Carrie Lam is Like a Broken Record

Carrie Lam (with an new hairdo) hoping for a better 2020 for Hong Kong

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has observed 2019 was a tough year and hopes to restore order and harmony in the new year in a three-minute video the government released on New Year's Eve.

Protesters battled tear gas, pepper spray and violence in 2019

"In 2019, we experienced challenges not seen before. The unrest triggered by the introduction of the extradition bill has lasted more than six months," she said. "We all want to see an end to this predicament. This situation has caused sadness, anxiety, disappointment and even rage.

"As chief executive, I will not shy away from my responsibilities. I will listen humbly to find a way out," she said, adding the government will handle the problems at hand and acknowledge the shortcomings in the system as well as deep-rooted conflicts in society.

"I will listen humbly to find a way out," says Chief Exec. Carrie Lam in a New Year's message alongside top officials. "We can begin again together."#HongKong has been rocked by over six months of protest, with a fresh rally set for January 1. https://t.co/kmLJLFCnSX #2020 #NYE pic.twitter.com/siFsYwj8Pq

— Hong Kong Free Press (@HongKongFP) December 31, 2019

 

The video includes footage of protest marches, some damaged street signs and walls with graffiti, but not violent confrontations between protesters and the police.

She ends by saying: "I believe we can once again overcome our current challenges and rebuild Hong Kong. Let's start 2020 with a new resolution to restore order and harmony in society," Lam said.

Did she seriously procrastinate until the last day of 2019 to again pledge to find a solution to the political crisis that has plagued the city for seven months?

Millions of people came out to protest the extradition bill

It just demonstrates how Lam still has no brilliant ideas to break the impasse in this political crisis that has seriously impacted the city's economy.

Also featured in the video are financial secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, Law Chi-kwong, secretary for labour and welfare, and Frank Chan Fan, secretary for transport and housing.

Law pledges the government will "substantially improve" the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) and Working Family Allowance Schemes without many details, while Frank Chan says his department is working hard to find land to boost land supply and reduce the time it takes to build houses.

The latter promise is a broken record we have heard over and over... there have been so many suggestions to use brownfield sites to redevelop, and forcing developers to help build social housing. What are they waiting for? And ways to build homes faster? Architects and designers have already created various pre-fabricated homes... why aren't these tried out yet? Or at least engage these experts and pick their brains on creative housing solutions?

Will the government really help the poor this time?

And what is Law's pledge of an improved CSSA? They are typically pathetic handouts that are difficult to qualify for and the financial amounts aren't very much to live on considering Hong Kong is such a wealthy city (and expensive to live in).

When the government finally acknowledges that most people in Hong Kong want political reforms and establish an independent inquiry then we can really begin to mend the massive rift. Otherwise protests will continue for sure in 2020...

Athens: Acropolis and Archeological Finds

The mask of "Agamenmon" with a breastplate in gold

Today we dived fully into Greek culture and history with a visit to the National Archeological Museum followed by the Arcopolis.

We got to the museum via the Metro, which is 1.50 euros per ride and Google maps. It's a very large museum, the biggest holding archeological treasures in Greece. Many of the items were found from excavations thanks to German archeologist Heinrich Schliemann.

Jockey of the Artemision is a lively yet unproportional statue

One of the highlights is the gold mask Schliemann found on top of a body that he believed was the death mask of 13th century BC King Agamemnon. However, the mask is actually dated 300 years before then, but the name Agamemnon stuck.

There are many funeral objects in this museum, from jewellery to vases, sculptures, friezes and miniatures of everyday objects found in graves. The jewellery designs in particular are so modern and fresh in brilliant gold, while sculptures, even though many were headless or armless, revealed so much about the artistic merit of the bodies' shapes and their supposed poses.

Some friezes were scenes of family members saying good-bye to loved ones in a solemn manner as death was not something people talked about openly.

Beautiful designs stamped on thin gold buttons

One dynamic sculpture is the Jockey of the Artemision. The bronze horse looks like it's about to jump over something, while a tiny boy rides on its back. Apparently the sculpture was dredged from the sea, but is restored into a very good condition.

The museum overall is pretty good, though the staff sitting in each of the rooms don't wear uniforms, and casually chit-chat with each other.

And someone needs to fix the museum shop -- there is nothing in there that would interest tourists in buying any of the merchandise in there!

We went back to our hotel, which happens to be very close to the Acropolis, and grabbed a bite to eat. We ate our first gyros -- thin slices of meat with lettuce, tomato -- and French fries! -- with tzatziki sauce before heading out to the new Acropolis Museum at 4pm. However, when we got there, the museum had closed for the day on Mondays! We didn't do our research.

The Parthenon has some scaffolding for a restoration

But it was late enough in the day to head up to the Acropolis (which we had planned to do after visiting the Acropolis Museum), so we bought the 20 euro-ticket and made our way up there. It was still quite hot, but armed with sunscreen, a hat and umbrella we managed to keep as cool as possible. The walk took about 15 minutes and towards the top we had to be careful walking on very polished marble that was very slippery.

There were quite a few tourists already there, but thankfully not packed. The Parthenon, dedicated to Athena, was sadly not as awe-inspiring as I had hoped, mainly because there is scaffolding over some of the columns and as well as cranes in the temple to help with restoring the structure.

Nevertheless, it was still neat to see the building in person against the deep blue sky. The most interesting architectural aspect of the Parthenon is entasis, a technique where there are gradual curves in the lintels, stairways and pediments, while columns have bulging centres. This optical illusion gives the impression the building is completely straight horizontally and vertically.

The Porch of the Caryatids featuring five female statues

Nearby is the Erechtheion and the highlight is the Porch of the Caryatids. There are supposed to be six women, who are believed to be novices serving the goddess Athena. However the five standing here are copies -- the real ones are in the Acropolis Museum, while the last one was taken by Lord Elgin in the 1800s. He also took -- or stole? -- lots of other things from the Parthenon too that can be seen in the British Museum...

Tribute to IM Pei

The legendary architect IM Pei has died at the age of 102

This morning I woke up to the sad news that architect IM Pei had died at the age of 102. Tributes have been pouring in for the Chinese-American who is famous for his buildings scattered around the world, including the Louvre Pyramid in Paris, the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, and of course in Hong Kong, the Bank of China headquarters.

The Bank of China Building in Hong Kong

I pass by that building every time I go to the gym behind the bank, climbing up the stairs along the mini waterfalls. When the bank was first built, superstitious Hongkongers worried the building looked like a knife, cutting up the city, or that it looked like the devil with its two antennae at the top.

Pei's family has a long history with the bank -- in fact it just celebrated its 100th anniversary last year, making it around the same age as him!

His father, Tsuyee Pei, was one of China's leading bankers, according to the New York Times, and when Ieoh Ming Pei was an infant, the family moved to Hong Kong so that Pei senior could run the Hong Kong branch of the Bank of China.

A century later and two generations later, IM Pei's son, Li Chung Pei or Sandi, would lead the renovations of the old Bank of China just down the street from his father's shiny triangular building.

It's a wonderful anecdote that clearly illustrates the Pei's family roots in Hong Kong and its contribution to banking and architecture in the city.

The Suzhou Museum is symmetrical and calming

My other story is in 2008 I spent Chinese New Year in Shanghai on my own. One of my days there I caught the train to Suzhou for the day, wandering around when I stumbled on a building that didn't look like the typical mainland Chinese architectural style of big, boxy and lacking style.

I was immediately drawn to this building that was very symmetrical and discovered it was the Suzhou Museum -- designed by IM Pei.

But of course.

This realization made my visit to Suzhou exponentially better as I was immediately soothed by its simple lines, sitting on the edge of a man-made pond that had a calming effect.

Dramatic pyramid down below the Louvre

How did I not know this was here? The building itself was much more interesting than the exhibits inside.

Sadly the Bank of China building is the only IM Pei building in Hong Kong -- in October 2013 it was announced Sunning Plaza, a 31-storey office building in Causeway Bay, whose main feature was that there was a large open space around the buildings, thus creating an "urban oasis". People liked being able to sit outside and dine al fresco amid a quartet of palm trees.

But alas Pei's first project in Hong Kong was torn down by landlord Hysan Development that replaced it with -- what else -- a mixed retail and office building that is a non-descript office block -- literally. It opened late last year.

Nevertheless, in front of the cameras Pei was always smiling, looking dapper in his suits and wearing his trademark black frame round glasses. He knew how to charm potential clients and explain to existing clients why things had to be done his way. There were compromises too, but probably his biggest battle -- the Pyramid at the Louvre -- shows Pei's skills not only in design but also patience and persuasion.

I haven't seen this entire video of his lecture at MIT about the project, but he explains in great detail (with jokes aside), the challenges he went through and how he solved several issues.



Pei is not only a legend in architecture, but also for Chinese immigrants and ethnic Chinese the world over, an inspiration of being proud of his roots and being successful for his designs that changed the urban landscapes around the world.

Pei fought the controversy of having a pyramid at the Louvre

He may have left us but may his buildings continue to live on.

Dresden's Treasures

 

A large bouquet of flowers made of mother of pearl

There's a lot to see within walking distance in Dresden, churches and museums each with their own story. Many intersect with World War II that was destroyed in air raids and buildings were slowly rebuilt.

One of these examples is the Frauenkirche or the Church of Our Lady. It was originally a Catholic church built in the 11th century in Romanesque style, but became Protestant during the Reformation. Hence the statue of Martin Luther in front.

The Frauenkirche rebuilt only recently

It has one of the largest domes in Europe at 96 metres high, called die Steinerne Glocke, or "Stone Bell". 

But in World War II it was severely damaged by air raids, the roof finally collapsing after having withstood two days and nights of attacks. The church was left in a pile of rubble for 45 years, because of Communist rule in East Germany, though the residents had already begun trying to salvage what they could and numbering them for future reconstruction.

That didn't happen until 1994, after Germany's reunification and raising money to rebuild Frauenkirche, which took 11 years and over 180 million euros. Some of the stone blocks are black, from the original building, but most are relatively new, a testament to the residents' determination to rebuild it also using the original plans.

Another jewel in Dresden is the Royal Palace or Residenzschloss. We came to see the Green Vault, which was amazingly not damaged during the air raids, and contains immense treasures royalty collected over the centuries.

The interior is stunning and awe-inspiring

The Historic Green Vault has its rules -- no bags or coats -- these must be placed at the coat check or in a locker, and you must be there at the time issued on your ticket, to limit the number of people in there. And at one point you must enter a room at most two by two into double doors, much like entering a jewellery store. It's that intense.

But it's worth the hassle -- the items they collected, from stunning wood carvings, mother-of-pearl decorating boxes, horns covered in carvings, massive silver platters, goblets, tiered platters lavishly decorated with tiny tea cups and the jewels! Massive rocks from diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, and rubies… how did they wear all that jewellery?

It was impressive to say the least. The Dresden Green Diamond is quite the stunner at 41 carats, decorated with two large diamonds and many smaller ones. For us plebs, we’d be happy with one small stone or two. They had hundreds of them. Even the rooms themselves are examples of the height of opulence, with each room decorated in a different colour and accentuated with curvy shaped mirrors framed in gold (of course).

Above the painted dome that is 96 metres tall

There’s tight security for the History Green Vault, but when it comes to the New Green Vault, visitors are taking pictures, and the stuff is still impressive, but not as much as those crazy jewels and boxes covered in glowing amber. There’s a massive display like a miniature stage filled with characters in a lavish set called The Throne of the Grand Mogul Aureng-Zeb.

August the Strong bought the work in 1709 for a massive sum at the time, and he and other royalty would buy items from jewellers and artisans, which ended up in this giant collection that reflects artistic and technical skills at the time. Interestingly they even used coconut shells to carve, and the stones of fruits. The ivory balls, with several balls inside look similar to the ones made in China – were they influenced by the Chinese? We didn’t get the audio tour to find out.

The Throne of the Grand Mogul Aureng-Zeb

Nevertheless the collection is stunning and worth just seeing for the admission alone (21 euros/$23.52). The upper floors are exhibition spaces and we saw one on Kandinsky and his woodblock prints.

Another place nearby worth checking out is Zwinger, another palace steps away from Residenzschloss that dates back to the 18th century, designed in the Baroque style by Matthaus Daniel Poppelmann for Augustus the Strong.

Zwinger means an enclosed killing ground in front of a castle or city gate, and this palace was formerly a fortress complete with a moat. The palace was used as one point to grow oranges, an exhibition space and festival area for the Dresden court.

It too was destroyed during World War II and luckily the art collection was evacuated earlier. Reconstruction began with the Soviets in 1945 and was completed finally in 1963, restoring Zwinger to its pre-war state.

Zwinger with the massive crown down at the other end

Walking into the massive courtyard leaves you in awe of such an amazing space and the giant crown at the top held up by four golden eagles. It is a replica of the Polish royal crown that Augustus the Strong wore from 1687 to 1704.

Visitors can see the massive amount of art amassed here, like the extensive porcelain collection of 20,000 pieces, with ceramics from Jingdezhen in China. There is also the Old Masters Picture Gallery that houses many well known paintings like Raffael's Die Sixtinische Madonna or two angels looking upwards, works by Van Eyck, Durer, Rubens, Rembrandt and Vermeer are here. The highlight is The Sistine Madonna by Raffael.

But it must also be amazing to come here to listen to live concerts that are put on here during the summer.
 

Dresden: Semperoper, the Famed Opera House

Approaching Semperoper, the opera house designed by Gottfried Semper

Dresden is a two-hour train ride from Berlin and even though it's south of Berlin it's colder here at 6 degrees (Berlin was 11 degrees)!

We even had rain greet us at the train station which was worrying. But in the late afternoon the rains cleared to blue skies (though very chilly).

The historic centre is very photogenic -- everywhere you look there are beautiful old buildings, many of them restored after World War II. However they also seem to need a good cleaning too, as the roofs of the buildings with beautiful decoration from stone carvings and bronze domes are black as soot. But it's understandable there are many other things on the priority list to fix than clean some buildings.

Inside the decor is completely faux to create an illusion

Some landmark buildings or areas are being refurbished, and so while the place is photogenic, there are construction gates everywhere that make some angles unsightly. Guess you can't have everything.

Nevertheless, today we got to tour the Semperoper, the opera house -- actually the second one, that was named after the architect, Gottfried Semper who was a professor of architecture in Dresden.

He designed the first opera house that was built in 1841, which had a round facade and was said to have the best acoustics and the most beautiful opera house in Europe.

However, much like the recent Notre Dame fire, some renovations of the opera house led to a fire that razed it to the ground in 1869 and the residents clamoured to have Semper redesign another opera house on the same site.

An "ad" for Shakespeare's Hamlet above one doorway

While he did draw up the plans, it was his son Manfred, also an architect, who built the second opera house, described to be Neo-Renaissance in style.

During our tour we were told the first opera house was only for aristocrats -- no ordinary folk were allowed in.

But by the time the second one was being built, the industrial revolution was well underway and created a wealthy middle class who were keen on higher pursuits, like the opera.

Apparently the aristocrats were mortified of the thought of having to share the opera house with the riff raff and pleaded with Semper to do something. His solution? Have the nouveau riche crammed up on the top floor -- but standing room only -- for three hours, while the aristocrats sat in boxes with partitions complete with snacks and drinks.

The bust of composer Richard Strauss

Also during that time it's interesting to note that these aristocrats had not traveled to Italy before and so the opera house was their first impression of quasi Italian opulence. The upstairs foyer -- only for the aristocrats -- appear luxurious but in fact are completely faux.

The marble columns and marble-like walls were carefully painted to give the impression of using rich building materials. Apparently to create the green marble columns, it took 200 to 250 hours of work just to complete one.

The opera house also inspired a nationalistic drive to write operas in their own German language, thus Richard Strauss was one of the composers whose operas premiered here.

Our guide also explained how the opera house had one of the first "advertisements" in the foyer. They were kind of like today's movie posters of the 19th century. For example there's a scene of Hamlet with the name of the play and the name "Shakespeare" below just to give the audience a hint of what's to come.

A look at the seating complete with the royal box

When we finally got the opportunity to go into the seating area, we were impressed by the lavishness of the decor, especially the royal boxes and the several floors of boxes around the massive room. We were also told interesting trivia that the stage and backstage was 3.5 times the audience seating area.

The stage is such that it can move 360 degrees, and it can fold up vertically. It can also be divided into rows and squares that move independently of each other.

When we were there, the steel fire door on stage prevented us from seeing the setting for Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss, though while we sat there, the fire door was lifted up to reveal a beautiful setting of a sitting room area and technicians were testing out the lights.

The stage is set for Der Rosenkavalier by Strauss

Our guide also talked about intermission intervals and how 20 minutes is so stressful because you are either in line for the bathroom or for drinks and by the time you have your champagne in hand, it's time to go back to your seat. He said back in Semper's time intermission was 50 minutes long, and added the Met is currently experimenting with 45-minute intermissions. Maybe this will be the new standard for arts performances the world over?

Heritage Lost: General Post Office

The General Post Office was opened in 1976, but will be demolished soon

I have fond memories of the Central Post Office, when Queen's Pier used to be nearby to take the Star Ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui. When I first arrived in Hong Kong to work in the mid-1990s, I used to mail letters and large envelopes of newspaper clippings to my parents. The staff were so efficient and nice.

These days the place isn't as busy, people aren't queuing up to buy sheets of stamps, but mostly packages and the odd bulk mailing.

Notice the large marble slabs used as counter space

Last year there was a news story announcing the General Post Office in Central would be demolished to make way for A-grade office buildings. The post office would move its operations to an eight-storey building in Kowloon Bay, near the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal at a cost of HK$1.7 billion.

But there are hopes to protect some aspects of the building, though there haven't been any updates on this or when exactly the building will be knocked down.

I told my visiting architect cousin about this and so he wanted to check out the building. He was amazed by the beautiful marble slabs on the counters and wondered if they would be salvaged before the demolition.

We also saw a wooden arch that was probably saved from the previous General Post Office. It reads: "As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country". Below it is a black plaque that says the current building was opened on August 11, 1976 by Sir Murray Maclehose, then Governor of Hong Kong.

"As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country"

When we wandered in before 1pm on a Saturday, the counters were almost all empty, with staff chatting among each other. What will happen to all the people who have GPO boxes in Central? 

It's a shame the building has to be torn down -- it's a major landmark in Central and is an important walkway to get to IFC and the ferry piers, or vice versa to City Hall and office buildings like Jardine House.

But with land prices being so high, the government seems to think it needs to make more money (how much more does it need?) by selling prime land.

If anyone needs an education about heritage, it's the government. It has no understanding or appreciation of the importance of preserving old buildings, and then it wonders why it has no more heritage to promote to tourists...

Hot Sunset Tip -- Secret Spot at Harbour City

Check out that view of Victoria Harbour on the rooftop at Ocean Terminal

I usually don't like to schlep to Harbour City, a shopping mall in Tsim Sha Tsui, but there has been a slew of restaurant openings there in the new extension designed by Sir Norman Foster. I've visited a few of them, but more seem to be springing up every week.

Invader's giant anchor nearby

My architect cousin who works in China likes to see any newly completed projects when he comes to Hong Kong and asked about this one so we checked it out.

Coming from the Star Ferry in Central the walk to the new area isn't too bad -- it's when you are coming from the MTR that it's a dreaded long walk, battling shoppers and going all the way to Ocean Terminal and then going all the way to the end of it to reach the extension.

Once you get there though, you have unparalleled views of Victoria Harbour. When we looked up at the ceiling we could see people's feet -- so there is a rooftop spot for people to hang out.

Go all the way to the top floor which is the parking lot and then turn around and you will see a terraced viewing area that's perfect for fireworks, but you probably have to sit there all day to keep this coveted spot.

Nevertheless, it's also the ideal place to watch the sunset -- provided you know there's going to be an amazing one coming. The seating here is comfortable and there are staircases on either side to go up or down.

Look! A space invader with a Hong Kong flag

The place could almost be a mini stage for a site-specific performance, or a small cocktail party. It could easily be closed off for a private event.

In addition if you look, you'll find French artist Invader's work -- two mosaic space invaders holding the Hong Kong flag. Also behind by the parking lot is a giant mosaic anchor, and off to the right another space invader on top of an anchor.

Perhaps Harbour City worked with the artist to add these playful details -- they're fun for social media.

Not everyone knows about this spot... yet...

And this viewing area must be one of the best secrets in town -- we even took pictures of the place with no one else there...

Contemporary Art at Maxxi

Near the entrance to Maxxi, the Zaha Hadid-designed art museum

After we had our fill of classical art at Galleria Borghese, we took a completely different turn and went modern at Maxxi, a national museum of contemporary art and architecture in Flaminio district in Rome.

Inside there are numerous staircases and rooms to enter

The museum is also appropriately housed in a building designed by the late Zaha Hadid, who was chosen from among 273 candidates from around the world.

We didn't really get a good look of the outside, but inside it was very sleek, lots of curves and straight lines, nothing symmetrical either.

While the building was a piece of art in itself, the contemporary art was hard for us to understand! There were lots of strange videos one would see at Art Basel and leave you wondering:

a) How did you come up with this idea?
b) Why did you come up with idea?
c) What does this mean?
d) Does it really take art to another level?

Chinese characters and French words written in sheet metal

When we visited Maxxi, the exhibition "African Metropolis. An Imaginary City" was on. Again most of it we didn't really understand, but a few pieces were very interesting.

One of them was called "Wo Shi Feizhou/Je Suis Africain by Francois-Xavier Gbre. It's a series of mixed media, but what was particular interesting was what was written on sheet metal.

It was a triptych of three dark pieces of sheet metal and there were Chinese and French words written in three columns.

The ones on the far left were Chinese characters in simplified Chinese, followed by French words, then more simplified Chinese characters in parentheses. For a Chinese person living in Africa, this was a kind of cheat sheet. The word they wanted to say was on the far left, but was pronounced in French like the characters on the far right.

A close-up of the words and pronunciation!

For us who could read some Chinese this was very funny but also interesting!

Another work we liked was a photograph by Kiluanji Kia Henda with the title "Le Merchand de Venise" or the Merchant of Venice.

In the description the artist pays homage to the play by William Shakespeare by having a Senegalese musician dressed in brightly striped clothing and on his arms are what at first glance look like designer bags, but in fact are fake; this is his way of trying to make a living in Venice, much like many other African street vendors.

Henda's photo looks striking at first, but when you realize what is going on it's actually very ironic, but in a subtle way.

The Merchant of Venice by Henda

We pretty much finished going through the museum in an hour and waited for others in our group by hanging out in the museum shop that also had a cafe that served fantastic coffee for 1.50 euros!

Afterwards we took the tram back to Flamino metro station and then took the train back to our hotel.

Port Visit: Barcelona's Park Guell

Gaudi's famous salamander made of mosaics at Municipal Garden

Another major landmark that you have to see in Barcelona is Park Guell located on Carmel Hill. A Spanish entrepreneur, Eusebi Guell, who made his money in the industrial revolution in Catalonia, commissioned Antoni Gaudi to design the park, which he did from 1900 to 1914.

Gaudi lived in this house (1906-26) which is now a museum

Parc Guell was officially opened in 1926 and in 1984 was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Originally the park was meant to be a commercial housing project but it was unsuccessful: the land was basically a rocky hill with few trees and vegetation, but the location was away from smoky factories, hence the air was relatively clean.

Guell had hoped to build 60 lots of luxury housing here that were fitted with modern technology, and he tried to initiate buyer interest by moving there himself into an existing country house called Larrard House in 1906.

Entrepreneur Guell lived here in Larrard House

However, in the end only two houses were built -- one as a show house, the other for sale, but no one was interested in buying them. So at Guell's suggestion, Gaudi bought one of the homes and moved in with his family and father in 1906 and lived there until 1926.

The house contains original works by Gaudi and is now a museum called Gaudi House Museum. Unfortunately we didn't have time to go inside.

However, we did wander around the colonnaded footpath under the roadway viaduct and heard some flamenco music being played and saw some musicians along with a flamenco dancer.

Benches are shaped like a sea serpent at Municipal Garden

We also sadly missed the Municipal Garden, made famous by Gaudi's colourful mosaic salamander called "el drac" or "dragon". This part of the park also requires paying an entrance fee. I visited this part of the park over 20 years ago and I was blown away by how creative Gaudi was with the long bench that is shaped like a sea serpent. 

Picture of the Day: New Architectural Addition in Beijing

The CCTV tower with the China Zun Tower to the right in Guomao, Beijing

Beijing continues to look more modern with very tall buildings or ones that spread out with funky shapes but once you go inside, the interiors look pretty much the same. They are all office buildings anyway.

When we were wandering around Guomao the business district, we saw the famous CCTV or shall we say CGTN building, where CGTN stands for China Global Television Network, but further down was a tall skinny tower.

It turns out it's the China Zun Tower designed by architectural design firm Farrells. At 528 metres, it towers over every other building in the Chinese capital and the country too.

Some locals have already nicknamed it the penis building...

A Quick Visit to Tai Kwun

One of the two courtyards in Tai Kwun that gives a wonderful spacious area

The other day I had a bit of time and was near the newest landmark in Hong Kong -- Tai Kwun (大馆), or the former Central Police Station and had a quick look around.

The beautiful staircase that everyone has photographed

Many people have posted pictures on social media already, particularly the spiral staircase and the stairs where it says "Mind the Step" at each step... a bit tedious one might say.

Tai Kwun has been a long time coming. It was closed in 2006 and then the public got a chance to look at it before it was renovated in 2008 in a partnership between the Hong Kong Jockey Club and the Hong Kong government, but nothing happened for a long time; perhaps behind the scenes there was a lot of assessment that had to be done in terms of the buildings' stability and condition.

And then in May 2016 one of the retaining walls suddenly collapsed that set back the project another year or so. Meanwhile as a passerby, the construction site was wrapped up in white and for a long time we couldn't see any progress.

The second courtyard with a Herzog & de Meuron building

But finally a few months ago Tai Kwun opened its doors. Much of the original buildings have been retained, and there are two modern additions to the compound, futuristic buildings designed by Herzog & de Meuron, who you may remember designed the Bird's Nest in Beijing.

The Central Police Station was first built in 1841, and it's a huge complex that has two giant courtyards with trees, making it quite a nice setting. However the jail cells -- you can see some of them -- seem quite tiny, and prisoners were physically tortured. They couldn't even use the toilet -- only a bucket, and another bucket of fresh water.

You can access Tai Kwun from the Mid-Levels escalator

Some of the spaces in the buildings have been converted into cafes and restaurants, while the larger spaces are for art exhibitions by local artists. However we prefer admiring the architecture. There's a lot of concrete but also wood, and the compound is pretty much in tact, leaving the massive courtyards free for people to wander and feel enveloped by the space.

I have yet to try the restaurants and bars here, but it would be quite neat to dine here and see what the atmosphere is like in the evening.

Meanwhile I have heard from people who live and work in the area are so glad Tai Kwun is open because the scaffolding around it made the area congested and now there are more options for pedestrians to get around Wyndham Street.

One of the tiny jail cells in Tai Kwun

I will have to come back another time to look at Tai Kwun again more closely, but it's a nice way to spend even 20 minutes wandering around and admiring our latest landmark in the city.

Size Matters

Architect William Lim's conceptual flat with two bedrooms in 194 square feet

There's much discussion about nano flats -- the hottest selling housing units in Hong Kong these days, because many young people are priced out of the market and can only afford the tiniest of flats -- less than 200 square feet.

If a couple shares a nano flat, a lot of gymnastics is required to flexibly move around the tiny space, as well as hardly any possessions, but one Hong Kong architect seems to think he has the answer.

Architect William Lim and his creative design ideas...

Architect William Lim, managing director of design firm CL3 says: "We should think of them as three-dimensional spaces. We have traditionally looked at spaces as floor plans, but if we start looking at them in three dimensions, we could have different levels within the space."

He has created a conceptual flat that consists of two bedrooms, a kitchen and a living room -- in 194 square feet or 18 square metres. Lim is able to achieve this by putting the bedrooms on top of the bathroom and kitchen.

While the concept is not new, particularly in places like Japan, Lim says flats in Hong Kong have a minimum height ceiling of 2.5 metres (8.2 feet), and some are as high as 10 feet, which makes "a flat within a flat" possible.

He also wants to prove that a space doesn't have to be completely utilitarian -- the show flat will be decorated with high-end furniture, including a Baccarat crystal chandelier.

One of the nano flats in Mont Vert in Tai Po

Lim says when it comes to living in style, quality of space, not quantity is most important.

If a developer gave him the opportunity to design a block of flats, he would probably never be able to do it his own idealistic way. Developers are not interested in having too high a ceiling when they can cram more units into the same volume of space. They and their management companies want to collect as much in management fees as possible...

And then his comment of quality of space and not quantity is important is completely out of touch. If someone can barely scrape enough together for a down payment for a 200 square foot apartment, they are not going to be able to afford a Baccarat chandelier, nor would they want one. The same goes for designer furniture. It's all well and good to make a show flat look enticing, but in reality, those who can afford to buy these tiny living spaces will probably hit Ikea and not Tom Dixon.

Oh and the ones who can afford to buy more than one of these flats are probably landlords so they won't be installing crystal chandeliers in a rental.

We like Lim's idea of trying to use vertical space as much as possible, but he's not being realistic.

And the psychological impact of living in tiny spaces can't be healthy. How is that quality of life?

Trying to sell nano flats as an idealistic aspiration mocks the people who are struggling to enter the housing market with the tiniest of flats. Size does matter.