Instead of doing a day by day posting I find it more interesting to post by activity and summarize what can be done when visiting Hong Kong.
I have divided our activities into:
Culinary Hong Kong (e.g. what we eat and sometimes cook here).
Play in Hong Kong
Tourism in Hong Kong (e.g. the obvious tourist attraction that everyone does)
Party in Hong Kong
and Shopping in Hong Kong
So far I have written part 1 only but I will update eventually and add more photos when Maja has given them to me.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Party in Hong Kong (part 1)
As of yet we haven't really been out partying; we had a few drinks near my home the other day and last night we drank some beer with the BBQ but otherwise we have taken it easy. On Wednesday we have plans to go out to a club with a friend and on Saturday I have arranged a big local party and BBQ to show Maja how we really party here, should be quite fun.
Tourism in Hong Kong (part 1)
So far we have hardly done anything touristy at all; we only went to Wetland Park near my home in Tin Shui Wai. But tomorrow we will go to Tung Chung and do the Ngong Ping 360 cable car and see the big Buddha and on Wednesday we will go to the peak. I also have plans to go with her to Ocean Park on Friday and we will see what we can do next Sunday.
Shopping in Hong Kong (part 1)
Maja was very eager to go out shopping as soon as possible when she came here, the only problem was that I have actually no idea where to take her to shop. We did however go out to Causeway bay and walked around inside SOGO and around that area for a while without finding anything particular, actually the main problem was that whatever she found and liked it was always too short for her. We also went to Mong Kok and I ended up buying a few t-shirts and cologne, Maja still didn't buy anything.
Today Maja is in better hands; she is out with Joyce shopping in the nearby smaller town of Yuen Long, I hope she can find anything suitable there. I think next week on Tuesday I will take her around on a shopping mall tour; New Town Plaza in Sha Tin, Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong, Telford Plaza in Kowloon Bay, APM in Kwun Tong and perhaps Mega BOX near Kowloon Bay and Kwun Tong. We will see how that goes. I will also try to take her to some outlet stores; there are some outlet sport stores in Tung Chung where we will go tomorrow and I think there are some in Aberdeen also, might go there on Sunday. Tomorrow we will also go to the night market at Temple Street in Jordan and maybe the ladies market in Mong Kok as well.
Today Maja is in better hands; she is out with Joyce shopping in the nearby smaller town of Yuen Long, I hope she can find anything suitable there. I think next week on Tuesday I will take her around on a shopping mall tour; New Town Plaza in Sha Tin, Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong, Telford Plaza in Kowloon Bay, APM in Kwun Tong and perhaps Mega BOX near Kowloon Bay and Kwun Tong. We will see how that goes. I will also try to take her to some outlet stores; there are some outlet sport stores in Tung Chung where we will go tomorrow and I think there are some in Aberdeen also, might go there on Sunday. Tomorrow we will also go to the night market at Temple Street in Jordan and maybe the ladies market in Mong Kok as well.
Playing in Hong Kong (part 1)
My main friend and contact for doing outdoor fun things in Hong Kong is my good friend and colleague from UK, Marc Rimmer, he has worked with outdoor sports in Hong Kong before and made some good friends in the field. So he arranged for us to go out wakeboarding with one of his friends and we had an awesome day playing in the water yesterday, but so exhausted now and muscle aches all over.
I think there won't be any more play like this but perhaps we will do something in the weekend and we should go to Ocean Park on Friday.
Me trying to wakeboard, I did get up on my second try
but I couldn't manage any other impressive feat.
Maja trying to wakeboard as well, and in fact she was better than me.
Marc testing out as well.
Finally Marc's friend and our instructor showing us how it is done.
Culinary Hong Kong (part 1)
Food comes in plenty in Hong Kong and so far we have managed to cover quite a few nationalities and styles; the first evening after Maja arrived we went out to a local Chinese restaurant (one of those with a spinning platform on the round table) and had a huge Chinese cosine dinner with Joyce and her family, I also got to try the weirdest Kung Pow Chicken I've ever seen, not even close to the real thing. We have also done Thai food in Thai Orchid in Langham place in Mong Kok, great spicy curry and some other stuff that both enjoyed together with Almen (Joyce's third sister). We went for an enormous lunch buffet at the Gold Coast resort hotel with one of the companies I’m involved with, spending nearly two hours constantly eating I managed to finish five plates; starters, main dish, salad, cakes and dessert and finally some more of the starters. Saturday we went to celebrate Almen's and Maja's birthdays with Indian food in Yuen Long, together with all of Joyce's family and also Ariel and Man, and after that we all went back to my place to enjoy two cakes, one that I made and one that Shirly's (Joyce's second sister) friend made for us, mine with chocolate and the other with mango and passion fruit, very yummy. Finally last night we had a huge outdoor BBQ buffet and spend about seven hours constantly eating and drinking.
This of course has resulted in some weight gain but I hope to fall back to my normal weight once Maja has left again.
We have a few more things to try out before Maja leaves; tonight we will have Joyce's own home cooked food, I think one day we will try another Indian food and probably one day for another restaurant I enjoy where you can get really nice white curry, I will post about the rest of her time here later.
This of course has resulted in some weight gain but I hope to fall back to my normal weight once Maja has left again.
We have a few more things to try out before Maja leaves; tonight we will have Joyce's own home cooked food, I think one day we will try another Indian food and probably one day for another restaurant I enjoy where you can get really nice white curry, I will post about the rest of her time here later.
Friday, April 3, 2009
The Comedian could have taken Ozymandias
There are three kinds of heroes; compromising heroes, uncompromising heroes and heroes who are willing to give up everything. There are no uncompromising heroes.
Heroes are more or less a symbol of human nature at its best but with a romantic prowess to do more than we are generally willing to do. The compromising heroes are those who are trying to save the world but not exactly willing to go all the way, they are giving up some things but not everything. Self sacrifice is not a stranger to them but there will always be something they will not give up, and when there is no other choice they will fall in line like everyone else; when the heroes who are willing to give up everything have become the villains who gave up everything a compromising hero will fall in line and accept this as fate. The uncompromising hero is those who will not accept even the inevitable, "No. Not even in the face of Armageddon. Never compromise.", but in the end they will allow themselves to be slain for the greater good; like Batman in his self-loving/self-loathing hypocrisy (which Cartman illustrates brilliantly in "The Coon") gave himself up to allow Harvey to become the saint and Rorschach met his death in Antarctica. And the heroes without any remorse are those who will kill one life to save two or a million to save a billion.
This leaves the omnipotent who cannot be seen as heroes as someone who is omnipotent has no place in making a though decision; nothing is though if it doesn't have any consequences and how can anything be of any consequence to anyone omnipotent. An omnipotent will not endure a life in a compromising world and uncompromising world is a dead one. But the omnipotent is so detached in his prowess that he cares as much of a single human as the whole world; like in Vietnam when he Comedian kills the woman carrying his child he says: "Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Pregnant woman. Gunned her down. Bang. And y'know what? You watched me. You coulda changed the gun into steam or the bullets into mercury or the bottle into snowflakes! You coulda teleported either of us to goddamn Australia...but you didn't lift a finger! You don't really give a damn about human beings. I've watched you...".
We do love those who try to never compromise though and even such a wicked figure as Rorschach is probably the best of heroes in our eyes; even in the mind of the creator he managed to convert Doctor Malcolm Long to his thinking. And The Comedian was loved too, Rorschach expresses is admiration of him in several occasions, which is explainable due to their kinship of mind, Dr. Manhattan too talks about his curiosity in him, "Blake is interesting. I have never met anyone so deliberately amoral.", and even The Silk Scepter who was raped by him had only fond memories left after his death,
And yes, I really think that The Comedian could have beaten Ozymandias had he wanted to; in his death he did not put up a fight to allow Veidt to go through with his horribe plan, this was Blakes final and only compromise, his punch line.
Heroes are more or less a symbol of human nature at its best but with a romantic prowess to do more than we are generally willing to do. The compromising heroes are those who are trying to save the world but not exactly willing to go all the way, they are giving up some things but not everything. Self sacrifice is not a stranger to them but there will always be something they will not give up, and when there is no other choice they will fall in line like everyone else; when the heroes who are willing to give up everything have become the villains who gave up everything a compromising hero will fall in line and accept this as fate. The uncompromising hero is those who will not accept even the inevitable, "No. Not even in the face of Armageddon. Never compromise.", but in the end they will allow themselves to be slain for the greater good; like Batman in his self-loving/self-loathing hypocrisy (which Cartman illustrates brilliantly in "The Coon") gave himself up to allow Harvey to become the saint and Rorschach met his death in Antarctica. And the heroes without any remorse are those who will kill one life to save two or a million to save a billion.
This leaves the omnipotent who cannot be seen as heroes as someone who is omnipotent has no place in making a though decision; nothing is though if it doesn't have any consequences and how can anything be of any consequence to anyone omnipotent. An omnipotent will not endure a life in a compromising world and uncompromising world is a dead one. But the omnipotent is so detached in his prowess that he cares as much of a single human as the whole world; like in Vietnam when he Comedian kills the woman carrying his child he says: "Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Pregnant woman. Gunned her down. Bang. And y'know what? You watched me. You coulda changed the gun into steam or the bullets into mercury or the bottle into snowflakes! You coulda teleported either of us to goddamn Australia...but you didn't lift a finger! You don't really give a damn about human beings. I've watched you...".
We do love those who try to never compromise though and even such a wicked figure as Rorschach is probably the best of heroes in our eyes; even in the mind of the creator he managed to convert Doctor Malcolm Long to his thinking. And The Comedian was loved too, Rorschach expresses is admiration of him in several occasions, which is explainable due to their kinship of mind, Dr. Manhattan too talks about his curiosity in him, "Blake is interesting. I have never met anyone so deliberately amoral.", and even The Silk Scepter who was raped by him had only fond memories left after his death,
And yes, I really think that The Comedian could have beaten Ozymandias had he wanted to; in his death he did not put up a fight to allow Veidt to go through with his horribe plan, this was Blakes final and only compromise, his punch line.
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