By this Author: irenevt

Yesterday was a day of many celebrations. It was the start of the summer holidays at my old school and Linda's last ever day of working there. Plus Emily and Fely, who used to work there, were both in town for a visit. This gave us all a good excuse to get together for dinner. Emily, who now lives in Vancouver, was pining for Peking Duck, so Linda booked a table at The Peking Garden Restaurant in Tai Koo Shing.

As usual I set out earlier. If I can, I like to combine meeting up with seeing or doing something else. This time I decided to go to Central and take a look at The Summerfest Inflatable Wonders of The World. These have received quite a lot of criticism, so I was interested to take a look and judge for myself.

Street art near the Summerfest.

Street art near the Summerfest.

Inflatable Wonders of The World is an attempt to use A.I. to create inflatable replicas of famous buildings. The idea came from an Armenian A.I. artist called Joann. The five buildings that have been created are: Stonehenge in England, The Arc de Triomphe in Paris, The Leaning Tower of Pisa, an Egyptian pyramid and the moai of Easter Island.

Map of the site.

If I have understood this correctly, Joann creates an image rather than an actual inflatable piece of art. So she takes a picture of The Eiffel Tower and changes the tower in the picture into a giant inflatable object which looks interesting and quite funny. Here people have actually created the inflatable object itself. There are some problems with this. For a start the inflatable created is going to be much smaller than the real object. Also it's surrounded by ropes holding it down and these don't look aesthetically pleasing. Neither do the devices next to the buildings that are used to inflate and deflate them.

Entrance.

Then, although this is not an issue for me, many Chinese people do not like that the images are all completely white. White is a colour associated with funerals and death here. The stone henge replica in particular has been likened to grave stones. Apparently the buildings are lit up at night, but I have not seen that.

Entrance.

Personally I think it's a lot easier to criticise something than to do something. The creators of this display liked the images they saw in Joann's work, had a go at actually making them and haven't entirely pulled it off. It's an experiment , learn from it and move on.

However, I do think there are several ways the exhibition could have been made better. The way it is now there are just the five inflatable buildings. These would have been more interesting if they had been put in a more relevant context. For example, some models of camels outside the pyramid, a little street cafe next to the Arc de Triomphe. Or even just some large 2-d pictures of the place these buildings are located in dotted around them.

Failing that then these art works clearly worked better when they had a function. I say that because the only building people were spending a lot of time with was Stonehenge, because it doubled as a bouncy trampoline. It was possible to go inside the pyramid, but there was nothing in there when you did. A mummy, a display about Egypt, something Egypt related to look at would have made it better.

Lots of people were posing for photos with the moai, so I guess they were quite popular, too. These were all the same image in different sizes and might have been better as a selection of different styles of Moai.

So here are the inflatable Wonders of The World:

The Arc de Triomphe was clearly having a bit of a bad day, so perhaps I shouldn't even mention that.

The Arc de Triomphe was clearly having a bad day.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa wasn't exactly very convincing. I wonder if an activity involving trying to straighten it or almost topple it might have been more fun.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The pyramid, as I've said above, could have done with a few Egyptian things in and around it. Someone who criticised it likened it to the tents the police put around the victims of traffic accidents, but when you consider the Ancient Egyptians built pyramids as tombs maybe this isn't quite so inappropriate.

Pyramid.

Pyramid.

I'd love to see the real Moai on Easter Island some day. In fact of the five wonders I have only seen the real version of two: Stonehenge and The Arc de Triomphe. These Maoi looked like cartoon images to me, but as I said they were at least popular for photographs.

Moai.

Stonehenge was in my opinion the best of these inflatables. It actually looked quite nice from certain angles and people were clearly enjoying interacting with it, so it was really quite successful.

Stonehenge.

Stonehenge.

Stonehenge.

Stonehenge.

Stonehenge.

Anyway THE most popular thing I saw when I was there was the puddles on the AstroTurf. It was a roasting hot day and one little girl who had quite clearly had: 'quite enough of the heat thanks' escaped from her mum and hurled herself into one of the puddles then began to throw the water all over herself. She soon started a trend with several other overheated children joining in. It was quite entertaining to watch though I wasn't tempted to participate.

The puddles were the most fun.

This little girl certainly loved them.

Happiness as known to only the young.

Anyway I had seen enough and headed off to the MTR, passing a few other interesting things on the way and taking a couple more pictures.

Paris Olympics.

Paris Olympics.

Cute statue.

Butterfly sculpture.

Advertising a sports day.

We were meeting for dinner in The Peking Garden Restaurant in City Plaza, Tai Koo Shing. This is the same restaurant we came to for Yang's birthday.

Ice-skating in City Plaza Mall.

It was lovely to see Emily and Fely again. Fely could actually just join us for a short time as she was meeting friends for dinner elsewhere. She's only back from England for nine days and so had way too many things to do. Emily is in Hong Kong for a month and so can take things at a more relaxed pace. It was hard to believe how many years had passed since we had last seen each other. Time moves on so fast. I taught one of Fely's daughters when she was seven years old and now she is in her twenties. How did that happen????

A photo with Fely.

Sarah, who now works in a different school, had been on holiday for a few weeks already, so she had already found her inner chill.

The food is really good in this restaurant. We had ordered a set dinner that included Peking duck.

Miss Yang in full photographic action.

We had a tasty vegetable appetizer.

Then we had some pan fried bean curd skins. I normally find bean curd a bit tasteless, but this was actually really good.

Pan fried bean curd skins.

There was a cold chicken dish which was ok, but personally I only really like the skin of poultry if it's crunchy and this was soft.

Chicken.

I disgraced myself with the steamed pork dumplings stuffed with soup. I pressed too hard with my chopsticks and lost the soup which is apparently the best part. Everyone else approached them much more carefully.

Pork dumplings stuffed with soup.

There was a prawn dish in a very tasty curry sauce. The sauce was so good Yang took it home with her to freeze and eat later. We don't like to waste food if we can avoid doing so.

Prawns and broccoli in curry sauce.

We had imitation shark fin soup. This tastes fine when you add the vinegar sauce to it, but a bit bland if you don't in my opinion, but it's a popular dish here and since it's imitation its not endangering sharks.

Imitation shark fin soup.

I really liked the cabbage and ham dish that arrived near the end. I don't know why but I absolutely love cabbage.

Cabbage and ham.

And then the pièce de résistance the Peking duck. Crispy pieces of duck, served with spring onions and cucumber, then flavoured with a sweet bean sauce and wrapped in a wafer thin pancake. Heaven!!

Crispy Peking duck.

Another dish that I was surprised I really liked was the eel. I'm not sure I have ever tasted eel before. I certainly don't like the look of eels, but this was actually really delicious. It was just as well I liked it, as when I went to the washroom at the end of the meal everyone (well I actually suspect Yang) had piled all the remaining eel onto my plate. I was already so full, just the thought of food made me queasy, but I still managed to eat it.

Eel.

Dessert was a cake made from yellow peas, apparently it's a speciality from Beijing. (It's not up there in competing with chocolate gateau or cheesecake, but that's just my opinion.)

Yellow pea dessert.

It was great to get together, catch up on all our news and have a good chat, but then came the next surprise of the evening. Suddenly we caught sight of Vanessa, who also used to work in our school, passing by our table. She had come to the restaurant with her husband and was as surprised to see us as we were to see her. It was great to catch up with her, too and to learn that Vanessa is certainly making the most of her retirement with lots of travelling around the world.

A photo with Vanessa.

It was a great evening and with so many past and present staff members it was a very fitting end to Linda's last day at KCIS.

Emily, Sarah, me, Linda, Yang.

Chinese Garden.

At first when I stopped working, I used to check out everything that was on in Hong Kong. I don't do that anymore, but nonetheless I received an email telling me about an exhibition at the Indra and Harry Banga Gallery. I had never heard of this, but soon learned that this gallery is actually inside Hong Kong City University in Kowloon Tong. The exhibition was called: 'A Passion For Silk. The Road From China To Europe.' It was free, but it was necessary to book a time slot in advance. I decided to do this and was sent an email confirmation and a QR code.

I had booked to go between 12 and 1 on the fifth of July, so on that day I set out early (I hate being late for things) towards Kowloon Tong. I arrived about an hour early and decided to use that time just wandering around Festival Walk, the shopping mall next to Hong Kong City University. I used to work near here years ago and used to come here all the time, but I haven't been here for ages.

The first thing I noticed was there was a Chiikawa and Miniso popup store in the middle of LG2. If you are thinking what's that, you are not alone. Apparently Chiikawa is a Japanese manga character and Miniso is a Chinese retail chain. I knew nothing about either of them. The popup was evidently expected to be popular, as to access it you had to go inside a separated off zigzag fence area like at airport immigration, but when I went, there was actually noone queuing to go in. I guess it depends on the time of day and day of the week.

Chiikawa Pop-up Store.

Chiikawa Pop-up Store.

A little further on there was a very pink tribute to Anson Lo. He is a Hong Kong singer, dancer and actor who used to be with the boy band Mirror. When it's July, his birthday month, his fans pay lots of money to set up stalls, screens or even advertise on trams or star ferries to wish him a Happy Birthday. I'm not a fan, but I was happy to photograph it anyway. I was to encounter more Anson Lo tributes later in the day.

Happy birthday, Anson Lo.

Happy birthday, Anson Lo.

Happy birthday, Anson Lo.

I also had a look at the skating rink and the cinema.

Ice-skating rink.

Ice-skating rink.

Festival Grand Cinema.

I found possibly the cutest handbag ever.

Surely the cutest bag and purse ever.

Soon it was time to go to the exhibition. There's a walkway from LG1 level in the mall which leads straight to the university. To get in it's necessary to have a student or staff pass, but because I had pre-booked I could go in on my QR code.

I headed right after entering and walked through a rather pleasant Chinese garden area.

Chinese garden.

Chinese garden.

Chinese garden.

Chinese garden.

Chinese garden.

I also had a quick look at some of the things in the university. I found the student swimming pool and discovered that this university seems to have its own dairy farm. There were adverts for its milk and ice cream. I discovered later that the university dairy farm is located in Tai Po, dates from 2022 and is used to train veterinary students.

City University Swimming Pool.

City University Dairy Farm.

City University Dairy Farm.

The Indra and Harry Banga Gallery was on the eighteenth floor of The Lau Ming Wai Academic Building. Harry Banga is a wealthy Indian business man based in Hong Kong and his wife Indra is active in the arts and in children's charities.

The Lau Ming Wai Academic Building

Advertising the exhibition.

Advertising the exhibition.

The exhibition began with information about the history of silk making. Silk production, or sericulture to give it it's proper name, began in China around 8,500 BC.

Silk is made from the cocoons of mulberry worm larvae. Traditionally the process of silk making began with the collection of silk worm eggs. These were placed in a warm environment to encourage them to hatch. When they had hatched, the silk worms were fed a diet of mulberry leaves. They rapidly increased in size. Eventually they were ready to make a cocoon in which they would turn into a moth. These cocoons were attached to frames and the moth inside was killed with boiling water before it could break through the cocoon. This meant the cocoon was one intact piece of silk thread. It was unravelled, wound into strands and woven into silk.

Spinning wheel.

At one time only the Chinese knew the secret of silk production and as a result silk was extremely valuable. It was transported and traded along the Silk Road that led towards Europe. It was forbidden to share the secrets of silk making with anyone outside of China. If you were caught smuggling mulberry worm eggs out of China, you would be executed. However, there are tales of a Chinese princess smuggling eggs out to a prince in Khotan, a kingdom on the edge of the Taklamakan Desert and in the middle of the sixth century Emperor Justinian is rumoured to have hired Nestorian monks to smuggle silkworm eggs from China to Constantinople. Over time the knowledge of silk production leaked out and silk started to be made in Korea, Japan, Thailand, India, France and Italy.

In Europe silk production began in Italy, especially in the cities of Lucca, Genoa, Florence and Venice. Later France became the main European producer of silk, especially in the city of Lyon.

Silk is strong, warm, light and soft. The triangular prism-like structure of its fibres give it its beautiful shimmering appearance.

One technique in patterned silk production involved attaching templates with holes in different positions to control the colour of threads that were being used. This is considered to be the forerunner of the modern day computer.

Forerunner of the modern day computer.

The exhibits in the gallery began with examples of clothing produced in Ancient China. These clothes told people a lot of information about the wearer. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties yellow was the colour of the emperor and his family (The royal colour was different for different dynasties). Ordinary people were forbidden from wearing this colour. The emperor's robes would have many pictures of dragons on them. Dragons on an emperor's robes had five claws on each foot. Dragons on the clothes of someone of a lower status had fewer claws. There were many secret symbols embroidered into the emperor's cloths such as suns, moons and roosters.

Emperor's robes.

Chinese robes.

Chinese robes.

Chinese robes.

Closeup of Chinese robes.

Closeup of Chinese robes.

Portrait of an empress.

Beautiful silk garment.

Skirt, quite kilt-like in design, minus the tartan.

At one time the production of a single silk robe could take around two years. As sericulture expanded, production times got shorter and more silk clothes could be made. There were displays of more modern Chinese clothes, some were based on traditional designs.

More modern Chinese silk clothes.

Modern version of traditional Chinese clothes.

Other items made of silk on display included mirrors, umbrellas, fans, shawls, underwear, cushions and shoes.

Shoes.

Bags and shoes.

Shoes, bags and underwear.

Cushion.

Fans and purses.

Mirror.

Silk umbrella.

Silk shawls.

Shawls.

I really loved all the hats that were on display.

Hats and collars.

Hat.

Hat.

Hats.

However, my overall favourite item of clothing was a beautiful robe with a floral design. I just found it incredibly beautiful.

My favourite item of clothing.

I think this design is so beautiful.

I also liked the protective silk mask for horses and the Tibetan prayer robes.

Protective mask for a horse.

Tibetan prayer robes.

Several sections of the exhibition focussed on silk clothes in Europe. These included ladies' dresses, men's jackets and waistcoats.There were more modern European silk clothes, too, including a wedding dress and designer dresses.

Jackets and waistcoats.

European silk dress

More modern European silk clothes.

Silk dresses. One is a wedding dress.

I was very impressed to see the robes worn by Pope John Paul II, though these were really difficult things to photograph due to the light. There were also the bright red robes of cardinals.

Robes of Pope John Paul II.

Headdress of Pope John Paul II.

Cardinal's robes.

As well as clothing there were many silk pictures. Some were traditional Chinese creatures, some were propaganda images. One was a view over San Francisco.

Picture of a lion.

Silk tapestry.

Silk tapestry.

Silk tapestry based on Chinese painting called 'Red Dawn'.

Silk tapestry of San Francisco.

Silk tapestry of soldier.

I spent about a full hour in the exhibition. When I left, I had intended to look around the university more, but found that I had accidentally exited into an area outside the university grounds. I noticed there were many displays for graduation dotted all around.

Graduation Day.

Graduation Day.

I decided to stop off in Tsim Sha Tsui on my way back home, because I had read there was a giant Deadpool model on the roof of Ocean Terminal. This is where there was once a giant T-rex model and I decided to see if Deadpool looked impressive next to the harbour background.

Deadpool is there to advertise the new Wolverine and Deadpool movie about to be released this month.

Deadpool and Wolverine.

Deadpool.

Deadpool.

Deadpool.

Deadpool and Wolverine.

Marvel drinks machine.

There are good views over the harbour from here. It was a lovely sunny day with bright blue skies.

Hong Kong.

Victoria Harbour looking towards Central.

Looking towards Kowloon West Cultural District.

Victoria Harbour piers.

When I headed out towards the star ferry I found even more birthday tributes to Anson Lo. Whoever he is, he's certainly popular.

More Anson Lo tributes.

More Anson Lo tributes.

I headed past The Museum of Modern Art and the bottom of Nathan Road then off to Tung Chung to shop, then home.

Clock tower.

Hong Kong Museum of Art.

Nathan Road.

Temples in Shau Kai Wan.

On Tuesday 2nd July I had arranged to meet up with Jason, Sheena and Linda in North Point. I decided to set out earlier than necessary and go and see a temple in Shau Kei Wan that I've been meaning to visit for ages.

One thing I find strange about Hong Kong is that some of the most interesting things to see are almost completely unknown. In Shau Kei Wan, for example, there are lots of beautiful temples and there are very helpful pink tourist signs showing where they are, yet I am pretty sure the temple I went to scarcely gets a mention. I only found out about it by watching a video of someone visiting (all in Chinese). It took me ages to work out where it was and how to get there. For some reason I expected the walk there to be really complicated, but it wasn't.

To get to this temple I took the MTR to Shau Kei Wan Station and exited through exit A3 next to the bus station. I then walked up the right hand side of the bus station till I saw an overhead walkway. I went onto the walkway and headed left. I could see the small red buildings and prayer flags of the temples on the hill in front of me already, so I knew exactly where to go. I just kept walking towards the mountains until I ran out of walkway then came downstairs into Aldrich Street Playground.

I haven't mentioned the name of this temple yet, as it is actually a collection of six different temples, which are located in a cluster on the edge of the mountain. To get to them it's necessary to climb up a long staircase. Well, I say long, there are quite a lot of stairs, but it only takes a couple of minutes to get up there, even if you are as unfit as I am.

There's very little information about these temples online, but as I understand it, two of them were once located in Aldrich Village. This village was demolished in order to build some of the modern high-rises of Shau Kei Wan, and the temples were relocated to the mountainside.

I did not know it at the time, but three of the temples are quite unusual. They were built to commemorate three characters from a very famous Chinese epic novel called 'The Romance of The Three Kingdoms.'

'The Romance of The Three Kingdoms' is a fourteenth century novel written by Luo Guanzhong. It tells the story of the collapse of the Han Dynasty and the tumultuous events that take place when three warring kingdoms are fighting to seize control of China. This novel contains real people and events, but is heavily embellished making it a work of fiction based on facts. It has around 800,000 words and almost a thousand different characters in it. I am not even going to pretend to understand it, but I will try and say something about the characters from the story that are in this group of temples.

I began my climb. At the foot of the stairway there's a big notice board all in Chinese, apparently it belonged to Aldrich Village and displays the names of the temples.

Sign at the foot of the hill.

Lots of stairs.

Almost there.

I took the climb slowly, as it was a very hot and humid day. Eventually, I reached an archway guarded by two stone lions. There were four Chinese characters written above the archway, of course I cannot read them, but I found out later that they say: ' a good place produces outstanding people'.

Lions guard the entrance.

I wandered through the archway and immediately saw a statue of a horse outside two connected temples. This horse is called Red Hare. He features in 'The Romance of The Three Kingdoms'. In the novel he is described as being capable of "galloping across cities and leaping over moats." It is also said that: "He neighs as if he has the ambition of soaring into the sky or diving into the sea."

Inside the temple with the statue of Red Hare.

Red Hare originally belonged to a warlord called Dong Zhou, but was then given as a gift to another warrior, Lü Bu, in return for him killing his own stepfather. After Lü Bu dies in battle, Red Hare is given to Kwan Tai. Kwan Tai's temple is directly behind the horse statue.

Red Hare.

Small model of Red Hare.

Kwan Tai riding Red Hare.

Kwan Tai (Guan Yu in Mandarin), was a general during the Three Kingdoms' Period, but is now revered as the god of war. If you climb up the stairs on the left hand side of Kwan Tai's Temple, you will arrive at a really unusual temple guarded by two tigers. No, I didn't mean to write lions, these really are tigers. I have never seen these guarding any other Chinese temple. This is the temple of Cheung Fei (Zhang Fei in Mandarin). He is also a character in 'The Romance of the Three Kingdoms' story. He was a very brave general. The tigers indicate how strong he was as the Chinese consider tigers to be stronger than lions. (Personally I wouldn't like to be near either of them if they ever decided to have a fight.)

Tiger guards.

Tiger.

Cheung Fei.

Go up a few more stairs and you will reach the temple of Lau Bai. Lau Bai is yet another character in 'The Romance of The Three Kingdoms' story. In fact at the beginning of the story Kwan Tai, Cheung Fei and Lau Bai meet up in a peach orchard and offer sacrifices to the gods, then take an oath of brotherhood and promise to fight together in the wars of the three kingdoms.

They pledge: "We will rescue each other in difficulty; we will aid each other in danger. We swear to serve the state and save the people. We ask not the same day of birth, but we seek to die together. May Heaven, the all-ruling, and Earth, the all-producing, read our hearts. If we turn aside from righteousness or forget kindliness, may Heaven and Human smite us!”

Of the three 'brothers' Lau Bai is the oldest and most important, so his temple is the highest one. Cheung Fei is the middle brother, so his temple is in the middle and Kwan Tai is the youngest so his temple is the lowest. I noticed some interesting statues of lion dancers outside this temple.

Lau Bai's Temple.

Lau Bai's Temple.

Lion dancer.

Lau Bai.

There are beautiful views over Shau Kei Wan and the mountains from Cheung Fei and Lau Bai's temples.

View from outside Cheung Fei's Temple.

View from Cheung Fei's Temple.

View with Buddha.

View from Lau Bai's Temple.

View from Lau Bai's Temple.

Flags outside Lau Bai's Temple.

Looking down on the temple.

There are also lots of windmills for good luck and lots of lovely green plants.

Plants.

Plants.

Windmills.

Behind the temples, currently encased in scaffolding for restoration, there's a giant statue of Lau Bai.

Giant statue of Lau Bai.

There are also scenes from 'The Romance of The Three Kingdoms' depicted all over the temples.

Scenes from the novel.

The Three friends in the peach orchard.

Characters from the novel I think.

Painting on the side of the temple.

At the time of my visit I knew nothing about 'The Romance of The Three Kingdoms'. I began my explorations by going into The Kwun Yam Temple adjacent to the Kwan Tai Temple. Kwun Yam is the goddess of mercy. Her temple is very calm and peaceful with a brightly lit statue of the goddess.

The temples of Kwan Tai and Kwun Yum.

Kwun Yam Temple.

Kwun Yam painting on the wall of the temple.

Lanterns in the temple.

Looking out from the temple.

Next door in Kwan Tai's temple there is a collection of rather dangerous looking knives padlocked to the wall and a display of lion and dragon dance costumes. I believe at a certain time when it is one of the gods' birthdays a procession with dragons and lions comes here from a temple by the sea in Shau Kei Wan.

Kwan Tai.

Kwan Tai.

Dragon.

Dragons and lions.

Knives.

Statue next to Kwan Tai.

There were several little shrines in the courtyard outside the temples and statues of what I think is The Monkey King. He is a character in the story 'Journey To The West'. I don't know if he's also one of the thousand characters in 'The Romance of The Three Kingdoms.'

Monkey King.

Monkey King.

Shrines.

Shrines.

Drum and bell.

The other two temples in this group of temples are the temples of Fuk Tak and Hung Shing. There's also a shed here belonging to The Nam On Residents' Association who look after the temples and a turtle filled pond with lots of statues behind it.

Statues by the pond.

The way to the Fuk Tak and Hung Shing Temples is protected by two mighty looking guards.

The way to the other temples.

Guards on the way to The Fuk Tak and Hung Shing
Temples.

Temple guard.

Temple guard.

The Fuk Tak Temple is dedicated to the earth god. It is more than a hundred years old. It was removed from its original site in Aldrich Village after the second world war.

Fuk Tak Temple.

Fuk Tak Temple.

The Hung Shing Temple dates from 1980 and was also moved here from Aldrich Village.

Hung Shing.

Hung Shing.

The temple attendant was starting to lock up the temple in preparation for it closing at 4 pm, so I had to leave. I had a quick look at a small temple at the foot of the stairs. It was quite pretty, but I don't know whose temple it is.

Coming down the stairs.

Small temple at the foot of the hill.

Outside the shrine at the bottom of the hill.

I hurried back to the MTR through the market and it was so colourful there I couldn't resist taking a few more photos.

Dried goods .

Fruit and vegetables.

Fruit and vegetables

Vegetables.

Fruit and vegetables.

Fruit and vegetables.

Poultry.

Plants.

Flower stall.

Flower stall.

Fish stall.

Fish stall.

Cat.

Then I took the train to North Point. It was pouring down by this time and I was glad I had remembered to bring my umbrella. Linda, Sheena and Jason were already in The Villa Villa Restaurant. They had ordered pizza, chicken wings and two different kinds of fries for us to share. The pizza base looked really burnt, but this was because they add squid ink to it. I've never come across this before. It tasted really good, though. There are two types of fries here. The tastiest are made with potato dipped in egg yolk. These are delicious but so unhealthy. The healthier, but less tasty ones, are made from sweet potatoes.

All of us.

Chicken wings.

Squid ink pizza

The tastier fries.

We had a fun chat about what we had all been up to and about our plans for the summer. Jason, Linda and Sheena are nearly on summer holiday, but as I well remember the ends of terms are always so busy they feel endless. I got to catch up on all the gossip and it was lovely to be together again. Linda very kindly treated us all to the meal. Happy Summer!!

Happy Birthday, Lizzy.

It's birthday time again, so we all got together in Tsim Sha Tsui to celebrate Elizabeth's big day. We like to try a variety of different venues and this time someone, either Linda or Maggie I think, suggested The Cheesecake Factory in Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui. For me this was my first visit here.

We all agreed to get here early, as it doesn't accept bookings and it gets very busy later on, which isn't surprising, as the food is excellent and the portions are huge, and I really do mean huge.

I decided to arrive in Tsim Sha Tsui even earlier anyway, as I wanted to have a quick look around to see if there was anything interesting on. I walked along the edge of the harbour and saw a party boat. I'm not sure if this is something you can hire for special occasions or just a wealthy boat owner celebrating a big event. Whatever it was, it was certainly fancy, as the boat was totally bedecked in white, gold and yellow balloons.

Party boat.

The harbourfront was filled with tourists. I remember a few times in the midst of Covid being the only person walking here. It's good to see that things are much more normal nowadays.

As well as looking at the harbour, I decided to have a quick look at Heritage 1881, as I had read it was staging an exhibition called 'Naked Flowers'. I couldn't help laughing, as I waited to cross the road as there was one man up a ladder adjusting a tiny bit of foliage on the Heritage 1881 sign and six men at the bottom of the ladder, standing there watching and advising him. I'd love a job as a watcher advisor.

Up a bit, over a bit. No up a bit more.

For some reason I thought the 'Naked Flowers' exhibition was a free one, but in fact it cost HK$180 to go in. I didn't have enough time to go in at that point, so will keep this in mind as a possibility for later. I just photographed the displays advertising the exhibition instead. It's on until the 27th of October.

Display for 'Naked Flowers' exhibition.

People posing for selfies with the display.

Back view of the display. Giant books surrounded by flowers.

Closeup of the flowers in the display.

Closeup of the flowers in the display.

It was time to head to the restaurant. I entered Harbour City at the Star Ferry Pier. The restaurant was right at the other end. I hadn't realised just how big Harbour City is, it's absolutely massive. There were a couple of places where I could step outside and take pictures of the cruise terminal and harbour. There were no big cruise ships docked here that day.

Harbour and cruise terminal.

Harbour and cruise terminal.

Eventually I reached The Cheesecake Factory. It was still early, only around 5pm, so there were no queues yet. I managed to get a booth for six people. I knew Linda and Yang were well on their way to arrive, but Maggie and the birthday girl had only just finished work quite far away.

The Cheesecake Factory.

As I said before, I had never heard of The Cheesecake Factory, but I had a quick look online to find out its history. In the 1940's in Detroit, Michigan, a woman called Evelyn Overton created her own cheesecake recipe after being inspired by a recipe she saw in her local newspaper. Together with her husband, Evelyn longed to start up their own business, but they were soon too busy raising two small children. When their children were grown up, Evelyn and her husband moved to Los Angeles and used all their remaining savings to open a bakery where Evelyn made cheesecake for local restaurants. However, their son David was far more ambitious and decided to open a restaurant that specialised in his mother's desserts, so in 1978 in Beverly Hills, the first Cheesecake Factory was opened. It proved to be very successful and there are now around two hundred Cheesecake Factories dotted all around the world.

The inside of the restaurant looks really quite fancy and the place is pretty big.

Inside The Cheesecake Factory.

Linda and Yang soon joined me in the restaurant. As soon as I saw Yang, I knew I could rely on her to take over all the photography. Time to put my feet up. Then Lai arrived, looking super fit and healthy after walking a major part of the El Camino de Santiago in Spain.

The first four there. Linda, Lai, Yang and I.

Yang and I.

Lai and Linda.

We noticed the restaurant was offering Happy Hour prices on starters at this time, so we ordered some hot spinach and cheese dip,Tex Mex egg rolls and nachos. The portions were huge.

Bread arrives as soon as you sit down.

Hot spinach and cheese dip.

Tex Mex egg rolls.

Nachos.

Maggie was next to arrive. She had had a long taxi journey from Sai Kung.

Lai, Linda and Maggie.

Maggie and Linda.

And finally in walked the birthday girl herself, Elizabeth, who had travelled in from Tai Po. She was looking great in her lovely summery floral dress.

All of us.

All of us.

All of us with Yang in the mirror.

We were enjoying the starters so much, we decided we would not order main courses. We got a few more excellent starters instead. We ordered Buffalo chicken strips, fried macaroni and cheese balls and mini burgers. My personal favourite were the Buffalo chicken strips which were deliciously spicy and came with a lovely blue cheese dip.

Buffalo chicken strips.

Fried macaroni cheese balls.

Mini burgers.

Nonstop food.

In between stuffing ourselves senseless we caught up with all our news, set about putting the world to rights and discussed our plans for the upcoming summer holidays. Everyone has been very busy as schools near end of term time. It was really lovely to see everyone again.

I was stuffed senseless from all these nonstop starters, but it was dessert time. After all you can't come to the cheesecake factory without sampling the cheesecake. Elizabeth, Lai and Yang went off to choose from a mouthwatering selection of delicious looking cakes - a very hard task indeed. They opted for a slice of pineapple upside down cheesecake, key lime cheesecake and a chocolate tower.

Birthday girl making her choice.

It's not an easy task.

Cheesecake selection.Yummy!

I want that one.

The cakes arrived and the chocolate tower cake came with the words 'Happy Birthday Lizzy' written on it. We all sang Happy Birthday to Lizzy along with the wait staff who brought the cake. We gave Elizabeth a card and some vouchers for Decathlon, an excellent sports shop in Central.

Pineapple upside down cheesecake, key lime cheesecake and chocolate tower.

Happy Birthday Elizabeth.

It had been a lovely evening and great to catch up, but we were all stuffed senseless by this point. It was time to go home. We posed for photos outside the restaurant, wished each other a happy summer and headed for home.

All of us stuffed senseless at the end of the meal.

Outside the restaurant.

More photos. Linda said I looked like I was sick of photos in this one, though personally I think I was just stuffed senseless on cheesecake.

We were celebrating Elizabeth's birthday a bit early, so hope she has a great time on the day. Happy Birthday Elizabeth!!!

Old man consulting his phone amidst hearts and flowers. Eastern District Cultural Park, Shau Kei Wan, Hong Kong.

'My fake plants died because I did not pretend to water them'.

Mitch Hedberg

I often get my ideas for what to see and do in Hong Kong by watching other people's videos of where they've been and what they've been doing. One video I watched recently showed me a young woman posing for selfies surrounded by tulips and roses. Well, it's the wrong time of year for tulips. Plus tulips and roses don't even bloom in the same months, so I was a bit intrigued by this and suspected that someone must have filled a park with fake flowers. I decided to go and have a look.

It's not always easy for me to understand the videos I watch. Some are in Cantonese and some, if they are made by the many Filipinos living here, are in Tagalog. However, I thought I knew where this park was, as I recognised a wooden boat in one of the scenes, so I took the MTR to Sai Wan Ho, exited through Exit A, turned right and headed to Aldrich Bay Park. I've been here once before when it was hosting a lantern festival. It's a pleasant park with lots of lawns, seating areas and a pond with an old wooden fishing boat and two sampans. These were all present and correct, but there wasn't a fake flower anywhere in sight.

Sampan and fishing vessel in Aldrich Bay Park.

Reflections in the pond in Aldrich Bay Park.

I quickly realised I was either in the wrong place or the fake flower display had ended, "Oh well, never mind." I thought . "I'll just look at the park and then head to the waterfront."

The waterfront here is known as Aldrich Bay Promenade. This whole area was once part of the sea, but following land reclamation is now largely residential with some attractive parks and a very pleasant seaside walkway.

Aldrich Bay is called after Major Edward Aldrich who lived from 1802 to 1857. He was a British military engineer, architect and surveyor with The Royal Engineer Corps. His name in Chinese, based on its sound, rather appropriately translates to 'loving discipline,' so you could say I was in Loving Discipline Bay.

Aldrich Bay Promenade runs alongside the Shau Kei Wan Typhoon Shelter and there is a wide variety of boats here from small sampans, to houseboats, fishing vessels, ferries and pleasure crafts.

Colourful crafts in Aldrich Bay.

Shau Kei Wan Typhoon Shelter.

A jumble of boats.

A sampan.

I think these may be small ferries.

Boats with the hills of Kowloon in the background.

Typhoon Shelter.

Boats.

Across the sampans.

When I came to the end of the Promenade, I was at The Eastern District Cultural Square and there, to my surprise, I came across a little park filled with fake flowers. I had found my tulips in May.

Well, if you think tulips in May is incongruous, you would probably be even more thrown by the Christmas reindeer and Mid Autumn Festival Cinderella carriage on display here, too. There is a sign that tries to make sense of it all. It says: "With numerous LED flowers and interactive devices, Blossoming Garden @ Eastern wishes to present a picturesque garden to citizens and tourists."

I had a wander around immersing myself in the floral archways and fields of tulips and roses. There were seats decorated with love hearts and various creatures hidden amongst the foliage. I found squirrels and other animals as well as the reindeer, but they were positioned so as to be almost unseeable. It was all very strange. Nonetheless, it all takes a good photo and is probably a hit on Instagram. I particularly loved the old man sitting so contentedly in the midst of it all engrossed in his phone. I believe this is all lit up at night. That would probably be very pretty.

Pathway.

Pathway.

Fields of tulips.

Fields of roses.

Roses and tulips.

Carnations.

Roses and carnations.

Fields of flowers.

Roses.

Closeup of roses.

Closeup of Carnations.

Reindeer.

Reindeer closeup.

Reindeer.

Reindeer.

Reindeer.

Your carriage awaits, Cinderella.

Floral Archway in Eastern District Cultural Park, Shau Kei Wan, Hong Kong

Floral Archway.

Of course, I had to take the odd selfie here and there.

Selfie time.

Selfie time.

Just across the road from the park there's a temple I have visited before, but since I was right next to it, I went in for another look. This is Tam Kung Temple and it dates from 1905, making it one of the oldest temples in Hong Kong. Tam Kung was originally a native of Huizhou in Guangdong Province. He was believed to have supernatural powers. He could control the wind and the rain and forecast the weather. With all these traits he was particularly loved by fishermen. There is a quarry near this area and many workers from Huizhou came to Shau Kei Wan to work in this quarry bringing their beliefs and their gods with them. Each year on Tam Kung's birthday there is a big festival here.

Tam Kung Temple.

Doorway.

Model boat.

Dragon boat.

Lanterns.

Lanterns.

Images in the temple.

Closer view.

Images in the temple.

Images in the temple.

There's another temple I want to visit in Shau Kei Wan called Fuk Tak Temple, but since I lack the discipline of Major Edward Aldrich, I hadn't researched how to get to it and will just need to make another trip to Shau Kei Wan.