It's a place where I both love and hate…read more I love the environment, I love the campus; yet i hate hate HATE the inconvenience of the traffic. With the four years I spent exploring this campus, CUHK is definitely a university unlike all the others in Hong Kong. The first impression of CUHK would very likely be the vastness of the campus; with buildings scattered all over this hills, it takes more than a year for freshers to get familiar with the campus. More commonly heard is that some students in their 2nd or 3rd year still have yet to completely explore the campus. The scenery of CU is also beyond compare especially when you go all the way up to the peak of the hill (i.e. NA and UC college); rumor has it that the famous Sir Run Run Shaw has his villa looking over to the same scenery as that you see from CU, believe it or not but it sure is breath taking. I would very much like the campus remain as is, but development is inevitable due to the recent change in education system. The once spacious hillside is now dotted with buildings; I miss seeing the large pieces of greens afar, miss the spaciousness of the campus. Nonetheless, the recently developments do make lives for new students a lot more convenient. There are always two sides in a token whether you like it or not; for us "old ghosts", it really takes time for us to get use to the changes. We aren't being called old for nothing~

really far out near science park. ate at the see you shaw Kuo Mou Hall, Shaw College, really…read morereasonable prices. can't believe they don't allow electric transport for all the hills.

Long boasted as the largest single floored library in Asia, any City U student would know we are…read moretalking about "Lai gei". This is the main library for City University and granted it is actually quite a big place. I haven't tried it but I would guess that walking from one end to the other end of the library would take you a good five minutes. There is ample space for revision (some are doing that) and sleeping (most people are doing that). Back in the day you were able to borrow computers but I guess that won't be too much of a an issue now with so many devices available personally. The library does boast one of the biggest collection of law books in Hong Kong (granted it was one of the only law schools in HK outside of HKU) and it did for a while provide a source for information for students and practitioners alike. The reserved and semi-reserved sections are well enforced and books are rarely out of reach. there are cases where books are "misplaced" with a motive but I guess the librarians are pretty good at organizing things. There are some rooms where you can view DVDs and other multimedia items- but I haven't tried that in the past. Joking aside, I do think that for such a "new" university to be equipped with such a well stocked library to be a god-send for the university. Indeed it did provide room for students to study, to meet and a proper location to conduct scholarly activities. I will always thank it for being a good location to finish any last minute coursework given its proximity to my LT. I know this place isn't somewhere that everyone could go but I would urge you to use it more if you could because you won't know how good it is until you leave.

I went on a visit to PolyU. I got a chance to take a tour and be briefed on their DBA program. The…read morecampus was absolutely beautiful (inside and out) and the students and staff that I met were extremely welcoming and informative. I would have certainly considered Poly U as an option to continue my education if it was closer to home.

Contemporary urban art may not be everybody's cup of tea. Most of the time, it goes right over my…read morehead but every now and then, I would get an inkling of the artist's message. What I find interesting about Oi! is that it is not your conventional art gallery. Oi! is not big. It sits on the corner of Oil Street and Electric Road in Fortress Hill on the island. A century ago, the waterfront was right outside this property. It was logical for the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club to set up base here and operate until the government took over thirty years later in the 1930s. The historic brick buildings are specimens of the post-Victorian Arts and Crafts Architectural Movement. On the day of my visit, the theme was to stimulate our audio, visual, and tactile senses. The artists encouraged people to actually touch their creations. I like when art can be approached from more than one dimension. There was one exhibition room that was stark empty except for a porthole in the floor; and another one in which I had to duck my head because a block TV set was hanging from the ceiling. I also got to interact with other eclectic and obscure art pieces. Unexpectedly, the co-op kitchen was offering visitors complimentary miso soup on site. I guess if wine and hors d'oeuvres are served at the traditional art openings, why not offer hot soup at Oi! The idea was "they cook, you clean" so people had to do the little chore of washing the bowls they had used. I thought that was pretty neat. Everything was cool. Before heading out, I decided to use the restroom. I really wish I hadn't. They were either understaffed or negligent to have left the facility in a ghastly state. It might have been the visitors. What a shame to end my visit this way. For me, Oi! was an experience. I enjoyed the history aspect. I didn't have a full grasp of the pieces I saw but art is subjective. New exhibits rotate in periodically. Maybe next time I'll make a connection with one of them. 3.5

As we were simply walking by, I knew that this was clearly an old set of buildings that had been…read morerestored, but I was not sure what this space was exactly. With the kind staff at the customer service booth that went the extra mile to show me key parts of the facility and pointed out the specifics of the art installation spaces and the Social Gastronomy experiment space, I think I am a bit of a fan of this place. Once an old boat yard and covered mostly by water, this is a perfect example of Hong Kong recycling, reusing and re-purposing public building space. Part museum (with two installations currently: North Point Dream Properties Limited and 7-Paperholic), part social experiment on food with XCHANGE (turning leftovers and seasonal ingredients from participants and neighborhood markets into mouthwatering dishes), part community service/social hub (with talks, lectures, workshops, etc), part historical venue (Oi! is a Grade 2 Historic Building and they provide daily tours at 2:30pm, 4:45pm and 6:30pm daily). Art is really the driving factor for me with Oi!, but clearly their aim is really to connect with the community on a socially conscious level much greater than just art. But if you are not driven by social matters, note that admission to Oi! is free. The space is not large, but there is intellectually a lot going on to absorb at Oi! Although I did not have time to really understand all pieces of this space, I took a Oi! newspaper to go and have visited their website to sign up for news and events going on here. I will absolutely return to discover a bit more.

This place becomes a staple during arts festival time and I find myself coming here a lot. They…read morehave a few different sized theatres all with very good views and sound quality, it does get a bit chilly in the air conditioning so I would recommend having an extra cardigan or jacket to put on if you feel on the cold side. It's a little bit of a walk from either wan chai or admiralty stations but isn't too hard to find. I most recently saw Jane Eyre and The Scent of Ink here. Jane Eyre was a fantastically adapted play with a great stage set and beautiful song choice (I was pleasantly surprised by this). The Scent of Ink was performed by a dance company from Korea, showcasing Korean traditional dancing. The music and moves were very hypnotic, with the set design and costumes being very simplistic and aesthetically pleasing. They had a meet and greet with the dancers afterwards but it was late for me and I didn't stay for that part of it.

I came here for the very first time for an amazing play that was on during the summer, called "I…read moreLove Football". It was a spectacular performance - if they ever do a re run for it, i highly recommend it. The stage drama was about a young football player who aspires to be a professional football player here in Hong Kong. As we all know, being a professional football player is already a difficult career, and being in HK, it's even harder as there are only a few professional teams. Throughout the process, he loses himself, ruins relationships and even injures himself. He neglects people around him and he only focuses himself on winning. Overall, this story was about how the main character defeats all of his obstacles, going for what he is truly passionate about, what he's willing to give, or give up to accomplish his dreams. The reason why this theatre contributed to the overall play was because, first of all, the seats were comfy, the sitting area was spacious, there was very good room outside of the theatre where people could chill during intermission and while waiting to get into the theatre, finally, the sound projection was excellent. The other reason this theatre made this stage drama stand out, is because, the play is about football. How often do you see a stage drama about a sport like that? how can you play an actual game of football on a regular stage? The producers of the stage drama did it, and they did it well at the HKAPA lyric theatre. bravo!

Wandered around Wan Chai and noticed the 2F and 3F anime characters outside. Take the elevator up…read moreto the 4th floor and work your way down! Awesome little art galleries and looks pretty new.

When talking about the manga/anime culture, what is the first thing that comes into your mind?…read moreProbably Japanese manga (actually the word Man Nga is derived from the Kanji, that has the same pronunciation and meaning. Kanji are words that entered the Japanese language from ancient China, similar to how certain French had entered the English language system), cosplay (costume play) and the annual Anime-Manga Fair at Exhibition Centre. In fact, comics and animation has been active in many other countries too, for example the American comics of hero stories, the Hollywood/Disney production of (nowadays) computerized animations, the European comics often with political/fine arts themes, the Chinese comics of Sanmao, Chinese animation of folklore stories in Chinese water and ink style(such as Journey to the West, Nezha). Hong Kong , as such a small city in the world also have our own unique comics culture that is simultaneously influenced but different from those in China, Japan or the Western worlds, with a key focus on action, kung-fu, and triads stories, mirroring the success of Hong Kong movie industry. It is quite a refreshing turn of event that the government finally recognizes the importance of popular culture, and the choice of venue for commemorating the development of comics/animation culture in Hong Kong is equally amazing. The 10 no.s of pre-war tenement houses at Mallory Street, affectionately named the green houses after a casual repaint by the government after acquiring them in the 60s, and subsequently categorized as Grade 2 historic building, was chosen for rejuvenation for such purpose. The architectural team chose to gut out the narrow, dark and much deteriorated interiors of typical tenement houses and created a central courtyard area, as public space for the community, as if a secret garden hidden behind the facades of buildings. The usable space as on one side facing this central courtyard, with 2 bridges linking at third and fourth floor to the façades kept in place on the opposite side. The top two floors are exhibition and event space for rental purpose, whilst shops and restaurants occupies the first 2 floors. The most special use here is the Anime/Manga Salon. It is like a reference library, where important pieces of comic works are available for enjoyment within the salon. A good archive and relaxing space. On a side note, the project won the Medal of the Year 2013 and Special Architectural Award 2013 in the community building category, issued by the Hong Kong Institute of Architects.

Ping Shan Library is one of the few rare cases of government public libraries that has a strong…read moresense in spatial design and material use, a nicely executed design scheme from the Architectural Services Department. Really hope there could be more of such quality public libraries around Hong Kong, just like those in Scandinavia, to encourage reading culture and rid ourselves of the cultural dessert image of HK. Being the second largest public library in Hong Kong (the largest is the Central Library in Tai Hang), it is 7 storeys high, full of books and audio visual materials for lending or using inside the library. The special thing about this library, as opposed to other inward-focused libraries in Hong Kong, is that it has many outdoor reading areas and atrium spaces with high headroom. The books are organized around a central staircase winding around an atrium. You'd feel as if you are walking outdoors with all the sunlight filtering in, and it makes the place so much more pleasant. Small terraces and outdoor decks are scattered around the building, so you can opt read outdoors after you borrowed a book (pity too little seating in these outdoor areas, otherwise they'd be much better utilized). There are also indoors pocket spaces here and there with upholstered seating where you can curl in and indulge in a book. Material-wise, it opted for a more rustic texture and cool color tone, such as wood, rusted copper, dark coloured tiles and metal claddings, to induce a vintage yet modern look and feel to the building, so that it can blend in more smoothly with the Traditional Chinese palette in the buildings at the nearby Ping Shan Cutural Walk. Usually cool tones are not used in communal government buildings in HK, but the Ping Shan library prooves as a successful case that such a 'cool' building can also be much liked by local citizens, as shown by how crowded the place is on a daily basis.

Small, but well loved neighborhood temple with unique coiled incense hanging and wafting through…read morethe air. There's a small public outside courtyard, smaller inner courtyard with incense shop and reception, and three different altars. Two other people were doing devotion while I was there, a lady was washing the floor, and a man was attending the reception/shop. I almost missed it because the pedestrian street has so many things that could easily distract you and make you miss it if you aren't looking for the simple white arch along the alley.

Temples can often be overkill to those of us from the Western world, because it is simply unknown…read moreand abundant in this area of the world. But I believe with three "Man Mo" temples around Hong Kong and the SAR, this one is a worthy stop if you find yourself in the area. Because it is in Tai Po, it is void of tourists and quaint. It feels very local and peaceful. It was built in 1891 and was declared a historical monument in 1984. More so than other temples I have seen, this place is very well taken care of. The small courtyard was so exceptionally clean and manicured. The temple is also small and dedicated to the God of Literature (Man) and the God of War (Mo). We were the only two people there, other than the one man who was attending the temple reception desk. This temple is located about mid way down Fu Shin Street, which is a small market street for shopping (less tourist trinkets and more designed for locals) and also around the corner from the Railroad Museum.