Just Chilling In The Park.

Getting ready for the Year of the Dragon, Hong Kong Park.

Today was sooo cold by Hong Kong standards. I think the temperature went down to as low as four degrees. It may not sound that bad, but almost noone and nowhere has heating here. There were even reports of ice on top of Tai Mo Shan, the tallest mountain here. This is pretty unusual.

I had errands to do in Central and, despite the weather, decided to go for a stroll in Hong Kong Park, too.

I passed some interesting buildings and a sculpture on my way to the park. I noticed there was a new addition to the Hong Kong skyline. This, I think, rather attractive building, was designed by Zaha Hadid and is built on what is supposed to be the world's most expensive plot of land.

Glass skyscrapers in Central, the middle one is the new one.

The new building by Zaha Hadid.

There are some lovely old buildings here, too, such as, Saint John's Cathedral and the Old French Consulate building.

Saint John's Cathedral, easier to photograph from this side of Garden Road.

The Old French Consulate Building.

Sculptures on route.

I've been to Hong Kong Park lots and lots of times, but I still love it. It's located in Admiralty on the site of former British naval barracks. These barracks blocked the development of roads across the north of Hong Kong Island, so had to be knocked down, but some of the land they had occupied was converted into a park.

Chinese New Year dragon.

Water feature at the entrance to the park.

The reason I like this park is that it has a bit of everything. Some of the old buildings from the barracks have been kept. Two are now museums and one is now a registry office.

Old building, now a museum.

Old building in Hong Kong Park, now a teahouse and museum.

Old buildings and Chinese New Year decorations.

This old building is now a registry office.

This old building is now a registry office.

These are in complete contrast to the ultramodern skyscrapers all around. If you like skyscrapers, this is a good place to photograph them from.

Tall buildings from the park.

The Lippo Building which is supposed to look like koalas climbing a eucalyptus tree.

Bonsai and buildings.

There are lots of colourful trees and ponds filled with fish and turtles.

Pink ball tree.

Pink ball tree.

Turtles and frog statues.

Turtles and frog statues.

Wasp and waterlily.

Turtle.

I stopped to photograph a tree and stood still for a while focussing my camera to get a clear shot. When I turned around, there was a woman standing about a millimetre behind me. At first I thought I was being mugged. Turned out she had decided my spot was the best for photographing the tree and was queuing up for me to leave it. Nearly scared the life out of me.

The tree where I thought I was being mugged.

The tree where I thought I was being mugged.

I wandered past the waterfall and climbed up to the conservatory. This turned out to be the only place in Hong Kong that was warm.

Waterfall.

Entrance to the conservatory.

Lion dance costume at the entrance.

I photographed the floral displays on the lower floor. They were beautiful. Most of them were orchids.

Yellow orchids.

Petale de or.

White and purple orchids.

Purple and white orchids.

Red begonias.

Orange begonias.

Flowering bonsai.

Mini daffodils.

Arums.

Roses.

Pitcher plants.

Garden display.

Garden display with peacock.

I then went into the hot and dry desert section with all of its wonderful cacti. It was so hot in there and I was wearing so many clothes, I was sweating.

Guitar playing guitar.

Cacti in the desert.

Cacti in the desert.

Snake made of plants.

The next and final section is hot and tropical. This has lots of tropical trees, gurgling waterfalls, a stream, lush green vegetation and brightly coloured flowers

Waterfall in tropical section.

Mini waterfall.

Lush tropical plants.

Tropical bromeliads.

Lobster claw.

Arum lilies.

Chains of glory.

Elephants by the exit.

I continued uphill past Olympic Square where we used to sit and eat lunch on school trips.

Olympic Square.

Olympic Square.

I headed into the Caged Birds Enclosure. You can see the birds well here but can't photograph them due to the wire mesh.

Great hornbill in the caged enclosure.

I crossed the street into the Walk In Aviary. This place is a photographer's delight. Or at least it was on this occasion. As soon as I came in, I saw lots of brightly coloured Moluccan eclectus parrots sitting relatively still in the trees, so I was able to take some really clear shots.

Moluccan eclectus parrots.

Moluccan eclectus parrots.

I was able to watch a black capped lory eating fruit from one of the hanging food stands.

Black capped lory.

Black capped lory.

Black capped lory.

I also saw a rainbow lorikeet, several types of sparrows and lots of imperial pigeons.

Rainbow lorikeet.

Some kind of sparrow.

Java sparrow.

Pied imperial pigeon.

Pied imperial pigeon.

Pied imperial pigeon.

Pied imperial pigeon.

Green imperial pigeon.

Purple tailed imperial pigeon.

Fungi on a branch.

Again I was really busy focusing my camera and I heard laughter and saw a crowd of people next to me. One said: "Look behind you." I turned round and saw a little white bird that was practically sitting on my arm. I hadn't even realised it was there.

The Bali myna who sneaked up behind me.

Bali myna.

One green parakeet was very tame and sat right on the edge of a fence among a group of people. They were taking turns to stand right next to it and have their photos taken. Suddenly one must have got too near and it got really angry and tried to peck her.

Parakeet

Parakeet

I realised I had only come in for a flying visit, haha, but I had got carried away with photographing the birds and spent ages in there, so I headed off to do my errands and go home. Peter and I were eating out in the evening with our friend, Bonnie. We went to Figo's where Peter and I had pizzas and Bonnie had a burger.

It had been a cold but enjoyable day.