Sky’s the Limit

Nikolay Bozhilov's trip to Hong Kong!

Trip Journal

Part 1: Day 1 of Nikolay and Gabriella’s trip to Hong Kong

Welcome to Hong Kong!
Nikolay Bozhilov (winner of TIA 2010), accompanied by Gabriella from Triumph, made his way to Hong Kong to adapt his design ‘Morphology’ into a commercial product. Over the course of 3 days, Nikolay not only attended design meetings and learned more about Triumph, but he was also shown around the luminous city of Hong Kong. This is what Nikolay and Gabriella did on their first day …

On Monday 4th October at 07:30am, the jetlagged Nikolay and Gabriella arrived in Hong Kong. With no time to spare, they made their way directly to the Triumph offices, for the first meeting with Triumph’s own design team. They were immediately in the thick of things, discussing all the important aspects of Nikolay’s design and the process of turning it into a product which will be sold all around the world. After the meeting, having worked up a good appetite, they got their first taste of Hong Kong – quite literally in a Dim Sum restaurant. This typical Hong Kong style meal included dishes ranging from steamed dumplings, meat, vegetables, mini tarts, rolls…and the list goes on. In Hong Kong, they call this way of eating “Yum Cha” which literally translates to “Drink tea” but actually means going out for lunch with family members to eat dim sum and drink lots of Jasmine tea. Well, Nikolay and Gabriella did just that… and thoroughly enjoyed every last mouthful!

After the great lunch and a well-deserved rest in the hotel,, they set off again for a nightly stroll and a harbor cruise along Hong Kong’s ‘Victoria Harbor’ to view the ‘Symphony of Lights’. This amazing light and sound show along both sides of the harbor has earned the title of the “Worlds Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show” by the Guinness Book of World Records.

 Nikolay and Gabriella then followed-up with yet another culinary experience - Beijing (Peking) Duck! Nikolay got the chance to taste one of Hong Kong’s most famed delicacies: crispy roasted duck, spilling with aromatic juices, served on a hot steamed white pancake rolled up with garnished slices of spring onion and hoisin sauce…Mmmm.

To complete the evening… Hong Kong’s night market for some night shopping at Temple Street! A perfect shopping district for souvenirs, clothes, hand-made art, inexpensive gadgets, accessories …. Everything that a budget-shopaholic’s heart desires!

What a day…

Nikolay Bozhilov's Hong Kong trip continued!

Trip Journal

Part 2: Day 2 of Nikolay and Gabriella’s trip to Hong Kong
More marvelous discoveries for Nikolay!

Nikolay and Gabriella ventured onto more attention-grabbing discoveries, starting the day off with a visit of Triumph Hong Kong’s newest store in the Olympian City Two shopping mall. Nikolay not only feasted his eyes on Triumph’s products, but also gained insight and an understanding of the different ranges. The pinnacle of the visit was seeing the display of last year’s adapted TIA winning design by James Nolan, knowing that soon enough his own piece would also shine in the limelight!

Having a little free-time between pre-scheduled activities, Nikolay and Gabriella decided to make the most of their time and visit Kowloon Park. This oasis of calm, slap-bang in the middle of chaotic Kowloon, was perfect for a leisurely walk while pondering everything they had seen until now. Their tummies rumbling, it was now lunch time after all, they went exploring in search of some more local cuisine. Having found an interesting restaurant, but being challenged with a Chinese menu, they had a chat with the chef, who asked for their trust in creating a special, custom-made meal... The Chef certainly delivered what he’d promised, and served up an amazing meal of sizzling beef with roast vegetable, chicken, rice and a corn soup – extremely delicious!

Moving onto their next destination, Nikolay and Gabriella made their way back to Triumph for the tour of the sample production line. Nikolay now got to experience the atmosphere of the workings and processes of producing lingerie samples and prototypes, an important step of the design and production process. He was very adamant about wanting to see everything there is to see, which the Triumph hosts were more than happy to accommodate.

That evening, the last full evening in Hong Kong for our two travelers, the sight-seeing continued with taking the Star Ferry (one of the other more convenient ways of commuting) to Central district, where Nikolay and Gabriella headed for the sky terrace to watch the sun set over Hong Kong – a spectacular view, even in spite of the rainy weather. When night time hit, they went on to Soho and Lang Kwai Fong, Hong Kong’s exciting night-life districts. From the longest escalator in the world, to traditional Manchurian food, right through to the vodka ice-bar ‘Balalaika’, they tried and tested everything that Hong Kong’s night-life had to offer – and enjoyed it!

Nikolay Bozhilov's final day in Hong Kong

Trip Journal

Part 3: Day 3 of Nikolay and Gabriella’s trip to Hong Kong
Relax and taking it easy - wrapping up the voyage

How do you spend your last day in Hong Kong?

Nikolay and Gabriella resumed their last day in the bustling city of Hong Kong with some last-day shopping at the fabric market. Do we even need to mention that Nikolay absolutely adored the fabric market? Not really…that’s kind of stating the obvious.

Delving into the Chinese tourist culture, Nikolay was introduced to the Man Ho Temple, one of Hong Kong’s oldest and most famous Buddhist temples, a quiet and peaceful place with burning incense hanging from the ceilings. Having taken Hong Kong’s famous double-decker tram, the Star Ferry and walked around for most of the day, they decided to give themselves a rest and take a taxi to the Hong Kong Botanical Garden. This free park and zoo, at the top of one of the hillier parts of the city, contains an interesting mixture of wild flora and fauna, aviaries with lots of exotic birds and monkey enclosures. The perfect way of getting a real feel for Hong Kong’s rich and varied wildlife.

At around 6pm, and with about an hour to spare before having to leave for the airport, there was only one more thing to experience …the famous reflexology foot massage treatment. This traditional Chinese treatment concentrates on the reflexology pressure points in the foot which are connected to the rest of the body, and it is said to be able to treat everything from back pain to insomnia.  However, after the last three days in Hong Kong, insomnia was the least of their troubles!

Then, off to the airport for the flight home. All in all a very exciting and memorable trip for the winner of the TIA 2010 – lots of experiences to talk about and stories to tell!