Tiger Balm Gardens & Repulse Bay
Sunday January 24th, 1999
The meeting time was 11:30 in front of SOGO. Dragon, Chihiro, Ayumi,
Toshihiro and I were to meet here so that we could take a taxi to go to
the Aw Boon Haw Gardens, or commonly known as Tiger Balm Gardens. The
Tiger Balm Gardens was built by Aw Boon Haw. Aw Boon Haw invented Tiger
Balm ointment, which is considered a universal panacea. This ointment was
said to cure muscle aches and just about anything else. Even I used it as
a child. Anyway, Aw Boon Built these gardens to give something back to
Hong Kong, as entrance to these gardens is free. Since then the size of
the garden has shrunk two thirds because part of it was destroyed so that
there would be room for flats. Attendance has also dropped - only 8
percent of the tourists visit these gardens. His daughter Sally Aw,
also a newspaper tycoon, eventually inheirited the Tiger Balm Gardens.
However, she recently has had a lot of legal problems and had to sell the
gardens to a real estate tycoon. The real estate tycoon plans to destroy
the gardens in the future, again to build more flats. Thus we planned to
visit these gardens as soon as possible because these gardens have no
future. The taxi ride was less than ten minutes.
Ayumi, Dragon, I, Toshi, & Chihiro
The House and the Garden
Many Painted Rocks
Tiger Pagoda
Mr. Aw?
We took a taxi to Wan Chai. Ayumi had to leave because she needed to
study for an exam. The rest of us decided to go to Repulse Bay.
Repulse is a primarily well-to-do residential area. It has a
relaxed, almost resort=like atmosphere. The wide beach is popular
with residents and great for sandy strolls. The Life Guard Club,
built in traditional Chinese style, features statues of Kwun Yum
and Tin Hau, both protectors of fishermen. Colonial-style Repulse
Bay Arcade, resembling the original luxury hotel that occupied the
site, houses shops and restaurants.
Sunny Day at Repulse Bay
The Life Guard Club
Night View in Repulse Bay
We left Repulse Bay by taking No. 6 bus to Central. We decided to take a
look at Lan Kwai Fong. Lan Kwai Fong is Central's compact party hub
located on and around D'Aguilar Street. With a potpourri of restaurants
and bars, it's on giant street party on weekends. In fact, many of my
friends come here! However this is the first time I have came here...but
the purposes differ, for I came here to take a look of the surrounding,
not to indulge myself to alcohol or to party. All I did was take a
photo. There didn't seem to be so many people, perhaps because
the next day is Monday.
