Welcome.
My name is Alan, and I’m a seasoned and passionate hardware and software developer - an engineer - a person who makes things, experiments, and explores. This blog is a personal space.
Why kaitak (你好)?#
I wanted a domain that meant something to me, but also something ’non-personal’ that I could use for other things too. I wanted a short domain (not so easy nowadays), and kaitak.org was available and just felt perfect, as it is a little of me. I was born on Hong Kong island, and Kai Tak was the airport, attached to the mainland in Kowloon serving Hong Kong (airport code HKG).
It’s also one of the most dramatic arrivals for both passenger and pilot alike. Planes approached checker-board hill before turning sharply to line up with the runway. Passing low, almost between city buildings, on their approach. Just like this Cathay Pacific plane on final approach over Kowloon…
Kai Tak was once the world’s 3rd busiest passenger airport and busiest freight airport, but ceased operating in July 1998. Now there is little of the airport and building left to recognise. The passenger terminal and hangers were demolished around 2005.
Why the Dragon?#
Simple really - I was born in the Chinese year of the Dragon, in the British Military Hospital (BMH) Mount Kellett on Victoria Peak. The hospital closed in 1967 and was demolished in 1975, and its foundation stones were relocated to the nearby Matilda Hospital grounds, an active, world-renowned private hospital operating 24 hours a day in a Grade II historic building.
Stuart Pearson’s WordPress site Hong Kong Then and Now – Fifty Years Apart has a wonderfully detailed historical series of pictures of the BMH and Hong Kong.
And the sidebar?#
The sidebar is a montage of pictures of objects illustrating things and occupations that have played an important role in my life so far. Pencils, electronics, software, audio, photography, and chillies!
And so…#
…this is my website, and it will be for as long as I’m able to keep it!
Unless otherwise stated the copyright and other intellectual property rights relating to the content of this website is owned or licensed by kaitak.org. Copying, adaptation or other use of the aforementioned material without my written permission is prohibited.