Hong Kong–June 4, 2023

Didn’t get a lot of pictures on the train from the airport; the train moves really fast.

buildings near airport
Blue LEDs in gentle arc showing amount of trip traversed.

The LEDs show how much of the trip is finished. That’s a nice touch.

hong kong skyline
Boats in foreground; bridge in background. Large buildings at right.

These are from the Central Station. The artist (Florentijn Hofman) will be putting two 18-meter tall inflatable rubber ducks in the harbor. Here’s an article about it.

Advert for Double Ducks by Florentijn Hoffman
duck video display

This is a live display of people passing by; they are blurred out.

And some artwork in the station.

column with musical notes
Two abstract rockets flying horizontally, one to left and one to right, on yellow background.

Hotel Area

The hotel is in the upscale part of the Tsim Sha Tsui district. I had to wait about five hours to check in (flight arrived at 5:30 a.m.), so I spent the time exploring the area. There’s a “Retro AI” exhibit at the 1881 Heritage shopping center, which has very high end stores, so you won’t see me going in there any time soon.

retro ai
Building with terraces and curved design

The hotel is close to the harbor. Some further views of the area:

brick clock tower

This is an old clock tower and is now a historic monument.

abstract sculpture
kiosk with painted symbols
Harbor skyline; sailboat with black sail in foreground.
Harbor skyline; large Ferris Wheel at lower mid-right
skyline
painted utility box
Shaded gray bricks giving illusion of 3-d pyramids on side of building.

Clever use of gray shades.

Large bags of noodles outside of restaurant

Saw these in an alleyway near a restaurant.

Painting of multiple colored blocks

This is outside a very upscale shop.

curved reflection of building

The reflection of the other building was interesting.

Logo for mall formed with red and green plants

Kowloon Park

I went to Kowloon Park to get a break from all the city stuff. I didn’t get to see it all—I was getting pretty tired of walking—but I did see the sculpture garden.

haiphong road substation
kowloon park braille map

A Braille map for visually impaired visitors.

Sculpture of double AIDS ribbon
shell like sculpture
Lumpy abstract sculpture
abstract sculpture
torso
white marble horselike sculpture
abstract
abstract sculpture with glass panels
crab-like sculpture
abstract sculpture
abstract sculpture

faces

This one requires several pictures to get the effect.

faces
faces
half smooth half rough sculpture
abstract view1
three toothlike marble columns in circluar base
abstract gold sculpture
two wavy columns
abstract view1 This one looked very different depending on where you stood, so I took several photos of it.
abstract view2
abstract view3
abstract view4
abstract

I had entered the park from a side street; when I resumed my walk on Nathan Road (a main throughfare) I saw some more impressive entrances and painted staircases:

painted columns at park entrance
painted columns at park entrance
Staircase where sides of steps are painted; when viewed from distance,, shows a string quartet.
Staircase with sides of steps painted; when viewed from distance, it is a lake with plants and a swan swimming in the lake.
welcome to hong kong comic avenue
anime style figurines

No, I have no idea what comics these characters are from.

anime style figurines
anime style figurines
anime style figurines

Miscellanea

A bit further up Nathan Road is where the high rent district ends abruptly...

decrepit building
decrepit building closeup

This isn’t part of the sculpture garden; it was put there by the Rotary Club.

large sculpture of human hands

A display from a flower market, and my dinner for the evening (pepper rice chicken):

flower market display
pepper rice chicken

Signage

The subway system has really great signage:

Long view of subway sign

There’s a lot of information here. At the right are pictures of landmarks and the corresponding exits.

Closeup showing labeled exits

The map shows the labeled exits.

List of hotels, leisure/shopping, and major buildings.

And hotels, leisure/shopping, and major buildings are listed by category and exit.

Other signs:

poster dripping air conditioners

I had no idea it’s against the law to let your air conditioner drip water.

10 cent and 20 cent cairns not accepted.

An understandable misspelling.

sac en papier

Someone proofread the incorrect French.