, and the next, captures the look of the place best: poorly maintained late British colonial lowest bidder utilitarian architecture. This is Hong Kong.
The perfect photo for money and status obsessed Hong Kong: a Bentley and a Brinks truck. Money, Money, Money.
The spaces meant to lure you into purchasing events are numbing and anonymous: they could be anywhere on the planet. Yes, "The Information Is Provided."
Even where there is genuine, authentic heritage, they cannot contain the Branding Urge.
I liked the cute HK trolleys.
I especially liked the tax free camera shops.
Aesthetic backdrops, like this, were few and far between.
Although, once in a while, I was surprised.
Dr. Jeff Harper
Right across the street from the Hong Kong Art Museum (and harbour) is this vestige of colonial rule; an English military installation, since made into a modern, high end shopping complex and hotel/restaurant. Whoopie.
Johnson Li, my brother-in-law, and I had a good time covering the old installation.
We took some nice pictures of each other in various interestingly lit locations, like this . . . . .
. . . and this contemplative shot . . . . .
. . . and a few of each other photographing the nice gardens.
Ah, charming memories of the wicked, oppressive, cunning British Colonial Rule!
After basking in the magnificence of the old fort, we walked across the street to the Hong Kong Harbour - an unforgettable sight.
The old Chinese junk can still be seen in the harbour, but they are now only used for tourist excursions across the bay.
Memories of the even older days. Another example of the layering of history one feels in Hong Kong.
We walked along the harbour waterfront promenade to our lunch appointment.
The Hong Kong Junior Air Cadets (HKJAC) were sponsoring some kid of home-build air contraption competition for the kids . . and had decorated the park.
Right after I purchased my new camera and lens (!!!), Johnson happened to notice there was a sunset . . . we dashed out of the giant mall for me to take my last photo with my trusty old Canon 40D, along with about 50 other people with their new camera gear. We checked each other's lenses out on the sly.
