1995 was the year I arrived in Hong Kong for the first time. The company that I worked for sent me on a training trip to the US for like 3 weeks but my colleague and I wanted to see Hong Kong at the same time before 1997 when she would be “returned” to China. It was the hot topic during the late 90s and everyone reckoned that Hong Kong wouldn’t be the same anymore under communist rule. To our big surprise upon our arrival today in the new millennium, Hong Kong is definitely not the same after more than 10 years governed by China that adopted a different policy in managing the country. I thought Hong Kong has flourished tremendously albeit all the negativity. Though there is still much to do to “clean up the streets”, for the past years, we have seen increasing influx of tourists from all over the world especially from China. Everyone wants to see Hong Kong — the shopping and food paradise!

I have never thought I would come back to Hong Kong (香港 – the fragrant harbor). It’s congestion has repelled me for many years, but I came back nevertheless accompanying my wife who’s coming here for work. I know it is going to be a great trip just because I could sketch and indeed I have. After a week in Hong Kong island and Kowloon city we decided to take a one-hour ferry there to see the iconic St Paul’s historical ruin of Macau (which is also known as 大山巴) and experience shopping as well. We too were surprised to see Macau such a vibrant city despite their fame for being an Asian Las Vegas and harboring triads at the same time.

The pic below was done in Macau (奥門) yesterday. We found a nice little temple that sits right beside 大山巴 at the foot of the hill. We decided to take a break and I would sketch. It took about 30 mins to finish the piece. I took a pic of the location and the finished sketch to post it here. We would be leaving Hong Kong tomorrow, but at the meantime, more shopping!!

Sketching in Macau