Masked Shining on Lam Tei Main Street

Working in a Hong Kong Hole

Next to Dundas Street in Mong Kok

Since beginning this blog, I have never gone sans posting for so long before — not even close.

Now I will begin working myself out of this hole.

June 4, 2020, Mong Kok, Hong Kong

This June 4th was rather different from my experience last year in mainland China and even the last time I was in Hong Kong on this date.

But like before in Hong Kong, I still saw many lights.

Back to School in Late May in Hong Kong

I'm not used to seeing "Back to School" sales this time of the year. But with only two confirmed cases of locally-transmitted COVID-19 during the past month in all of Hong Kong, phase 1 of schools reopening here began today, May 27. The illustration on the sign in the above photo seems a bit off though. Based on what you see in most of Hong Kong, adults and children will still be wearing face masks.

Cat, Coffee, and Face Masks in Hong Kong

The Chiu Chow Dispensary Limited in Mong Kok, Hong Kong, has all some people really want right now . . .

Getting Rid of Germs Outside a Hong Kong Hospital

Inside Hong Kong's Queen Elizabeth Hospital hand sanitizer is widely available and of course there are restrooms with hand soap as well. There is also an option for removing germs from your hands at an outdoor location many people pass when arriving or leaving the hospital.

Outdoor hand-washing station at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kowloon, Hong Kong

There is something inspiring about watching people wash their hands with soap these days, whether they are inside or outside.

A Day of No New Cases in Hong Kong

When everybody knows what cases they're talking about . . .

Today's encouraging front page headline in the South China Morning Post applied to yesterday. Four new cases of COVID-19 in Hong Kong were reported today, though all are currently believed to be imported and not a result of local transmission. The struggle against the disease spreading isn't over in Hong Kong, but some good news was most welcomed.

A Good Store and a Nice Store in Hong Kong

In a brief post last December, I mentioned that the Good Shop in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, had a variety of items for sale. I passed the store again today, and the same holds true. But there is one noticeable difference: face masks.

Some for sale were set out in front of the shop. And not at all surprising, the man inside wore one. Different times . . .

To add even more to the Good Shop story, just three shops away is a store whose name has a similar theme.

I don't know whether this is deliberate or a coincidence, but it seems both good and nice.

A Masked Happy Easter Greeting at a Closed Bar in Hong Kong

The Bar Pacific in Hong Kong's Kowloon City was closed this past weekend, but they still made sure to wish people a "Happy Easter", face masks included.

The bar presumably would have preferred to be open, but as a sign explain they had no choice.

Dear Valued Guests,

The Hong Kong government has mandated that all Bar Establishments to be closed for 14 days starting from April 3rd 2020 at 6:00pm. We will resume operations after the Government Mandate is over. Please stay safe!

Bar Pacific

The reason the government earlier this month required bars to close was a signifiant increase of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong. It isn't yet known when bars will be able to reopen, but a very recent decrease in daily confirmed cases may give them hope.

If bars do reopen in the near future, the COVID-19 disease will still be a threat to some degree. So as an earlier-placed sign suggests at this Bar Pacific, people will likely have difficulty sitting down for a drink there if they have a fever.

They may also be expected to wear a face mask when not imbibing, just like the critters on the window.

Two Dogs Doing What Many People Do at a Popular Pier in Hong Kong

Previously I shared a photo of a "girl playing it safe" taken at the Western District Public Cargo Working Area in Shek Tong Tsui, Hong Kong. So for now, here is a photo I took at the same place today that shows a small part of why the working area is more popularly known as "Instagram Pier":

The scene caught my eye not because of any face mask wearing practices as others recently have, but because the two pet dogs were rather accommodating for the informal photo shoot.

I shared the earlier photo over a month ago, and I see that way too few posts have occurred since then. I could write several posts just on the topic of why things turned out that way — definitely have some stories to tell.

I don't know if I will ever tell those stories here, but I do know that I have more than plenty of ideas and material for other posts. And if all goes as planned, they will be happening more frequently now.

The K11 Musea Shopping Mall Playing It Safe in Hong Kong

Due to COVID-19, not all of the usual entrances to the upscale K11 Musea shopping mall are now open. And at those which are still open, a test awaits visitors.

As long as the infrared body temperature check doesn't detect a fever, people are free to enter. Temperature-checking technology that scans from a distance doesn't require each person to be individually approached with a hand held device — an advantage over those devices in both terms of efficiency and social distancing.

Masked Up at a Busy Crossing in Hong Kong

In many areas of Hong Kong at times it is difficult to find social distancing.

Crowded crosswalk at the junction of Hennessy Road and Yee Wo Street in Causeway Bay

But it is not at all difficult to find people wearing face masks. Since COVID-19 has spread much more slowly here in comparison to some other cities around the globe, it is becoming increasingly easy to believe they have helped to prevent a worse situation.

An Anti-Epidemic Sale in Hong Kong

Atelier de Courcelles, a multi-brand store for children's fashion, has a shop in Hong Kong's Harbour City shopping mall. Like a number of other shops in the mall, it has been having a sale.

Unlike a number of other stores in the mall, though, their sale directly mentions the reason the mall has seen far fewer customers than usual during the past couple of months — the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Anti-Epidemic Sale has been ongoing for at least several weeks. One can only hope there will soon be good reason for it to end.

Spotted THIS in Hong Kong

I've seen a number of cars with personalized license plates in Hong Kong. This is the latest:

A Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 4MATIC

Tonight at The Dog House in Hong Kong

For a contrast to a man wearing a mask at a bar street in Hong Kong, here's The Dog House bar tonight:

No so many people were wearing face masks while there.

A Blue Man Playing It Safe in Hong Kong

Tonight I asked a Hongkonger friend "What sort of pic of Hong Kong would you like people to see?"

She quickly replied "Face mask".

The above photo was taken Saturday night at Knutsford Terrace, a popular pedestrian bar street in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.

Some Men Playing It Safe in Hong Kong

Like bike rides, outdoor games of xiangqi now occur in Hong Kong with the common addition of masks.

At the Sitting-out Area under Flyover in Hill Road in Shek Tong Tsui, Hong Kong

No bike helmets needed.

King County and Hong Kong Now Have a Roughly Equal Percentage of COVID-19 Cases

Looking up at trees in Hong Kong today

For some perspective, I thought it would be interesting to compare COVID-19 numbers in King County, Washington, U.S., where there has been an outbreak, with Hong Kong. I suspected they wouldn't be extremely different in one particular aspect. Yet admittedly, I was surprised to find that the percentage of the population who've been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the two places would be so similar right now. In fact, they are practically the same.

King County: 32 confirmed cases / 2,233,163 people (2018 census estimate) = 0.00143%*

Hong Kong: 105 confirmed cases / 7,482,500 people (2019 census estimate) = 0.00140%

These numbers will likely soon change, and there are other factors to consider. Just something to ponder . . .




*Note: Both percentages were rounded at the point where they began to differ.

A Girl Playing It Safe in Hong Kong

Bike helmet? Check.

Face mask? Check.

Saturday at the Western District Public Cargo Working Area ("Instagram Pier") in Shek Tong Tsui, Hong Kong

People in Hong Kong remain concerned about the new coronavirus that originated in China and now spreading elsewhere in the world. But during the past few weeks there are signs of a growing number of people trying to go about their lives a bit more normally and enjoying a sunny day when they can.

More on this topic later . . .

A Setting Sun Behind a Gate in Hong Kong

In Kennedy Town, Hong Kong, looking towards Green Island