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Wednesday, February 13, 2019

40 Photos Taken With a New Camera and Lens in Hong Kong

I had not originally planned to spend time in Hong Kong so early this year, but an urgent need for a new camera and lens changed things. Both in terms of options and prices, purchasing a camera in Hong Kong was a far better option than doing so in mainland China, especially given what I was seeking and that I was relatively close to Hong Kong. My previous camera and lens had both been in far-from-ideal states for some time. Although I found workarounds for some problems such as malfunctioning dials, dust buried deep in the sensor, and problematic autofocusing, their state certainly had affected how and what I photographed for a period of time. So there was some good that matters had reached a state where I was forced to upgrade (repairs weren't sensible given what they would cost).

I only stayed in Hong Kong long enough to purchase the camera & lens and to feel reasonably confident all was well with them. So below are 40 photos presented in the order they were taken with the theme "photos I took while testing my new camera and lens for a few days in Hong Kong", although I hope in the process to share yet a little more about Hong Kong. I won't get into technical details, but I'll share that all of the photos are unaltered "as is" from the jpeg files the camera produced, except reduced in size.

Scenes and locations were motivated by a variety of factors, including simply testing the camera under certain conditions and other pragmatic matters. I would have set the camera differently if I took some of these photos now or if I had known all of those pigeons were going to suddenly take off in my direction. I covered far fewer locations than typical for a Hong Kong stay. Still, I managed to capture scenes in areas such as Wan Chai, Causeway Bay, Central, Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok, and Kowloon City.

Anyway, the photos are what they are. And of course, more will come.


Red lanterns at Lee Tung Avenue
Red lanterns at Lee Tung Avenue


Photographic moment at Lee Tung Avenue
Photographic moment at Lee Tung Avenue


birds at Kwan Kee Birds & Small Animals
Birds at . . .


Kwan Kee Birds & Small Animals
Kwan Kee Birds & Small Animals


Tram and Five Guys in Hong Kong
Tram and Five Guys


Vendor in Wan Chai
Vendor in Wan Chai


Arsenal Street tram stop on Hennessy Road
Arsenal Street tram stop on Hennessy Road


Playing in the fountain at Hong Kong Park
Playing in the fountain at Hong Kong Park


Children playing with sand scoopers at Hong Kong Park
Playing in the sand at Hong Kong Park


Little girl running at the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Garden
Running at the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Garden


De Brazza's monkeys at the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Garden
De Brazza's monkey spotting a human at the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Garden


Below the Glenealy Flyover in Hong Kong
Below the Glenealy Flyover


The Glenealy Flyover in Hong Kong
The Glenealy Flyover


Above the Glenealy Flyover
Above the Glenealy Flyover (and a change of light)


Looking up at night from the parade ground at Tai Kwun
Looking up from the parade ground at Tai Kwun


A local Young Master IPA at HK Brew Craft
A local Young Master IPA at HK Brew Craft


Fruit loops cones at Emack & Bolio's in Hong Kong
Fruit loops cones at Emack & Bolio's


Topman and Topshop in Hong Kong
Topman and Topshop


The Lunar Fantasy with Ancient Auspicious Animals at Times Square
The Lunar Fantasy with Ancient Auspicious Animals at Times Square


In a sea of flowers at the Lunar Fantasy with Ancient Auspicious Animals
Sea of flowers at the Lunar Fantasy with Ancient Auspicious Animals


Advertising in front of Times Square
Advertising in front of Times Square


Multistory escalator in Hysan Place
Multistory escalator in Hysan Place


View of Ma Tau Wai Road from the upper level of a Hong Kong double-decker bus
View of Ma Tau Wai Road from the upper level of a Hong Kong double-decker bus


Herbal tea stand in Kowloon City
Herbal tea stand in Kowloon City


Art at the Cattle Depot Artist Village
Art at the Cattle Depot Artist Village


Ma Tau Kok Road
Ma Tau Kok Road


policeman walking on a footbridge in Mong Kok
Footbridge on a Sunday in Mong Kok


Fish for sale at the Fa Yuen Street Market
Fish for sale at the Fa Yuen Street Market


Junk boat in Victoria Harbour
Junk in Victoria Harbour


Lunar New Year pig head sculpture lighted up at night at Harbour City
Lunar New Year pig sculpture at Harbour City


Photographing the Symphony of Lights from a Star Ferry boat
Photographing the Symphony of Lights from a Star Ferry boat


people walking in a pedestrian subway in Tsim Sha Tsui
Pedestrian subway in Tsim Sha Tsui


Looking down at the ground floor of the Chungking Mansions
Looking down at the ground floor of the Chungking Mansions


Top of the The Masterpiece skyscraper seen through the Victoria Dockside
Top of the The Masterpiece skyscraper seen through the Victoria Dockside


Family being photographed with a sculpture of the pig cartoon character McDull at the Avenue of the Stars
Photographic opportunity with the pig cartoon character McDull at the Avenue of the Stars


Pigeons taking flight at Kowloon Park
Pigeons taking flight at Kowloon Park


Sculpture of Miss 13 Dots at the Hong Kong Avenue of Comic Stars
Miss 13 Dots at the Hong Kong Avenue of Comic Stars


Looking down at a multistory escalator in Langham Place
Looking down at a multistory escalator in Langham Place


Fa Yuen Market at night
Fa Yuen Market


Public Light Bus and crowd in Mong Kok
Minibus and crowd in Mong Kok


Monday, February 11, 2019

Scenes from Piggish Hong Kong Lunar New Year Fairs at Victoria Park and Fa Hui Park

As in the past, Hong Kong recently held Lunar New Year Fairs in 15 locations for a period of seven days. Five years ago I shared a number of scenes from the Victoria Park Lunar New Year Fair and the Fa Hui Park Lunar New Year Fair in Hong Kong. This year I had the chance to visit both again. Below is a set of photos capturing a variety of scenes from the two fairs. I visited Victoria Park Saturday evening and Fai Hui Park Sunday afternoon just before the Lunar Near Year. In general, the fairs were much as they were five years ago with the exception that were many more pig-themed items for sale — not surprising since it is now Year of the Pig. Like before, the photos capture a variety of stalls and the large crowds. And of course there a few scenes from their respective flower markets. One thing is deliberately missing though. The politically themed stalls at Victoria Park, which I featured five years ago, will appear in a later post.


Fa Hui Park Lunar New Year Fair

entrance to the Fa Hui Lunar New Year Fair
One of the entrances to the fair



crowd at the Fa Hui Lunar New Year Fair
A dense crowd



covered basketball hoop at the Fa Hui Lunar New Year Fair
Basketball is off limits



Fa Hui Lunar New Year Fair stall selling stuffed toy animals
Pigs and more



Fa Hui Lunar New Year Fair stall
Giant stuffed ancient coins



Fa Hui Lunar New Year Fair stall



Fa Hui Lunar New Year Fair stall



Fa Hui Lunar New Year Fair stall selling stuffed toy pigs
More pigs



Fa Hui Lunar New Year Fair stall



Fa Hui Lunar New Year Fair stall selling stuffed toy pigs



Fa Hui Lunar New Year Fair Vitasoy food stall
One of the locations to get some fair food



people posing with Ah Tak at the Fa Hui Lunar New Year Fair
Ah Tak - the green “keep clean ambassador” for Hong Kong's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department



flowers for sale at the Fa Hui Lunar New Year Fair
Some of the many flowers for sale



Fa Hui Lunar New Year Fair flower stall



"Wilted Plants" trash bin
Not all flowers found a home in time



Victoria Park Lunar New Year Fair

crowd at the Victoria Park Lunar New Year Fair in Hong Kong
Simply making one's way from one side of the aisle to the other through the very dense crowd proved quite challenging.



Victoria Park Lunar New Year Fair stall selling stuffed toy pigs
Yes, pigs



Kit Da Sketch stall at the Victoria Park Lunar New Year Fair
Some Hong Kong pride



kids trying to pop bubbles
Bubbles abounded



night crowd at the Victoria Park Lunar New Year Fair
Slower than a crawling pace



Victoria Park Lunar New Year Fair stall



Victoria Park Lunar New Year Fair stall



Victoria Park Lunar New Year Fair stall selling a "Star Fuck" shirt
Shirts with messages of some sort



Victoria Park Lunar New Year Fair "Angry Pig" stall
Putting ladders to use to sell pigs



Victoria Park Lunar New Year Fair stall selling shower heads



Victoria Park Lunar New Year Fair stall selling stuffed toy pigs
One last pig-themed stall



overflowing trash bin at the Victoria Park Lunar New Year Fair
The trash overflowed



flowers for sale at the Victoria Park Lunar New Year Fair
Non-trashy and unwilted colors



flowers for sale at the Victoria Park Lunar New Year Fair
These flowers sold shortly after I took the photo


And that's all for now. For Lunar New Year Fair photos taken in other locations, last year I visited the Taipei Lunar New Year Festival at Dihua Street and Macau's Lunar New Year Festival at Tap Seac Square.

Sunday, February 10, 2019

Holiday Coke & Mahjong in Jiangmen

Things are still slow in these parts, thanks to the lunar new year holiday. But life progresses nonetheless. Some mahjong even happened today in Jiangmen, Guangdong.

Coca-Cola ad and people playing mahjong in Jiangmen, China

Friday, February 8, 2019

A Watching Bird in Mong Kok

Having another pair of eyes is often useful . . .

bird watching a watch fixer at the Fa Yuen Market in Mong Kok, Hong Kong
At the Fa Yuen Street Market in Mong Kok, Hong Kong

Thursday, February 7, 2019

Another Lunar New Year, Another Night of Lights

A belated sharing of a photo taken in Jiangmen, Guangdong, during the night of the Lunar New Year's first day:

people light fireworks next to the river during the Lunar New Year in Jiangmen


Not long after I took the above photo, relevant authorities stopped the riverside festivities. I soon left, but I'd bet some fun later returned.

Happy New Year and all, folks.

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Another Lunar New Year, Another Prosperity Burger

On Saturday in Hong Kong before the big holiday, I was hoping for some traditional fare. Fortunately, I came across a perfect option: the Lunar New Year Prosperity Beef Burger at McDonald's.

Lunar New Year Prosperity Burger and curly fries at a McDonald's in Hong Kong


The burger seemed to have been overloaded with sauce. Normally with fast food I would not be happy about finding a burger in such a state. But this isn't normal. This is a Prosperity Burger. There is no such thing as too much of that black peppery sauce. They could have dunked the entire buns into the sauce, and I'd be fine. OK, I am actually happy they didn't do that. At the very least, I really don't need even more sodium in the burger.

I was quite happy to continue an edacious tradition that has included me enjoying the glorious burger last year in Taipei and the year before in Macau. The burger is typically available in a number of Asian markets around the Lunar New Year holiday, though oddly enough it isn't available in mainland China where McDonald's offers other holiday burgers that change from year to year. I had thought I would miss out on the Prosperity Burger this year, but for other reasons life ended up bringing me to Hong Kong just in time.

The curly fries were bonus.