pics of hong kong

[VV o n g B a]

thought there were some nice pics of hong kong here:

http://knuttz.net/hosted_pages/Victo...rbour-20070114

[SunWuKong]

image is not showing up. looks like the site does not allow hot-linking to images it hosts.

[VV o n g B a]

Originally Posted by SunWuKong

image is not showing up. looks like the site does not allow hot-linking to images it hosts.

woops, oh well. i actually tested it in preview mode, but i guess i already had it cached so i fooled myself.

[Faithless]

I love panoramic pics.

That one with the clouds is haunting.

It almost looks like that scene from Independence Day.

[yoMAMA]

gorgeous pictures.

[SunWuKong]

that's where i used to live (Sha Tin, 沙田) before my family moved to the US. when i see photos like this, it makes me want to go back to HK even more.

[Faithless]

Originally Posted by SunWuKong

HK panoramic night pic

that's where i used to live (Sha Tin, 沙田) before my family moved to the US. when i see photos like this, it makes me want to go back to HK even more.

That's a long ass canal. But that's too much city for me.

[SunWuKong]

Originally Posted by Faithless

That's a long ass canal. But that's too much city for me.

not all of it is a canal. but the river is basically used for storm water drainage.

[AngryABCGirl]

Hong Kong, hands down favorite place I've ever visited and one of the few places I'd truly considering living, even more so than the Bay Area or Taipei in many ways. I really love the vibe of the place.

[hkRT]

That photo is really beautiful! I was in Hong Kong for a couple of weeks recently but I was mainly staying on the Hong Kong island. I wish I had more time to visit more areas but unfortunately I got a cold during the trip. But it was a nice trip since my previous visit about a decade ago....

This time around, I noticed the services from shops and restaurants in Hong Kong have become exceptionally good compared to the past. Some of these shops are just ordinary shops, not neccessarily the ones in expensive shopping centres. But I'd say over 90% of the salespeople that I have encountered took the initiative to greet and help every one who stepped into their shops. They remained friendly and said bye even when I was heading out of the shop empty handed. Even though you might say it's all just business and competition, I have to say it's a very nice shopping experience. I was very impressed by the quality of the service and efficiency of Hong Kong people. In contrast, whenever I shop in Canada, most salespeople just ignore me until I have to go up to the counter to ask some questions or make the purchase. Same with renewing my car licence here in Canada, the staff are just working so slow, inefficient and worst of all have no customer service skills. I was the only one customer there and I was completely ignored until one of the lazy and unfriendly staff sitting there bothered to tell you to go up to the counter after some 10 minutes later when they weren't even doing anything at their desks.

Other nice things about Hong Kong are of course the variety of food and the liveliness. There are always so many people and lights around, you feel safe walking just about everywhere at night. This time, I have met some really nice strangers who gave me directions when I was lost. One time, it was raining heavily, my family and I asked a girl at a convenience store for directions. At first the girl did not know either, so we just went out trying to find our way, this girl came out of the store moments later to tell us which way to go, apparently after asking another coworker from the store. Another time, I was searching for the nearest MTR (metro) station but somehow ended up in some private parkade of some building. The two parking attendants were very nice and directed me to go up to the second level to cross a skybridge...

The only major bad things I can say about Hong Kong are the air pollution, the smoking (good thing they are starting to ban smoking in restaurants) and the huge disparity between the very poor who have no choice but to live in small seedy flats and the very very rich who live in multimillion dollar apartments overlooking the sea. I may sound socialist here but I really wish those super rich people, particularly the second or third generation rich people can give more back to the society, help the poor more.... Another thing that's a bit worrying is the endless construction of more and more highrises on the small island to the point that the buildings are almost touching each other. I wonder if anyone there is concerned about the risk of sinking with all the weight and people and the limitation of landfilling...

And lastly the seats on Cathay Pacific are really small and there's one particular flight attendant that was really snobby he should be serving movie stars only. On my return trip though, every man, woman and child seemed to be coughing in my compartment and some woman in front of me pulled not just her seat but the next one as far back as possible so she could sleep on them the entire time such that I had to tell her to push them back up when I had to eat. Other that that, the food was alright and the flight was safe.

Anyway, I sure wish to visit Hong Kong again soon...

[SunWuKong]

ah yes, the improved services in HK. you have Andy Lau to thank for that. a few years ago when the HK economy was taking some hard hits, he appeared on a public service announcement and famously said, "今時今日咁既服務態度係唔得架。" (the way we provide service today just can't do.) the message was that HK salespeople have to improve their manners and provide better services. that public service announcement became very popular, and that quote above is now often parodied.

[yoMAMA]

Originally Posted by SunWuKong

ah yes, the improved services in HK. you have Andy Lau to thank for that. a few years ago when the HK economy was taking some hard hits, he appeared on a public service announcement and famously said, "???????????????" (the way we provide service today just can't do.) the message was that HK salespeople have to improve their manners and provide better services. that public service announcement became very popular, and that quote above is now often parodied.

andy lau should run for the governor's seat.

I bet he'd win.

[SunWuKong]

Originally Posted by yoMAMA

andy lau should run for the governor's seat.

I bet he'd win.

funny you should mention that. in the movie Golden Chicken, he had a minor role basically doing a parody of his message to HK that services need to improve. then in Golden Chicken 2, which took place in the far future, he had a minor role as the Chief Executive of HK.

[AliBabaIncorporated]

Yeah, I'd say customer service is now better in HK than in other overseas countries. (Despite, or maybe because, people complain a lot more about small details). Here in Australia I've had to get used to the rather slow, laid-back, lackadaisical service. Even from companies managed by HK people =)

[yoMAMA]

I've heard the hk airport is really awesome.