Another title I want to give this post is “When Strangers Become Friends.”

I booked a photo class on Airbnb called Learn Photography with HK Instagrammer. It was a great experience for me to improve my photography skills! It was also a great way to meet other people who have the same interest as me. I will show you some of the photos they have taken~

Through this tour, we got to capture the beauty of the buildings where locals live in. Please keep in mind that these places are private residencies! Be respectful of the residents if you ever do visit.

The first place we hit up was Ping Shek Estate. Look how photogenic this place is.

I feel like you can’t go wrong with taking a good photo here because of how this building looks. It is like a 4-walled room with no door or windows… or an opened cardboard box. I think it would look cool and dramatic on a rainy day.

When we finished taking enough photos here, we walked out of this building to find these colorful houses.

I’m so happy we got to stop by a local bakery to try some of their freshly made egg tarts! I’m not sure of the name of the bakery in English since I only saw the Chinese sign.

It tasted so good, especially since they just came out of the oven so they were still hot! The egg filling was not firm, but slightly gooey, and the crust was soft. And bonus!! They only cost HK$3 (US$0.38) each!! They would cost more in a chain or touristy bakeries.

Next, we went to the oh-so-famous Choi Hung Estate. “Choi hung” means “rainbow” in Cantonese! Can you see why?

This place has become a popular landmark for tourists to take photos at. There were so many people!

All the photos of me here at Choi Hung Estate were taken by @sharasarapuddin.

The last estate we went to was Nam Shan Estate(石硤尾南山邨), in Shek Kip Mei, Hong Kong. I was so happy to learn a new photography trick!

There is a local food market here!

And that is the end of the photography tour! We went our separate ways from the local food market.

I decided to walk around Mong Kok since the day was still young. I went to Langham Place and there are 12 floors in this shopping mall. You can shop till you drop! There were also Gudetama-themed stalls there. I’m not sure if they were limited-time pop-ups though.

Afterward, I walked around the mall before going to the Temple Street Night Market, which is about a 10-minute walk from the Langham Place.

At about 6:30 PM, I walked to Temple Street Night Market to get a few night shots of the entrance. I was determined to get a bird’s eye view. So, I went up to the fourth floor of a car park building. When I got there, trees were blocking the view -_- I totally should have gone higher, but I didn’t have enough time because I wanted to catch the Symphony of Lights at the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade (which starts at 8 PM once a day). Trying not to be too bitter, here is a shot of the Temple Street Night Market entrance gate from the ground.

Made it to Tsim Sha Tsui five minutes before the buildings lit up!

The lights dance for 10 minutes. I totally recommend going to see this free show. The lights are so pretty and it dances to the music.

Dinner time! Also, met up with friends. This is my first time trying Din Tai Fung. They have several locations around the world, including the USA.

The xiao long baos (soup dumplings) were tasty!! We got one order of the pork xiao long baos and one order of the truffle xiao long baos. I think the pork tasted better. We also ordered wonton soup, beef noodle soup, grilled fish, and gai lan (Chinese broccoli).

After dinner, we went for a walk back at the pier. This ice cream truck reminds me of Mister Softee that I grew up with.

I learned so much on this day of photoshoots! Now I’m even more convinced that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Every photographer has their own style and they look for different aspects in a photo. Some people look for color, while others look for a pattern, angle, etc.

I also learned that I DO NOT like portrait shots (or close-up shots) of myself. I realize that I really love candid shots, photos taken when something or someone is in the moment. Those moments are so fun to capture because it just feels so real and genuine! Sometimes you can only capture those emotions once. Special thanks to @sharasarapuddin and @federra. All the photos they took of me were candid (except for one). Thanks to William for taking us around for this photography tour! I had so much fun~

What kind of photos do you like to take or see? 🙂

Sincerely,
Amy♡

2018.08.02. Thursday. Day 5.
AMY HANG IN HONG KONG.