The MTR is busy doing what it likes doing best – giving hideous names to the tower blocks it builds to perch atop its railway stations.
First there was Ile Prestige, part of the bizarrely namedLOHAS Park project , which is rising like a behemoth in the wasteland of reclaimed land between the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate and the Tseung Kwan O Landfill, which doubles (PDF-file) as the Clear Water Bay Country Park. No wonder the alternative name for the area is Junk Bay. And no wonder the Government is in such a hurry to bury that name, as it prepares to herd 58,000 people into Li Ka Shing's fabrications.
Now there's Lake Silver, which, like its counterpart in Junk Bay, is being plonked at the end of the line, in this case the MTR's best kept secret, the Ma On Shan line. This project was doomed to failure almost from the start, stillborn, you might say, when the Government decided to build a 6-lane bypass round Ma On Shan so that buses and minibuses could make the journey as quickly as the trains. Cars and taxis, with no need to stop and pick up phantom passengers at Shek Mun and Tai Shui Hang, can of course get to the tacky eateries at Sai Sha well ahead of the choo-choos.
According to the blurb, Lake Silver, AKA Palace by the Sea, commands spectacular views of Sai Kung. Those hoping for a sighting of the seafood restaurants or even of Spike's place will be disappointed, though, as the only bit of Sai Kung you can see from the top of Wu Kai Sha Station is the westernmost bit of Sai Kung West Country Park.
But who will care about that when they've upped sticks and moved to a block of flats where "classical European architecture" (a few arches and pink paint) "elegantly entwines with the beauty of nature"? Indeed, who will give a monkey's about anything when they've got access to a clubhouse which offers more than 80 different activities aimed at "fulfilling every resident's whim and fancy"?
So, if Fumie's not posting at the moment, you know what he's doing. Jamming that hotline to chat up Isabella and make sure he's at the front of the queue for a private tour of the "show suite".
First there was Ile Prestige, part of the bizarrely named
Now there's Lake Silver, which, like its counterpart in Junk Bay, is being plonked at the end of the line, in this case the MTR's best kept secret, the Ma On Shan line. This project was doomed to failure almost from the start, stillborn, you might say, when the Government decided to build a 6-lane bypass round Ma On Shan so that buses and minibuses could make the journey as quickly as the trains. Cars and taxis, with no need to stop and pick up phantom passengers at Shek Mun and Tai Shui Hang, can of course get to the tacky eateries at Sai Sha well ahead of the choo-choos.
According to the blurb, Lake Silver, AKA Palace by the Sea, commands spectacular views of Sai Kung. Those hoping for a sighting of the seafood restaurants or even of Spike's place will be disappointed, though, as the only bit of Sai Kung you can see from the top of Wu Kai Sha Station is the westernmost bit of Sai Kung West Country Park.
But who will care about that when they've upped sticks and moved to a block of flats where "classical European architecture" (a few arches and pink paint) "elegantly entwines with the beauty of nature"? Indeed, who will give a monkey's about anything when they've got access to a clubhouse which offers more than 80 different activities aimed at "fulfilling every resident's whim and fancy"?
So, if Fumie's not posting at the moment, you know what he's doing. Jamming that hotline to chat up Isabella and make sure he's at the front of the queue for a private tour of the "show suite".
13 comments:
I feel so inadequate. All we have is a communal ping pong table...
They've robbed you, Richard. Ask them at once what they did with the Chinese billiards table.
And the Motor Transport Workers General Union is besieging the Transport Bureau about 300 bus drivers who will be laid off when some buses are finally taken off the roads when the Kowloon Southern Link opens. D'oh!
i'm surprised you missed the 'For enquiries, please call Isabella at x.'
Phantom passengers? I used to work a few minutes' walk away from Shek Mun station, and actually used it.
Bet you had no trouble in getting a seat.
The old Sino Land strategy. Build a huge clubhouse/lobby and tiny flats. Sell aggressively and then charge a huge management fee due to "upkeep of clubhouse". Move somewhere else and replicate.
Anyone wishing to understand the Hong Kong mentality should sign up for a visit to a show flat. The combination of noise on the ears and crap on the eyes defies description. Just be sure to give them a false telephone number to avoid the follow-up nuisance calls.
Yeah, the old clubhouse scam. The developer builds a clubhouse and quotes low management fees to attract buyers. Once the majority of units are sold the owners' committee is told that the fees charged can't support the facilities so the owners will have to agree to a large increase in management fees or reduce the facilities. As nobody wants high management fees the facilities are gradually reduced and shut down, the swimming pool is only open for a token couple of months a year etc.
In the HK Guidebook it's called Dream City.
They changed it to the unutterable LOHAS after SARS, Nonnie.
Putting “H” in the name guarantees your Health, apparently.
Wayne, I must have filtered it out. Even the berks who do the continuity for ATV and TVB English channels churn out "For enquiries ..." - having injected their voice with bizarre intonation and expression, naturally.
Was in TST last saturday and was mobbed by hoards of Estate Agents W*****s at every street corner turn sleeing this Classical Lifestyle . Had to resort to a polite and firm 'Dui lll ' Im not interested in yer plastic versialles development dude !
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