Howzit-HongKong.com attended the first-ever Red Bull Flugtag in Asia, right here in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour.

We just have to get this in for all those Hong Kong Islanders who still (in this modern day and age) think of Kowloon as “The Dark Side“:

See, Kowloon CAN do it!

So there.

Here are some pics from this exciting event:

Cheers!

Mike Jansen

The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions #2:

Ndiredi (Simphiwe Dana)

I first saw Simphiwe Dana perform here in Hong Kong as part of a SA Department of Arts & Culture/SA Consulate initiative called “South Africa Week.”  Before that I had never heard of, let alone seen Simphiwe Dana perform live.

I remember her doing a rather long song here at the Kowloon Shangrila Hotel, I stand to be corrected, but it could have been her hit song Zandisile.  I also remember the audience in the Shangrila ballroom getting quite fidgety halfway through the song.  I loved every moment of her set as I always try to soak in as much SA culture whenever we have such visits from home.  When she performed Bantu Biko Street I knew I was hooked and when I got home later that evening, I did a quick Google search and discovered the African Diva that is Simphiwe Dana.

The next morning I took a taxi to The Shangrila, hoping to have a chat to her with a view of doing a story on Howzit-HongKong.com.  However, when I finally traced her to the upstairs restaurant, seeing her basking in the early morning sunlight reading a book, I couldn’t get myself to disturb her as she looked so peaceful.

WikiPedia has the following to say:

Simphiwe Dana (born 1980) is a Xhosa pop singer in South Africa. With her unique combination of jazz, pop, and traditional music, she has been hailed as the “new Miriam Makeba”.

In 2005, Simphiwe Dana won the “Best Newcomer” award at the 11th South African Music Awards with her first album “Zandisile”. Two years later, she was named the “Best Female Artist”, with the song “The One Love Movement on Bantu Biko Street”, at the 13th South African Music Awards.

Simphiwe Dana is also active in the world music scene in Europe.

Ndiredi (Simphiwe Dana)

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Howzit-HongKong.com will feature a YouTube clip of one South African music legend every Friday as part of what we like to call The Victoria Harbour Sundowner Sessions. I am fortunate to be living right next to one of the most stunning working harbours in the world… Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. I often find myself staring across the Harbour at night, with the lights dimmed and one of my favourite musicians from home over the speakers. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…

Victoria Harbour seen from Tsim Sha Tsui.

My daughter Micaela, 14 is getting really good at snapping away on my camera, nogal!

She took this picture of a crescent moon over Kowloon’s Tsim Sha Tsui just before 7pm tonight (Thursday, August 12):

If you’re Muslim, Ramadan Mubarak to you and yours.

As I am typing this, Standby Signal No.1 is in force.

This means that Tropical Cyclone Conson is now centered within about 800 kilometres of Hong Kong and may affect the Territory.

Right now, the maintenance staff at our apartment, which is right on the Victoria Harbour water’s edge, are furiously busy taping up all the outside windows in anticipation of the storm.

The south-facing windows seen from inside the Gym (Pic: Mike Jansen)

I took the following picture across Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon just before sunset this afternoon.  Who can tell that there is a tropical cyclone on it’s way?!  It may all turn out to be yet another storm in a teacup.

If you read the heading to this story, you will be forgiven if you assumed we were writing about African Sevens powerhouses South Africa and Kenya.  However, this time around we would like to sing the praises of another country further north.

The Silverbacks is a rugby team from Rwanda who played in yesterday’s Hong Kong Rugby Fest.  The team, playing outside East Africa for the first time, reached the Plate final at the inProjects Kowloon RugbyFest, impressing spectators with their pace and silky ball skills.

Rwanda’s Benjamin Makombe makes a break during the pool game against Discovery Bay Pirates, which Rwanda lost 7-0. (Pic: David Paul Morris/Two Up Front)

Rugby greats Bob Skinstad and John Bentley sang the praises of Rwanda’s pioneering team after their impressive debut in Hong Kong yesterday (Wednesday 24 March).

Skinstad, a member of South Africa’s 2007 Rugby World Cup-winning squad and co-founder of the Cape Town Tens, said he was a huge fan.

“It’s a fantastic story how the Rwandans came to be playing here, I love it,” he said. “I was astounded by their pace and skill levels, they have obviously taken to rugby in a big way.  “We’ve all seen what the Kenyans have achieved at sevens and there is a similar potential with these guys.  “If the games here had been longer they would have won every one because they certainly had the pace and fitness. The technical side of the game is obviously something they can learn.

“We’d love to see them at the Cape Town Tens, they’ve got an open invitation and we’d waive the entrance fee if they could get themselves down there.”

Former England and Lions winger Bentley was similarly appreciative.

“The Rwandans have been fantastic. Their core skills were excellent, they were very comfortable with the ball in hand and they were quick,” he said.  “They still need to work on the technical side, at the rucks and mauls, but that is to be expected. The way they have performed over the course of the day has been very impressive.”

The Silverbacks – named after Rwanda’s signature mountain gorillas – certainly made their mark at RugbyFest, a 10-a-side tournament at King’s Park featuring 14 teams from around the world.

They won four of their six games in Pool One, only losing narrowly in the other two, to finish second in the standings.

That put them through to the Plate final where, despite dominating possession, they went down 7-0 to the ARC All-Stars, a mixture of players from Hong Kong, New Zealand and South Africa.

Djuma Adams chases his own kick ahead in the Plate final against the ARC All-Stars, which Rwanda lost 7-0. (Pic: David Paul Morris/Two Up Front)

Silverbacks player-coach Gerald Nsenga was happy despite the defeat. “It’s been a great day for us,” he said.

“Of course, anytime you lose a final you are disappointed but overall I’m very happy for the boys. We’ve come to Hong Kong for the first time and got all the way to the Plate final and not many teams can say that.

“We had a lot of possession in the final but unfortunately we couldn’t score and we threw it away in the last couple of minutes.

“But it’s been an invaluable experience for us. When we first got here we saw that a lot of the other teams were bigger than us and the boys were a little bit nervous. But we’re fit and we’re determined and we’ve discovered that we can compete and win against these guys.

“We’ve also met a lot of great people here in Hong Kong, we’ve received some top-level coaching and so many people have helped us. It’s been a wonderful rugby experience and a fantastic travel experience and will be hugely beneficial to Rwandan rugby moving forward.

“Now we’re looking forward to watching the Hong Kong Sevens – we’re going to have some fun!”

The Silverbacks pose for a team photo after finishing runners-up in the Plate final. (Pic: David Paul Morris/Two Up Front)

Hong Kong-born rugby enthusiast and Rwanda volunteer worker Dave Hughes, who has organised the Silverbacks’ tour, thanked tournament officials.

“We’re very grateful to Kowloon RFC, the hosts of RugbyFest, and their chairman Anson Bailey for inviting us and making us so welcome,” he said. “They were also extremely helpful in sourcing sponsorship for us.”

Companies backing the Rwandan team’s trip include Silver Heritage, KPMG, Blank Rome and G4S.

The squad have been given a free minibus for their entire visit courtesy of Woodland Pre-Schools and at RugbyFest they played in a pristine new strip designed and produced at minimal cost by Tsunami Sport.

The Hong Kong Rugby Football Union helped with logistics and has waived the cost of the team’s Sevens tickets.

In addition, HKRFU director of development Ruth Mitchell has organised a huge collection of second-hand kit and boots for the players to take back to Rwanda.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) can be broadly divided into 3 areas, of which these are are further divided in smaller geographic districts (in brackets):

Hong Kong Island (4 districts)

Kowloon (5 districts)

New Territories (9 districts)

Below is a navigable Google Map of the 3 broad areas of the Hong Kong SAR.  Like any other Google Map, you can use your mouse to scroll around the map. (Click on the links below to access the Google Map of Hong Kong)

Kowloon (Map below)
View Larger Map

Hong Kong Island (Map below)
View Larger Map

New Territories (Map below)
View Larger Map

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

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.

The Hong Kong Cricket Association today announced that ticket prices for the 2009 edition of the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes will be reduced to allow more fans to attend the cricket spectacular at the Kowloon Cricket Club.

Tournament Director Mark Burns told a packed media launch at the Club that, for the first time, adult fans will be allowed to purchase single-day passes at HK$300 (Saturday) and HK$470 (Sunday).  Kids’ single-day passes will cost HK$180 (Saturday) and HK$220 (Sunday).

Tournament organisers have also revised ticket prices for 2009 with two-day passes  at HK$680 (adults) and HK$380 for children.  This translates to a 13% saving on an adult pass and 15% on a children’s pass.

The 2009 Hong Kong Cricket Sixes takes place at the Kowloon Cricket Club (KCC) between October 31 and November 1.

See you at the KCC!

(Video: Mark Burns on this year’s tournament)

(Tuesday April 28, 2009)

This just happened 10 minutes ago (click on the pic to view):

Sunset seen from my apartment in Hung Hom.  An airplane that has just taken off from Chek Lap Kok Airport, the soon-to-be tallest building in Hong Kong, the International Commerce Center (under construction in Kowloon West).