Hong Kong’s Trams

I am quite a fan of retro-themed things.

Last year, I overpaid for a second-hand Nikon F3HP on eBay because I simply dug the beautiful retro-styling – the engraved shutter speed dial, the film advance lever, the memo holder, etc... Unfortunately, I have since sold it because I realised I enjoy using the F6 much more. (But now the new Fujifilm X100 digital camera is piquing my interest)

I enjoy using classic Nikkor manual focus lenses now, maybe a bit too much because I hardly use my digital-age autofocus lenses any more.

I asked for a second-hand, West Germany-made leather camera bag I’d spotted at a shop for my birthday last year. Yes you read that right: West Germany. It’s hardly the most practical bag because it isn’t too big but it definitely turns some heads.

Anyway this post is about none of these things. It is about Hong Kong’s trams, which have been running since 1904.

During my recent trip to Hong Kong, I stayed in Hong Kong Island, where Hong Kong Tramways runs six east-west lines traversing the main districts. Known as “Ding ding” to Hong Kongers, it is probably the most cost-efficient way to traverse the various interesting spots across Hong Kong Island, from the street markets of Wanchai to the skyscrapers of Central.

On the second day of our trip, we decided to go to the Causeway Bay area for food and shopping, and since the tram goes there, I couldn’t pass up the chance to sit on one of them.

A tram stops in front of the historic Bank of China building, just opposite the Legco.

The first thing you would probably notice about the trams is their width – to me they really look like flattened double decker buses! For the passenger though, this just translates to less seats. The aisle is narrow too but similar to Singapore buses, I think.

A view of the tram behind mine. No overtaking here!

Taken at the back of the tram. I believe the pressure dial is no longer in use…

Also taken at the back of the tram. They are switches for the front and back doors. Again, I think they are no longer in use.

With a flat fare of just HK$2 (S$0.40), travelling on the tram is very economical. In fact I wonder how they make money.

It’s funny how the tram is integrated into the road network on Hong Kong Island. The tracks usually run in the middle of the road, but where the roads are more narrow, they actually cut into the lanes for normal vehicles. They follow the same traffic lights too.

Joanne reading the map. She did almost all the navigation for the trip. Quite a refreshing change for me!

We took the tram home that evening too.

While I liked taking the tram, it’s a pity the network is pretty much limited to Hong Kong Island. I only used it on that day. I have never taken buses in Hong Kong though, so I’m not sure how they compare.

The fast and efficient MTR is probably still likely to be the most used mode of transport for tourists like me.

Nonetheless, I think the tram is cool because it’s like a relic of the past, and yet still very relevant to Hong Kongers today. I hope they will continue to operate and reach their 200th anniversary. That may involve raising the flat fare though!

Some Hong Kong favourites

I decided that I need a break in January. My last extended break was in October, when I took two weeks off work to visit Japan with Joanne. Three months without an extended break is actually quite a long time, come to think of it. Which was probably why I ended up over-eating and over-shopping.

Favourite after-dinner sport in Hong Kong – harassing chefs at the glass window by taking pictures of them non-stop.

(The Japan trip was a blast btw. I have written a little about it here but I withheld the rest of it because I was going to submit an article to my newspaper for publication, and also because I took quite a while to finally sieve through all of the pictures. Hope to post the stuff up the rest of this month!)

We stayed in this boutique hotel called Butterfly on Wellington, which has an excellent location in Hong Kong Island’s Central district. Which meant it was close to plenty of very nice eateries.

A quick run-down of nearby food haunts: Michelin-starred Yung Kee, which specialises in roast goose; Luk Yu, a classy but unpretentious dim sum joint; Lau Fu Kee, a no-frills congee specialist; Wang Fu Dumplings, with its variety of hand-made Beijing-style dumplings; Mak Noodle, for its great wonton noodles and dumplings; Lin Heung Tea House, for the sheer madness of having to fight for your dim sum(!!!) and Tsui Wah Restaurant, a chain Hong Kong-style cafe where you can have a traditional Boh Loh Bao with butter and coffee for breakfast.

Fighting for dim sum at Lin Heung. I hated the place but I have to admit it was quite an interesting experience.

Some very well-dressed patrons at Luk Yu. Can you see the contrast with Lin Heung?

Yes, Hong Kong is quite the food heaven if you have a good guide with you! Joanne did most of the background research for this trip, really.

An odd couple at Charter Garden, just outside the Legco building. I found the yellow shelters at the seats quite fascinating too. They look somewhat like mushrooms and offer little if any shelter.

With all that eating though, we had to do some exercise to compensate. Shopping mall trawling aside, the ultimate work-out came unexpectedly in the form of a walk up the Peak, as we lost our way en route to the funicular station. Think it took us about an hour and a half, and it was then I realised how unfit I was. We didn’t do much once we reached the top though – had coffee and cake at Pacific Coffee and we were soon on the funicular down the hill.

We chanced upon a memorial outside the Legco building, set up for the late Szeto Wah, a pro-democracy Hong Kong politician. He died just weeks before my visit.

A seal-maker in one of the many tiny alleys on Hong Kong Island.

A devotee praying to the giant Buddha on Lantau Island.

It may sound a little surprising, but I actually spent more on shopping than Joanne this trip. In fact the same thing happened during our Japan trip. I can be quite a spendthrift actually. And the main damage was done both trips because I bought a Porter bag each time. Haha.

One of our best couple pictures, I think! I’m wearing my new jacket here, bought from Sogo just a day before.

All-in-all, a very fruitful trip. We did have a major quarrel on the fourth day, which was mostly my fault. I would love to go back again sometime soon – the good food beckons. Also because we didn’t have time to visit villages such as Tai O and Mui Wo or try out the outdoor hiking trails. And oh we didn’t even have time to go to Tsim Sha Tsui or Mongkok this time, can you believe it?

Singapore Young Photographer Awards 2010

This year is my first and last chance to take part in the SYPA, a biannual photography competition for those below 25. With my birthday in June, I was eligible to take part. Phew.

I had to submit 6 pictures from at least 4 genres (from a list of 8) for the competition. After spending days looking through my archives, I settled on pictures from 6 different genres. My main consideration was the need to showcase the breadth of my photography. 

Here goes: 

"Into the clouds"

Mount Fuji, Japan (Nature)

© Lin Zhaowei, 2008.

"Kitahama Station"

Hokkaido, Japan (Architecture/Buildings)

© Lin Zhaowei, 2008.

"Eating my orange"

Deyang, China (Children at play)

© Lin Zhaowei, 2009.

"Lift!"

Ang Mo Kio, Singapore (People at work)

© Lin Zhaowei, 2009.

"Cloud nine"

Zouk, Singapore (Night scene)

© Lin Zhaowei, 2010.
 

"Jump! Rocker!"

Bukit Timah, Singapore (Portrait)

© Lin Zhaowei, 2010.

It was a mad rush to submit the photos in the end, as I only knew about it when a friend told me about two weeks before the deadline. Selection was the toughest part though.

Just hoping for the best now...

Novice Paparazzi

Was in Guangzhou airport two days ago (Apr 28), on my way back from the 5th China-Asean Youth Camp. It was quite a packed itinerary for the 8-day programme, and it was only then that I had time to go browse a bookshop and look for former Caijing editor Hu Shuli's new creation, the Century Weekly magazine (新世纪周刊). 

And when I was talking with my friend Joanne and drifting towards the cashier with my magazine in hand, guess who I saw? 

Eason Chan!

I think it was my first time bumping into a regional (can't exactly say international, see) star anywhere, and we got quite excited. Judging from the gathering crowd of shop assistants around him, Joanne and I weren't the only ones. So what's a photographer to do? 

Peeking into the bookshop...

Going in for the kill! With pen and paper.

Something that made her day...

The shop assistants share their excitement after Eason Chan hastily leaves the scene.

© Lin Zhaowei, 2010.

It was quite a fun encounter. But I think I was a little too nervous that afternoon. I should have at least taken a clear shot of him. 

Till next time...

Night market in Nanning

On my last night, I visited local night market with a few fellow journalists. Haven't been to a night market for a while, I realise!

Fancy some roast dog? © Lin Zhaowei, 2009.


Some roti-prata-like dish with fillings... © Lin Zhaowei, 2009.


Stinky toufu... © Lin Zhaowei, 2009.


Jackfruit to counter all that oil. © Lin Zhaowei, 2009.

We sat down and had some chee cheong fan-like dish. Probably the least oily dish among everything offered there...

Boy I miss the night markets in Taiwan though, it's much more fun walking around and munching on something. Here you have to sit down to eat anything.

Nanning station at 5.30am

Somewhat a continuation from the previous post. Last week, I collected the remaining two rolls of my film shot during my trip to Guangxi. Took a little longer because I pushed the two rolls to ISO 800.

Because of the tight schedule, we took the night train on our way back from Guilin to Nanning, where we had to attend the last day of the China Asean Expo. The train was quite comfortable, though I had difficulty sleeping because of some monstrous snoring from a neighbouring bunk. Nanning was the final stop, and almost all the passengers got off here.

Waiting for someone? © Lin Zhaowei, 2009.

Pouring down the stairs © Lin Zhaowei, 2009.

Ticket checker at the exit © Lin Zhaowei, 2009.

Outside the station © Lin Zhaowei, 2009.

There were so many cabs outside the station, I wish I'd took a shot. But we were in a hurry to get on a cab back to our hotel, where a nice hot shower and a comfortable bed awaited.

While the results weren't exactly disastrous, I think I'm unlikely to try pushing colour film again, unless I have no choice. The Portra 400VC, which was used for the shots here, turned out slightly better in my opinion. Will need to do some prints to do a proper comparison though.

A little Nanning & Guilin

I was in China again last week for work, and this trip was significant for me because it was my first chance to truly use my newly acquired Nikon F6 SLR.

It's an amazing camera to say the least -- the ergonomics are simply perfect for my hands. Some comments I read online say that the settings on the camera are complex, but about an hour fiddling with it (with the help of the manual) was all I needed to get everything in order. And after figuring out how to load the film properly (it's been a while), I was all geared up to put the camera through its paces.

Perhaps because of HCB and Ansel Adams, I had always associated film with two things: street photography and landscapes. And maybe fine art photography as well. While I hope to do all three with film, street photography is where I start.

A friendly motorcycle cab shifu I met in Guilin. I wanted to chat a little more with him, but had to re-join my tour group. © Lin Zhaowei, 2009.

One thing I liked about using the F6 is that my favourite lens, the AFS 60mm f2.8, becomes a "normal" lens -- the field of view is close to that of the human eye. Normal lenses have always been popular for that reason. And it's a comfortable focal length for street, as it's wide enough to capture the surroundings and long enough to give some object-background separation.

A little boy and his grandma, outside a park in Guilin. © Lin Zhaowei, 2009.

It's quite funny when I would lower my camera after taking a shot to look at the back. But sorry, there's no image review in film, even on the most advanced bodies! I find that it wasn't really a handicap, partly because I trust the F6's metering and partly because that's part of the reason why I decided to turn to film. And the initial results are encouraging.

An old man at the jetty in Yangshuo. You can pay a few yuan to take photos with his birds. On hindsight, perhaps I should have paid to take a photo of him! © Lin Zhaowei, 2009.

One thing that surprised me was that it's not easy to find film in China nowadays, even in a relatively less developed place like Guangxi. I was lucky to have a photo store near my hotel in Nanning, which sold Kodak Max 200 and Fuji Superia 200. But by the time I arrived at Yangshuo's West Street, I had run out of film. I was immensely relieved that I finally found one photography equipment shop at the very end of the street.

A little girl in a shop along Yangshuo's tourist trap, the West Street. © Lin Zhaowei, 2009.

Actually halfway through my short trip to Guilin, I desperately wanted to buy some B&W film, mainly for the Liqiang cruise. But that proved elusive. I will be stocking up on the Tri-X's next time round! Have already found out where to buy them at a reasonable price in Singapore.

Boy in Deyang

I was in Deyang city, Sichuan Province to report on a school expansion project partially sponsored by Nanyang Technological University's alumni network in China about a week back. After the ceremony at the school (pictures to come), my group went to a streetside market to buy fruits back as souvenirs.

As the professors were busy stimulating the local economy, I spotted a cute little boy at one of the many fruit stalls lining the street.

My gosh! Such a cute little boy. He was apparently with his father, who was also busy buying fruits. And he didn't seem to mind the camera at all! So I continued taking a few shots of him.

That's him hugging his father's leg.

What's fascinating him to his right?

But my favourite shot was my last, after his father peeled an orange and gave it to him. Actually, it is my favourite shot for the entire trip, I think!

© Lin Zhaowei, 2009.

That was the last part of my trip. Soon after, we left on our minibus for the airport, where I filed my story for the day and took the flight home after a long trip. More to come...