It was the place of dreams. It was once said of Queen Mary (Tudor) that when she died, "Calais" would be found engraved on her heart (although everyone else thought it should be written "callous"!); I think many pilots, enthusiasts, etc. would say the same of Kai Tak.
CLK is no doubt a very impressive airport, but it's just like any other airport now and would it kill them to provide somewhere decent for photography; Kai Tak was very much part of the spirit of Hong Kong; hair raising, exciting, vibrant, loud and noisy. Something of HK died with that great old airport.