Cityscape rough fieldnote
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#Cityscape Field Note:
10:15
Portland street in front of langham place > Langham Place > Langham Hotel > Shanghai Street > Portland Street
A man bring a small chair sit next to me, firstly I thought he gonna beg for money, but he brings out a Chinese chess set:
And with people gathered around and based on their dialogue, I finally understand what he is doing.
So is a chess gambling, a minimum of 20 HKd for a match
And the man in blue interested, in this gambling is from Beijing, the chess man said. The Man didn't give him money for a match, but his standing behind catch passenger's eyes, and more people stop and watch.
And 2-3 minute after the man sit down, a rich man in purple shows up and offered a match. He confidently start the match. But the MAN said 20 is not enough, they gamble on 120hkd. And the man in purple failed.
Suddenly another man in purple appear and stand infront of my phone, and this man told the gambling man that I'm shooting, imagine what, he asked 100 HKd for a photo...Then I quickly open another app before he stand up and see my phone.
Are they act as a group?!
Afraid that he asked money again, after finish the above paragraphs, we left the street corner and enter langham place.
I'm not sure if is gambling on the street is illegle or not. But I felt uncomfortable on their behavior, especially because those two men are from mainland.
//Nowadays, the conflict between Hong Kong locals and mainland are always exaggerated by mass media, so some mainland people always think that hong kong people all act unfriendly to mainlanders. Yet, it is evident that few Hongkongers act hostile to Mainlanders, I don't support their violent action but I somehow understand why. Some Mainland people really act rude and not properly in the public. Last week, I went to Ocean Park for Halloween, and when I and my friend waiting for the connection train, I feel really angry on some people's behaviour. I know the people who push us to the corner and almost make us falling down is Mainlander. I feel shamed on their no quality. I know it is not a wise way to labling people, in any enviroenment or circle, there are polite people and not polite ones. //
There are not many people in the Langham Place, and some shops are still closed with some staffs inside the shop and busy preparing for the open. Or in another word, most people now inside Langham is not for shopping. Some of them just enter/come out from Langham Place for Metro Station. Some of them come to the Macdonald inside for breakfast.
And I see one or two cleaning workers mopping the floor. I seldom notice them in busy hours. Because they seems invisible in the crowd when there are too many people.
We walked upstairs and to the lobby connecting hotel and mall. A woman is standing by and texting on the phone. From this spot, we can have a very good overview of Shanghai Street. There are not many cars and people on the street. I stand there for 3 minute, and only 28 cars passing by.
One woman randomly cross the empty street.
Then we entered the fancy hotel. With the decoration of Sculptures and paintings, the hostel looks extremely expensive. The shinny floor, compared with the outside, is a good example of inequality in Hong Kong. On the right hand, there is a canteen, some people are having breakfast. The canteen is almost in silence, only some murmors and sound of forks and plate can be heard. On the left hand, is a large lobby with a recipt desk. Some guests are waiting for the lift, with luggage standing by. We found there is a spiral stairs next to the lift, then we walked up.
It is a bar upstair, and no people are there at this time, when I decide to step into this nice place and take some photos, we find that all the staffs in suit are having a meeting in the right corner. So we just take some photos and videos at the entrance rather than step into it.
Later, we go down by a lift and leave the hotel for the Reclamation Street. I find that there is a stair to go up when we left the Hotel, and the platform above is a good view point for the buildings standing along the Reclamation Street. So we go up and explore. A old man is about to leave when we entered the platform. He looks surprise on us, maybe not many people come to this place at this time. So here is a roof garden. From here, we can see the opposite side fo the street. The building looks really old, there are some old signs and company's lable.
We sit there for a while for a little break. This is like a screte garden in this busy and crowded 'paradise' in Central Mongkok. Surrounded by trees and bushes, I calm down a little bit from the former trouble with gambling men. Despite trees and all the green natures, we can still see high buildings stands out against the blue sky. So people sit here know they are still in the central crowded city and is just a short escape in this cityscape.
