Hong Kong Halloween revelers are hoping to scare away the downturn blues if spending on parties, costumes, masks and props is anything to go by.
Traders say the negative economic climate has failed to deter spending. Costume stalls in Central have been jam- packed for three days as the city gears up for tonight's fright night.
Projecting a 5 to 10 percent increase in revelers this year, Hong Kong Bars and Karaoke Rights Advocacy chairman Jeffrey Tam Chun-kit said affluent entertainment districts like Lan Kwai Fong, which depend on more expensive products such as champagne, could see a decline.
But overall numbers would make up for revenue shortfalls.
Beijing Club operations manager Lee Thomas said the economic fallout has yet to affect attendance or business, pointing out that spending was resilient during past downturns.
A Pottinger Street costume stall vendor, surnamed So, said the staircase street had been swamped
for the past three days with local and expat customers. So said he was making an average of HK$3,000 a day.
Wednesday, 12 November 2008
Sunday, 9 November 2008
Halloween Obsessions Vs God's Obsessions
Focusing in on culture's obsession with DEATH, this video show's God's obsession with LIFE, with giving LIFE and LIFE to the FULL. A great topic starter to be sure!
Should We Celebrate Halloween?
Halloween is one of the strangest holidays mankind celebrates. It is an amazing paradox, an unusual mixture of Christian terms and ancient pagan religious rites.
Should We Celebrate Halloween?
Halloween is one of the strangest holidays mankind celebrates. It is an amazing paradox, an unusual mixture of Christian terms and ancient pagan religious rites.
Halloween Asia Pacific, U.S. & World
Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).
The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.
During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.
Blending of Paganism with Christianity
When Christianity spread to parts of Europe, instead of trying to abolish these pagan customs, people tried to introduce ideas which reflected a more Christian world-view. Halloween has since become a confusing mixture of traditions and practices from pagan cultures and Christian tradition.
By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. During their rule of the Celtic lands, Roman festivals were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain. The Romans observed the holiday of Feralia, intended to give rest and peace to the departed. Participants made sacrifices in honor of the dead, offered up prayers for them, and made oblations to them. Another festival was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.
As the influence of Christianity spread into Celtic lands, in the 7th century, Pope Boniface IV introduced All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs, to replace the pagan festival of the dead. It was observed on May 13. In 834, Gregory III moved All Saint's Day from May 13 to Nov. 1 and for Christians, this became an opportunity for remembering before God all the saints who had died and all the dead in the Christian community. Oct. 31 thus became All Hallows' Eve ('hallow' means 'saint').
Sadly, though, many of the customs survived and were blended in with Christianity. Numerous folk customs connected with the pagan observances for the dead have survived to the present.
In 1517, a monk named Martin Luther honored the faithful saints of the past by choosing All Saints Day (November 1) as the day to publicly charge the Church heirarchy with abandoning biblical faith. This became known as "Reformation Day," a fitting celebration of the restoration the same biblical faith held by the saints throughout church history.
HONG KONG DISNEYLAND
From September 26 to November 1, prepare to get the.
LAN KWAI FONG - View Cantones/Chinese video below.
Drop by Hong Kong’s most happening and popular party destinations. Each thriving district houses first class restaurants with different specialties you just have to try, crowds to celebrate with, and the right spot to don a perfect Halloween costume. Lan Kwai Fong Halloween kicks-off October 28 in a surefire spooktaculaar fashion and ends November 2, alongside SoHo Halloween on October 31.
width="425" height="344">MADAME TUSSAUDS
Fearless enough to come face-to-face with the world’s most dangerous criminals and deadly psychopaths? Head to Madame Tussauds’ new and permanent scare attraction, Scream—Escape The Asylum. Make your way around darkened corridors, experience intense gore and run into rampaging psychopaths to escape the asylum before you become one of the its permanent residents.
OCEAN PARK
Participate in Ocean Park’s Halloween Bash, an experience that will definitely give people the fright and enchantment of their lives. Proven to be bigger, better, spookier and more hair-raising than ever, Ocean Park will showcase sensational street shows, spine-tingling scare zones, more than 300 lurking ghoulish characters and creatures and incredible new audio and visual elements that will startle the senses of a brave soul. Tour decrepit estates and meet frightening and freakish beings through the many haunted houses in the park. Don’t forget to check out the shops for souvenirs and bring home a reminder of your scare fest!
object width="425" height="344">
Pumpkins were cut with faces representing demons and was originally intended to frighten away evil spirits. It was said that if a demon or such were to encounter something as fiendish looking as themselves that they'd run away in terror,thus sparing the houses dwellers from the ravages of dark entities. They would have been carried around the village boundaries or left outside the home to burn through the night.
The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.
During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.
Blending of Paganism with Christianity
When Christianity spread to parts of Europe, instead of trying to abolish these pagan customs, people tried to introduce ideas which reflected a more Christian world-view. Halloween has since become a confusing mixture of traditions and practices from pagan cultures and Christian tradition.
By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. During their rule of the Celtic lands, Roman festivals were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain. The Romans observed the holiday of Feralia, intended to give rest and peace to the departed. Participants made sacrifices in honor of the dead, offered up prayers for them, and made oblations to them. Another festival was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.
As the influence of Christianity spread into Celtic lands, in the 7th century, Pope Boniface IV introduced All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs, to replace the pagan festival of the dead. It was observed on May 13. In 834, Gregory III moved All Saint's Day from May 13 to Nov. 1 and for Christians, this became an opportunity for remembering before God all the saints who had died and all the dead in the Christian community. Oct. 31 thus became All Hallows' Eve ('hallow' means 'saint').
Sadly, though, many of the customs survived and were blended in with Christianity. Numerous folk customs connected with the pagan observances for the dead have survived to the present.
In 1517, a monk named Martin Luther honored the faithful saints of the past by choosing All Saints Day (November 1) as the day to publicly charge the Church heirarchy with abandoning biblical faith. This became known as "Reformation Day," a fitting celebration of the restoration the same biblical faith held by the saints throughout church history.
HONG KONG DISNEYLAND
From September 26 to November 1, prepare to get the.
LAN KWAI FONG - View Cantones/Chinese video below.
Drop by Hong Kong’s most happening and popular party destinations. Each thriving district houses first class restaurants with different specialties you just have to try, crowds to celebrate with, and the right spot to don a perfect Halloween costume. Lan Kwai Fong Halloween kicks-off October 28 in a surefire spooktaculaar fashion and ends November 2, alongside SoHo Halloween on October 31.
width="425" height="344">MADAME TUSSAUDS
Fearless enough to come face-to-face with the world’s most dangerous criminals and deadly psychopaths? Head to Madame Tussauds’ new and permanent scare attraction, Scream—Escape The Asylum. Make your way around darkened corridors, experience intense gore and run into rampaging psychopaths to escape the asylum before you become one of the its permanent residents.
OCEAN PARK
Participate in Ocean Park’s Halloween Bash, an experience that will definitely give people the fright and enchantment of their lives. Proven to be bigger, better, spookier and more hair-raising than ever, Ocean Park will showcase sensational street shows, spine-tingling scare zones, more than 300 lurking ghoulish characters and creatures and incredible new audio and visual elements that will startle the senses of a brave soul. Tour decrepit estates and meet frightening and freakish beings through the many haunted houses in the park. Don’t forget to check out the shops for souvenirs and bring home a reminder of your scare fest!
object width="425" height="344">
Pumpkins were cut with faces representing demons and was originally intended to frighten away evil spirits. It was said that if a demon or such were to encounter something as fiendish looking as themselves that they'd run away in terror,thus sparing the houses dwellers from the ravages of dark entities. They would have been carried around the village boundaries or left outside the home to burn through the night.
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