Creative Commons launched in Hong Kong last Friday (24 Oct 2008) at Hong Kong University with a very informative and inspiring presentation from CC founder Lawrence Lessig. It was followed by an inauguration with Professor Lessig (see video) on the following day at HKICC in Kowloon. CEO Joi Ito (see video) was also on hand to discuss the direction of Creative Commons, publicly release his new book FreeSouls, as well as meeting with local photographers, musicians, and content creators.
One thing worth mentioning was the launch of a Creative Commons Registry. It’s a central repository for authors and artist alike to list their works licensed under creative commons, but who’s to say that I can’t list others’ work as my own. Will there be any form of authentication before registry of works? Probably now
In addition to the above, there were plenty of workshops and mingling opportunities. Big thanks to the people who made this event possible: Edmon Chung, Ella Koon, Charles Mok, Rebecca Mackinnon, Lawrence Lessig, Joi Ito, Alice Lee, Yahong Li, Pindar Wong, Chitat Chan, Peter Ma, and the many gracious volunteers.
If you are still curious about Creative Commons, visit their website and check out the embedded video:
“This is a once in a life time thing~ Fiona & Joyce MINI CONCERT 08″
I am sad to say I won’t be here to attend the concert, but for all of you that are in HK, don’t miss out.
What you should expect for the night:
1) Fiona and Joyce’s will perform solo and duet pop pieces in Canto, Mandarin and English
2) Get a tastes of Joyce’s very own composition (BTW very awesome stuff)
3) Hopefully live music from various artists (depends on availability of musicians and preparation time)
4) The entrance fee of $132 per person is merely for the dinner buffet provided from the cafe (NOT FOR OUR OWN PROFIT)
5) Laid back mood, good food and great music!
6) Opportunity to meet some new friends
In American, we always get the bad rep for being the most unhealthy individuals in the world and although that may be true. Look at what our counterparts in Asia are eating. The promotional McPepper is not just a Big Mac, but 2 Big Macs with a lots of black pepper sauce. With all the heat that the Big Mac has gotten in the States for its spread on health concerns, I’m guess the Mega McPepper is not good for you…
MegaBox, hailed as a western style mall in Hong Kong (whatever that means) has been generating a lot of buzz so I had to see what the fuss was all about. I paid my visit there yesterday (4 March 2008) and I wasn’t all that impressed. The only thing Mega Box has going for it is its “new factor” and the IMAX theater, which is the largest in Hong Kong.
Mega Box is located in a developing industrial area along Kowloon Bay. It is basically a no-man’s land without much in the way of scenery or sidewalks. To get there I took the MTR to the Kowloon Bay station and from the station, a free 15min shuttle.
The shopping center is design to mimic a huge box with bright, shining lights and multi-colored facade. A porthole is at the center of design, which adds interior visibility from blocks away. Inside the mall are many banks of elevators and long-haul escalators that whisk you up to the shopping center’s many levels. The floors are divided into sections: Entertainment & Restaurants; Family & Lifestyle; Home Improvement; and Fashion.
Mega Box is home to B&H, a home furnishings store similar to Home Depot in the States; an “international-sized” ice-rink, which is the largest in Hong Kong; a comprehensive dinning offering; and a sports facility on the 18th floor. However, none of these shops are interesting enough to make me flock to this shopping center. The many shopping center that are accessible at mass transit hubs makes Mega Box not worth the trip however with many old industrial buildings still taking up space in the Kowloon Bay area, look for this to be an up and coming hot spot.
For more details, check out the official MegBox website.
After a blissful 2 weeks, my Cody is heading back to New York and I am left to my reality, a never ending pile of final exams and reports.
It sure was fun have Cody in Hong Kong. We got to do the whole tourist thing and we were also able to fit in some shopping as well. I especially enjoyed the long walks together at Stanley, the Peak, and Soho. It truly was the best time I had in Hong Kong since arriving 3 months ago.But now that she has returned to New York, I am left to my reality of:
Taipei is amazing! Food is cheap, Fashion is very trendy, the locals are friendly, why not move here?
I took a little trip with Cody to Taipei while she was here in Hong Kong and it was loads of fun. Having flown from Hong Kong, we landed at Taipei international airport, which was an hour or so from the downtown city area. Just a side note, Taipei is not very much developed outside its city area. The international airport looked like a local bus station from Binghamton (a small town in NY State where I attended UG). On the long bus ride from the airport to the city all I saw was small villages, stripper clubs, and Cops patrolling with a digital camera (that’s right a point and shoot digi cam).
The downtown city area of Taipei is however, very beautiful. With its mix of traditional (very very old) and modern architectures, you get to see a glimpse of Taipei’s history as well as their revolution with influences from the western world. It is without a doubt one of the finest cities I have ever visited. The only problem that I came across in Taipei was the language. English is not widely used there, thus if you can’t speak mandarin or Taiwanese forget about negotiating a good deal at any of the night markets (I am lucky I had my Cody with me).
Here’s a list of some of the places that I visited and recommend:
Shi-Ling Market (aka the night market) - cheap food and cloths
Xei Men - a very young environment, a hip & trendy hang spot, full of trendy shops
Taipei 101 - the tallest building in the world (as of 2007), home to the world’s coolest lift and shopping centre
Chiang Kai-Shek memorial Hall - an extremely large monument, you have to see it to believe it
Long Shan Temple - a very old temple in Taipei that is still being used
Wufenpu – fashion district with a large wholesale market
Dan Shui River Cycle Path - a very romantic river side path
Here’s a list of some of the places that I ate and recommend:
Din Tai Feng - (Zhong Xiao)- Famous Shang Hi buns
Mister Donut - (Fusing S. Rd / throughout the city) – very famous Japanese donut shop
Shi-Ling Market – hundreds of street vendor with food carts (ground pork meat bun, oyster omelet, deep fried spicy chicken cutlet, frog egg bubble drink)
Click here to the picture from Taipei: Day 1 l Day 2 l Day 3
Nov 18, Cody arrives and things are starting to look up even with finals right around the corner. I am so glad that she came to visit me in Hong Kong. For the last week or so things have been really crazy, but now that my Cody is here I can forget about everything and concentrate on having fun. 2 weeks ahead of us, lets hope time doesn’t fly as fast as I think it will…
I took a trip with Leo and Ian to Macau this weekend to see LJ in action. It was awesome to see how pumped up Asian people are for the NBA, did I mention it was a pre-season game too.
This trip was a bit of an adventure. We were late getting out to Macau because all tickets for the 10 am boat ride over from HK was sold out. When we finally got over, there were thousands of people waiting for buses and taxis. We eventually walked half a mile down the highway just to catch a taxi. When we finally showed up to the game, the second quarter was under way and we missed a whole lot, but never the less it was a very fun experience. After the game we visited random site in Macau and check out the occasional casinos. Now on our journey back we were force to take a ship to Shen Zhen rather then HK because tickets were sold out. This made our journey more than an hour longer, but it all worked out well because we were able to get dinner Shen Zhen
