DayTrip – The Peak, Hong Kong

OK, now is the first day trip available. Have not put it in a database and searchable format yet, but at least it is a good start.

This day trip suggest you to visit the Peak, Star Ferry and a high tea in a 5-stars hotel …

  • First thing first, have breakfast in your hotel. Or you can travel from your hotel to Central and try a Dim Sum breakfast in one of the many Chinese restaurants in Central. Ask your hotel conceige about it.
  • From Central walk to the Exchange Square bus terminal and take the bus number 15. Along the way, you can check out various small shops in Li Yuen Street East. Quite some cheap stuff there. The bus to the Peak cost you around US$ 1.25.
  • Arrive the Peak and get your camera loaded. First go to the Peak Tower and have a magnificent view of the Victoria Harbour. Then walk across to the Peak Galleria, the top floor will give you a view of the Hong Kong Island South. Some light shopping there as well.
  • Have lunch in the Peak Cafe. US$ 25 per head.
  • Take the Peak Tram back to Central Peak Tram terminal (US$ 2.5). And ride the free shuttle to Star Ferry Pier.
  • Take Star Ferry (US$ 0.25) across the harbour to Tsim Sa Tsui.
  • Walk to the New World Inter-Continental hotel and have an afternoon tea (High-Tea) in the lobby (US$ 15 per person). Enjoy the beautiful view of the harbour again.
  • Leave the hotel, and have a 15 minutes walk back to the Harbour City shopping arcade, where there are over 700 shops !! Along the way, take photos in the world famous Peninsula Hotel, HK Science museum and HK Cultural Center.
  • Have some good shopping and then a dinner in one of the restaurants there – e.g. Bistro Le Fauchon, San Francisco Steak house.
  • You can call it a day or explore more about Hong Kong in Temple Street.

#16

It is obviously to me with so many things happening together, keeping any schedule is very difficult. In one of my favorite web sites (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/), it says this is a problem of always connected, never focused.

Do you remember the last time you were really focused on doing just one thing? Have you noticed that it has become much harder to stay focused, because we are that much more connected now than before. Mobile phones, SMS, e-mail, wireless e-mail, Instant Messaging, Internet access, PDA and so on.

It is an indisputable fact that I can be reached almost anytime and anywhere, and I am. I can also reach almost anyone of you the same way, and I do.

So, if you recognize the feeling of being scattered all over the place, that it’s hard to stay focused. However, the web site suggested:

  • have the mobile phone turned off a few hours every day
  • if you are in the middle of a conversation, and the phone rings, don’t always pick it up
  • if the phone rings, don’t always pick it up period.
  • every once in a while, sign out from Instant Messaging even if you are connected and working at your computer
  • sign out from your e-mail application a couple of times every day, so that you won’t be tempted to check e-mail every two minutes
  • plan at least one weekend every month without going online
  • don’t bring your PDA with you every time you leave the house
  • go back to the habit of giving flowers or [insert nice thing here] regularly to your partner
  • spend more time with your family, and while you do, don’t think about other things
  • take a walk every now and then, not to get things but just to take a
    walk

Personally, this list is really a challenge to me. But may be many of you can do this, focus on delivering good things, one at a time.

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Again, no book recommendation this month as I have passed around a few good books already “The design of sites“, “Code Complete“, “Homepage usability” etc.. But if you do have time to focus in reading books, pop in to my room and I will show you some new ones – “It’s Your Ship“, “Good to Great“, “Design for Community“, “Design from both sides of the screen“, “A Pattern Language“.

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As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, THINK BIG.

~ Donald Trump ~

Mid Autumn Festival

Today is the Mid Autumn Festival in South East Asian countries such as China, Singapore, Malaysia etc.

According to the Chinese luner calendar, today is the full moon of 8th month of the year. It’s the time to celebrate harvest after a year of hard work, a time to share a good meal with the family members. Other seasonal food includes moon cake, and various of fruits.

In addition, all young kids celebrate the holiday with a Chinese lantern. Happy Mid Autumn Festival to you all.

What’s your camera gear ?

Although I own a few cameras, I don’t think expensive equipment is the key factor to take good photos. I never own a Nikon and Canon SLR cameras (except the Canon DC), so brand name is also not important. But what’s the most important gear for travel photography ?

Get a wide-angle lens for your camera – as wide as possible to cover the whole lake, mountain or building. A 28mm lens just don’t cut it – get a 24mm or 21mm lens.

Also, get a sunset filter with you, my preference is Cokin System but I’m sure there are a lot of good filters around. It will be useful if the day is cloudy – no blue sky and lovely white clouds. You then can take the photo with the filter to pretend you’re taking the photo during sunset !

Macau Fireworks Fiesta

Geez …. no news for two weeks. You know, life is really tough in this part of the world and people work like a dog to survive. However, if you have a weekend to spare here in Hong Kong or Macau, the next five weekends are chances to take a good break.

Every year, experts are invited to Macau to show people how good they are in designing fireworks. This year, 10 countries will compete in front of the Macau Tower Convention & Entertainment Centre. For details, please visit their official website. Enjoy !