Hong Kong Bird Park and Flower Market

On  Saturday afternoon, we took the subway to the Bird Park just to look around.

The Bird Park is basically a location for Hong Kongers to gather and show off their pet birds.

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Large birds, small birds and everything in between.

By my observation this is primarily a man's hobby. Very few women there.

These green racks are scattered all around with hanging cages.

I'm not sure if this is a shop or they belong to a hobbiest.

This is a bird cage shop, I believe.

Amazing colors on some of the birds.

I think this guy might have been the proprietor of this shop.

This white cockatoo was doing tricks with the stick.

Some had tethers on there legs and some didn't.

I guess this hobby is like a lot of others. The guys enjoy their birds and enjoy showing them off to their friends and the general public.

The cages are works of art as well.

Apparently some the local birds seem to think it's fun to come down to the park and taunt the birds in the cages.

Either that or they are picking up loose bird seed.

Next to the Bird Park is Flower Market Street. The name is self explanatory.

All sorts of potted plants and cut flowers.

Basically there are 2 streets of shops with all sorts of flowers.

A riot of colors.

Hong Kong

Margot and I had a chance to do a little sightseeing in Hong Kong.

This is the view from Victoria Peak. It was a little overcast but the sun came out now and again.

I met Margot at the Hong Kong airport after she arrived from Beijing. I took this picture while killing time.

It is really modern airport and is consistently ranked as one of the world's best.

We took the harbor ferry to Hong Kong island on our way to the peak. These used to be the main mode of cross harbor transportation.

They are pretty old fashioned. The backrest for the seats swings from one side to the other so that you an face forward regardless of the direction the ferry is moving.

This one of the jet boat ferries that takes gamblers back and forth to Macau. I think it is about a 60 minute trip.

I saw this bird from the ferry so I took a picture not expecting much.

Turns out that when I zoomed in the thing was carrying a pretty good sized fish.

Click to enlarge.

I don't know if her original idea was that her skin would be camouflage for her backpack or not. Maybe she bought the backpack to match the tats.

We took the tram up to the observation center on the top of the hill.

The car is pulled up by a cable between the tracks.

The tracks are very steep in places. There are standing room places on the tram but it looked like you had to work pretty hard to stay standing and not fall down.

This is the view as we passed through one of the stations on the way up. There are neighborhoods and high rise apartments at spots on the hillside. I gather that these stations are used for commuters.

This is the view from inside the Peak Tower. There are a lot of shops and restaurants inside including, for some reason, a Bubba Gumps.

Here we are on the observation deck on the top.

The elevation is over 1200 ft above sea level.

A view from the top.

There are a lot of houses on the side of the hill. Not sure I'd like to live in such a fishbowl with people looking at my property all the time.

On the other hand, I wish I had enough money to afford one even if I wouldn't choose to buy one.

Here is the view looking south - opposite from the harbor view.

After the trip down from the peak we wandered around the Central district of Hong Kong. Lots of interesting shops. It is a semitropical climate so in a lot of places they just roll up the garage door and are open to the street. This is a spice shop.

A couple of doors down was a metal working shop. This guy was making a series of the steel racks you see next to the door on the left.

Click to enlarge.

This souvenir shop was selling reminders of Mao and the Cultural Revolution. Not sure why since Hong Kong was never part of that scene. I guess they are targeting the Mainland tourists. Notice the figure in the dunce cap just to the left of center. People labelled enemies of the revolution were often denounced and paraded through the streets. In a society were "face" is very important, many committed suicide.

Bamboo scaffolding is still used in Hong Kong. It has been banned in China in favor of steel.

Lot of shops and signs on the pretty narrow streets.

Hong Kong at Night

The skyline of Hong Kong must be one of the most photographed in the world.  It really is amazing if you are into urban landscapes.

Here is the ferry terminal in the foreground and the skyline of Hong Kong island in the background.

We met Calvin for dinner on Saturday night and had a great time. He took us to a neat restaurant across the street from his office. He is doing great. He is working for the International Hotel Group (Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, etc.)

After dinner we walked along the harbor front. It is similar to the Hollywood Walk of Fame except dedicated to Hong Kong personalities.

Here Margot and I pose at the Bruce Lee star.

Bruce even gets a special statue. Lots of people getting their picture taken in front of it.

It was near Halloween and the local motorcycle club decided to dress up while they displayed their machines.

I thought these were  Harry Potter fans in costume but Calvin thinks they were actually recent college graduates out to get their picture taken against the skyline.

Here is another of the classic Hong Kong island skyline shots. Notice the apartments and homes on the hillside.

Click to enlarge.

Another shot of the skyline with a harbor ferry. These harbor ferries are basically for tourists these days. There are highways and subway lines in tunnels under the harbor now.