Wacky weather, giant water slides, filthy tweets, and Wolverine, 2015 saw it all - and
Localiiz was there to report it. As we charge towards the end of the year, we cast our minds back to our top stories from the past twelve months that got your hearts racing and your tongues wagging.
Enjoy!
We don't know what Spanish tourist Rafa Zubiria was on when he dreamt up the concept behind this spine-tingling video of Hong Kong, but it certainly did the trick in helping him to create a mind-blowing masterpiece that not only earned him a Vimeo Staff Pick, but also racked up almost 350,000 views on our website. Officially our most popular (and bizarre) video of 2015, this little gem is guaranteed to make the hairs on your neck stand up ... and make you think twice before ordering that Nutty Drumstick!
2. 50 Shades of Hong Kong
Think Hong Kongers are prudish? Think again. More like flirty, dirty, and downright hilarious. Our city got rather hot and bothered when the much-anticipated
Fifty Shades of Grey hit the big screen over Valentine's Day weekend, making Twitter explode with hot and steamy locally-inspired tweets that took parodies to a whole new level. This steamy story was viewed almost 200,000 times, and drew 1,471 likes and 245 shares on Facebook. Clearly Hong Kongers have a one-track mind, the saucy bunch ... we thought we'd never ride the MTR again!
This visual masterpiece left us all on the edge of our seats asking,
"Why don't my homemade videos turn out like this?" We commend you Dimid Vazhnik, this epic timelapse of Hong Kong racked up almost 300,000 views and drew a whopping 1,205 likes and 422 shares on Facebook.
(Note to self, buy a better camera.)
Thought only the Brits were obsessed with tea? Think again. Our readers went mad as a hatter for this brilliant roundup of the best milk teas in town from our friends over at
Sam the Local. It seems Hong Kongers just can't get enough of the milky cha, which explains why they drink 900 million glasses of it each year! Now put the kettle on, and keep reading ...
Here at
Localiiz, we love to let you in on a good thing – like when California's In-N-Out Burger popped up in Causeway Burger for only a few hours back in March. We're pretty sure they loved us too after our inside scoop led a heard of hungry Hong Kongers in their direction. This little nugget got over 340,000 views and 819 Facebook comments (smug chomping shots included). Who knew burgers were such a conversation starter?
When it comes to freaky weather in Hong Kong, you'd expect typhoons to make the biggest headlines on
Localiiz, but when a blanket of thick fog shrouded our city in March this year, you couldn't put your cameras down. Spooky shots of half-buried skyscrapers filled up our Instagram feed, inspiring us to create a photo album which drew in 1,464 likes and 174 shares on Facebook. Good work happy snappers!
Tight living spaces and expensive healthcare are always hot topics in Hong Kong, but nobody nailed it like Manulife and its hilarious
2040 campaign this year. The series of three adverts showing Hong Kongers what their cramped, vacationless futures would look like if they don't properly plan for retirement struck a chord with our readers. Comedy gold, but kinda true ... we didn't know whether to laugh or cry!
Who needs air-con when you have a 1,000 foot-long water slide to help you cool down in summer? Slide the City made a big splash in Hong Kong when it released its teaser video before landing on our doorstep in August. There's nothing like a montage of scantily clad city dwellers getting some wet and wild action to make a video go viral. This little gem racked up 172,311 views on our website, and almost 1,000 likes on Facebook.
Bring back the slide!
Most of us only turn to the Golden Arches for a quick, cheap food fix, but Suraj Katra's shocking photos in May showed us there's much more than meets the eye. His series of shots taken at various McDonald’s outlets during the night opened our eyes to the astonishing reality of homelessness in our city. After this story was reported by Associated Press, a Singaporean woman who appeared in it, after going “missing” nearly five years ago, was reunited with her son. We love a happy ending! (
ahem)
All good things come to an end.
Localiiz's co-founder Richard Codron certainly left a mark on the city (and us) when he decided to leave Hong Kong for pastures new in September. His departing thoughts and farewell message to our readers garnered 100,000 views, and got us all thinking about our own connection to the remarkable city we call home. We are pleased to report that Richard is loving his new life in London!
And who could forget ...
It's not every day you bump into Wolverine when browsing the shops on a Monday night! You couldn't wait to get your claws into handsome Hugh after we tipped you off on his rumoured whereabouts in Hong Kong this September. Kudos to John Santos for sending us this great shot of the A-list star in Time Square.
What a year it's been! We hope you enjoyed your little jaunt down memory lane. We can't wait to see what's in store for 2016 ...
[button color="blue" size="medium" link="https://localiiz.us4.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=c2964a434922598f5d8ee53ff&id=07d327a2e8" icon="" target="true"]Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter[/button]
