Laser Lights in Hong Kong

In many ways, my last full day in Hong Kong was the best.  I started out the day with a walk in Kowloon Park.   During our group excursion to The Peak the night before, one of my local colleagues told me how to find it.   The Royal Pacific hotel has a restaurant called Cafe on the Park; in fact, if you look closely, there is a side exit that takes you out of the hotel and provides access to a skywalk, several stories above the street level.   After two days in the concrete jungle, Kowloon Park was a relief.  I arrived about 6:45 and quickly noticed that that park buzzed with activity.  In cul-de-sacs off of the main path, people of all ages performed slow motion twists, bends and stretches, akin to my own morning regime but more influenced by Oriental disciplines such as Tai Chi.   

Unlike the grid pattern at street level, paths, walkways and twisting stairwells branched off in many directions.  My own route led past an evergreen maze, composed of emerald green shrubs, and then descended down a twisting series of steps, before I began to loop back under a canopy of local deciduous trees.   The greenery reminded me of Hawaii and the temperature hovered at about 65 degrees F (25 degrees C) during my walk.   I continued across and found an aviary at the next level, first passing a covey of white flamingos.   The bird sanctuary itself housed birds with bright green and yellow plumage, reminding me of parrots, but without the chatter.   I continued my walk, tracing loops within loops, before dropping down to the main park level and beginning my return.   

After a busy day of meetings and presentations, our group walked on foot about 6 blocks over to the edge of the harbor.   We took an escalator up about two stories and reached a restaurant which specialized in Northern Chinese cuisine.  Our food was served up one dish at a time.  The items were first placed on a circular platter for viewing by all and then divided up and served to each person.   The food was quite good, but the process went on a for long time.   

We sat in a corner of the restaurant, overlooking the harbor and we had fine views of the rest of Kowloon before us and Hong Kong city to our left.  The sunset was colorful, but the real show began at 8:00.  The peak of a skyscraper across the harbor squirted a pencil thin burst of laser light in the direction of a building across the harbor in Kowloon, then was joined by other bright colors emanating from one  building after another.  The bursts of fiery white, green and yellow, creating geometrically spewed ephemeral designs across the waters of the harbor, showed Hong Kong in its role of high tech celebrant, flexing its muscles with an optimistic light show for all to watch.  It felt like a statement to the world saying, yes, there is economic pain now, but don't forget to celebrate.   

Later that night, I watched a snippet from a local news program on my hotel television.  My favorite columnist, Tom Friedman of the New York Times, gave an interview to a lissome twenty-something newswoman in a setting that looked like a fast food restaurant.   Friedman talked about the many challenges faced by today's world.  When asked how he chose his projects, he said that he followed his gut instincts based on what caught his attention.  Shortly, the interview came to an end.  The woman smiled through her pasted red lipstick and made up ivory cheeks, signing off the interview, Live from Hong Kong.  

Friedman's presence symbolized to me that Hong Kong is one of the centers of change that will likely lead the way to a different world for those in the next generation.  It felt like a validation of the trip, one sign among the many that I experienced in my scant few days in this city.   

I'll leave with a couple glimpses of the laser show we saw, in low def, courtesy of my cell camera: