update: martians have landed

just a quick hong kong graffiti update. the people behind the llama wheat paste creations that now decorate tin hau & tai hang (among many other hk locales), just got in touch. the group calls themselves “the martians” & these “aliens”  say that they come in peace & using “the universal language – art, to express messages to you.” far more interesting idea than the usual spaceship landing.

hong kong graffiti - cao ni ma

you can check out their fb page to see more of their commentaries around hk.

the faces of hong kong

a collection of faces (in hong kong graffiti form) from around the city …

hong kong graffiti - red hong kong graffiti - yo hong kong graffiti - hat hong kong graffiti - happy valley door

new buildings in central

thanks to the guys at g.o.d for this new addition to hong kong graffiti.hong kong graffiti - buildings in central

free in hong kong

hong kong graffiti - death is free

although nothing else might be free in hong kong, at least this person’s political opinion via hong kong graffiti is.

tai hang updated

clearly someone got a bit bored of the usual hong kong graffiti decorations in tai hang and grabbed some wheat paste to do something about it. the llama/草泥马 (cao ni ma) looks like a start from zero creation, but not sure about the others though. thoughts?

hong kong graffiti - cao ni ma hong kong graffiti - llama

around the corner from one of the best afternoon tea set in hong kong.
IMAG0063

thankfully the nearest happy meal is a few minute walk away…
hong kong graffiti - hungry

know this person?
hong kong graffiti - dude

hong kong graffiti - hair

okay, i’m cheating a little and this last hong kong graffiti pict. it was taken just over the border from tai hang in causeway bay; i still love the multi-color afro nonetheless.

sheung wan at night

was in sheung wan for a hotel review and happened upon these bits of hong kong graffiti down a back alley. almost too bad they’re hidden from sight.

sheung wan - hong kong graffiti - cat sheung wan - hong kong graffiti - monster

mobile messages

so not quite hong kong graffiti, but cars with ridiculous license plates (or are just ridiculous themselves) are just begging to have their photo snapped. here are four i caught in my ‘hood. the “u wish” deserves its own award for pretentiousness.

Hong Kong Graffiti - Hong kong cars - wish Hong Kong Graffiti - Hong kong cars - waiting

Hong Kong Graffiti - Hong kong cars - royal Hong Kong Graffiti - Hong kong cars - bling

have you seen any other good plates roaming the streets of hong kong lately?

happy times in happy valley

with school starting (school = hkust mba program) there hasn’t been a ton of time to post, but will try to my best to make up for lost pages now. with the races back (yes, there was time for the races of posting on here) i snapped a couple of picts in happy valley. first set here are from the underground pedestrian passage.

hk graffiti - happy valley walkwayhk graffiti - happy valley walkway 2hk graffiti - happy valley walkway man

this set were snapped along my walk home just north of the track. the first one looks like a graphics airlines tag.

hong kong graffiti - pole in happy valley hong kong graffiti - happy valley - animalhong kong graffiti - happy valley - eye

hiking discoveries

took advantage of the weekend weather to hit a couple of hiking trails. although there wasn’t any out-&-out hong kong graffiti, lots of people seemed to have used the rock & moss to express themselves. found these designs up mount butler.

hong kong graffiti - hong kong hiking -

okay, there’s no hong kong graffiti in this one, but i included it because i love this view of the icc & ifc bookending victoria harbour.

hong kong graffiti - hong kong hiking - 2

hong kong graffiti - hong kong hiking - 3

other than finding it a bit odd that people felt like carving into the rocks up there, the content in the middle of the three photos is odd to say the least  (or maybe my graffiti imagination isn’t creative enough).

all the way to the left is the phrase “jesus smiles” while on the right it’s “he sees you [some word that looks a lot like ‘naked’]”. still not sure of the two thoughts are related. of all the things to write on rocks overlooking the city though, that’s the hong kong graffiti that came to someone’s mind. really?

finding this stuff also reminded me of some fun shots i took a while back while hiking from quarry bay to stanley by the reservoir. love that hike.

hong kong graffiti - hong kong hiking - stanley - 1 hong kong graffiti - hong kong hiking - stanley - 2

 

edible art

although i’ll admit that i went in with pretty low expectations of the “art” that was going to grace our table at mandarin grill + bar as part of the art hk 2012 menu. i ate my words — literally & figuratively — as the courses came rolling out.

you can read my full review on “art hk 2012: edible art“, but had to share the images from the graffiti-inspired course here. (also read the full piece to see images of the dessert course that absolutely blew me away.)

ART HK12 Menu - hong kong graffiti - wall full

ART HK12 Menu - hong kong Graffiti - cropped

the course in the photos is based on the concept of a graffiti-covered berlin wall. the “wall” is made of foie gras & brioche, & the combination’s topped with an edible sugar-based sheet that’s the canvas for the graffiti. the portion could easily feed two, but can’t really hold that against it.

even if you’re “not an art fan” (although it seems like just about everyone is professing love for some art form or another leading up to art hk 2012) this is a piece of creativity that you’ll still be able to get behind.

(although i did take my own photos, these are courtesy of the mandarin grill + bar since they’re so much better than mine for this hong kong graffiti post.)