Inside "The Peak" Atop Victoria Peak--Hong Kong

I hate to make broad, all-inclusive statements about a culture that consists of 1.3 billion people, but I feel pretty safe in concluding that the Chinese love nothing more than a gawdy, overdone, indoor shopping experience.

Inside "The Peak" Atop Victoria Peak--Hong Kong

Light wall adjacent to escalator inside "The Peak".

Ooooooooo... Aaaaaaaaah...

Inside "The Peak" Atop Victoria Peak--Hong Kong

Bubba Gump Shrimp Company...really? I love that this Chinese dude is rockin' the "Stupid Is As Stupid Does" T-shirt while selling the exact shirt to some American tourists. What? They ain't got no Bubba Gump in Omaha? Might beat out "My Parents Went to Hong Kong and All I Got Was This Lousy T-shirt" as worst tourist gift T ever... Of course, this is America's gift to the world.

Fake Stump Atop Victoria Peak--Hong Kong

Nothing says country park in Hong Kong like a plastic stump.

Inside "The Peak" Atop Victoria Peak--Hong Kong

This mega-mall/restaurant complex sits atop Victoria Peak, the highest point in Hong Kong. With all of the beautiful natural trails that allow sweeping views and vistas of the city and harbour, locals and tourists alike swarm to this indoors of awful...

"The Peak" Atop Victoria Peak--Hong Kong

This architectural wonder was built atop the highest hill/mountain in Hong Kong. Nature and spectacular views weren't enough of a draw, I guess...

Man Mo Temple--Hong Kong

While the sound of the fans and mobile phone ringers is a bit distracting, you can get a sense of the interior temple space from this video.

Man Mo Temple--Hong Kong

Outside of the temple people could burn offerings and wishes in the sacred incinerator flames...

Coils of incense hung from the ceiling. The air was intense with the scent of incense. You like what I did there...?

Man Mo Temple

Man Mo Temple is one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Hong Kong. I loved the fact that it was nestled among the narrow, towering high rises that pervade the island... Everything and everywhere in Hong Kong is slim and vertical except for this one cloister of tranquility.

Call Me...

Saw this phenom all over China. People write down phone numbers right on the wall. What happens when you aren't there and want to make that call, though?

Andy is Still Dandy (Warhols)

So say you're a tourist and you fear that the street vendor will send you home with a calligraphy manuscript that he claims to be the words of Confucius but you fear it might actually be some off-colour limerick... How embarrassing would that be? No fear, the same vendor would be happy to sell you a genuine reproduction of Merlin Monrow. Real quality... No joke... You buy...

Open Dissent in Hong Kong

I saw these Falun Gong protest posters all over Hong Kong. From what I know, the Chinese government considers Falun Gong a cult and has severely suppressed the practice and practitioners. Not sure what the text says, but the disturbingly graphic images seem to depict victims of torture. I didn't see anything like this on the mainland. Although Hong Kong has reverted back to Chinese rule, the government seems to have take a laissez faire approach to this little cluster of islands that are home to much of the economic and commercial braintrust of this region of the world.

Dinner at Hurricane Bay Part 2

Huge prawns covered in chiles.
Family style, complete with lazy susan.
Some sort of lobsterish/shrimpish cross-bread fried and powdered with cayenne pepper.
Fish heads, fish heads, roly-poly fish heads...
Gelatin with floaty bits, served as dessert. As many of you know, I don't favour gelatin-based foods.

Dinner with the HK Ecko office in Hurricane Bay

Some of our HK counterparts
Yes, that is a whole duck head...
I love scallops and these were some of the best I have ever eaten. They were covered with glass noodles and loaded with garlic.
Some sort of chopped up spiny lobster which was then deep fried.
Overall, the food in China was fantastic. Hurricane Bay is located right on the water (obviously) and the waterfront is lined with restaurants serving the finest fish available. We all know seafood is best served fresh and these restaurants all have massive banks of fish tanks in front of them holding a variety of seafood. There were some fish in the tanks that had to weigh 100+ pounds. Unfortunately, I waited until after dinner to shoot pics of them and our meal involved so many courses that by the time we were finished all the tanks had been shuttered.

Ham-A-Lama-Ding-Dong...

This shop sold all manner of exotic (to my eyes) food items. At first I thought these smoked ham hocks were some sort of special dried goose...

Crab Rap, Yo!

These poor crabs were wrapped up and sitting in a bin at a street market. I couldn't confirm whether or not they were definitely alive, but the fact that they were so tightly bound led me to believe that they were. PETA would have a field day...

Hong Kong highrise

A typical view of the exterior of many buildings in Hong Kong. The city is vertically overbuilt with tall, narrow, nondescript structures many of which seem to have cobbled on additions and upgrades. It seems that all of these A/C units, along with their requisite pipes, ducts and cables, were a total afterthought

look at the size of that f***ing cobra!

yum!

sooooo, i know it's supposed to be a pig, but doesn't it look like a roasted rat? it's the maraschino cherry eyes, right?

..and then there was bird nest based desserts...

so apparently they boil down the nests of swallows, which are saturated with the birds saliva, to make a delicious, fruity, gelatinous concoction. my friends didn't explain this to me until after i had eaten about half of the dish. in turn, i tried to explain the obvious "spit or swallow" joke. my chinese friends were either offended and just played ignorant or they just really didn't get it... apparently, it very good for your skin (not even kidding).