it’s already been a week since my last commentary. I would like to thank Salvador first for giving me a “heads-up” on pictures that I’ve recently forgotten to comment on — and that would be last year’s “Ocean Park’s Halloween Bash”! Once again, the one responsible for this event is none other than Auntie Ness. She got us free tickets to the event and she decided to let Salvador be in charge. Boy we really are going back in time now! There was supposed to be an AIA Entry instead (but no pics as of yet). Imagine the “horror” when I found out that Valerie have deleted the pictures, but thank God, Sam already has the forwarded message by her since that day. And so we are saved…

I remember going to the same event last year (yes, thanks to Auntie Ness of course..) it was quite a bit of fun but this time, the event is a lot more scary and thrilling than the last one. Trust me, there was a point where my hairs stood on end! Well, now that we’re done with the intro, let’s get to the main part shall we?

Entry: 003 ~~ HALLOWEEN BASH! ~~

There’s something strange in the neighborhood…..

1. *GHOSTBUSTED*: Trust me, we’re not the type of guys YOU would like dial your emergency number from, especially when it comes to the “occult and supernatural“. We really GOT SPOOKED this time around. Looks like the event handlers have done their job pretty well.

So we’re pretty much a whole lot going together. There are a lot more haunted events than last time. Sometimes the line is just too long you really can’t wait….. unless you realize that the person gets away 1/3 of the time they’re supposed to be there. See, it really is thrilling! While loitering around awhile, Judette is TOTALLY freaked out. Actors in zombie or voodoo doll like clothing really scared the living hell out of her. I knew we were really going to enjoy this event.

*Thanks to Salvador for the “Ghostbuster” picture!*

Zombie-dude: Ahhhh…. Night-Shift BONUS!!

2. You know it’s THRILLER, thriller night: These guys are really bringing it on! And for the record, this is the dude who scared Judette, sending her running in directions that doesn’t even exist in the compass. There are other freaky-guys out there. But my favourite one would have to be the zombie-doll. She tilts her head and walk around so eerily it looked real. Too bad I couldn’t get a hold of the pictures since most of them are already in the computer void as we know it.

There was another “horror” event where the entrance was guarded by a vampire. There was a point were the lights turned off and as I touched the wall, the lights flicker only to find out my I was resting my hands on “home-made” cockroaches. But gosh it still freaks me out so badly my body went limb for a few seconds.

“A Ghostly Photographer”

3. Shutter II: Instead of Ghostly images appearing on our pictures, it’s the other way around where IT takes a picture of us. LOL. From the picture you can see that we’re pretty much WET (with water folks). So the very obvious ride that caused it is the Raging River. Yes, we still reap the benefits of Ocean Park at the same time as the Halloween Bash.

Ocean Park at night is really beautiful but this event just made it more livelier. There were mini stage shows. Freaky masqots jumping out from unknown locations. Super cool roller-blade gliding killer freaks on the loose and much much more. But if there’s one thing that’s really scary, it’s the Abyss ride in Ocean Park.

*Forgive the typo from the picture*

Game: Can you spot the differences between the two pictures.

4. Similar pictures, more Variety: Like I mentioned earlier, a lot of the pictures were lost, and sometimes we have to make the best of what we’ve got. With the many wonders of Photoshop, it’s just SO possible! Well, we continued on from the Raging River, to the Abyss and even the Mine Train. And I tell you, the mine train at night is FASCINATING. It’s really wonderful to enjoy rides at night. Seeing the waterview and the rest of the theme park flashing it’s lights. Too bad I couldn’t take a snap shot whilst riding a roller-coaster!

Must be the humidity….

5. Still Wet: From this picture, it’s really quite obvious the pictures are taken in quite a short amount of time. Basically Ross is just relaxing in the park, probably before we bought ourselves a Night-time meal. I remember mine was Onion Rings, Chicken Drumsticks, Fries and a Large Coke. Valerie and some others bought McDonalds which is pretty expensive. Good thing that that we all shared and got our tummies full before you know it. While that has been going on, we were entertained by some Halloween singer on stage.

Over highways and under on a Magic Cable Car Ride…..

6. A Whole New World: From that point, YES! If I ever had a Night-Vision Camera, I would be flicking lots of pictures from that moving vantage point. The scenery is just so beautiful at night, you feel as if you just want the cable car to just move so slowly in order to enjoy every bit of view you can get. It’s also very calming and relaxing at that moment.

Ironic huh? The night can give you the creepiest moment in your life or it can give you a very peaceful relaxing atmosphere you’ve ever felt. Even though we were just dead tired after all the running and shouting and fighting and jumping and etc… we still felt refreshed.

One FINAL SCARE!!!

7. Ghostly Shadows: I was really surprised to see a shape of a Ghost in the background. Must have been another “coincidental” shadow effects you get once in awhile. Remember that exclamation mark on top of the guys head in “New Year’s Eve”? Glad to know that I was part of this event so that I can tell the whole world how things really went. I hope you enjoy my commentary, and I’ll be posting more when the time comes.

Well, it seems that Sam isn’t bothered at all. His smiling face already tells us that everything went well. You can see the exit, and that’s where we headed after this event or is it an exit at all????

A DARING ESCAPE!

*Just remember to take your motion sickness pills first…*

Entry No: 002 ~~ “JUNK” BOAT TRIP! ~~

Feeling thirsty anyone?????

1. Photoshopping Madness: Ah yes, the wonders of Photoshop never ceases to amaze me… and you! You can practically do wonders with it, having the time and knowledge necessary. Believe it or not, even a rookie could produce a fun looking concept, given the creativity and patience needed. There are many-a-photoshopped projects out there that could make it into an art museum. But all-in-all, the best ones out there, are the ones done by you yourself! And using it for fun, you can imagine the possibilities!

Basically we have here Renz, the supposed “ad” model, posing for the camera. Remember what I said about bringing your camera wherever you go? Well, you can have great pictures like this when chances go by. And believe me, you’re going to see more PhotoShopping madness ahead of you!!

*Credit to Salvador for designing the “Mountain Dew” Ad!*

Is this a “Junk” Boat Trip or a Woodstock event???

2. And noooowwww, for the host of the event….. AUNTIE VANESSA! *applause*: CHEERS to Auntie Ness (The wonderful lady in the picture) for the “Junk” trip. She really spent a lot of time and effort organizing the event just to make sure everything would turn out fine! We had meetings and she even sent out formal letters to the guests’ parents! She really wanted this to become a safe and mem-or-able trip so that one would cherish in his/her heart forever. Congratulations Auntie Ness, you’ve got exactly what you wanted!

If I remember correctly, this is the second time I’ve joined the event. The first one went really REALLY bad! For one thing, I’m the extreme version of a sea-sick maniac. I never really enjoyed it since I spent all my time vomiting all the way!

But it’s quite different this time, I realized what I was missing was a “motion” sickness pill, a prescription I’ve armed myself with before the trip. And this time, I was really enjoying it! We’ve bought lots of snacks and drinks, while some of the parents cooked some delicious meals as well.

Looks like everybody’s enjoying the trip……..

3. Poor Steven… well not exactly cause he doesn’t exist! No, I’m not trying to be mean, but it would be really interesting if he was there. Well then.. back to the commentary, having the cool breeze flowing in your hair and seeing the magnificent view of the Victoria harbour is absolutely beyond priceless. You know what they say: “The best things in life are FREE!”. And believe me, you don’t know how true that is *wink*.

The boat is actually smaller than you think, but being on the outside doing the “Titanic” on front of the deck *cough* *cough*. I mean, watching the both areas (Hong Kong Island and Kowloon) whiz by in your face. You feel as if all your stress are gone, so you can expect the joy and happiness in us as you can see in the previous pic.

Secretly, this is a private pirate ship!

4. Shade-tan anyone?: I guess we don’t want to have to much sun for awhile. Strange how sunny it is in the winter! Probably Global-Warming has it’s drawbacks…. hmm! Well, we can’t help but relax under the roof for a good ol’ talk of the past. It’s a lot of fun noticing that you’re going to a destination by sea, since you can see a whole lot of panoramic views out there. Here are some samples:

a. We get to see the borders of Hong Kong Island!

b. See islands and think if there are any deserted sailors out there!

c. Ocean Park from the sea is really quite memorable!

d. You get to see CAVES by the sea. You’d probably think there’s hidden treasure.

Too bad none of these pictures were taken by camera! Gee, if I only had my own…..

We’re cool and we have a gang!

5. “Junk” Trip boys: Honestly, I really wish I had more pictures there’s really less variety here. But nonetheless, we can see once again that the boys are having fun. Oops, I forgot about the girls, they seem to be enjoying us much as boys…. at least. Well, it’s most likely me that took this picture, these guys are eager to get themselves *wet* in the beach. Yes, that is our destination. So we brought extra clothes and towels for swimming. And oh, we managed to take some snacks and drinks from the deck.

Sorry, no love scene here!

6. No “Iceburgs” to ruin the day either: Yeah, since that would really suck if that happened. You know, if you really wanted to enjoy the scenery through a boat, it’s always good to go to the front, that’s where all the wind will come straight to your face. A little warning though, it’s also a dangerous area, if you fall, *ahem* you DIE! According to Auntie Ness that is.

*From this point, it’s the beach area at the south of Hong Kong Island. Clear Water Bay I guess. If you brought yourself some fishing tools, you’ll see that many “mini-puffer” fish lurks around in the area. I saw a kid that basically caught more than 20 and put them in the water bottle. Sam kinda caught one while swimming, although it didn’t puff itself up beforehand!*

Happy-go-lucky crowd screams again…..

7. Crazier than usual: We really packed the heat big time. Notice any difference? That’s right, I’m not in IT! That would mean I’m at the other end of the camera. And great things happen when I’m there. Bragging aside, smiling faces, great views, delicous snacks and quenching drinks really made our day. We ended our beach trip by 5, managed to get my shoes wet thanks to a certain “split-second” high tide, and another round up trip back to Tsim Sha Tsui.

Now, the darkness version of the trip is way more fun than the day time. We get to see the stars and the night lights. Hong Kong really looks beautiful at that time of the night, not to mention the sunsetting which really gives us the calming feeling after a tiring event, of swimming and wrestling in the waves.

We are NOT alone…..

8. “Unseen” visitor: “Oh gosh, I was so SHOCKED, when I saw this photo. I ran around, I e-mailed this to a paronormal agency, I made a WEBSITE about this. And now it’s coming, it’s coming…..”

– excerpt from the DVD Shutter!

Wonderful work done here, as you’ve may not noticed. This is the Aberdeen harbour, where the famous “Jumbo” boat restaurant is located. Even if we don’t look like it, we were so dead tired from the trip. But as you can see, everything has turned out perfectly fine! Some of us really hoped the trip would last longer since the sky just looked to amazing to watch. I felt like I wanted to sleep and wonder just right there in the spot.

Again, thanks to Auntie Ness for the trip, I would certainly love to have another Junk Boat Trip like this! I hoped you enjoy my commentary. I’m really sorry for the lack of pictures. I promise you when I DO have my own camera, you’ll be getting more picture commentaries. As for now, I would have to rely on my friends for the time being. So keep dropping by…

*Kudos to Salvador for the Shutter Poster!

Entry 001: ~~ A NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION ~~

And now a “New” chapter begins…….

1. New Year’s Destination….. “The Peak”: Honestly, we really had a struggle finding where we should celebrate the New Year. There were many choices from New Territories, Kowloon Tong, the AIA Carnival but in the end we all chose “The Peak”. That is if it weren’t for me piquing their curiousity by saying that “The Peak has been renuvated”. Problem was, there was too much traffic leading to the destination, so we got there LONGER than expected.

“Over” looking the peak area.

2. (Mental Note) A New Year’s Day is a REALLY BUSY DAY: Remember what I said, about “taking LONGER than expected”? We took the Minibus ride (a supposedly fast, and cheap way to “The Peak”) that ended up 5 times longer than the normal routine. And just to tell you, Air-con vehicle rides make me sick, so you can imagine the complete endurance I’ve been going through. And like all LONG rides, they end up being boring, even Sal nearly had to sleep in my shoulder……. which I really can’t accept!

Anyways, we did end up in the peak eventually…… *sweat*, and we could clearly see why the trip was so long. Everybody’s packing up the whole area, as seen in the picture. All in all, everything went well at least!

It’s just another “manic” Monday……

3. One of those 1/million “Mystery” shots… check out his Exclamation mark above his head! Obviously just a reflection that resembles the shape so to say the least. You can see a lot of commotion below, and as you’ve alr-e-ady guessed, we were going to check things out, wouldn’t you?

It’s a good thing Sam brought his Digital Camera with him. With batteries dead, we were thankful that a camera shop was nearby (surprisingly) selling in “affordable” prices. Trust us, moments like this needs to be captured on film *ahem* memory sticks.

So what’s all the commotion about?? It’s this little James Bond Doggie right here!! How much you say???

4. This isn’t just any “doooooo-gie in the window *arf *arf*”: Well well, we did check things out, and we were at the other end of the commotion. One on one we saw a dog in a SUIT! Handome little thing ain’t he? We’ll it’s a he cause it’ll be a dress otherwise. And yes, better flash-taking promotional here, good thing we’ve got ours to shoot. So always remember to take your digital camera wherever you may go! You may never know what you’ll find….

And what do these brotherly boys have in common? The answer lies within their shoes…

5. Contrasting Brothers: First of all, it is kind of natural that we would want to leave our mark by posing in famous landmarks for a memorable souvenir. Especially on top of the peak, where there seems to be a “huge” change of appearances. From the back, you’ll notice a lot of transparent windows which gives a little variety touch compared to the previous lookout of “The Peak” nonetheless. And here we have Salvador and Sam making sure they’ve got the best of the New Year in them!

White Silver of the East — Mr. Photogenic of the West

6. At opposite ends a-top “The Peak”: Believe it or not it’s FRICKIN cold over there, not to mention at night in the high point of Hong Kong. As you can see that our Mr. Photogenic never fails to light up the moment with his smile. If you ever do go there, why not head to the rooftop (at night would be best). Enjoying the scenery around, many-a-people pose for HQ souvenir pics on the edge facing the landscape around them. Sort of like the Star Ferry “photomen” by the waterfront, only this time it would be a lot MORE expensive. My recommendation, if you have money, get yourself a tripod and a camera that has that “handheld” lens feature. You’ll make the best of it, especially at night!

Mr. Photogenic and the man himself JAMES BOND!

7. Onto similarities: We’ve got our friend Sam who is “irresistably” tempted to go and have a one-on-one pose with 007. One of the many samples that is — if you want to PAY for it. The Peak isn’t just that for no-reason at all. Famous “waxed” celebrites are awaiting inside a two-floor scale for guys like Sam. Urging us to go in, both me and Salvador had to disagree, $120 per person isn’t a cheap thing and we like to spend our cash for something that would be a bit more worth. Although Sam implied or maybe even considered to treat us for the show, we can’t help but disagree and we really don’t like taking charity just for our sake…. *angel hoops appear overhead*

Celebrating New Year with a feast we’ll NEVER EEEEEVVVEERRRRR FORGET!!

8. With “extra” cheese please!! : You can’t imagine how SURPRISED we were to see Burger King within The Peak premesis, of course no one in their right minds would leave without some sort of taste. The queue never ended from the moment we got there. Very busy night, I’d bet those guys are having “bonus” payments by then. With that great moment that is not to missed we proudly showed off the few of our bags with a large Coke n’ Fries!

Hmm… quite a few of US francises are arising in Hong Kong, like that donut place “Krispy Kreme” I wonder if Burger King would expand? Sooner or later we may have a “diner” by the side of road one day. Good way to celebrate New Year huh!

Ummm…. YUM YUM YUM!!

9. Fries, burger some onion rings….. you get it!: Oh boy, we couldn’t WAIT to put what we had our bags into our mouths! Size of the burgers are really REALLY huge! Since a lot of people have occumpied the space in the restaurant area, we went to the already “quiet” place in the Children’s Area. We talked about the good ol’ days especially about the food. Although one thing didn’t go so right when some mayonnaise dripped on my pants! They need to work out their plastic material right. Sam seemed to enjoy his food as much as we did, only he got a smaller burger with smaller fries and all. All in all we were all very satisfied in the end. We can’t even move for a while!

We will be remembered….. as heroes!

10. The flag sign of our fathers: If you’ve seen the movie poster, it pretty much explains the whole thing. We really intended to make it look like we’re pulling it out. It’s a pretty crazy thing for us to do something like this for the camera. But we like to have a little fun, it’s a late night and….. we’re not drunk by the way. (Just imagine if we were — just kidding) But then that was sort of our last activity before we left the good premesis. We know now by this time it was REALLY REALLY late. And the only “other” way to go down is by the Peak Tram itself. Honestly I haven’t riden that thing for like almost 10 years!

Quite the reminising feeling there.

Only in death shall this part…

11. Glasses… the only ingredient to make White Silver “100% nerd” material! Honestly, I thought I would look a lot better when wearing glasses (I’ve considered it for a pretty long time already) but I’m glad that I DIDN’T. Just imagine the reverse-feeling shock I recieved when I looked at the picture. This is just really REALLY wrong, and don’t you start laughing. It ain’t funny! This is a picture that would haunt me in my dreams forever and ever.

So don’t get your hopes up… this already reduces my poor quality charm and whatever good that’s significant within me.

3 “One-way” tickets to the river STYX!

12. Journey to the “underworld” of Hades: In other words, we’re going DOOOOOOWWWWWNNNN from this point forward. It’s quite the fun trip really, only that the pressure in your ears will go *whack* as you decend in such a steep climate quickly. Glad I’ve got out of the joint before I can get any sicker. Lots of people are fighting for the seats so here’s some tips. Get the one that is a few rows further than the closest seat. Cause EVERYBODY would be fighting for the first few ones (Natural Human Habitat: Discovery Channel) Not much to see to where I’m sitting, all the view you want should be facing the sea area, and once again camera’s are *flicking* non-stop from the beginning till end.

*** Hmm.. I wonder if you can do the Michael Jackson from the peak tram? It does keep the balance!! ***

I really hoped you enjoyed my commentary. Interesting touch to my blog isn’t it? You can see why it took so long.. it’s the HEAVIEST of my projects. Hope the pictures from the AIA carnival will come by e-mail soon enough! Oh and please drop a comment if you can, there may be “new” projects that would come quite soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

By the way, you can view all “The Peak” photos right here!

This is us saying… “Thank you, bye bye now”!