Yesterday, I told you about a few links on the main menu bar here on my daily photoblog that I’ve updated. One of which is called ‘John’s Portfolio’ which is one large main gallery that features nearly 2000 photos in it for you to look through and explore. Well, I’ve also put the same link on my website home page at www.caswellimages.com for those people that enter my site through that address. That way, it’s available for people in more than one location and hopefully makes the user expereince a wee bit simpler and more enjoyable.
Daily Photo – Elderly Men Playing Board Games in Hong Kong
Elderly Chinese men playing Xiangqi in a Rest Garden in Kowloon, Hong Kong
My adventures along the streets of Hong Kong brought me to a place called the Public Square Street Rest Garden. Set back off the street on a raised garden, it forms a sort of gathering place in front of the Tin Hau Temple with trees and sitting areas where people congregate to talk about life or rest with their shopping! On one occasion, when I passed it was filled with all these elderly men playing very intense board games. I had no idea what they were doing, but they all looked very serious!
I discovered later that they were playing a game called Xiangqi. It’s more commonly known as Chinese chess or Elephant chess. It’s a game based on strategy, representing a battle between two competing armies with the objective being to checkmate your opponent’s king. The game was created over two thousand years ago and it is believed in China that to improve your strategic thinking in business, you should learn to become a better Xiangqi player. No wonder it remains the most popular board game in China.
Recently I spent some time updating a few links here on my daily photoblog. On the main menu bar that appears above each day’s photo and story you’ll see some new links. Every so often I go in and update a few of them here on my photoblog, so the other week I decided that it was time a few of the old links were changed. I’ve got a few further ideas that I’d like to add, however at the moment I’m focusing on links to my galleries. The main link you’ll see is to my newly updated portfolio called ‘John’s Portfolio’. It’s one large main gallery that features nearly 2000 photos in it for you to look through and explore. My portfolio features most of my published, non-sport work. I say ‘most of’ due to the fact that every so often an image is created for a client with exclusive rights or as a one-off piece of art that isn’t designed to be shared online. So, have a look and feel free to share it with others.
This is a new image you’ll find in my recently updated gallery called ‘John’s Portfolio’. I took this the day I became sick in Hong Kong. I’d spent the day exploring the city streets of Kowloon before heading back to our hotel to relax for a few hours. Later that evening my wife and I went out for dinner before going on a boat ride to see the Symphony of Light display. Well, as the night wore on I began to feel worse and worse until eventually we made it back to shore and eventually the hotel room where upon arrival I collapsed into bed. The next 36 hours were spent with an intense fever, barely able to move before recovering just enough to make it to the airport and our flight home! However, how I was allowed through security in the state I was in remains something of a mystery.
While looking through my unpublished photos I found this one from my time in Hong Kong. On the coroner of Nathan and Jordan Road in Kowloon, you’ll find the New Lucky Hotel and Hostel. Curious to find out what it is like, I went to the review section of Tripadvisor. If you want a good laugh, I’d recommend reading the poor reviews on Tripadvisor, it really is rather entertaining. On this occasion I discovered that New Lucky Hotel had 21 reviews, of which 14 were rated as Poor or Terrible. To sum up what guests had said, it seems that the place is alright for one night if everywhere else in Hong Kong is booked! Further to that, while it’s convenient and cheap, in general it’s a bit grotty, pretty horrible and should be avoided at all costs. Unless of course you’ve learned to live like an unwashed sardine before you arrive, then you’ll probably be ok.
Apparently Hong Kong’s 13th governor, Sir Matthew Nathan was quite influential. He must have been, after all he does have a road named after him. Yet, that wasn’t always the case. Nathan Road was originally called Robinson Road with the first section being completed in 1861, making it the first road built in Kowloon. However, due to the fact there was already a Robinson Road on Hong Kong Island, the name was changed to Nathan Road in 1909 to avoid confusion. These days Nathan Road is known as the Golden Mile. It is a must for shopping enthusiasts, it requires comfortable walking shoes, it can get very crowded and there’s always a hidden gem to be found.
Not long after this, I ventured into the vibrant depths of Hong Kong’s Temple Street Night Market. You can wander through stalls that have everything from Chinese souvenirs, to arts and crafts. There’s electronics, clothing, jewellery, stationary, hair combs, bangles, bags, t-shirts, carvings and all sorts of nic-nacs. In fact, almost anything you’d like. There’s wall to wall street-food and just for good measure fortune tellers You could spend hours getting lost in the tents that line the streets that come alive after 9pm. It’s completely bizarre in a very fantastic way.
… from a Small City. My daily musings from Ōtepoti to get you inspired. Read the blog, view the photos, embrace the creativity.
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Elderly Chinese men playing Xiangqi in a Rest Garden in Kowloon, Hong Kong
