Hong Kong 2007 trip
Well, we're back from Hong Kong for another year now. It's been a nice Chinese New Year celebration, as always, though this time both Lucy and I were pretty unwell with a bad bout of the flu, which kind of ruined almost an entire week of our stay.. doh! We were glad Alex didn't get it, or else it would have been pretty bad.
I actually didn't get all that many gadgets and goodies this year. I couldn't find a new mobile phone that I liked enough to replace my Sony Ericsson W900i with, perhaps the upcoming Nokia N95 will change all this. This one ain't out yet though, just the N93i. We did get a new Sony Vaio C25 notebook for Lucy, as the Sony Vaio TX1x she had before seems to have keeled over. We left it in a repair shop over in HK so that Lynia can use it after it gets fixed up (hopefully).
Got other bits and bobs, like some PSP and DS games, plus a little R4 device for the DS that let's you "backup" your games. I was tempted by the PS3, as the price was pretty good there. At HKD 3200 for the 60GB model, it was a steal compare to the upcoming Euro release slated at EUR 629. Still, the lure of proper Euro release Blu-Ray movies was too much.
One interesting thing was a guy working in a store that was explaining to peeps that Gears of War (running in all it's glory on what looked like a Sony 46" LCD) was in fact a PS3 game. Yeah right! Either he was on the loopy stuff, or he was desperate to offload his stock of the Sony wonder-console.
You know, it's so cool that HK's public transport system is so darn good. It's mega easy to get around the place, be it on the really punctual buses or the fantastic trains and underground system. But, I always wonder why traffic is so mad there! I guess that's a part of any big city, oh well. Anyway, the point I wanted to make was about how great the cars looked over there. For such a smoggy environment, the cars are all pristine in appearance! Be it a red Ferrari 360 Spider, or a Ford Focus, they are all mega clean! Why? Actually, there's a simple answer.
Rather than having to drag their vehicles to the local service station and the car wash there, there's a whole business where people wash your car for you once a week in your designated car space. You see, the majority of people in HK live in high-rise apartment blocks, and they have to buy their parking spaces from the developers of the building too - some can cost as much as EUR 30000 to buy! Some enterprising people offer a car cleaning service for these vehicles, and since the car is always parked at the same spot, it's easier to administer. Prices can be about EUR 30 a month, and there seems to be a lot of people who take this up.
Speaking about the cars themselves, there seem to be quite a few Ferraris and Porsches around there. We visited a friend of Lucy's who had a lovely 360 Spider. Even when idle, the engine was loud, and utterly delightful. One day, I want one of these, just to keep it in my driveway. ;)
It being HK, food is always at the top of the menu for any traveller (pun intended). There's always such a nice variety of things to try, and I have to say that I'm a bit of a fan of all types of food there. There's simply so much more choice, and this also means that I tend to eat a tad too much whenever we visit.. doh! :) One distinct favourite was a Japanese restaurant in the Peak Tower, which had some interesting takes on Japanese-fusion cuisine.
The Peak Tower itself has changed quite a bit since our last visit, with much more things to see. I was surprised to see an EA exhibition there. I should have taken some pictures of it (darn!), it was quite impressive in it's white gaming boothes and show floor. I wasn't quite sure if it were a permanent fixture of the tower, but I would gather that it wasn't, unless EA though that having such a "store" in the Peak Tower would generate significant revenue for them. Still, it was interesting to see it.
All in all, quite an enjoyable trip. I'm ready for a return visit already! :D
I actually didn't get all that many gadgets and goodies this year. I couldn't find a new mobile phone that I liked enough to replace my Sony Ericsson W900i with, perhaps the upcoming Nokia N95 will change all this. This one ain't out yet though, just the N93i. We did get a new Sony Vaio C25 notebook for Lucy, as the Sony Vaio TX1x she had before seems to have keeled over. We left it in a repair shop over in HK so that Lynia can use it after it gets fixed up (hopefully).
Got other bits and bobs, like some PSP and DS games, plus a little R4 device for the DS that let's you "backup" your games. I was tempted by the PS3, as the price was pretty good there. At HKD 3200 for the 60GB model, it was a steal compare to the upcoming Euro release slated at EUR 629. Still, the lure of proper Euro release Blu-Ray movies was too much.
One interesting thing was a guy working in a store that was explaining to peeps that Gears of War (running in all it's glory on what looked like a Sony 46" LCD) was in fact a PS3 game. Yeah right! Either he was on the loopy stuff, or he was desperate to offload his stock of the Sony wonder-console.
You know, it's so cool that HK's public transport system is so darn good. It's mega easy to get around the place, be it on the really punctual buses or the fantastic trains and underground system. But, I always wonder why traffic is so mad there! I guess that's a part of any big city, oh well. Anyway, the point I wanted to make was about how great the cars looked over there. For such a smoggy environment, the cars are all pristine in appearance! Be it a red Ferrari 360 Spider, or a Ford Focus, they are all mega clean! Why? Actually, there's a simple answer.
Rather than having to drag their vehicles to the local service station and the car wash there, there's a whole business where people wash your car for you once a week in your designated car space. You see, the majority of people in HK live in high-rise apartment blocks, and they have to buy their parking spaces from the developers of the building too - some can cost as much as EUR 30000 to buy! Some enterprising people offer a car cleaning service for these vehicles, and since the car is always parked at the same spot, it's easier to administer. Prices can be about EUR 30 a month, and there seems to be a lot of people who take this up.
Speaking about the cars themselves, there seem to be quite a few Ferraris and Porsches around there. We visited a friend of Lucy's who had a lovely 360 Spider. Even when idle, the engine was loud, and utterly delightful. One day, I want one of these, just to keep it in my driveway. ;)
It being HK, food is always at the top of the menu for any traveller (pun intended). There's always such a nice variety of things to try, and I have to say that I'm a bit of a fan of all types of food there. There's simply so much more choice, and this also means that I tend to eat a tad too much whenever we visit.. doh! :) One distinct favourite was a Japanese restaurant in the Peak Tower, which had some interesting takes on Japanese-fusion cuisine.
The Peak Tower itself has changed quite a bit since our last visit, with much more things to see. I was surprised to see an EA exhibition there. I should have taken some pictures of it (darn!), it was quite impressive in it's white gaming boothes and show floor. I wasn't quite sure if it were a permanent fixture of the tower, but I would gather that it wasn't, unless EA though that having such a "store" in the Peak Tower would generate significant revenue for them. Still, it was interesting to see it.
All in all, quite an enjoyable trip. I'm ready for a return visit already! :D
Labels: Travel
posted by eko at
12:15 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home