hi,
well, i only have a few days left in hongkong, the last six months have gone pretty quick, i did a few things i wanted to, lots of things i inteded to but didnt ...so theres always next year...i had a quick listen through my old music i wrote years and years ago, and i still quite like it, so i'm going to make much more effort to do more this year...i havent decided if i need to get a job yet...if i'm careful i could probably do another year off, but its a bit risky as my job skills will start to date, and it'll get more difficult to get a decent job again, similar to the role/position i had before...
i went to stanley today, its a small beach area on hongkong island...i was sat eating a sandwich and a guy in a van was playing some music, quite loudly, but it seemed ok...then an old english bloke started having a go at him, actually gettin in the van and forcing him to turn it down as he didnt agree with the volume of the music...as he walked past me he said "you have to get right in the face of those people"...i got the impression "those people" were chinese...very odd thing to say, as he's in hongkong, it just seemed quite racist to me.......i was quite enjoying the music..
further down the road he had a go at another van driver who was playing music...he just seemed like a silly old mad fart, one of those odd characters that often hang around shopping malls ..
the area is quite nice, though its got a lot of the tourist traps there....the markets selling cheap crap,paintings,rubbishy toys and jewellery...a few pubs and wine bars...over xmas i'll update the galleries and add the pictures i took
as a quick summary of hongkong, i'd say its cheap, easy to get around, some very friendly people here,...the food is a little more down to earth than the u.k , ...you need to be a little careful of the bargain..theres a lot of bootlegs/copied which arent always obvious, but on the flip side, theres lots of copies and cheap bootlegs, so its fantastic to buying anime and films ...ive seen more small/independants films here than anywhere else,,..not only because theyre cheap, but also theres a big range of them in the few film shops ive been to...so many more films with "winner at cannes/film festivals etc".....i saw a mexican film last night which was great..."sin ton ni sonia" i think it was called...it had serial killers, voice dubbing,telepathy ...i'd never heard of it before, and i dont think i'd ever see it in any stores in the u.k....
i also watched tokyo godfathers, a really nice xmassy anime, about 3 homless who find a baby on xmas eve, and try and return it to the mother...
and...i watched appleseed, the new film from production I.g , great visuals,music, storyline is fairly good...the action sequences are great....ive been trying to get through the films i have lying around ..ive got enough to last a few months i think....hopefully enough to last through xmas and the re runs of morecombe and wise, only fools and horses,and all that stuff...
so, if your coming to hongkong...
go up the peak tram....
on the ferry across the harbour.
go out to stanley/repulse bay..
go to the temple (forgotten which island its on now).
go to the markets, temple street etc...keep an eye on your bag/purse/wallet though...be well aware of what your buying is nearly always fake, and they expect u to haggle the price...
disney land opens here soon too, so it might be worth visiting..it'll probably be the cheapest one to go to.
the electriks are the same as the uk...so u dont need converters..
electronics are a little cheaper, and theres probably a wider range, especially mp3 players...it gets the stuff from japan, adn usa...you can get lots of japanese things here, though the prices are a little higher than japan..hmv carries japanese,usa,korean films and music...
goto mongkok and the sino centre to buy anime/porn/films/videos etc...
search around mongkok as there are quite a lot of shopping centres/areas that are worth investigating...theres an area that sells lots of gundam, remote control helicopters and boats, and guns..(not firing bullets though)...which is near a place that sells dodgy games, cheap second hand electronics,porn,vcd's etc..theres a huge new shopping mall called langham place too, its qutie an amazing building, if you are easily scared of heights, avoid some of the escalators..its got all the brand names,retail stores etc youll need if you have the cash..
causeway bay is pretty good too, again worth exploring ..
tsim sha tsui...lots of expensive shops and things around here,,,,
sham sui po...street stalls that sell any old crap that is lying around...boxes of remote controlls, drills, buttons, spoons n stuff...there are probably some great bargains if you delve deep enough, there are loads of record stalls, and you can pick up dvd copies for about 35p
theres a lot to go around, and its easy enough to do, theres still areas i havent been too, though as u get away from the centre, most areas are the same ol bunch of shops, markets n stuff, it can get quite smelly too, and dirty....
i think thats enough...i have to clean the flat, pack, throw away the rest of the food,boxes,magazines, ...all the stuff that accumulates....i've thrown away loads of rubbish already, though this time last week, the flat didnt seem that full of stuff...i dont like having huge amounts of things i have to deal with when i leave, though it still gets more and more each time move...i'd love to sell off all my old stuff, but i'd get so little for it, i just keep it...and end up having about 1200 cd's to deal with when i move house..
if youve managed to read this far..hello!!....i hope you have a nice xmas, new year, birthday, wedding, christening,bbq,stag night, whatever is happening where you are.My site will get back to normal in the new year, more figure/toy galleries,sale,bargains and ramblings ....
wayne.
