Dear Vicky: My Old Hood
Hello, everyone! Why does Monday even exist? Everybody hates it. This is the kind of deep philosophical pondering I do when I lay in bed late at night. No wonder I never got into any good schools, eh?
On my way back from Hong Kong, after I finished my last roll of film, I did not load a new roll into my camera. I didn’t want to have my loaded camera go through the airport scans. It’s been a full week since I came back from Hong Kong, and I still haven’t loaded my camera. Two of my digital cameras have been out of battery, which means I haven’t taken any photo since I came back. I don’t know what to shoot. I hit the wall. Let’s see how long this is gonna last.
Fortunately, I still have photos from Hong Kong, at least some of which were fun to shoot. Whether or not they are any good is a different story. Come back in the near future to find out.
Today’s post is about a morning walk I took around my old neighbourhood. I started at Sai Ying Pun, which was within walking distance of my old apartment in Kennedy Town. And the walk ended in Central, where I had to hop on an MTR to a lunch appointment. I shot two rolls of black and white film, and half a roll of Portra 800. Here’s a few shots on BW.
Manually fixing road markings.
Sammy’s Kitchen, most famous for the neon sign of a giant cow hanging over the road in front of it. The sign was removed a few years ago for “safety reasons,” a sad trend that’s been ridding Hong Kong of one of its visual signatures. Here’s a photo of the neon sign from the M+ Museum website. Leave it to Hong Kong to take down neon signs off the streets and put them in a museum. I’M HATING IT.
A cat on the dried seafood street. The two gentlemen in the background are sorting through their shark fin stock. Yes, sadly and infuriatingly, shark fin trade is still a thing in Hong Kong, which is a good segue to the next photo.
Well….
A seafood shop on the wall.
Security cat.
Sliver and trolley.
Dried seafood crossing.
Old China Hand & Paws.
The name of the building is Hollywood Building on Hollywood Road. I was conflicted about whether I should’ve waited a split second longer for the man to step into the light, but I got what I got. HCB’s decisive moment was gone once and for all.
Doggies at the Blue Lotus Gallery, one of my favourite places in Hong Kong. Just now, søren k. harbel mentioned the Fan Ho collection at the gallery, which reminded me of this photo. If you are in Hong Kong, and want to check out some good photo exhibitions, this is one of the must sees. F11 Foto Museum in Happy Valley is also a good choice.
Art gallery or team room, not sure.
Man on steps.
Photographers opposite Hong Kong’s infamous “Instagram Wall,” a mural of a series of old buildings.
A smoker.
Another smoker, next to Laurèl no less.
And that’s it for today. I hope you have a good week ahead. Till we meet again.
Sorry to hear you say you hit a wall, but I'm sure your inspiration will be back soon. Maybe it's a form of overstimulation from going all out in HK. The photos in this post are A ok anyway. The first one that stood out to me is the guy walking past Sammy's kitchen. It seems that it's more of a hassle to secure the neon sign where it used to be than to take it down and put it in a museum.
Love the two photos with cats too, just as the dogs at the blue lotus gallery. My favorite out of these shots must be the man stepping out of the Hollywood building. Marvelous! Can't wait to see the next set.
Agree with Hanz here. Never not an absolute joy to take in.