Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Hong Kong Island @ Central & Mid Levels

I came back from Hong Kong after staying there for a week. It was the first time I really had free and ample time to wander around aimlessly alone to discover the exciting city. I might have visited and transited at Hong Kong for over 10 times since 1985 but I had never roamed the streets alone until recently.

Hong Kong is definitely a very safe and exciting place with crowds of locals and happy tourists shopping every where! My wife was away at the Hong Kong's education university for 3 days and we met up for dinner nightly. We stayed extra 3 days to catch up with my long lost friends of 21 & 16 years respectively! One was my childhood family friend who is now a wealthy tycoon living at the hills of the HKG Jockey Club vicinity and the other old friend was during my tour inside TVB Studios @ Clearwater Bay during my office trip. We didn't see each other for 21 years and he is still so funny like a comedy actor.

My wife and I also found time to make our way to visit a famous island called Cheung Chau which was a wonderful bliss. I will blog about Cheung Chau later on. You must hear about that famous Qing Dynasty's pirate Cheong Po Tsai.




I sat outside alone to admire the prominent landmarks around Central. Next to my left is the famous hotel where the popular singer jumped down to commit suicide at 6.43pm. It made me think about how fragile life is and we should help everyone who is depressed. Only depressions would cause suicides. Please spend time with your loved ones who might show depressions and worries. I quickly left that spot before that 'fateful hour' as the law of universe would see victims repeat their suicide acts at the same spot and time until their "supposedly lifetime duration". It means that if you are supposed to live as a human cycle till 80 years but killed yourself at 50 years old, you might have to kill yourself in the same manner everyday for 30 years until your 80 year's age! The same pain and bloody death would be repeatedly inflicted again & again beyond help. Every religion says humans should never commit suicide. That is the reasons many accident spots and houses became spooky & haunted due to the unseen factors.




Every Sunday, you will see thousands of Filipina maids gathering like happy birds singing & relaxing all over Central's district on their off days. HKG has not enough parks for people like them in the city's meeting point as their forests and green parks are located too far in the suburbs.




This is the famous Hollywood Road where the famous police station is located on the right. Hundreds of movies and TVB dramas have filmed this building.




We both explored around Central and decided to walk our way up to the swanky hills at Mid Level. It was truly an eye opener to see how tall and crammed the living space there. Need I say more?



The condos and apartments are so tall as we soared higher and higher till the Upper Mid Levels. It looks scary to see them building high rises on every inch of land but they are very solid buildings that have survived all the typhoons. They never had "Highland Towers" tragedy here.




It was Hari Raya and I was pleased to see a green mosque located right in between the high rise condominiums at Upper Mid Levels. I opened the small gate and promptly walked inside to admire the facade of the mosque which has nice and serene ambiance.




I saw property advertisements everywhere in Central and my eyes went really big like gold fish eyes!! Their average rentals was over HKG$20,000 until $80,000 per month! Then the selling prices for less than 1,000sq ft would start from HKG$16 million till $60 million for slightly bigger units. Walau Eh! My big eyes popped out of my sockets onto the floor. I need to be a slave for many lives to own a unit there.




As I had plenty of time to loiter around from stations to stations of the whole Hong Kong and Kowloon MTR lines, I started to notice that many people waited and met up with acquaintances at the railings that barricaded the inbound & outbound passengers! I really learnt a valuable lesson here. They could be one coming from opposite end at Chai Wan in HKG island to pass a package or documents to someone at far away Tuen Mun in Kowloon side. They just meet at the railings to pass the goods without alighting from the exit gate and board the same train back to their place of origin. That would save a lot of money and time. Our MRT extended lines are new in KL and I will definitely adopt this cost saving delivery in future.




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41 comments:

  1. Oh dear, how scary to learn that the actions of a suicide would repeat for the lifetime duration. That's awful and I wonder if prayers could help put a stop to that. Anyway, it's good that on this Hong Kong trip you had lots of time to explore. It seems like a very congested place to me.

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    1. When one committed suicide, even the heavens could not help the victims as the sufferings would just happen naturally in the process of the law of our universe. A cause & effects matter. Prayers may not even rescue them out of this karmic cycles of having to repeat.

      You will love Hong Kong very much as it is all aunties' haven to eat, eat, eat and shop, shop, shop till you drop!

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  2. So nice lah Anay so carefree in HK.

    It's sad to see people commit suicide but if depression cause an unsound mind (gila) do the ppl who commit it considered sinful too? I wonder about that because "gila" people cannot be accountable for their action.

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    1. I am not very sure about the suicide cases of the mentally unsound victims. However, we believe that they become crazy due to punishments from their own past life's creditors who might even want to drive them to own suicides. This is so complicated when creditors do not forgive and seek revenge.

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  3. Their way of life . So cramp, packed and busy.

    And everything soaring up and up. So tall. Haha.

    Good that you have times to explore around. Shouldn't be hard commuting and talking with the locals.

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    1. They are used to that lifestyle. They won't buy home unnecessary bulky items like us as the space availability is top priority. I had a great time learning through observation there.

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  4. HK properties price are crazy! Last year my sis went walking alone in Central and some property agent approached her to sell some units...I playfully teased her 'u looked like a rich mainlander, hence they targeted u'

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    1. Their agents are so hardworking and extremely aggressive. I just wore a sleeveless but still looked like a potential customer. I got dizzy after seeing all the advertised prices at different places.

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  5. Wow! I actually plan to visit Cheung Chau during the 'bun mountain' festival in May.

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    1. So I must visit this island in May to eat free buns! Let's go!

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  6. A clever way to save$$$ bynot exiting the station. Must be such a relaxingtripfor ypu.

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    1. They are so smart! Why I never thought of this when I have been taking MRT often in KL which saved time & tolls esp when it rains in Klang Valley.

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  7. Good that you get to roam around the city and explore many places...

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    1. I was like a stray dog sniffing all over the streets and back lanes of Tsimshatsui.

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  8. It's so great that u still manage to meet your long lost friends, how you find each other? Via FB?
    I'm amazed how you can relate the beautiful view of the sky scrappers with ur spooky stories >_<
    Yes, their property prices are scary~~

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    1. I knew these 2 long before FB was invented, so we kept in touch via emails only.

      Leave it to my mouth, it would spew irrelevant spooky topics with everything. That's me! Ha ha...

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  9. I never knew that about suicide. I wish we were better equipped to help friends with depression. It's hard to see the signs. They are good at hiding their emotions.

    TM, you are really rajin to catch up with long lost friends. This is what I admire about you. Me? HAHAHA!

    Whilst I admire Hong Kong's scene of everyday life from a touristy point of view, I don't think I can ever live in such congested and cramp areas. Thinking about cage homes scare me..

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    1. We should be alert always as depressions could happen to our spouse or loved ones too. The alarming suicide cases in South Korea has been on news when it could be prevented sometimes.

      I have lost touch with many friends in overseas and missed them so much. Next year I hope to gather all the boarding school gang in South Korea to have a reunion in Seoul. We only live once! The funny thing is those friends didn't even meet up in Seoul for over 20 years too. What is wrong with people?

      I agree that Hong Kong only looks nice on TV dramas where all their apartments and bathrooms looked so spacious & big!

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  10. You are truly amazing... can keep friendship for 20 over years and well informed of the "departed ones" too. But I like reading your posts.. keep it going!

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    1. Thank you for your kind compliments. I am trying to write better posts each day.

      We should help everyone who needs care and attention.

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  11. Oh dear, it's horrifying to do it once but to have to relive your suicide act in your after life every day must be really horrendous. I wonder if they ever regret their act having to live through it again and again. Hopefully prayers from their loved ones will help them find peace. HK is such a congested place that even the roads are narrow and congested. When we see this, we realise we're quite fortunate here.

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    1. Yes every victim would regret their actions but too late when they have realised it. They just get sucked into the repeated process. This is so scary on how our souls should never suffer like this when we have departed.
      I heard that no amount of prayers could help the suicide victims. This is so sad and scary, so we should prevent such suicides from happening besides creating awareness to everybody.

      I am always grateful that I am living in an affordable and spacious home in Malaysia. I can breathe better here too.

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  12. I spotted a cool hunk with his dark shades! Nice muscles! Sorry, I got distracted. Hahaha!

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  13. Yes, I read and knew about this suicide repeat cycle, so does not mean with suicide it ends everything, you will have to suffer even more.

    HK is a happening place with shoppers shopping till the very late hours which I like.

    Talking about TVB, I just watched and learned from Youtube how the various TVB actresses fight to become mistresses or wifes of rich tycoons because they are pretty and after material life, don't know why I felt sad and depressed learning about these, it is sad but true.

    Some pretty pretty girls, they are just after your money, so open up our eyes and see.

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    1. The suicide repeat cycle theory is logical as supposed you are to live 80 years, but you end it at 30 years, which means you have not pay back what you are supposed to pay back so you have to repeat the suicide cycle

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    2. I am very surprised that you truly understand the cause & effects for suicide cases. But then, I shouldn't be surprised because you have good faiths & knowledge in Buddhism teachings that taught you to partake in vegetarian meals besides releasing lives into the sea. You have a place in heavens!

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  14. I've never been to HK before but it's on my top places to travel list. Property in HK is crazy pricy but their income is pretty high too. All used up to pay for the rental or installment. LOL

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    1. It is very affordable to visit Hong Kong for a short vacation. There is so much to see, to shop & to eat there!! Go young man!

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  15. that's an interesting traveller's personal perspective of hk - and some cool pics too. i must admit, i'm not the biggest fan of the city - i've only been there a couple of times, but i think the general feeling of crowdedness is a bit too much for me - and maybe that contributes to the people's stressed-out state of mind too sometimes. but i guess we all have our own individual perspective of places based on our own experiences, heh :)

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    1. I am just like you, not a big fan too. However this trip was a good eye opener for me to discover many new things at my own pace. I would love to make endless trips to Europe like you.

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  16. Knowing the price of properties in HK, it makes me feel thankful we can afford a landed property here in KL. We have the luxury of space which they lack. For me, space is very important for the growth of my children. I can't imagine them growing up in a cramped apartment :(

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    1. I agree that we are blessed with ample space in our homes here. We even have lots of space for store rooms. Over there, they always measure everything before they bring home including the size of the vacuum cleaners and chairs etc!

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  17. Syok ah staying there one week and not go tour like refugees. Chasing time

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    1. 16 years and 21 year. Thar's pretty long time. Sure can chat one whole day to catch up

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    2. have there they have Filipina maids at central . Here... we have bangla at Kotaraya

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    3. Property market have been like that over there for long time already. yea, we are lucky over here.

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    4. It was really a dream come true to catch up with long lost friends and we had so much to talk.
      We are blessed to live in cheaper homes here with bigger space to breathe & walk too.
      Spot on, I also thought of our own Banglas, Indons and Myanmar guys on weekends.

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  18. i definitely need to make a trip back to hk! the last time, i was just there for disneyland.

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    1. You were still a teenager when you visited Disneyland there. Now a grown up lady, you would love all the shopping spree at their trendy boutiques!

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  19. Masjid hidden in the busy city state

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