Preparations for this weekend’s Dragon Boat Carnival are in full swing.

The Hong Kong Dragon Boat Carnival is a three-day party with live entertainment as well as a beer garden. International teams will also compete in the Sa Sa International Dragon Boat Races in Victoria Harbour (Tsim Sha Tsui-side).

Workers have erected the spectator seating along the Avenue of the Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui and this morning, preparations commenced on the racing infrastructure.

Around 05h30 this morning (yes, I was up that time!) barges started arriving. The huge vessels are being lined up to act a buffers of sorts to keep the water calm for the racing.

As I am typing this, the racing-boats have been offloaded and workers will soon begin laying the buoys for the lanes (picture below).

The 2011 Hong Kong Dragon Boat Carnival

Date:

17 – 19 June 2011

Time:

17 June 2011: 1pm – 6pm

18 – 19 June 2011: 8:30am – 6pm 

Venue:

Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade

San Miguel Beer Garden

17 – 19 June 2011: 1pm – 9:30pm

Venue: UC Centenary Garden, East Tsim Sha Tsui

My family will again have a bird’s eye view from our apartment in Hung Hom, overlooking the racing venue.

A lot can be said about the lack of green space in Hong Kong.  Where an area may exist for the establishment of a park, whatever the size, one often finds the obiqutous, concrete and metal, uniquely Hong Kong ”sitting out area.”

Then of course there’s the rampant (I would be forgiven for saying “condoned“) development of multi-storey residential and commercial buildings.

But that aside, when the Hong Kong government actually gets down to building a “green lung” in this densely populated city, they actually do it rather well.  Needless to say, it begs the question: Why don’t they do it more often?

One such park is the Kowloon Park situated in Kowloon’s Tsim Sha Tsui district.

Located right next to the busy Nathan and Haiphong roads, the Kowloon Park is indeed an oasis in this busy shopping and cullinary district.

Formerly a site for the British army’s barracks, some of the buildings were preserved and now serve as museums.  Some of these include the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre and the Health Education Exhibition and Resources Centre.

The Park also boasts a state-of-the-art Sports Centre with an Olympic-size indoor swimming pool as well as a huge outdoor water-park.  The sports centre was a key venue when Hong Kong hosted the East Asian Games in 2009.

I recently enjoyed breakfast in the park, while on my way to the HKFRU’s event with the Hong Kong Special Olympics.  I had my trusty FlipCam with me and took some footage:

Click here for a map of Kowloon Park

The Cathay Pacific International Chinese New Year Night Parade takes place on Lunar New Year’s day on Thursday 3 February 2011.

Organisers have announced that all tickets for the exclusive seating area at the Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui are sold out.

However, spectators can still line the Parade route to view one of the most spectacular events in Hong Kong.

The route:

The parade starts at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza in Tsim Sha Tsui and proceeds along Canton Road, Haiphong Road, Nathan Road and Salisbury Road, and ends outside Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel and Towers.

If you’re planning to take the MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui, here are the directions:

To Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui

* MTR Tsim Sha Tsui Station Exit F, take passage way to Exit L6.

* MTR East Tsim Sha Tsui Station Exit L6.

* Star Ferry from either Central or Wan Chai to Tsim Sha Tsui.

To parade route

* MTR Tsim Sha Tsui Station Exit A, C, D and E.

* MTR East Tsim Sha Tsui Station Exit K, L1 and L5.

(Click here to view a graphic map of the Parade route)

The Lunar New Year Parade will also pass through Canton Road, a popular shopping district in TST

Much like Norm in the classic sitcom “Cheers” every bloke should have a “local.” Especially in a city like Hong Kong where life can get rather hectic at times.

Mine is BullDogs Bar & Grill in the Tsim Sha Tsui East alfresco dining area next to the Kowloon Shangrila Hotel.

Not only is it within walking distance of our apartment in Hung Hom, but I’ve come to know the staff over the past few years, so much so that the barman pours my drink as I walk into the place! (don’t tell me Mom!)

We joined the hundreds of party-goers who crammed into BullDogs, La Villa, McLovin’s Tavern and Wooloomooloo on the strip to usher in 2011.

Needless to say… a great time was had by all!

Here are some more images from last night:

Meanwhile, over the world-famous Hong Kong (Central) skyline, this is what happened:

Click here to see how to get to the TST East alfresco dining strip.

My daughter Micaela, 14 is getting really good at snapping away on my camera, nogal!

She took this picture of a crescent moon over Kowloon’s Tsim Sha Tsui just before 7pm tonight (Thursday, August 12):

If you’re Muslim, Ramadan Mubarak to you and yours.

One of my favourite hang-outs when I’m in the mood for some big-band jazz and a couple of big beers (not necessarily in that order) can be found in one of Tsim Sha Tsui’s food-districts: Ned Kelly’s Last Stand in Ashley Road.

In December 2011 Ned Kelly’s Last Stand will celebrate it’s 40th Anniversary.  During this time, the entertainment business being what it is here in Hong Kong and indeed anywhere in the world, Ned Kelly’s Last Stand has become a true Hong Kong institution that is known and fondly remembered by patrons all over the world.

The small stage precariously perched on one side of the venue has hosted numerous bands over the years.  These include: Sergio Mendez Band, Jimmy Rogers, Kenny Ball & His Jazzband, Winifred Atwell, Rosemary Clooney, Kay Starr, Matt Monroe, Charlie Barnet, Bob Wilber, The Imelda May Band, Kenny Martyn, The Tom Jones Band and many others.

These days, bandleader Colin Aitchison and the Colin Aitchison & The China Coast Jazzmen is responsible for entertaining the fans and the five or six musicians who do duty every evening do a grand job of entertaining the packed crowds who swarm in every evening around 9pm.

Ned Kelly’s Last Stand is open daily from 11h30 to 2am. and the live Dixieland jazz daily starts from 9:30pm until around 1am.

It serves Australian fare, including juicy pork sausages with mashed potatoes and onion gravy; beef stew; fish and chips; Australian sirloin steak; Irish stew; hamburgers; and cottage pie (baked bowl of minced beef, onions, vegetables, and mashed potatoes).

How they manage to feed and entertain so many hungry and thirsty patrons in such a small venue is beyond me, but who cares?  They do a damn fine job!

Happy Hour is from 11:30am to 9pm, with reduced prices.

(Pictures below: Mike Jansen)

Here’s a taste of Ned Kelly’s Dixieland Jazz band, courtesy of alblurt06 on YouTube:

Additional video clips of Ned Kelly’s Last Stand/The China Coast Jazzmen can be found here

Find Ned Kelly’s Last Stand here:

View Larger Map

(Additional picture of Ned Kelly’s Last Stand/The China Coast Jazzmen courtesy of Colin Aitchison on FaceBook)

The organisers of the 2010 SaSa 2010 Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races yesterday announced that the races were to be down-scaled from a 3-day to a 2-day event due to the effects of the tropical storm Chanthu.

However, as we have always forecasted here at Howzit-HongKong.com, once again this tropical storm warning proved to be just another storm-in-a-teacup.

We we got home at about 1pm this afternoon, conditions in Victoria Harbour proved to be ideal (a flat,calm harbour) for Dragon Boat racing.

When we passed Tsim Sha Tsui East in the vicinity of the Kowloon Shangrila Hotel, there was some activity on the water.

It may have been the various teams getting in a practice run or two before the big event tomorrow, we don’t know.

So, if you’re in the mood for some great international Dragon Boat racing, head out to the Tsim Sha Tsui East waterfront tomorrow.

Read all about the Race on Howzit-HongKong.com here

Here at Howzit-HongKong.com, we’ve been moerse (very) impressed at the effort put in by the South African Consulate in Hong Kong in promoting our country’s honour of hosting the world for the FIFA Football World Cup in June 2010. 

Local Hong Kong businesses have joined the party and added their own events to the groundswell in anticipation of the world’s biggest sports event back home.

It is more than clear that world-wide, South Africa, and in a wider scale… Africa, is currently the flavour of the month.

I regularly visit the new K11 Mall near my apartment and have been impressed at the levels the promotions department of Hong Kong (and the world’s) only Art Mall have gone to in promoting Africa and South Africa.  In late March, K11 hosted a South African dance troupe to kick-off their Africa focus.  All over the Mall, exhibits and fotographs featuring Africa can be seen while their frontline promotions staff are all kitted out in African-print uniforms. 

Last week, I popped in to the Jason’s Grocery Store at K11 for my weekly provisions and took the following pictures:

The K11 frontline staff are dressed in African-style uniforms:

Well done K11 Mall!  You are playing your part in focussing local attention on South Africa in 2010!

This kind off African/South African-promotional initiative is but one of the un-recorded spin-offs of the FIFA 2010 World Cup that often go un-noticed.  Howzit-HongKong.com can only hope that local events like this will in the future help to welcome more Hong Kongers, Mainland Chinese and other Asians to South Africa.

That, for us, will be the REAL benefit and legacy of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Ke Nako. It’s our time.

Mike Jansen

K11 is a high-rise building located in Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon developed by New World Developments.  Underground it can be accessed via the pedestrian walkway from the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR towards Tsim Sha Tsui East MTR.  The building features a 340 000 square-foot, 6-storey shopping centre beneath the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong.

I have been living in Hong Kong long enough to have become accustomed to the “No Photo” rule at some establishments.  It is not unheard of to see folks flip out a camera at a restaurant and take several pictures of their meal.  Just yesterday I saw a guy take several snapshots of various pages of a newspaper in 7-11, putting it back on the shelf and leaving.  I have sympathy for the businesses who have this rule because they don’t want their products duplicated across the border, because that’s how products get pirated.

If you’re a regular reader of the website, you will know that I’ve been keenly following the amount of exposure given locally to the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup that starts in South Africa in June.  For this reason, when I passed the Adidas store in Tsim Sha Tsui this afternoon, I decided to have a look at what they are doing as official supplier to FIFA.

Keeping in mind that they may have a “No Photo rule” I politely asked a salesman if I may take some pictures of Jabulani (the name of the official 2010 ball) and Zakumi (the official mascot of the 2010 SWC).  I explained why I wanted to do so and offered my name-card.  He rushed off to consult his manager who bluntly refused, never even looking up from his keyboard (or game console).  “No pictures of the ball, only the mascot.” came the response.

I left and took a picture of the store instead.  So rest assured Adidas; while I took a picture of your store, I have no intention of setting up a rival “Adibas” outlet.