The view from the bus onto Tai Kok Tsui

On our way from Shek Tong Tsui (between Sai Yin Pun/Sheung Wan and Kennedy Town) to Mong Kok a few days ago we decided to take a different bus route. Usually we hop on the 970, but this time we took the 904. The 904 took us across through the Western Tunnel, but unlike the 970, which veers right soon after the tunnel onto Jordan Road, the 904 took us further north and west by Olympic MTR station, into Tai Kok Tsui and finally dropped us somewhere between Mong Kok and Prince Edward.

The point being that I got to see two new parts of the city, which I hadn't seen, albeit from the distance of my double-decker window. The first one was Olympic. I've known of it since I first set foot in HK more than seven years ago (one of the first things I looked at was the MTR map), but it still triggers a big question mark in my brain. I wonder: does this place have any resemblance to Olympia? My guess is it doesn't, but then again, real estate developers are known for making rather odd linguists choices at the time of naming their cash cows (as Hemlock was quick to point out on his January 23, 2009, post).

But linguistic matters aside, it was quite a sight to see those very long pedestrian over-passes up-close linking Olympian City 1 and 2. Not sure what to make of them.

In the aftermath, I've come to realize that Olympic Station was named after the achievements of a local athlete in Atlanta '96. Funny that I didn't make that link even though it seems so obvious after reading about it. That might (just might) speak of how neglected sports are in HK. Too bad, because a place like Hong Kong should be able to inject more money into its sports programs and make them succesful (did I mention a dedicated sports facility at Kai Tak?). Instead, athletes were honoured by getting a remote reference to their achievements in the name of a MTR station. Nice gesture by the government anyway, but let's no sidetrack.

That bring us to the next place: Tai Kok Tsui (which I now realized includes Olympic). As I looked out the window, it immediately attracted me. Old buildings, some well kept, others not so much. But, there was something odd about the landscape--it didn't make me comfortable. Now, that's not a measure of anything, but my (in)ability to accept new spaces. But then later I read on the SCMP that "this area was hard to transform because half of the area north of Tai Kok Tsui Road was occupied by old factories which were vacant or had been converted into offices and flats."..."It is difficult to revitalise unless the urban renewal policy covers not just residential, but industrial zones," said the Yau Tsim Mong district councillor Henry Chan Man-yu, according to the SCMP reporter.

I wondered after reading that report whether my aesthetic perception--without telling my consciousness--noticed that revitalization at Tai Kok Tsui hadn't worked because it only targeted residential zones. Something interesting to continue pondering as I visit other parts of the fragrant harbour.

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A note on yesterday's post: forgot to wish you all a happy new year of the cow!