I’ve always been baffled by the response I get when asking tourists if they know where the Avenue of the Stars is here in Hong Kong.  The conversation often gets to that point when I try to explain to them where I live, where the Bruce Lee statue is or where the best spot is from where to watch the fireworks or nightly laser-show.

It has never really dawned on me that maybe they don’t know because they haven’t been able to find it!

Maybe I should also add that it didn’t  dawn on me because whenever I visit a new city, I always do thorough research about what to see and how I could get there.  Blame it on the Boy Scout in me.  I have spent many a year following the teachings of the good Lord Baden Powell.  I also have a ritual of “doing the walk.”

Huh?

Well, whenever I visit a new city, and I have the opportunity to wake up in said city, I make it my mission to take a pre-dawn walk to experience the city waking up.  It just gives one another perspective of the place and in my opinion, the early-morning experience makes exploring it during the day less daunting.  I had some memorable mornings in London, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Amsterdam, to name but a few, a couple of full-moon parties ago.  My early morning in San Antonio, Ibiza will (for obvious reasons) remain a BLURR! 

I had the opportunity to do the walk here in Hong Kong a few years ago, before it became my home-away-from-home.

But again, I digress.

Reading a story in this past weekend’s HK Magazine, it became clear to me just why tourists don’t know where the Avenue of the Stars is located.  It’s just so damn difficult to get there!

In short, the Avenue of the Stars is separated from the Peninsula Hotel/Nathan Road-side by Salisbury Road and other than the Star Ferry-corner, there is no above-ground way to cross Salisbury Road to get to the Avenue.

If you do want to get there, you have to take one of three underground routes which could be both time-consuming as well as baffling to tourists.

So what do the time-constrained tourists do?

They make their way to the Star Ferry area, watch the nightly laser-show from there and go back to their hotel, etc.  In the process they miss out on a great walk along the Avenue, right up towards Tsim Sha Tsui East where there are some great restaurants and entertainment venues.  (I know this area intimately because I live on the Eastern-end of the Avenue of the Stars.)

This it what they could miss during the day:

Or at night:

Nice movie, great soundtrack! (Video from trabeller on YouTube)

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Please read the story that appeared in the HK Magazine on Friday April 16, 2010:

(You can click on the story to read it full-size)

Click on the pictures below to view HK Magazine’s 3 detailed routes to the Avenue of the Stars:

On any trip back home, my family always returns to Hong Kong with a box or two of lekkernye from home.  Alternatively, the family back home  often send over a goody box filled with candies and typical South African snacks for a birthday or Christmas treat.  One such snack that we always enjoy is Safari’s Fruit Dainty. 

I always thought that Fruit Dainty, or something similar can only be found in South Africa.  However, on one of my regular walkabouts, I ended up at the Park ‘n Shop International store above Admiralty MTR.  Great was my surprise when I found an Australian dried apricot snack called Apricot Coconut Slice (about HK$18 a bag).  I absolutely had to try it. 

While the squares were rather hard and chewy, it tasted much like the South African apricot squares.  The coconut topping on the Aussie product adds a delightful dimension to their Apricot Coconut Slices.

I will return to the Park ‘n Shop International store soon to see if they have the regular (no coconut) Apricot Delight or better yet… the Pineapple & Mango Bites.

Lekkerrrr!

In the light of the approval of funding for the City’s first high-speed railway, Howzit-HongKong.com decided to take a walkabout around the West Kowloon precinct to see what it looks like before the bulldozers roll in.

I took the  new ‘pink’ West Rail Line of the MTR (Hung Hom to Tuen Mun) and got off at the brand-spanking Austin Station.  A brisk walk of about 10 minutes along Austin Road will also take you to the Elements Mall in West Kowloon.  Elements also operates a free shuttle-bus service from Hankow Road in Tsim Sha Tsui (TST, between the Peninsula Hotel and the YMCA).

The area earmarked for the new high-spreed train station is still just a vacant plot as the go-ahead for the multi-billion dollar controversial project was only received a few days ago.  I also noticed that the City Golf Club driving range is still operating, although after the go-ahead for the rail system was given, it will probably be shutting down soon.

After about 15-minutes from Austin Station I reached the entrance to the West Kowloon Cultural District.  This area can be seen from HK Island and can easily be identified by the yellow and blue MTR ventilation buildings.

The proposed District is planned as the arts and cultural hub of Hong Kong. Located at a wedge-shaped and waterfront reclaimed land west of Yau Ma Tei, the district will feature a new modern art museum, numerous theatres, concert halls and other performance venues.

When I visited there, I noticed a few people enjoying the tranquility of the area that is located on the waterfront along the western channel of Victoria harbour.  I also saw some beefy blokes running along the cycling path. 

If you walk all the way through the District, the boardwalk takes you to edge of the Western Cross-Harbour Tunnel.  A pedestrian footbridge then takes you either into the International Commerce Centre (ICC) or the brightly- coloured (orange) Elements Mall.

The base of the ICC is still being finished and construction workers can still be seen all of the precinct.

While the visit to the West Kowloon Cultural District this morning can best be categorized as a tranquil stroll through one of the hidden gems of Kowloon, I shudder to think how the area will transform once the construction companies roll in for the construction of the many arts & cultural facilities that are being planned, as well as the new high-speed railway interchange across Austin Road.

However, when all the work is done, the West Kowloon precinct should surely boast some pretty impressive structures.

Have a look at some more pictures I took this morning on our Flickr-Page as well this video:

Below, Hendersen Land’s proposal for the West Kowloon Cultural District. Read more about the West Kowloon Cultural District here

After a miserable start to the 2009/2010 IRB Sevens World Series, Springbok Sevens coach Paul Treu declared that their aim this year is to win the Hong Kong sevens, a feat not yet accomplished by the 2008/2009 IRB Sevens Series Champions.

Howzit-HongKong.com will of course hold our fellow-South Africans to that and in the next 2 months, we will feature the MOTHER of all Sevens tournament, the Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens right here on www.Howzit-HongKong.com  

So, mense, if you’re back home and planning to join us here in this part of China, stay close to find out where you can stay, what you can do, where you can dop (“party/drink” for the Englishmen amongst you) and if you’re up to it before and after the rugby… what you can see in and around our wonderful city.

Stay close!

Here’s a teaser from the MOTHER of all party-districts in Hong Kong: Lan Kwai Fong, during Sevens week (practice how to say that name to taxi-drivers, OK?!):

I have been living in Hong Kong long enough to have become accustomed to the “No Photo” rule at some establishments.  It is not unheard of to see folks flip out a camera at a restaurant and take several pictures of their meal.  Just yesterday I saw a guy take several snapshots of various pages of a newspaper in 7-11, putting it back on the shelf and leaving.  I have sympathy for the businesses who have this rule because they don’t want their products duplicated across the border, because that’s how products get pirated.

If you’re a regular reader of the website, you will know that I’ve been keenly following the amount of exposure given locally to the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup that starts in South Africa in June.  For this reason, when I passed the Adidas store in Tsim Sha Tsui this afternoon, I decided to have a look at what they are doing as official supplier to FIFA.

Keeping in mind that they may have a “No Photo rule” I politely asked a salesman if I may take some pictures of Jabulani (the name of the official 2010 ball) and Zakumi (the official mascot of the 2010 SWC).  I explained why I wanted to do so and offered my name-card.  He rushed off to consult his manager who bluntly refused, never even looking up from his keyboard (or game console).  “No pictures of the ball, only the mascot.” came the response.

I left and took a picture of the store instead.  So rest assured Adidas; while I took a picture of your store, I have no intention of setting up a rival “Adibas” outlet.   

I have been teaching English in Asia for about 10 years.  In this time, I have been able to observe Chinese parents’ commitment, nay… oft fanatical pre-occupation with their kids’ academic performance on either sides of the Taiwan Straits (Hong Kong & Taiwan) .  While there are both negative and positives to be highlighted (eg. parents abdicating their responsibilities to teachers and in most cases, their Filipino helpers), I am always very happy to see the following scene whenever I visit a local bookstore:

Let me explain: here in Hong Kong, it is often the father who is the breadwinner while the mother is entrusted with overseeing the children’s education (with the emphasis in OVERSEEING).  Therefore it is very pleasant to see this dad spending some quality time with his son at a bookstore… on a Saturday morning nogal!

Also, it’s not that the lad has to be forced to read.  The following can be seen at bookstores all over the SAR:

All by myself.

My missus has also been an English teacher in Asia for as long as yours truly, and if there’s one thing she’s fanatical about: it’s reading!  My son grew up in Asia so it comes rather natural to him:

Ethan Jansen Boekwurm!

So if you’re a visitor to Hong Kong and you’re wanting to visit a local bookstore, get ready for this on weekends:

Popular Bookstore at MegaBox Mall on Saturday December 2, 2010

(Bennie Boekwurm was a worm-like character on South African TV in the 80′s who appeared on a TV program called “Wielie Walie” who’s job was to get kids to read.)

The schools restart after the festive season tomorrow and as a result, opportunities for ‘walkabouts’ become rather limited.  Today we went to watch the Christmas blockbuster Avatar at the MegaBox Mall in Kowloon City. 

If you’re not familiar with the red-coloured Mall that you can see across Victoria Harbour from Hong Kong Island, if you’re on the 10th floor (one floor down from the UA Cinemas) you can take a stroll out onto the balcony for a beautiful 180 degree vista over the old Kai Tak airport.  To your right you’ll see Kowloon City, Central district across the water and the Eastern district of Hong Kong Island to the left.

I took a short video clip with my trusted point-and-click (not too good as a video camera I’m afraid) and once home, put together this short video (my first-ever on my new iMac):

Kai Tak Airport was the international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998.  It was closed on July 6, 1998 and replaced by the new Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok.

The new Chek Lap Kok Airport was built on re-claimed land off Lantau Island.

Kai Tak Airport, was located right on Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong’s Kowloon Bay and was home to the SAR’s international carrier Cathay Pacific, as well as regional carrier Dragonair, freight airline Air Hong Kong, Hong Kong Airways and the old RAF Kai Tak.

With numerous skyscrapers and mountains located to the north and its only runway jutting out into Victoria Harbour, landings at the airport were infamously difficult.

Landing at Kai Tak involved banking steeply to the right over the tall buildings of Kowloon Bay.

A couple of years ago the Hong Kong government announced plans to redevelop the old Kai Tak airport precinct that will include a brand-new second cruise terminal as well as several hotels.  Plans may also include a new sports centre.

Nury Vittachi is a columnist for Hong Kong’s free English daily The Standard.  He wrote this delightful piece about the universal nature of latter-day Christmas:

I hate people who corrupt Christmas, my favorite holiday.

And I am NOT showing religious bias here. My father was a Muslim and my mother a Buddhist, but when it came to December, we all became fervent Christians, even our imam. You may say this shows a lack of respect to the beliefs of our forebears, to which I would reply: get real.

You give folk a choice between going to work as normal, or staying home and wallowing in an orgy of affection, food and gifts under a tree, and suddenly we are all into tolerance and understanding, even atheists.

But before fundamentalists from any faith burn down my house, let me make it clear that I believe all major codes of belief deserve respect, INCLUDING the silly ones.

I have been fortunate enough to have travelled extensively and, in my honest opinion, nobody but NOBODY does (commercial) Christmas better than Hong Kong!  The mega-corporates who own the mega-malls that dot the Hong Kong landscape leave no stone un-turned, no speck of dust around spotless mall-floors and no cent in their huge Christmas-promotion budget unspent come mid-November.  That is when the competition starts.  Malls in Hong Kong  do battle in an unofficial “Best Christmas Display of the Year,” vying for the hard-earned (sometimes the not-so-hard-earned) dollars of locals, Mainland Chinese and other visitors.

This is what I’m talking about:

(Visit this page regularly, I will update the pics throughout this Christmas-week)

It’s Christmas-week and as a result, one has more time to go on walkabouts (provided your Christmas shopping is done, of course!)  I had such a walkabout this morning down Queen Elizabeth Road that took me through a part of WanChai that I have not yet been to.  I found the WanChai Park and was rather bemused at all the signs telling visitors what NOT to do:

(click picture to enlarge)

No unattended articles allowed!

No skateboarding!

No damage of plants!

No cycling!

No dogs allowed!

No spitting! 

No smoking!

No lying on benches!

No climbing!

No entry to garden park!

Now…

Welcome to our park!

Truth be told, the people I encountered using the facilities were in no way phased by the signs (they also weren’t breaking said rules) and were happily going about their relaxing.  There were teams of little boys playing soccer, old folks using the Tai Chi exercise machines and some excited oupas (grandpas) playing mahjong.  In a quiet corner of the park a Philipino maid was dozing, seated upright!

Just another day in Hong Kong.