dessin de caratère 醉 qui signifie bu, ivre, grisé, etc. par un étudiant de HKDI. Avez-vous bu récemment?

醉, or drunk, by a student from Hong Kong Design Institute. So when was the last time you got tipsy?

Est-ce que les altermondialistes ont crié leurs frustrations ici?

butcher + Bruce Lee + 007 + Alien? Was I delirious ?!? Or it might just well be!

Hope you had a happy one in Canada. Meanwhile, in Hong Kong across the other huge pond, 1st July is also the HKSAR (Special Administrative Region) establishment day, commemorating its retrocession to China as well as the severed ties with the British empire. It has, since 2003, been a platform of public venting regarding various local causes. Below is a parade of selected pictures…

La nostalgie des années 1970, quand plusieurs produits sont encore “fabriqué à Hong Kong”, comme le “school bag” ici. Ne négligez pas les matières plastiques, car c’était le domaine où remporte le premier million de dollars pour Li, La Shing, l’homme d’affaires le plus riche à Hong Kong.

Nostalgia 1970s, when things were still “made in Hong Kong”. This is an ad for a “school bag”, which is more like a briefcase, as seen in Hong Kong Museum of History. Don’t underestimate plastics. Li, Ka Shing, the richest man in Hong Kong, started his empire with a plastic manufacturing factory!

say hi to the fire hydrant!

fire hydrant in Hong Kong

Some lights were dimmed, but not completely out, on both sides of Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong, one of the most illuminated cities in the world. This has been the metropolis’ first publicly advertised and participated Earth Hour event since its inception in Sydney in 2007.

Profound changes take more than ceremonial gestures. Are there changes in your part of the world for a greener planet?

En mars, on fête la journée intrenationale de la Francophonie partout. À Hong Kong, les dix mots qui allument le thème de cette année sont:
ailleurs, capteur, clair de terre, clic, compatible, désirer, génome,
pérenne, transformer, vision

journée de la francophonie 2009 à Hong Kong

Les activités ne se limitent pas à la lecture ou la poésie. Le documentaire “La Caravane des dix mots Hong Kong” récapitule des soirées de ‘Slam’ ou ’spoken-word’ ainsi que des entrevues, tous en encourgeant la visibilité de la culture francophone parmi le public hongkongais.

How could I not love Tai Po (大埔) district in Hong Kong? It is less densely populated than Kowloon or Hong Kong Island. It boasts the largest park managed by Leisure and Cultural Services Department as well as a rapidly expanding science park. True to the Hong Kong spirit, both “parks” are located on land reclaimed from sea. Speaking of sea, Tai Po also has the world’s first “reservoir in the ocean”, Plover Cove, which has the longest dam in Hong Kong measuring 2km.

yuan xiao (元宵): noun, Lantern Festival / Fête des lanternes.

yuan xiao in Taiwan, Feb 2009

photo credit: enixii

Yuan xiao, or the de facto Valentine’s Day for the Chinese, the fifteenth day of the lunar calender, the first full moon after Chinese new year, etc., means lots of lanterns and lights, no matter where you are.

La quinzieme journée du nouvel an chinois, aussi la première lune complète visible, égale la St-Valentin pour les chinois, où les lanternes s’affichent partout.

lanterns, Tai Po Waterfront Park, Hong Kong, Feb 2009