Frommer's Hong Kong Day by Day (Frommer's Day by Day - Pocket)
by graham bond | Travel | This book has not been rated.
ISBN: 0470874813 Global Overview for this book
ISBN: 0470874813 Global Overview for this book
1 journaler for this copy...
Picked up from the swap cart at Main Library Metso in Tampere, Finland. I have never been to Hong Kong and likely won't be, either, in the near future. Meanwhile, I can try to form and savor impressions by reading travel books.
I used to think Hong Kong was a turbo-charged Asian metropolis, maybe yawningly modern, maybe inaccessibly Asian, maybe too claustrophobic a package for my tastes. But now it seems HK can actually be imaginative and fun: postmodern eye candy, plenty of food for one's visual (yes, even artistic) imagination. And it also has great undeveloped outdoors, rolling hills and beach hikes.
The very first thing that caught my attention, on page 7, is the street scene from and within the Mid-Levels Escalator. Now that idea is ingenious and unique, something like from a dream! Touted as the longest escalator in the world, this engineering marvel runs through Mid-Levels, a yuppie neighborhood terraced into the lower part of the Peak. The escalator—a combination of steps and ramps—passes through buildings and over streets lined with noodle shops and funky bars. I had to google and look more into it, and I wasn't disappointed!
As always in big cities, the various architectural styles of the buildings appeal to me enormously. The Central Plaza, the second tallest building in Hong Kong and, until 1996, the tallest building in Asia, is plainly described as "dated" in Frommer's, but I find it sympathetic nevertheless... To me it looks pleasing and beautiful (postmodernism lite: so much in moderation it's soothing rather than spectacular). And The Bank of China Tower, the tallest building in Asia until 1992, has interesting anti-fengshui angles and an equally interesting mathematical shape and structure. And it looks dazzling in the by-night shots.
Miscellaneous tidbits that caught my eye (I googled and wasn't disappointed this time, either):
Felix: The all-white interior of this Philippe Starck -designed restaurant competes with the spectacular view of Hong Kong Island.
Hong Kong Aviary: A wavy structure that's home to 800 birds was designed by a computer program.
Symphony of Lights: At 8pm every night 30 buildings on either side of the harbor participate in a massive 20-minute light-and-laser show coordinated to music.
Hong Kong would probably entertain me—if pure entertainment is, or should be, what we seek from travelling—, but experiencing it in real life would leave me plain exhausted. Appealing and inspirational, it cannot be processed or fully appreciated over the course of a standard vacation; and I can't quite imagine how a longer stay would be possible. So yes: travel books :-)
I used to think Hong Kong was a turbo-charged Asian metropolis, maybe yawningly modern, maybe inaccessibly Asian, maybe too claustrophobic a package for my tastes. But now it seems HK can actually be imaginative and fun: postmodern eye candy, plenty of food for one's visual (yes, even artistic) imagination. And it also has great undeveloped outdoors, rolling hills and beach hikes.
The very first thing that caught my attention, on page 7, is the street scene from and within the Mid-Levels Escalator. Now that idea is ingenious and unique, something like from a dream! Touted as the longest escalator in the world, this engineering marvel runs through Mid-Levels, a yuppie neighborhood terraced into the lower part of the Peak. The escalator—a combination of steps and ramps—passes through buildings and over streets lined with noodle shops and funky bars. I had to google and look more into it, and I wasn't disappointed!
As always in big cities, the various architectural styles of the buildings appeal to me enormously. The Central Plaza, the second tallest building in Hong Kong and, until 1996, the tallest building in Asia, is plainly described as "dated" in Frommer's, but I find it sympathetic nevertheless... To me it looks pleasing and beautiful (postmodernism lite: so much in moderation it's soothing rather than spectacular). And The Bank of China Tower, the tallest building in Asia until 1992, has interesting anti-fengshui angles and an equally interesting mathematical shape and structure. And it looks dazzling in the by-night shots.
Miscellaneous tidbits that caught my eye (I googled and wasn't disappointed this time, either):
Felix: The all-white interior of this Philippe Starck -designed restaurant competes with the spectacular view of Hong Kong Island.
Hong Kong Aviary: A wavy structure that's home to 800 birds was designed by a computer program.
Symphony of Lights: At 8pm every night 30 buildings on either side of the harbor participate in a massive 20-minute light-and-laser show coordinated to music.
Hong Kong would probably entertain me—if pure entertainment is, or should be, what we seek from travelling—, but experiencing it in real life would leave me plain exhausted. Appealing and inspirational, it cannot be processed or fully appreciated over the course of a standard vacation; and I can't quite imagine how a longer stay would be possible. So yes: travel books :-)
