The Dutch Invasion
Be warned: I write a lot and I don't expect you to read everything... But this blog is also like a diary to myself you know, so I just blurt everything out...
In the past week it seems like the Dutch are invading Hong Kong. I have had 'visits' from some friends from Delft, which was really fun.
First of all, students from my faculty arrived in Hong Kong on Sunday, for a study trip organised by Students Association i.d. This is the same trip I organised myself 4 years ago; we went to Japan then.
On Monday I met the students, in the evening, on Hong Kong Island. I was going to have dinner with them, but I was watching Superman: The Movie on dvd at Yoyo's house, so by the time I got to the restaurant, they were already finished. From there I accompanied the Delft students to the Peak. Being a bit of a HK guy by now, they could use me as their guide, showing the wat to the Peak :). The view was beautiful; clear sky, so I made some nice pictures again.
Also, on Tuesday and Wednesday I joined the group to their company visits, which I really liked. If they read this: thanks guys! Having experienced a similar trip to another Asian trip, it brought back a lot of nice memories of Japan2002... Wearing your suit in the really hot weather, waiting at the train stations, almost falling asleep during the lectures at the companies... Actually, I didn't really have the last problem, but many of the Dutch students did have some difficulty keeping their energy level up. Lastly, I gave them a little gift... When I was in Japan, we had a small 'gossip book', which we called 'The Pink Bible'. This was a blank notebook with a hard cover that could be used by all the participants to write down any kind of gossip, jokes and other kind of nonsense, to entertain ourselves during the trip. By chance, I had brought an empty notebook to HK, but didn't use it, so I gave it to them. I didn't need to explain much about how to make a gossip book... the pages immediately filled themselves almost. Great fun, I'm very curious to browse through the book after their trip.
So, about the company visits: on Monday, we visited GoldPeak, a company manufacturing batteries and light switches, which was really much interesting than it may sound. In the afternoon, we visited a very familiar place for me; the School of Design (SD) at the PolyU, where I spent 6 weeks for the IDO project, of course. I ran into Nicole, Roger, Peter and Sheila (tutors) and also my group mate Angela, later that day, by chance. It was very nice to see them again. At the SD we got some presentations and later we went to the Industrial Centre, which I had already visited during the IDO project; it's a facility for students where they have any manufacturing technique imaginable, to produce prototypes and such. In the evening I had dinner with the group in a nice Chinese restaurant. After that, I went with Joost (one of the organising students) to Mong Kok, to walk around and do some shopping. Later Yoyo joined us, as she had just watched a movie nearby.
On Tuesday, in the morning, we went to Philips Design, which is situated in the Science and Technology Park; a brand new and really high tech park where more and more R+D companies are settling. We first took a train from Tsim Sha Tsui to another train station, and from there, because we were a little late, we took taxis! A whole row of taxi's was lined up to bring a group of more than 30 people to the company... so luxurious! At Philips, we met some designers who gave interesting lectures about their way of designing. Very nice visit, but unfortunately time was too short to have a tour around the design office. After consuming the very nice lunch that was provided by Philips, we went to the Hong Kong Design Centre (again by taxi!), where we had some presentations about HK wanting to become the design hub of Asia.
I then said goodbye to the group and met with Yoyo and her friends in the evening, to enjoy a nice 'hot pot' dinner in a restaurant near my hotel.
On Friday, I met Trieu, my friend from Delft and former internship mentor. He owns a small strategic design agency in Delft, where I did my internship earlier this year. The day before, Trieu emailed me that he would be in HK for one night, on his way to Taiwan. He travels to Asia a few times per year for business. So of course we had to meet. Friday night I had just come back from Macau (see other post), so we met late in the evening at his hotel, Langham Place in Mong Kok. First, we went to the really bad 'Cyber' disco on Nathan road; hiphop and some 'gabber' type of music... nice, but REALLY LOUD. After a while we went to a place a bit more quiet; we took a taxi to Lan Kwai Fong on Hong Kong Island; the nightlife area where all the foreigners (and Chinese women looking for foreigners to hook up with) go. Drank some beers and enjoyed a nice live band.
It was kind of strange but ofcourse also a lot of fun meeting all these people that I know well in Hong Kong. I wish them a pleasant stay in Asia...
Back in HK
Well... I'm back in Hong Kong. I got here on Sunday night. Had a good flight, slept most of the time. I'm now staying at the Goodrich Hotel on Woosung street in Jordan. It's a budget hotel, but really good. My personal travel agent Yoyo arranged it for me, so good... Jordan is right in the center of Kowloon, and the hotel is just around the corner from the MTR station, so it's very easy to get around from here.
Metropolis / Sydney
As you may know, the city where Superman/Clark Kent lives is called Metropolis. This is actually a fictional city, conceived by Superman's creators Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel. But believe it or not, I am now really in Metropolis! For the movie Superman Returns,
Sydney was used as a stand-in for Metropolis. Most of the movie was shot on-set, at Fox Studios Australia, but some of the scenes were shot on various locations in the city, some of which I have already encountered by chance (
look here). Walking through
Sydney is really like walking through Superman's city... So
here are some pictures of the cityscape of Metropolis/Sydney.
Walking around in Sydney
One of the first things I did when I arrived in Sydney was buying a ‘Red Travelpass’ allowing me to use most of the public transport for one week unlimited. But my hostel is so centrally located, that I can just walk everywhere! Don’t really need the pass…
After getting up much too late, I walked from the hostel on Pitt Street to Darling Harbour. From there I walked up north, to the Harbour bridge and over it, to the other side of the water. Incredible view on Sydney’s skyline + the famous Opera House. Walked around there through some posh residential neighborhood, trying to find a ferry harbour to go back to the other side but didn’t find it. Took a train back instead to Circular Quay and ate some fish ‘n chips in a nice restaurant looking out on the Harbour bridge.
AN OVERVIEW OF ALL MY PHOTOS HERE
I Love \S/
When I was 7 (that's 19 years ago), my father took me to the cinema for the first time in my life. We went to see Superman IV, the last Superman movie with the late and great Christopher Reeve. It was just me and my dad, my sisters stayed home with my mother, they were to little at the time I guess, but just to avoid any jealousy, I remember ducking beneath car window when we drove off, so it would seem my dad was leaving alone.
I don't remember how he or we chose to go that particular movie, and even though Superman IV was the worst in the series, back then I thought it was to coolest thing I ever saw. From that moment on I have been a huge Superman fan. I love Superheroes in general, but Superman is The Greatest Superhero.
This Sunday was another memorable day for me, Superman-wise. The moment I have been waiting for since I saw Superman IV... the first Superman movie in 19 years. For years I have been following the development of this film on the internet and now it is finally here. I originally wanted to go to LA to checkout the big premiere in Hollywood and catch a glimps of all the stars. But then I went to Hong Kong, so I chose Sydney instead, because when you're coming from Holland, HK is already half way to Australia. But the more important reason is that Superman Returns, as the new movie is called, was shot in Sydney. Most of it at Fox Studios Australia, but some of the scenes were shot right in the city. When I read and saw this on the internet, I knew I had to go there. I would have loved to have come to Sydney on June 28 already and see the premiere with other Superman fans, but the IDO workshop didn't end until June 30.
So I went to Sydney on July 1 and arrived here on July 2. Last week I already bought the movie ticket online, because I wanted to make sure I wouldn't waste a minute to see the movie as soon as possible.
On Sunday night I took a bus to Entertainment Quarters, which is right next to Fox Studios! Appropiate place to see Superman Returns for the first time (this is also were all the online Superman geeks went for the premiere). Online I had booked a ticket for the 8:30 pm screening, but I was there early, so I changed my ticket to the 7:30 show. I walked around the area, ate some noodles, bought a 'Superman cup' at the cinema (silly promotional cola cup) and some popcorn and waited for the doors to the theatre to open... I chose a seat right in the middle.
Then I saw the movie.
After the movie I decided to walk back to the hostel. I like to be able to know my way around without looking at a map. Because I had already looked up where the hostel and the cinema were on the map earlier, I just walked back to the hostel on instinct. Coincidence or not, I suddenly recognized a place that I saw in the movie! It was Martin Place, where a scene involving Superman rescueing a car was shot. I was actually standing at the spot where Superman stood, just two hours after seeing that scene! Soooo cool... In fact, this place is on Pitt Street, the street where my hostel is.
But it appeared that having reached Martin Place, I walked too far north and had to walk back south to the hostel. But it also meant that I stumbled upon one of the shooting locations unintentionally. Couldn't have been a coincidence...
Of course you want to know what I thought about the movie...
It was FANTASTIC. It's what every Superman fan has been waiting for and I can't wait to see it again... many times. And to see it right next door to the studio where it was shot and walking on the place where a scene was shot later that evening... that's something to never forget. But there was only one thing missing this day... my dad. I would have loved to see this movie with my dad as I am a Superman fan because of him. I'm sure it's no coincidence that I love Superman so much. I hope to see it with him when I get back to Holland.
Photos of me arriving in Sydney, the cinema where I saw Superman Returns, here
Final two weeks of the IDO project
PHOTOS & VIDEO HEREI'm already in
Sydney now, but last week I was so busy, I didn't have time to post any new messages. So here’s what I did for the past two weeks in HK.
Working, working, working…
Basically, during the last two weeks of the IDO project, we all worked our asses off. We had to finish the final prototypes, report and commercial for the final presentation, so we really made long hours and saw little daylight. We survived on McDonald’s food and cup noodles. For the last few days, I barely left the building… The last two nights I worked all night long at the PolyU and lay down on the floor for an hour or so. After the first night I did go back to the hotel to sleep a few hours in the morning… when everyone was getting up to go to the PolyU I came back to sleep…
But the last day was really exhausting. Again, I worked all night long (and wasn’t even the only one!) to finish the damn commercial for the final presentation on Thursday afternoon. As always, it was last minute work to get it finished, so I really needed that last night’s work.
Even though we worked most of the time, there were some moments where our work could be pleasantly interrupted:
I saw Jackie Chan!
Week 5. We were working in the studio, it was lunch time. Suddenly someone walks into the room and says: “Hey, you wanna see Jackie Chan? He’s upstairs now!”
I didn’t really understand what she meant, but being curious, I walked out to see what was going on. It was the ‘Grad Show’ of the PolyU School of Design; a happening where the graduating students are … And apparently, Jackie Chan was a guest! At first, I walked straight passed him. Then suddenly I recognized him; it was the guy with all the cameras flashing at him. So cool! Normally I wouldn’t act like this when seeing a celebrity, but with so many people already there taking pictures of him, I didn’t need to feel embarrassed joining the crowd of ‘papparazzi’. I took a lot of pictures and videos of him; there’s a selection at the link below. Also check out the video compilation I made.
More photos of Jackie Chan HERE.
Birthdays
Andreas (from Germany) and Marije (from Holland) both had their birthday in the same week. All the students chipped in 20 HK dollars each and packed it nicely to give to Andreas and Marije. And we ate cake too, of course.
Photos start
here
Midnight swimming and BBQ at Shek O beach At the end of week 5, on Friday, Peter Dean (one of the HK tutors) had organized a really nice get-together at Shek O beach. We all went there around 6 pm to have a BBQ at one of the barbecues sites at the beach and do some ‘midnight swimming’ in the dark. The BBQ was so great. I learned from Yoyo that HK people grill more than just hot dogs, like I did the last time. So together with her I bought some great HK BBQ food at a shop at the beach: chicken wings, beef steaks, fish balls, pork, marshmellows… delicious! (too bad some cats stole one of my steaks… that was my favorite meat!) We had so much... when the rest was already long finished grilling there sausages, we were still going strong, barbecuing like real HK people do. In between preparing the food I went swimming in the sea. It was almost pitch dark, just the light of the stars. The water was still quite warm… such a special experience to be in the water in such a beautiful place, I won’t forget that easily.
Photos start here
Me and Yoyo at Ocean Park The IDO project has been a great experience… not just design-wise. I’m also lucky to have met Yoyo, one of the HK students. Boy meets girl… boy likes girl, girl likes boy… you can imagine what happens… as I said before, I’m crazy… about Yoyo.
In the weekend between week 5 and 6, we went to Ocean Park on Sunday. This is a famous amusement park in Hong Kong, built in two parts, on both sides of a mountain, connected by a cable car. It was extremely hot that day and we weren’t the only ones with the great idea of going there… it was also extremely crowded. But we had a lot of fun, going in the splash ride, watching the dolphin and sea lion show, sitting in the Ferris wheel and standing in line for more than 2 hours for Ocean Park’s newest attraction: a Jelly fish aquarium. Apparently this attraction is brand new, so everybody wanted to see it. But to wait 2 hours in the burning sun for this… that was a bit long. It’s just some freaking jellyfish! Very nicely lit, though.
Photos start here.
My room
Just so you can see where I lived for the past 6 weeks, here are two photos of me and Alex’s messy room.
Photos start here
The final presentation
On Thursday afternoon, each group had 30 minutes to show their work, in front of a small audience. All the students and tutors of course, plus some invited guests from the PolyU. There were some unexpected Dutch guests as well. Apparently Pieter Desmet (associate professor at my faculty at TU Delft) and Jeroen van Erp (co-founder of well-known Dutch design agency Fabrique) were in HK and Mathieu (Dutch tutor) invited them to come. All went well. Everyone worked really hard and that paid off: all the results were very nice, beyond expectations even. We can all be proud of ourselves. So now the IDO workshop has really ended. It has gone by so quickly, it’s incredible. I’d like to thank all the students and tutors for a great and very experience.
Photos start here
Boat trip
As a celebration of the ending of the IDO project, the tutors organized a really nice boat trip for the whole group. On the last Friday, we went to Sai Kung, where we boarded a rented boat and went out on the sea for the whole day. After less than an hour, the boat anchored near a very nice and empty beach. We had this place completely for ourselves. We jumped off the boat, swam to the beach and around the boat, relaxed in the sun… in short, we had a lof of fun in the sun. The weather couldn’t have been better and I couldn’t have imagined a nicer concluding trip to the IDO workshop.
Photos start here
In the evening we went to the Irish pub to see the Germany-Argentina soccer match with our German friends. Very exciting match! Congrats to the Germans.
And now my real vacation starts!
I'm crazy...
... for working two nights in a row at the PolyU last week, getting hardly any sleep at all (does lying under the desk and closing your eyes count?) to finish the product commercial for the workshop's final presentation last thursday. But it all ended well, each group has done great work. On friday we celebrated the ending of the project with a fantastic boat trip. Anyway, the project is now finished, which means my vacation has now officially started!
... for travelling to Sydney for one week to see Superman Returns, because it was shot there. Yes... surprise surprise... I'm now on my way to Australia! I'm typing this message from a free internet computer at Singapore, waiting for my connecting flight. Tomorrow night I'm going the see the movie I've been waiting for most of my life! I already bought the ticket online, can't wait...
... about Yoyo. I miss her already. Good that I'll be back next week.
> More about all this tomorrow hopefully...
