Hong Kong | Escapade

Hey readers! 

Can't decide how much I like Hong Kong. Haven't been back there in at least a decade, so let's just count this as my first time since I don't recall a single thing abut the HK from years back.

Anyway, just returned from HK and here is my visual diary; do enjoy!

We'll begin with some random shots:

Victoria Peak - from here you can observe how the spheres of 'man-made' and 'nature' collide. Mega windy. 

And by mega windy I seriously mean mega windy. That's my hair without even trying/

"Because the gate might be closed, but it's never locked; open it"

Highlight 1: Lai Chi Chong Geosite

After all, it was a Geography orientated trip, so above's a picture of one of the fault lines at a geosite (which we had to hike to btw). HK has such abundant and beautiful natural landforms. It was a little sickening, I admit, to keep hiking and looking a green, green more green, and tun rocks, stones and more rocks whilst hearing Sam (the old guy in the picture below) our tour guide explaining the geography behind all the landforms in semi-broken English punctuated with 'ah's and 'uh's. But then again, it was worthwhile and I'm really grateful to have had Sam for our tour guide. He was real friendly and you can tell he does know his stuff.  So yayers~ :)

Fool's gold. It's called fool's gold for a reason. Sam was explaining that this was because many people who stumbled across this shiny material used to think that they had stumbled upon real treasure, only to find out that as much as 'not all that glitters is gold', all they had discovered was cheap iron. 

And a class picture at the same geosite! Sadly I don't have any pictures of the full troupe of us who headed down to HK.

Plus, I took advantage of the geosite to be a ballerina project wannabe. Well, but an asian version in an asian country. 

To sum things up, I genuinely enjoyed the geosite for all its beauty and vastness. Besides, amazing isn't it? It doesn't need to stand the test of time, it's perfectly natural and it's a reflection of the passing of time.

Highlight 2: Li Po Chun UWC HK

 I didn't manage to get a good snapshot within the UWC campus grounds, but the principal of the school, after allowing us a great time of interacting with students from the school kindly brought us down to a beach near the school. 

Before moving on, allow me to just introduce you to Arzu, one of the students from the class who literally just turned 18 the day we went to visit the school! She and a few other students were bringing my classmates and I to tour the school and they're all really amiable and open people; they are after all the make up of the school, and they really did create a contrasting environment from that of my own school. As we came to learn, all of them had to earn their spot in the school in the first place, going through numerous rounds of tests through written test, interactive camps as well as interviews. I guess that's also what made the environment they created so different. They genuinely wanted to attend UWC and make a difference even as they were in their school. Furthermore, one of the things that came up very strongly was that of 'family'. Being homesick may not be a choice, but the way that fellow schoolmates chose to react to those who were homesick was an active choice: Arzu was relaying to us about how she had been homesick, but her roommates, upon finding out, decided to make some hot chocolate throw a slumber party for her. Surely those were such simple acts, but they carried the spirit of something deeper than just an act of kindness. They not only felt 'family' in their school, they created it for themselves despite the diverse backgrounds (come on, over a 100 nationalities in a small cohort of a few hundred). I can only say that I was impressed. It was all so subtle, but their attitudes definitely made a difference; perhaps it is a chasm that I myself may never be able to observe in full extent being immersed in the environment I'm in, but there is something worth learning from them. 

Okay, now just on to the next part where we headed down to the beach. Not going to spam so much wording for now. Honestly though, I was more interested in the overgrown plants than the beach itself.

The above was taken by Siew (Y)/

Highlight 3: High Island Reservoir

Mega windy. Again.

Plus the threat of falling rocks.

Highlight 4: Ocean Park 

Aka my chance to stalk random people since I was helping to take care of the DSLR while the other went to take the roller coaster.

 There they are, off to ride Arctic Blast while I people-watch.

Aside from just observing their clothes, I was observing their feet as well. I was really intrigued when I started to capture shots in which two pairs of legs were synchronised. From there I was starting to explore the idea of feet telling a story instead of the idea of using the face to do so (my usual comfort zone in photography).

The concept was basically: What if feet could tell your relationships for you?

Couple.

Style Sisters.

Friends.

Mother and Son.

Sorry, shark headbands are only for the trendy.  

Highlight 5: Stephen Hui Geological Museum

Had the idea of playing with the projection on the screen. No worries, I looked through the exhibits before playing :)

Seriously though, I liked the idea. 

Anyway to end off, I really have too many pictures to show you guys but if you're a reader and you're friends with me on FB, I'll be uploading it there, scan through if you're interested!

Here's to a less narcissistic ending but an equally happy shot:

Say hi to Kaps offering chocolate graham biscuits, which I probably will go scavenge for after I recover. 

Much love,

Jubitai