Pastime pleasures
It's not uncommon to see teenagers or even adults fighting in public - on their handheld electronic games and on the internet. But even in the electronic age, we see some old toys making a comeback.
Wyman Chan Man-fai and Benjamin Chan Chun-man are both yo-yo addicts. Wyman has been playing for 10 years, while Benjamin started seven years ago. They are both members of the Hong Kong Yo Yo Fan Club.
'There are about 30 yo-yo tricks, 10 in each of the difficult, medium and easy level,' Wyman said. 'I have mastered them and now I perform them.'
He has been invited by numerous yo-yo companies to perform in countries including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, on the mainland and in Taiwan.
Wyman, 22, said it was also great fun to show off his tricks to other yo-yo fans.
Members of the Yo Yo Club gather every Sunday at the open area outside Sha Tin Town Hall. There are more than 1,200 members mostly aged between 12 and 20 with the youngest just seven years old.
'My favourite trick isn't one that is difficult to master, but one that can create a beautiful pattern,' Benjamin, a 19-year-old student said. 'I see yo-yo as an art and it is something to be appreciated.'
Apart from yo-yoing, there are two more games experiencing a renaissance that are quite often seen at school and on the MTR - the Rubik's cube and pen spinning.
The Rubik's cube, a mechanical puzzle invented by Hungarian sculptor Erno Rubik, is said to be one of the world's top selling toys. First-time players tend to twist and turn the colourful cube in the most random order.
'When I got my first cube, I had a hard time putting it back to its original state. After looking up videos on how to solve the puzzle, I realised that it actually isn't that hard. I wonder why I couldn't think of the method earlier,' Mai Lee, a 17-year-old student said.
'There are a few ways to tackle it. Some start off with the corners, while others would aim at solving it level by level.
'I can now unriddle a 3x3 cube in 40 seconds.'
Don't take pen spinning any less seriously than other games. There's a science behind making a pen twirl in your fingers.
Kit Chan started pen spinning when he was in Form One while he was feeling bored in class. After three years of practice, he can now do more than 20 tricks on his pen.
'I can spin any type of pen. When I go to a stationery store to buy pens, I test to see if it writes well, and if it's easy to spin. We also add rubber and caps on the ends to balance the weight,' the 15-year-old said.
'There are three levels to pen spinning. The last level is quite hard to master because we cannot control our pen with our finger muscles, but rely on our level of balance.
'It's great fun to be spinning pen with a group of friends. There is great interaction between us and we learn new tricks from each other.'
Marbles anyone?
