Dinosaurs in Hong Kong

If you walk down Chatham Road South in Hong Kong, you may wonder if there has been a dinosaur invasion.

Fortunately, we all know such things are more likely in Japan.

Instead, what you're seeing is part of the Hong Kong Science Museum's current exhibition Legends of the Giant Dinosaurs. With 500,000 visitors in just three months, there can be long lines to see it, especially on weekends. I was able to go on a weekday, though, and happily entered without needing to stand in line.

On another day the line extended far away from here.

Once inside, you can watch a brief introductory video.

First they told me I only needed to understand 5,000 years of Chinese history...

Then, before you know it you're gaining first hand experience with dinosaur excrement.

There's a lot more than what's in this photo.

In case you didn't make the connection

And in the same spirit, how can one refuse the opportunity to make a Triceratops fart?

Although I love immersive learning, I'm glad they didn't try to replicate the smell.

If you're looking for something more intense, perhaps an interactive Tyrannosaurus rex will do the trick. [spoiler alert: a "secret" about this exhibit is revealed below]

Yes, something is looking at you.

A nearby sign explaining image recognition technology asks:

Is this Tyrannosaurus watching you with the 'image recognition' system'? Reveal the secret at the Tyrannosaurus Command Centre.

When I approached the T. rex and looked it in the eye, it let out a loud snort. I'll admit I was slightly startled. It is a T. rex after all. Curious to learn about its apparently effective image recognition system, I headed to the Command Centre where I learned I should have paid more heed to the quotation marks in the sign.

The kid who "attacked" me had already fled the scene.

To top it all off, what could be better to teach your kids than how to anger a Velociraptor?

The Velociraptor's mane reminded me of something. It took me a few minutes, but I think I figured it out.

In addition to these and other interactive exhibits, there is also an excellent collection of dinosaur fossils, many of which were unearthed in China.

Juvenile Protoceratops

Jintasaurus meniscus with Suzhousaurus megatherioides, Beishanlong grandis, and Lanzhousaurus magnidens

Xiongguanlong baimoensis with Jintasaurus meniscus and a very large Daxiatitan binglingi

The well-designed mix of fossils and interactive exhibits can keep both kids and adults amused. Like the Zigong Dinosaur Museum I visited two years ago, I enthusiastically recommend a visit if you're in the area. Just make sure to catch it before Legends of the Giant Dinosaurs becomes extinct in early April.

Connected Balancing

To continue the "balance" theme in the previous post, here is a scene including some wobbly, connected planks at Fung Tak Park in Wong Tai Sin, Hong Kong:

The boy on the right joined uninvited and discovered balancing on these planks is especially challenging for two people at the same time.

Lanterns at the Man Mo Temple

For some balance, which may be needed after the previous post, here's a scene from the Man Mo Temple in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong:

Pig Snouts and Ears in Hong Kong

Can't decide between pig snout and pig ears? Well, there's an answer for that:

Hanging outside at a meat market

I saw the above culinary offerings in a market area on Gage Street in Central, Hong Kong. A large number of trendy Western-style restaurants popular with both Hongkongers and foreigners happen to be nearby--one of many options for food in the area if you're not in the mood to cook anything yourself.

Pig snout is allowed to be used as an ingredient for hot dogs in the U.S., which makes me wonder about KFC's pizza dogs in Hong Kong. Maybe in the KFC spirit their hot dogs are made with chicken though. Pigs can only hope.

Not Hot Dogs in Hong Kong

To be clear, I have no reason to believe any dogs were harmed in relation to the previous post about KFC's pizza dog.

Dogs eating out near Sai Yeung Choi Street South in Mong Kok, Hong Kong

The Pizza Dog at KFC in Hong Kong

As I walked down Nathan Road in Hong Kong one recent day, I noticed this sign:

It was the first time I had seen mention of KFC's pizza dog. Curious about the culinary fusion, I decided to eat at a KFC in Hong Kong for the first time.

Amazingly, I didn't see a single person order a pizza dog while I was in line. That didn't discourage me though. When it was my turn to order I said with great confidence, "One pizza dog!". I could tell the cashier was duly impressed by the conviction in my voice.

She then asked, "What would you like with it?"

With conviction again I replied, "I just want a pizza dog. Nothing else." She then told me I had to order something else with the pizza dog. The cashier pointed to the promotional sign which listed three different options and explained I would need to at least order a drink as well.

This requirement threw me for a loop, but life is life. And I now really wanted to try the pizza dog.

So I looked at the options, which appeared to be mostly Pepsi products. There is (or was) a building at Disney World's Epcot park in Florida where Coca-Cola offered free samples of its drinks from around the world which are not normally available in the U.S. Unfortunately, I didn't see anything equally exciting at the Hong Kong KFC. I went with a Diet Pepsi. I figured I was already taking in enough extra calories for the day.

Very soon after paying, I had a tray with a pizza dog (and a Diet Pepsi).

The pizza dog didn't look as glorious as it had in the sign, but at least it came in a big basket. Based on the texture of the cheese and its temperature, the pizza dog appeared to have been sitting at a lukewarm temperature for a while. I don't think they even bothered tossing it into a brick oven to reheat it. It tasted pretty much like a hot dog pizza without much tomato sauce. I wouldn't call it incomparable, but it was OK. I only ate half, but that's mostly because I wanted to save room for a more proper Hong Kong meal later.

Like McDonald's special Prosperity Burger, I have not seen the KFC pizza dog in mainland China. I don't think I'll go out of my way to eat one again soon, especially since I still need to try the squid ink hot dog.

The Genuine Placebo Store in Hong Kong

If you already have strong expectations your next pair of shoes will be great, there may be no better place to buy them than here:

On Soy Street near  Sai Yeung Choi Street South in Mong Kok, Hong Kong

One introduction to the store (in Chinese) indicates that the store's name was thoughtfully chosen. You can find them on Facebook here. If you enjoy their page, remember that the feeling is all in your head.

Now if only I can find a fake Placebo store ...

Ephemeral Laughs from Yue Minjun and Roger Angell

Earlier today I saw the steel sculptures of laughing people created in 2009 by Chinese artist Yue Minjun now outside the Macao Museum of Art. After briefly considering them, I read an informational card and learned they share the title "The Laugh that can be Laughed is not the Eternal Laugh".

After a few moments pondering the possible meaning of the title, I found humor in it and laughed. Then, listening to my laughter, I broke into a louder laugh finding humor in the idea that my laugh could not be an "Eternal Laugh".

I suddenly went silent. Recursion. Absurdity. Eternity. For a seemingly timeless period, my mind floated.

And then I walked away to find something to eat.

Due to an unrelated recommendation, in the evening I read "This Old Man" by American essayist Roger Angell in The New Yorker. The topic of laughter appeared again, this time in Angell's personal reflections on life, death, and growing old:

I get along. Now and then it comes to me that I appear to have more energy and hope than some of my coevals, but I take no credit for this. I don’t belong to a book club or a bridge club; I’m not taking up Mandarin or practicing the viola. In a sporadic effort to keep my brain from moldering, I’ve begun to memorize shorter poems—by Auden, Donne, Ogden Nash, and more—which I recite to myself some nights while walking my dog, Harry’s successor fox terrier, Andy. I’ve also become a blogger, and enjoy the ease and freedom of the form: it’s a bit like making a paper airplane and then watching it take wing below your window. But shouldn’t I have something more scholarly or complex than this put away by now—late paragraphs of accomplishments, good works, some weightier op cits? I’m afraid not. The thoughts of age are short, short thoughts. I don’t read Scripture and cling to no life precepts, except perhaps to Walter Cronkite’s rules for old men, which he did not deliver over the air: Never trust a fart. Never pass up a drink. Never ignore an erection.

I count on jokes, even jokes about death.

Angell follows with a joke he's been told 4th graders will appreciate, and then he shares another joke:

A man and his wife tried and tried to have a baby, but without success. Years went by and they went on trying, but no luck. They liked each other, so the work was always a pleasure, but they grew a bit sad along the way. Finally, she got pregnant, was very careful, and gave birth to a beautiful eight-pound-two-ounce baby boy. The couple were beside themselves with happiness. At the hospital that night, she told her husband to stop by the local newspaper and arrange for a birth announcement, to tell all their friends the good news. First thing next morning, she asked if he’d done the errand.

“Yes, I did,” he said, “but I had no idea those little notices in the paper were so expensive.”

“Expensive?” she said. “How much was it?”

“It was eight hundred and thirty-seven dollars. I have the receipt.”

“Eight hundred and thirty-seven dollars!” she cried. “But that’s impossible. You must have made some mistake. Tell me exactly what happened.”

“There was a young lady behind a counter at the paper, who gave me the form to fill out,” he said. “I put in your name and my name and little Teddy’s name and weight, and when we’d be home again and, you know, ready to see friends. I handed it back to her and she counted up the words and said, ‘How many insertions?’ I said twice a week for fourteen years, and she gave me the bill. O.K.?”

As Angel reacted when he first heard the joke more than fifty years ago, I laughed and was surprised to hear the joke in the particular context it was shared.

What does Angell, at the age of 93, believing jokes to be so important mean? What does the "The Laugh that can be Laughed is not the Eternal Laugh" mean? I'm still not sure, but where these questions lead and how they relate fascinates me.

And that I noticed a connection between Yue Minjun's sculptures in Macau and Roger Angell's essay from New York City ...

... makes part of me laugh.

Sai Yeung Choi Street South in Mong Kok, Hong Kong

With a focus on electronics, cosmetics and clothes, Sai Yeung Choi Street South in Hong Kong's Mong Kok district is at its liveliest when the street is blocked to vehicular traffic and the shopping and entertainment options expand. In the words of Anna Cummins in Time Out Hong Kong:

Walk along the pedestrianised zone of Sai Yeung Choi Street in Mong Kok as evening settles and prepare for all your senses to be smashed – repeatedly. Between the sales reps inexorably blocking your passage with their banners and leaflets, you’re bombarded by sweet and unsavoury smells as fulgent lights blind your eyes. Then there are the political activists who wax lyrical about the state of the world as they stand next to portable amps, which discharge a cacophonous mixture of street karaoke, beatboxing and live pop-rock. When we take our tour down the street, a man, for some reason, is balancing on a Rolla Bolla with a bunch of flowers in his mouth. Nearby, a group of footballers have gathered a sizeable audience as they perform tricks to music. In between the bustle, another guy nonchalantly appears to levitate, drawing a crowd of silent, bemused onlookers.

No matter if you love or loathe the madness, it’s undeniable that Sai Yeung Choi Street’s audacious atmosphere stands out against so many stagnant streets in Hong Kong, which are full of stationary cars and high end swank.

I recall far more savory than unsavory smells in the area and would not characterize Hong Kong as having many stagnant streets, but I agree the pedestrianized Sai Yeung Choi Street South stands out in Hong Kong. As Cummins later explains and the South China Morning Post also earlier reported, catching the experience is harder, because the city reduced the amount of time the street is pedestrianized due to concerns voiced by residents and shop owners. The Standard reported the different viewpoints on how the change will impact business and commercial rents in the area:

Midland IC&I head of research department Jimmy Chan expects leasing activities to fall with the traffic announcement. However, while most analysts forecast retail rents in the area to fall due to declining sales, some shopowners and tenants think differently.

They welcome the new rules as the return of more cars will prevent street performers from attracting crowds and creating a nuisance to potential shoppers.

Whatever the case, on weekends and public holidays the street is still pedestrianized and during several recent visits I found it full of life. With up to 20,000 pedestrians per hour, there are plenty of people to see. Below are photos from there and a few smaller cross streets of pedestrians, sellers, and performers, Rolla Bolla and all. They offer a more expansive look than the several photos from there--street-level advertising, a flash mob, and people posing for a paid photograph--in last year's post about Mong Kok. .