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SCMP Reporter

After deciding that this would be my grand finale, I tried to find a theme for this week's column that fits in with my departure.

  I eventually settled on the theme of transportation. For an area that we all rather take for granted, these companies, or individuals, have some pretty spiffy home pages.

Leading off is the Chek Lap Kok International Airport Web site (http://www.

hkairport.com/index.htm).

  A beautifully designed site, much like its counterpart in the real world, the site manages to handle lots of images and information without overwhelming the surfer.

  The airport site uses a good blend of colours over a white background to achieve a very pleasing set-up.

  The site has a clickable menu on a top frame with the information you are browsing loading up on the bottom. This works very well and is easy to negotiate. Menu items include a What's New section, a basic history, a section on the shops and restaurants, and some useful telephone numbers and Web sites.

  The site also has a Photo Gallery that features incredible photos of the airport. The photos are well placed and all are originally presented as thumbnails so you can choose which picture you want to look at before downloading the entire file.

  Another well thought-out section of the Web site is the Transport page. It has a clickable map of Hong Kong to help you choose your method of transport. I live near Sha Tin and clicked on the Sha Tin region of the map. Up pops the route maps and fares for the A41 and E42 buses, which I knew about, plus several other buses that I didn't know serviced my area.

  Even more helpful was the fact that there is a night bus that runs to the airport from Tsuen Wan.

  The Airport User Information page's title doesn't really reflect what the page is about. What it really is is a map of the terminals and an overview of the airport. It is helpful if you need to know where the moneychangers are, or to decide on a meeting point for your relative who is flying into Hong Kong tomorrow.

The next site we will look at is the MTR Web site (http://www.mtrcorp. com) although it is less a Web site than a Web box.

  What I mean by that is that on the first page that loads up, you are presented with a button that takes you to another page. You have to click on that and it pops up a smaller browser window that is a little Web browser without navigation buttons, URL address and all the other functions of the main browsers.

  It's graphically appealing, although the colours may be a little intense.

  There are a lot of bells and whistles that continually beep and flash, including a green text animated graphic that looks like a control panel and annoyingly loops flashing words.

  The site uses a lot of cool technology, such as QuickTime VR, a 3D-image viewer that allows you to view a three dimensional habitat. The choice for the MTR's 3-D view is Kowloon Tong station. To check it out, click on MTR Network on the left of the screen and then the virtual tour button. If the page won't load up or gives you an error message, you need to download QuickTime VR from the Apple Web site (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/).

  The MTR site has a few reports and releases from the company, a What's New page, and a piece dedicated to the Airport Express. It also includes a good map of MTR routes but the map is designed a little poorly as it is slightly too big for the viewing space the MTR page has allotted.

  The page also has a game where you race against a race of evil alien Zorks trying to capture all of Hong Kong's dim sum chefs. The first to Wan Chai station from Tsim Sha Tsui wins.

  The game is of course just a facade to show the surfer the benefits of the MTR - you lose the game if you decide against using the MTR, or even if you don't use it correctly.

  For instance, I got sidetracked because I did not stand on the right side of the escalator holding the handrail. I thought I was in a rush so I decided to run down the escalator but that's not allowed, so a station manager caught and detained me.

  It's just a multiple-choice game and not that much fun.

A good site that is not officially associated with the MTR but supplies a useful function is the MTR Hong Kong Non-Official Fare Checking System (http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Track/3118/).

  What this site does is let you select the departure and arrival station and calculate how much your ticket will cost. The site has a good way of displaying the resulting fare that looks like a slot machine as the numbers spin round before stopping on your fare.

  It displays the price of a single journey for a variety of tickets. It's actually quite a good site.

  I've enjoyed showing you some good Web sites over the past few months and, hopefully, I have added several sites to your bookmarks file.



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