Re: [Leica] LUGging to Hong Kong and back (long)

[Gabe Sachs <egabe@ix.netcom.com>]

Thank you Tom.  That was an awesome report.  Now I want to go.  We have been
talking about going to Hong Kong for some time and it sounds like it was a great
adventure.

Also, thanks again for the Soft Releases.  They arrived and I love them.

Take Care
Gabe

TTAbrahams@aol.com wrote:

> First of all a heartfelt thanks to the fellow LUGgers I met in Hong Kong and
> special thanks to Joseph, Sarah and Adrian who took so much time out of their
> busy schedules to show me Hong Kong and to all of you who took Sunday night
> off for the LUG-meet at the Women's Auxiliary Club; fellow Canadians Howard
> and Esther Cummer, James Nelson, Chris Chung, and Michele Bina. And also a
> special thanks to Ray Tai for time and long discussions on photography, Hong
> Kong, Leicas, etc. There are times when travelling to a new place becomes a
> major event in one's life and Hong Kong definitely was one of those for me.
>  For those of you who haven't been there - GO. It is a truly dynamic place. It
> is compact enough that you can traverse it by foot in a day or two and
> visually challenging enough that you could stay a long time.
>  As for Leica, just a quick stroll down Stanley Street in Hong Kong and Nathan
> Street in Kowloon is enough to fulfil your "worst nightmare" - so many Leicas
> and not enough credit cards… I showed remarkable restraint and bought no Leica
> wares (Adrian Bradshaw took care of that - M6 TTL no less!) but I did find a
> 90/4 for my Fuji TX-1, so at the moment that kit is complete.
>  Joseph Yao is the most genial host you can imagine and his wife Sarah is
> remarkably patient with hardware discussions - as well as being an importer of
> wine and user of a Minilux. -  Over a period of 7 days we criss-crossed Hong
> Kong and Kowloon and when our energy lagged we sought reprieve in Cameron
> Photo and fondled some nice pieces of equipment; Leica MP, ½ frame M2 and
> anything new and exiting.
>  For those of you who don't know Hong Kong; there are 6.5 million people
> living in an area of about 500 square km. Hong Kong has one of the highest
> population densities in the world; about 40 times that of UK! Somehow they
> make it work; the transit system is excellent and even though streets are
> crowded, it is not unbearably so. The 21 and 35 became the standard lenses,
> the 50 was the "super-tele" and the 90 sat in the bag at the hotel the whole
> trip. Hong Kong is vertically challenged and challenging! It is built "up" in
> the true meaning of the word. Where space-rich North Americans would put  a
> small car park for 5-6 cars, they build a 40 story high apartment block,
> streets are quite narrow and the contrast between the sunlit side and the
> shadow side would tax any film. It is also a city with very effective air-
> conditioning; on the street it is in the low 90's and once you step into one
> of the stores or malls, it feels like you have been deposited at the crossing
> of Portage and Main in Winnipeg in the winter. The humidity is high, hovering
> around 95-97% when I was there and this gives new meaning to "condensation" on
> cameras and lenses. It is remarkable how well the M's can take it - probably
> better than me! Of course if I needed to clean the equipment, Joseph had a
> substantial supply of R.O.R. in the trunk of his car.
>  One good thing with Hong Kong is that you never are in doubt what time it is;
> there are enough Rolex watches around to keep you posted.  The current
> recession has driven the prices down somewhat, diamond studded Rolexes were a
> mere $50,000 (or 25 M6's) and here and there you could see the FED equivalent
> of those, made somewhere else and with lesser stones on them for $50 (or a
> body cap for a M6). Food is plentiful and available in every shape and form;
> from the best cuisine - be it Chinese, Thai, Indian, French - to the more
> unidentified objects in the street vendors woks. It all tasted good! There is
> an abundance of Mercedes Benz' three pointed stars around too. Evidently 10%
> of Hong Kong's car park is the S-klasse Mercedes and with road tax hitting US$
> 2,000 a year for the bigger models, gas running around US$ 5 a gallon and with
> parking on the Hong Kong side being $7-10/hour, you start appreciating the
> transit system!
>  It is a place that overwhelms you when you arrive. It is busy. It is
> constantly moving. People are around you  all the time. Surprisingly enough,
> with this amount of humanity, sometimes almost pushing you along, they are
> also very friendly and helpful, except for when you wait in line. Being
> "almost" a nice Canadian, you stand there and wait for the throng to clear, no
> dice, there were 50 people behind you when you stopped there - in a split
> second (a Rolex moment no doubt) they are all in front off you! Oh well, you
> can wait for the next tram, anyway.
>  Hong Kong has a wonderful tram system, old 30's trams, double deckers that
> lumber along with squeaking wheels and grinding brakes. Nostalgia at its best!
> They provide a perfect shooting platform if you get a window seat on the
> second level and at about US$ 0.25 it is a bargain too. You travel the length
> of the Hong Kong side, from the Happy Valley Race Course to Kennedytown in
> about an hour; perfect view of the throngs on the sidewalk below you and the
> merchants with their wares. The scenery changes as you go through town, from
> Causeway Bay's department stores, through the Central's banking and government
> buildings and to the rice merchants' shops, spice stores and turtle meat shops
> along the streets in Kennedytown. Fast film is recommended as the driver knows
> exactly when you want to shoot and will immediately apply the brakes and come
> to a shuddering stop about 5 feet further along than you wanted.
>  It was a great trip; talking photography with Joseph, Adrian - shooter in
> Shanghai - and James Nelson who is documenting Indonesian tribes. James
> brought some Epson printed shoots to the Sunday dinner. He is a R8-shooter and
> a damned good one too. I am now waiting for his book. Talking Leica with the
> LUGgers and shooting with Joseph, Ray and Adrian anywhere and everywhere.
> Watching Michele Bina take off into the Hong Kong night and traffic on his BMW
> motorcycle - there is a brave man for you! - Sometimes life is very good! -
> Joseph has already picked a spot for next years LUG-meet and trust me, you got
> to be there to see it! - Again thank you all for hospitality, good talks and
> (I hope) great b/w shots and see you all soon again.
>  Joseph gave me a great set of 3 books  called "Old Hong Kong" which cover
> Hong Kong's history in pictures; from the early settlement in the 1840's up to
> 1997 when the Union Jack came down for the last  time - the last shot is  the
> lone bag piper standing in the pouring rain. -  We all think we are such
> hotshot shooters, but looking at some of these old prints from the  19th
> century -  while our equipment might be more convenient, our films faster and
> our lenses more sophisticated - better pictures - that's debatable. Some of
> these shots were taken with wet collodion plates, coat, shoot and process
> before the emulsion had dried and in a high heat and humidity environment at
> that. Hauling these plates and cameras around demanded stamina and dedication.
> No shoulder bag with a couple of M-bodies (and  Fuji TX-1) and a pocket filled
> with film in those days!
> Tom A