Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences

by | Mar 25, 2016 | Hong Kong, Places

HK Museum of Medical Sciences

Hong Kong might seem like nothing but high-rise buildings and bustle, but when you look beyond that first impression, there is much to be found. The bustle is easily left behind: just take a walk around the Peak or along the HK Trail that goes the length of HK Island.  And nestling among the high-rise, especially in the older parts of Hong Kong Island, are several proud old buildings from Hong Kong’s early colonial days, now mercifully preserved.

One of these is the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences that dates back to 1906. Originally designed as as a Bacteriological Institute following the so-called Plague Years of Hong Kong in the 1890s, it became the Pathological Institute after WWII. There’s a full history here and here.

You can find this building on Caine Road at the top of the appropriately named Ladder Street.

Canon G3X ISO 400 1/125 at f/7.1

Lantau fisherman

by | Mar 23, 2016 | Hong Kong, People, Places

lantau fishermen
Another shot of a fisherman, this one in a boat off Cheung Sha beach, Lantau Island, Hong Kong. I was testing out my new Canon G3X’s capabilities at full telephoto – 600mm equivalent – together with its image stabilisation. It passed!

Canon G3X ISO160 1/1600 at f/11 at 220mm.

Jardine House aka Connaught Centre, HK

by | Mar 22, 2016 | Hong Kong, Places

jardine house 2

When I first arrived in Hong Kong in 1976, the Connaught Centre was, at 178m,  not only the tallest building in Hong Kong, but also the tallest in Asia. Completed in 1972, it has 52 floors. It was later renamed Jardine House and these days is rather dwarfed by a number of nearby towers, not the least of which is the IFC , which has 88 floors and tops out at 412m. (I posted a photo some weeks ago of the IFC disappearing into a February mist).

Connaught Centre/Jardine House has an innovative design that included round windows, which apparently made a difference structurally. It also earned the local nickname of the House of a Thousand Arseholes.

All that aside, it’s still a pretty impressive building.

Canono G3X ISO800 1/2000 & f/7.1 at 8.8mm (24mm equiv)

Golden Yellow Pheasant

by | Mar 21, 2016 | Birds, Hong Kong, Places

golden pheasant

The golden yellow pheasant is a stunningly beautiful bird. According to various sources, it comes in a number of varieties, this one in the Hong Kong Park aviary is a variety (Chrysolophus pictus mut. luteus) created in captivity back in the 1950s in Italy. The original Golden pheasant, which has a distinctly darker plummage, hails from central China.

Canon G3X ISO 1000 1/100at f/7.1