Hong Kong: Shopping Overkill

So, I'm not really the best person to be making any comment about shopping. Some would say I'm a traitor to my sex (if you believe that sexist codswallop) by not being the least bit interested in dragging myself from shop to shop to shop looking for the very best bargain ever.

Shopping is NOT a sport nor a hobby in my opinion.

But, if you are a sport-shopper, a hobbyist-shopper, or a hunter-down of couture goodies, then you will be in heaven in this city.

Shopping Centres here are actually big enough that in peak shopping hours, it is possible for novices (like myself) to get disoriented and actually lost for a short while.

I am not a useful source of comparative costs, mostly due to the fact that my shopping expeditions are usually carried out on the back of necessity rather than information gathering, however I am reliably informed by people who know about these things that:

1. Hong Kong is not as cheap as it once was.


2. Stanley Markets is the place to go if you do want bargains.


3. If staying long enough, take a trip across the border into China - prices are better, but not quite of the same quality.

In my defence we did get a great price on a Samsonite travel case, probably saving close to NZ$100, and I did pick up a couple of really nice little shirts at an absolute steal on sale from a G2000 store in Central. Other than that, we weren't really here for the consumerism experience.

I probably should have put some observations into my First Impressions comments as it is hard to divorce the night lights from the shopping experience. Nathan Road really is ablaze with light and product choice.
There are markets all over the city, including the Temple Street Night Markets quite close to Tin Hau Temple, and there are modern shopping malls that could be considered small towns in some parts of the world.

If you want airconditioned comfort in your shopping, I can recommend taking time to visit Harbour City on the waterfront of Kowloon (but not on a Saturday during the month-long July sales) or Pacific Place on Hong Kong Island. Otherwise it's a case of hit the streets and enjoy the market experience and the constant "Would you like a Rolex?" or "Mens suits. Suits for the lady. Best quality." from the street hustlers.

No matter what you want, you will be able to find it here. It might not be the price you want to pay, but it will be here.

Enjoy!

(May your bank manager forgive you.)

Hong Kong: The Highs and The Lows

Victoria Peak. The Peak Tram. "The Peak"
Everyone does it.

And for a good reason. It is a great way to see the city. Our trusty Fodor guide suggested the best way to do this is as a day/night trip. And that's what we did. We MTR-ed our way to Admiralty, exiting under the Lippo Centre, from where we made our way up Cotton Tree Drive and to the Tram terminus. It's about a 5 or so minute walk uphill, traffic permitting. In the entrance area there is a lovely statue of Jackie Chan advertising Madame Tussaud's. Which, with the Peak Tower undergoing renovation and revitalisation while we were in town, we didn't actually get to experience. :(

Still, the tram ride was actually worth it. It's only a 7 minute journey - not particularly epic and at the start not particularly salubrious in it's outlook. But by the time you get to the Tourist bit it gives you a really good and unique view back down into Hong Kong. The Tram itself is rather sweet too. Reminiscent of days gone by. And even our snappy little digital (which is not particularly flash) could take photographs through the windows without drama.

Once off at the other end you can take a stroll to the lookout (everyone does) and take photographs looking back towards Kowloon. Or you can take a stroll around the shopping centre directly outside the Tram station. We did both. As we were planning on a day/night excursion, we took advantage of the late afternoon light and did the tourist photographs of the view. You know the sort of photos - stand up straight, suck in the tummy, move a bit to the right because the Bank of China is sticking out of your head, grin in a silly manner kind of thing. The only real difficulty is squeezing some space between all the other tourists.

The locals have been quite ingenious on the business front here - they've set up digital cameras and a printer along the walkway, taking and/or printing digital snaps of you and the Hong Kong skyline in the background. We chose not to use their services, but did applaud the business innovation shown.

Out of sheer nosiness, we wandered further along the same path and eventually came to a residential road. It gave us a different angle on the city and a view of a couple of birds of prey floating in the thermals. Unfortunately they never came quite close enough to make out clearly, but they looked like they were having a great deal of fun.

We wandered back to the Shopping Centre and took a look down at the southerly side of Hong Kong Island before going inside and taking a look around. It is a small centre by Hong Kong standards, and was not a particular stand-out on the shopping front. It did have, however, the only truly tourist shop that we came across during our stay. It had all the tourist knick-knacks you would expect to find - calligraphy scrolls, figurines, commemorative clothing and even ivory carvings. Nothing other than the scrolls was particularly tempting, however.

Once we had done the obligatory rounds of the shopping centre we went looking for a restaurant to have dinner in, and await the setting of the sun. Despite temptations of New Zealand lamb on one menu, we went for a mixed Chinese / Thai theme. It's definitely an interesting menu when you can order Fish Maw and Goose Web for a main !
Strangely enough, we didn't. :)

Dinner was pleasant, but as you would expect from a prime position on Victoria Peak, not cheap. However we did get to sit and relax, recharge and then head out again after dark to take the night photographs of the city. A tripod is highly recommended for this, of course, otherwise you might just want to leave it to the professionals. As the night view of the city is one of the prized excursions here, once our five minute photoshoot was over we found ourselves at the back of a very long queue for our return tram journey. Be prepared to wait 15 to 30 minutes (two or so tram rides worth) before getting a seat.

Once at the bottom terminus we headed back towards town through Hong Kong Park. Even though it was after dark, the park was well lit and a very pleasant and short walk. At the end of this we took the escalators down to Pacific Place and on to the MTR at Admiralty, and back to our hotel.

At the end of this day, we were facing the end of holiday lows...

The thought of leaving Hong Kong behind.

Murder In The Forum - Rosemary Rowe

This is the third book in the Libertus Series, or as the author herself seems to call them, the Roman Whodunnits.

Libertus is a freedman and mosaicist living in Roman occupied Britain during the time of Commodus. His patron, Marcus Septimus is one of the Governor's right-hand men and therefore very powerful and often at the centre of political and social events. In this case it is the arrival of a favourite of Commodus' from Rome, the cruel and ruthless Perennis Felix.

Felix arrives with the intent of marrying his daughter off to Marcus Septimus in a political move designed to hedge his bets on the possibility of an overthrow of Commodus by the British Legions. He arrives in pomp and circumstance at Glevum, and like all good political gameplayers the local Roman dignitaries quickly produce a feast for his arrival.
But the feast ends suddenly when Felix appears to choke on a nut and die.

Naturally this could be political suicide should the Emperor Commodus feel that things were not done correctly by Felix, so Libertus at Marcus' instruction begins to look into the possibility of foul play.

This is a very nicely written and paced book. The author cleverly hides things in plain view and turns the plot a few times to keep you guessing about the ending. And in the end, it turns one more time and ties things up neatly.
The writing evokes aspects of society in Roman Britain such as the difference between the lifestyles of the Roman Citizens and the local tribesmen who are now farmers and craftsmen, as well as aspects of the social hierarchy in Roman society.

If you like simple, but well written murder-mysteries, then you should consider adding this series to your reading list.

This rates a 3 out of 5 for me.

Hong Kong: Flora and Fauna

On the recommendation of another couple staying at our hotel, we decided that we would take the trip to the flower market and the bird market. This took us up to Prince Edward station, a couple of stops further north from Yau Ma Tei.

We wandered down the road, following the nice signposts pointing the way. The first stop being the wonderfuly named Flower Market Road, which of course is a street full of different flower and plant shops. There was quite a remarkable diversity of plants on offer, with a couple of shops showing the most beautiful array of orchids that I have seen anywhere. I was very envious that I wouldn't be able to take anything home.

The florist shops had unusual blooms on offer that were unknown to me, as well as the usual suspects - sunflowers and roses. We couldn't believe the individually wrapped rosebuds in the water buckets in the doorways. :-o
They were pristine, and they were a fraction of the cost we would pay at home.

By the time we had oggled our way down the street past the topiary, the orchids and the cut flowers, I had decided that there was no excuse for not having flowers decorating your home if you lived in Hong Kong. The prices were excellent, and if salarys are comparable, then I couldn't imagine not having fresh flowers in the house all the time.

At the end of Flower Market Road we came to the back entrance of Yuen Po Street Bird Market. They have made the entries to the market very ornate, and the shop areas fairly orderly. I'm sure the original bird market would have been much more higgledy-piggledy than this.

Once again, as an animal lover, it can be a little hard to walk through looking at the number of birds in tiny cages without feeling somewhat horrified. But in saying that, I am led to believe that space is at a premium for the humans who inhabit Hong Kong and they are used to living in much smaller spaces than perhaps us Kiwis are. It shouldn't be surprising then to think that for them it is acceptable for birds to be in smaller cages too. No doubt housing a bird in a small apartment also poses issues.

So, putting the cage sizes aside, pretty much all of the birds we saw seemed to be in good healthy feather. And if you choose to visit the market you must be prepared to be wowed by the intricate and beautifully made cages. Some are complete works of art. Unfortunately I only took "real" photographs here, so I can't share a quick digital snap with you.
Oh, and even if the cages are small, the birds get the most exquisite water bowls. None of this plastic rubbish for these little feathered-friends. Porcelain. Beautifully decorated in most cases.

It really was interesting, although not as big as I imagined it would be. If you are not looking for a bird, then the whole experience will be little more than 30 minutes. Oh, and keep your eye out for the most amazing bird - I have no idea at all what he was, but he was the most phenomenal colour - a vibrant metallic blue. If he sounds familiar to you I'd love to know what sort of bird, other than stunningly beautiful, he was. He wouldn't have been more than 20 cm top to tailfeather and about the same build as a smallish starling.

If you are on a short visit to Hong Kong, then you may want to consider these markets if you have a local person to buy a gift for (flowers), or if you have two or so hours to fill (maximum total travel and browsing time for both markets).

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

And what a rip-roaring adventure series this is turning out to be.

John and I attended the Lido last night and had a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours watching Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley swash and buckle their way through Part 2 of this adventure series.

Alternately dark and scary, then light and hilarious, this is a great fun movie. It even managed to make me jump at one point - and I haven't done that since I was 15 years old.

The plot line is simple - Capt Jack Sparrow is in trouble again, this time with Davy Jones. He owes him a debt of service and now is being chased for its payment. Into the mix throw the East India Trading Company, warrants for the arrest of Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner, and suddenly you have everyone running around the Caribbean looking for keys and chests, dealing and double dealing as they go.

The fight scenes are raucous as expected, there is much sword play and some exceedingly funny pieces of physical and visual comedy. Gore Verbinski definitely had his tongue in his cheek through many scenes. My particular favourite running gag involves a waterwheel from an old mill.

The special effects are excellent. I just loved what they did to Davy Jones and his crew, especially the guy with the shell for a head - most funny. And if you haven't already fallen in love with Bill Nighy's work in "Love Actually" or "Underworld" then you have been missing out. He is a prolific, talented actor. And it's amazing to think that under all those special effect tentacles you still get a sense of a character - twitches and all.

I'd be cautious about taking smaller kids who might want to see this film. It gets a PG-13 or an M rating (depending on your country of origin) and it does deserve it. The dark bits are dark, and there is plenty of nudge, nudge, wink, wink sexual humour and innuendo (kids will probably not notice this, of course). So, it will probably be best to leave the little ones at home, no matter how much they beg to go with you.

If you want a full, and fair, review of the movie take a look at the excerpt from Rolling Stone on the Lido website.

My rating: 4 out of 5.
My advice: See it in the theatre, then save up to buy the boxed set after the third film comes out next year.
My rationale: You will never see a more wonderfully lovable, annoying, funny, villainous or seductive portrayal of a pirate captain. Captain Jack Sparrow really is a masterpiece of Johnny Depp's acting talent.

Family History: Beattie & Lunn

I thought it was overdue to add some more family groups, so today I have created the Beattie and Lunn family pages. Check for them under the Family History tab.

In the process of doing this I discovered that my attempts to hide the Sub Pages box on the Family History and Gastronomy pages meant that you couldn't actually access the individual family and recipe pages at all.

So, I have compromised. I put up with the ugly sub-page box, and you get to see what I was wanting to share with you in the first place.

Hope you take the time to re-visit the pages, and enjoy the recipes.

Also, there will be more forthcoming about our Hong Kong trip, recently read books and viewed films. The delay is because I have been patiently (hah! yeah right!) waiting for our home broadband connection to be up and running.
Keep your fingers crossed for me - I'm now hoping that it will be all systems go (F.A.B. Virgil) tomorrow evening.

Hong Kong: Jade and Nuts

After making our offering of incense at Tin Hau Temple we strolled down the road to the Kansu Street Jade Market. We arrived as a number of stall holders were setting up their goods for display. Our Fodor's guide suggested taking someone who knows about Jade, if you are as ignorant about these matters as I am. As it was, I was only in the market for some small memory of Hong Kong to take home with me, just as I had on a previous trip to Thailand where I came home with a little elephant charm. In this case I was hoping to find a really nice, simple and not expensive set of Fu Lu Shou figures. All the versions I had seen in the tourist shops were in ivory or mammoth. Neither of which I was:

1. Prepared to encourage;


2. Prepared to argue with NZ Customs officers over.

What I discovered was, they don't look good in jade and often the ceramic versions aren't that good either. So I rearranged my mind and eyes to look out for a small charm that incorporated my Chinese horoscope symbol - the Rooster. (Don't try to guess my age - remember you could be out by 12 years and then I would be really ticked off! ;))

So we wandered up and down the aisles and aisles of offerings. There is certainly no lack of choice here. I am sure that the quality will vary considerably too, but I am not a connoisseur of these things so you will need to decide for yourself.
In some instances the workmanship was obviously not as good as others, but there is a great deal of very similar necklaces and rings and charms to choose from. They vary from the tiny to the huge, the subtle to the gaudy. I think everyone's taste would be catered for by at least one stall holder.

The stalls are not only jade products nor only jewellery, there are other decorative items available too. In the end, it was at one of these non-jade stalls that I stopped and was enchanted. It was full of small carved animal figures. They looked like ivory, but were not. They were tagua nut carvings. And, just as you would expect there were the Chinese horoscope figures included in the melange of zoological offerings.
I was in heaven. So many cute animals, so much choice. The stall holder knew she had a sucker right there and then. Did I enter into battle over the price like I was in some warped auction room? Did I manage to get the deal of the century for my little trinket?

Hah ! Are you kidding? I couldn't bargain my way out of a wet paper bag!

John was suitably disgusted. He couldn't even have a go at it, since it was so obvious that I was going to have it - no matter what he said. Still this lady was one of the few who didn't try to "sell" to us. She explained in her best English what things were and said how pretty they were, but she left it at that. Ahhh, a saleswoman who knows her audience. Just what I (the hopeless bargainer) like.

So, in the end I got my memory trinket from Hong Kong. He lives on my desk at work, hopefully attracting good fortune and good luck. I've taken a photograph of his especially good side, but like all good luck charms he is carrying two coins for prosperity luck on his other good side. ;)

Hong Kong: The Scent of Incense

There are no shortage of options when it comes to Temples to visit in this city. It doesn't matter where you are staying, you are probably only 5 or 10 minutes away from somewhere interesting.

In our case we took the MTR up the road to the Yau Ma Tei stop where we got off and wandered down the road to Tin Hau Temple. It can be reached by going down any of Public Square Street, Shanghai Street or Market Street. I mention the roads and neighbourhood because there are other Tin Hau Temples that you can visit.
This is one of the oldest temples in Kowloon according to our Fodor's Guidebook, filled with incence and worshippers.

We visited the temple on a soggy, wet Friday morning after a respectable lie-in and leisurely breakfast. After our previous flying visit to Singapore (a weekend and a day) four years ago, John and I came to an agreement on how we would approach business/tourism travel from then on. We agreed that my desire to walk his legs down into blistered and bloodied stumps just so I could see every last temple and interesting shop in Chinatown needed to be toned down. So, with great restraint I took the slow-and-steady approach here in Hong Kong.

We entered the temple area through the Yau Ma Tei Community Centre Rest Garden having walked down Public Square Street after a brief visit to Public Square Street Children's Playground and Rest Garden, which is a bit of a mouthful but I must say was a very pretty detour. At the time we thought it might have been the entry to the temple, but it is actually behind it (or rather in front of it, if you are coming from Nathan Road). A nice, but brief, mistake to make.

It is quite obviously a living temple for the local community and not just a tourist attraction. A lady was bowing and muttering prayers presumably at one of the altars when we entered, and another couple were discussing things with the fortune teller. The ceiling of the central courtyard was full of incence. Huge incence. There were three courtyards and within the central courtyard there were three shrines and full-sized statues to boot. One of the shrines was dedicated to family, with photographs on the wall.



By this time in our trip we were aware that some of the family and friends at home were not keeping so well and had caught the current virulent form of 'flu', so we thought what better way than to set some incence burning with a request to the gods for their assistance.

I decided on the yellow incense, not the red. It looked far too pink, and as a rule I am not a pink person. I don't think I have ever seen incence this size before and it is quite astounding. At home I am used to stick incense, cone incense and occasionally coil incense. You know, the sort of stuff you can light with a match or a small lighter. I can honestly say that I have never seen incense being ignited by a small propane blowtorch before ! Don't believe me? Click and take a close look at this:



We shared the duties of requesting the gods' favour. I wrote the request and John did the lighting of the coil.
We're still not 100% sure if our request was meant to request blessings for 10 days because the incense burns for 10 days, or if by burning the incense the gods will notice you and help you out for 10 days. Still a bit vague on that aspect of it, I have to say. Either way, a little divine assistance can never go too far wrong I always think.
If you choose to visit a temple while in Hong Kong and you have no philosophical difficulties regarding "When in Rome..." with regards to belief systems, then this is a nice way to enter the local culture. And you never know, maybe the local deities will take kindly to your acknowledgement of their existence and answer your request. And for those who may be curious about our request, it was...

Blessings to our extended family and friends at Denray.
Health, wealth and happiness for all.

And there it goes, off to the waiting ears of the gods:

Failure to Launch

Such was the lack of movie options on the way home, I was stuck with this one.
I am not a drooler over Matthew McConaughey and nor am I a Carrie Bradshaw groupie, so Sarah Jessica Parker is not on my hot list of actresses. Not really a good start then.

The premise of the movie is that McConaughey is a 30-ish bachelor called Tripp who is still living at home with his parents, quite happily enjoying being waited on hand and foot by his mother. His two best friends are doing the same. Unfortunately for him, his parents really would like to have their home back to themselves. This leads them to Parker's character Paula, who is a facilitator of removals. The storyline allows you to get to know the three bachelor boys, and there are quite a few funny scenes involving wildlife spaced throughout the movie.

True to romantic comedy formula, the cool and detached Paula starts to like her target. She tries to convince herself that she doesn't, and that she is looking at him as a professional. Of course, things change when one of Tripp's friends sees Paula with another of her removal clients and she is forced to explain what she is doing. His silence is bought with an arranged date with Paula's flatmate Kit. Unfortunately while he is silent with regards to telling Tripp he still tells the other friend, who goes on to spill the beans. How this plays out is the fun bit of the film.

This is a good, solid, traditional romantic comedy. There a moments of laughter (usually provided by the appearance of wildlife), and cute moments between the characters. You feel for the parents, including the Mum's fear of having her son move out and her husband back 100%. She wants her space back, but is worried that having been parents so long that they may not still love each other like they did pre-Tripp. Even though this has a good portion of the story told from Tripp's point of view, it is still essentially a chick-flick.

If you are a fan of either of the movie's principals, you will enjoy this. McConaughey gets to be sweet and charming. Parker gets to be...well...not sure on that one actually. Normal might be a good description. A girl trying to deal with her life, finding out she's not so good at keeping emotional distance between herself and a good man (despite his Failure to Launch).

It's cute. It's inoffensive. It'll probably make you smile and you may even laugh a bit too. The idea of surfing with dolphins may never be the same again for you, though.

Rating:
1.5 out of 5 (if you feel like a movie that challenges the romantic tradition)
2.5 out of 5 (if you feel like a hotwater bottle, duvet cover and hot chocolate - and it's the middle of the day) ;)

Hong Kong: Day Two

After Dried Seafood Street and our brunch in Rice Sellers Street the remainder of our second day in Hong Kong was fairly low key. We travelled from Sheung Wan in the west over to Taikoo and Quarry Bay in the east. Taking advantage of the cafe at one of our large multi-national clients' building we indulged in Quick Tip #5 by enjoying a yummy fruit juice and soft squidgy seat. It also gave us the opportunity to people watch in a high level business environment. There was a considerable difference in the dress code in this building compared to others we had visited, and in stark contrast to the general population on the city streets.
This was also the location of our large scale brick screening wall mentioned in my Day One comments, and inside these large buildings were some wonderful pieces of modern art. I particularly liked the large woven metal jars in one foyer area. And from the vantage point of one of the interconnected buildings we were able to see the exit of the Eastern Harbour Crossing, which I have to say looked pretty impressive from above.

After this visit to modernity and glass, we moved on to a more rustic and lived-in neighbourhood for our last business call of the day. This provided my first experience of a local corner park, and public street furniture. So following my own newly-established advice, I took a seat in the park and watched life go by and the local park's inhabitants enjoying the sunny weather while John made this final call. Cunningly all the locals were all sitting on the shady side of the park whereas I, not noticing the lack of cover, sat on a sunny bench. Hmmm. Today's lesson: How to have an outdoor sauna.



After sitting here enjoying the ambiance of alternately frying and cooling down again, based on the clouds covering and uncovering the sun, we moved off again on our way back to the MTR and the hotel. On the way back we passed by the entrance to Causeway Bay market, which provided another insight into the Hong Kong culture of food. Fresh, fresh and fresh seem to be the bywords here. The butcher was working away at his trade, while the local chicken seller was doing her thing in front of multiple cages of live birds. No prepackaged chicken thighs here thank you very much!
Based on the wafting odour and my aversion to watching anything live potentially being processed into something dead, we decided that maybe this aspect of food culture could be bypassed in this particular instance. ;)

A surprising feature of the city is how much small industry there is at work. Small shops sitting side by side, often with quite conflicting uses. On our walk back to the MTR we passed a furniture maker spray painting cabinets on the sidewalk in front of his shop, while two doors down there was a florist and a few more doors down a bakery. Quite remarkable business zoning. ;)

As this was our last day of business in Hong Kong we were looking forward to doing the 'tourist on holiday' sights.
Looking back I can't help but wonder if we would have had such a rich and varied view of this vibrant city if we hadn't had cause to walk through non-tourist neighbourhoods on business. I think our visit would have been the poorer for not having these experiences. Would we have walked down Rice Sellers Street, or even thought to venture down Dried Seafood Street? I'm not so sure that we would have.

I can't recommend enough the idea of getting out of the tourist neighbourhoods if you can. Take a random bus trip just to see the city. Walk a couple of blocks further than you planned just to see what's down that street. Don't sit in a tour bus secure from the heat, sights, smells and sounds of the city, unless you only have a day or two to spare in the city.

Go local. See the day-to-day bustle. Enjoy a different view. Take that unique experience home and share it with others. It's worth it - I promise.

Hong Kong: Dried Seafood Street

Dried Seafood Street is part of an entire neighbourhood devoted to things dried, medicinal and edible. If you are visiting here, take the MTR to Sheung Wan and one of the exits will take you out onto Birds Nest and Ginseng Street, which will lead you to Herbal Medicine Street and Dried Seafood Street. They are signposted for tourists, and their actual names are Wing Lok Street, Ko Shing Street and Des Voeux Road.

Because of our business earlier in the day we did this neighbourhood in reverse, starting with Dried Seafood Street.

It is fair to say that I am not known for having a cast-iron constitution with regards to food. For a substantial part of my adult life I have been either a vegetarian or a low grade omnivore. I have no moral issue with others eating as they see fit. I don’t want people telling me what I should or shouldn’t be doing, so have no intent on belligerently berating others regarding their tastes. But I have to say that visiting Dried Seafood Street makes that a very difficult philosophical position to maintain.

We walked down Dried Seafood Street in alternate states of awe and horror. Far be it for me to say what is “too much”, but I really don’t know where they could possibly have purchased so many scallops. Shop after shop displayed multiple jars of different sized dried scallops. I kid you not when I say that each jar must have held a thousand scallops. Some were the size of a small fat button, up to what must have been large fleshy scallops before drying. There were dried shrimps by the ton, and things that looked like jellyfish in boxes. Many items I just couldn’t identify, and some that I didn’t really want to know what they were.

Sea slugs dried in large jars, or in boxes along the street front of shops; and in a couple of cases, laid out to display on the roadside.



Sharks fins could be seen displayed in a few of the shops and I took a photograph of a huge fin on display at the door of one shop. I could only imagine what it used to be attached to.



It's hard to be dispassionate about the amount of produce on sale here. You can feel a little overwhelmed by the sheer quantity, and wonder where on earth it could all come from, and where it all actually goes.

After we had wandered both sides of the road, we headed up Herbal Medicine Street and back along Birds Nest and Ginseng Street to the MTR station. Along the way we saw many families sitting in shops dividing up produce for sale in smaller bags; we saw beautifully presented shop fronts; we saw the beautiful traditional herbal medicine dispensaries; and we saw the ubiquitous handcarts being pushed by fit looking young men and little old ladies.

If you are planning a visit to Hong Kong, take some time to visit this area. Even though the streets have been nicknamed for tourist consumption, this does not take away the local cultural aspects of the produce for sale and the shop's customers. You probably won't see too many tourists down Des Voeux Road West, we certainly didn't. Don't be one of those who stop short; go the distance; take the extra time. You will not regret the walk, even though it may pose philosophical questions for you to answer and may even push your judgemental buttons. You came to see a different culture - don't miss it.

 

Hong Kong: Eating on Rice Sellers Street

The day dawned on another walk around Hong Kong on business.
Today I was prepared; comfortable shoes and an open mind ready to take the rest break opportunities as they presented themselves. And considering we went from Shueng Wan in the west right over to Quarry Bay in the east, it was a good thing I was prepared.

Our first stop of the morning was in the district of Sheung Wan, on Connaught Road West. This meant we took the MTR as far west on the Blue Line as we could go, then walked on for another ten minutes or so. There is an assortment of businesses along this road, mostly small stores and offices. But once we reached the end of the Central portion of Connaught Road and began our walk along the West portion, the ground floor businesses all took on a very familiar look. Parked outside in old open backed trucks and being wheeled from truck to offices doubling as storerooms were sacks and sacks of rice. Large sacks. The sort of large sack that could feed me for a year or so, and I do like my rice; or perhaps might put an immediate end to hunger in a famine-stricken third world village.
Naturally this meant we had to rename the road to Rice Sellers Street.

We reached our destination a little earlier than planned and took a quick look around the very small mall on the ground floor, and discovered the entrance to a restaurant that served Yum Cha. We decided that this would do nicely for an early lunch after our appointment. We also took a short walk along Des Voeux Road West, which was on the other side of the building. This, in the tourist literature and maps, is aptly described as Dried Seafood Street. A stroll along this was considered the next item of sightseeing following our brunch. But first there was work and then lunch.

For those who are not in the know, John and I are both very keen Yum Cha participants back here in Auckland. It’d actually be quite embarrassing if I confessed to how frequently we find ourselves going in to one of the local restaurants for a snack lunch. So visiting the spiritual home of Auckland’s Yum Cha restaurants was a treat that we both intended to make the most of. The usual method of serving in New Zealand is by bringing around a selection of foods on trolleys or trays, which allows you to see and choose what you like. We expected things in Hong Kong to be pretty much the same. Turns out we were wrong.

The restaurant was clearly a local favourite as at about 11am on a work day it was roughly half full. As expected, we were the only non-Chinese to be seen. The ‘meet-and-greet’ lady was happy enough to seat us, and arrange tea. After that it looked like we were on our own. Our waitress knew no English and horror of horrors, there were no trolleys to be seen. The waitresses brought food out to tables, but not around the restaurant for diners to choose from. Oh dear!

A few minutes later the greeting lady brought a small menu with English equivalents alongside the Chinese characters. Okay, so we can do this after all, we won’t starve or randomly choose dim sum of dubious content.
It was a fraction of the choice of the Chinese dim sum lists, but at least we recognized some old favourites. Even so, apparently the staff was still concerned about us and clearly we were not to be trusted to make the correct decisions. A gentleman staff member in full business suit came over and insisted on helping us order, all the while telling us the English and Chinese menus did not match properly.
So we trotted out our favourites, even managing badly pronounced Chinese for the occasion. At this point I felt that at least we knew the Chinese names for the dishes and that must count for some street cred. That seemed to go down okay with our helper, and he even managed to crack a joke when I requested my very favourite char siu bau. According to him it is “the Chinese hamburger”. It certainly made me laugh. Hey, I didn’t know it was possible to be multi-cultural with my taste in junk food! ;)

When the food came, it was yummy. Just like home, and in a couple of cases better than home. It was also cheaper than home, which is quite surprising considering most things in Hong Kong will set you back at least what we would normally expect to pay.

As for my advice on eating out in non-English speaking restaurants in Hong Kong? Do it at your own peril. It can and probably will reward you with good quality food in a good local restaurant, but we were lucky here. We knew the Chinese names of most of what we usually eat, and we had the assistance of someone who could understand enough English for us to describe those items we didn’t know the names of. That is certainly not always the case, as we learned a little later in our stay. We really wanted to try something local, but it takes a bit of trust and/or an adventurous stomach to order randomly from a list of Chinese characters when you have no idea what foods will turn up.

And it only takes a visit to Dried Seafood Street to seriously dent your adventurous gastronomic spirit…

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

Airline entertainment for the journey home began here.

Once again, a children's piece. Hmmm, is it me or the airline causing this pattern of viewing? I'm not sure on that one.

Let me say from the outset: I am not a fan of Jim Carrey.
So for me to have actually chosen to watch this movie is pretty much an indication of the great lack of choice on our return flight to NZ.
Also to be noted, I have not read any of the Lemony Snicket books so I have no background to associate this film with.

So what did I think of it?

I liked the visual mood of the film very much. It was as though everything was in a perpetual state of greyness. I thought the casting was very well done. You can never really go wrong with Billy Connelly.
Meryl Streep did a blisteringly good turn as Aunt Josephine, and Timothy Spall has taken to character pieces like a duck to water. All up I found all the characters pleasingly quirky and I could even take Jim Carrey's overacting on this occasion as it seemed to fit perfectly with Count Olaf's own acting talentlessness.

The storyline was straightforward, as you would expect in a movie tailored for little children upwards. Although I did think it to be slightly dark and foreboding for very little ones. There's no need to introduce darkness and cynicism into their lives too young don't you think?

I would recommend this for a wet and cold Sunday afternoon in winter, rented on DVD. Or for the 'trapped indoors during school holidays' occasions.

And now I might even read some of the books. Although I am led to believe the movie merged several of the stories together. Oh well, you can't have everything can you?

Hong Kong: Day One

Our first full day in Hong Kong involved visiting clients and potential clients for work. However, the compact size of the city and the ease of using the MTR meant that we were able to indulge in mini bites of sightseeing by foot throughout the day. That is, we paid attention to the sights and sounds of a city in action as we went about our business. Doing this gave us the idea for our last half-day of sightseeing, a visit to the Museum of Art to see the "Early 20th Century Guangdong Painting" exhibition.

Unfortunately the weather was no help for a good part of the day. It rained on and off for most of the morning. This is how I learned about Quick Tip #2. ;)
At least knowing that I was heading for a hot and humid environment I had packed quick dry clothing, so within a short space of time the torrential soaking that came my way began to feel like I had taken a warm shower and was drying off in a nice warm room. Although sheltering in a mall or the subway system meant it felt more like I was drying off in an icebox. Needless to say, the umbrella was purchased shortly after the first heavy downpour.

We spent most of this day on Hong Kong Island. Our first stop was a client who has offices in the building called The Centre; which we later found out plays a leading role in the nightly Symphony of Light show. This gave us our first taste of the business and shopping area known as Central. It is certainly a mix of the old and the new, just like most parts of Hong Kong.

It also introduced the idea that Hong Kong grows in a very organic way. As you can see, if you visit this link to a description of The Centre, it is a completely modern and very opulent building. Directly in front of the lovely open entry garden and pathway seen in the bottom photograph there lurks an older, run-down building. Clearly the developer of The Centre did not want, or could not get the entire land area facing on to Queen's Road.
So what do they about the run-down old building?
They screen as much of it as possible with a translucent glass, plant and water feature, which nearly encircles this old building on three sides.
It's quite a remarkable sight, and the very next day we saw a similar thing at another client's lovely modern building, but in that case it was a brick wall that looked to be about 2 storeys high and then topped with a wire and pole arrangement that was adorned with the beginnings of green vines. Clearly if the neighbours aren't too pretty (and you have to look at them) all efforts are made to minimise the impact.
It's screening but on a substantial scale. :-o

A little bit later in the day we were in a great position to see the controversial and angular Bank of China Tower, which I set about taking photographs of too. We were also introduced to navigating our way around the elevated roads, above road walkways and the underground walkways of Hong Kong. Although I have to say the signage in the MTR stations is great - there are maps telling you which of the many exits takes you to which notable buildings, shopping malls or attractions - the elevated walkways are not always quite as helpful.

After spending many hours on foot around the business district I learned Quick Tip #4 and Quick Tip #5 ;) and the luxury of sitting in a Pacific Coffee outlet sipping a mochaccino and reading the South China Morning Post for a window on local affairs.

I was very glad to make the final MTR trip back to our hotel (which conveniently is situated right next to an exit) and collapse into a sore and tired heap on the sofa.

Thank goodness for the Executive Lounge, and the cocktail and canape hour, just the thing to revive tired bodies. ;)

Hong Kong: Quick Tips 1

I thought I would put together a short listing of useful things I learned about making a visit to Hong Kong easier:

• Buy either an Octopus ticket or a 1-day Tourist Pass, whichever is more suited to your sightseeing itinerary.

We were there on business as well as pleasure, so most of our daily travelling could be accomplished on the MTR. That meant we chose the 1-day Tourist Pass each day. (Like all appointments, they were spread far and wide across the island so the 'all-you-can-travel' option worked well for us.) If you plan to use a variety of the public transport options, then definitely consider the Octopus card in the first instance. See it's many and varied uses.

• Pack your umbrella.

Or buy one from a street vendor on arrival. You will probably need one if you are in the city for more than a few days. The price will be around HK$ 15 - 20 for the small pop-up models that can fit snugly in a backpack or biggish bag. At this time of year you will use it, trust me. And when entering some shopping malls and nicer commercial buildings there will be plastic bags for you to put your soggy brollie in - take advantage of these. (They're free.)

• Take your tripod if you are a photographer.

Hong Kong is a night city and if you are an enthusiastic amateur, you will most probably want to take night shots of the skyline or of the light show.

• Take and wear good quality walking shoes.

Unless you are planning to take a tour bus to every sight you want to visit, you will be walking for a good part of each day. If you are a shopaholic, you will also have the opportunity to spend 8 hours plus on your feet. Cushioning will become very important to you !

• Take regular rest breaks during the day.

If you are not used to the heat and humidity, for your own ability to walk more on your second, third and subsequent days, plan to take a break before you get tired. This also reduces the likelihood of crankiness and domestic incidents when travelling with others. In the main shopping areas there is little or no public street furniture so don't rely on finding a park bench to plonk your weary body down on. There are corner parks, but you will probably find them slightly off the beaten path and in more "local resident" type areas and not in "tourist" type areas. In the shopping and business precincts you will probably need to resort to Starbucks or the local equivalent, Pacific Coffee, for a comfy seat.

• If going to The Peak, do it so you see the city both in daytime and then after nightfall.

This tip comes directly from the Fodor's guide to Hong Kong that I used for this trip, and I agree with the recommendation.
It's great to see the view of the city both during daylight hours and then after dark. There are the obligatory tourist shops and a few restaurants should you choose to dine away the wait for sunset. The Peak Tower is currently closed and undergoing renovation (see weblink above for details).

There will be more tips to follow.

Hong Kong: First Impressions

I have so many impressions of Hong Kong that it is hard to know where to start.

Okay, lets start with the lights. This is truly a night-time city, at least in Tsim Sha Tsui. We did not venture over to Central at night except for a brief walk back to the MTR after our visit to The Peak, but I do believe that Lan Kwai Fong is the top nightlife spot on Hong Kong island. On our side, however, there was plenty enough to see and experience without taking a trip across the harbour.
If you are staying on Hong Kong Island, you must come across the harbour to Kowloon for the evening light show. Just a little walk around from the ferry terminal you will see a gathering of people staring across at the already spectacular skyline that is Central. And hopefully the viewing platform will be re-opened when you visit. The light show is performed on both sides of the harbour at 8pm every night, but looking from Kowloon to Hong Kong is definitely the best view.

The other major first impression goes alongside the lights, and is the sounds. I am absolutely convinced that the people of Hong Kong are a nocturnal evolution of humanity. I am also convinced that every one of the near 7 million residents appeared on the streets each and every night that we were in Hong Kong. I was prepared for the hustle and bustle because I believed that was how life was in this city, but I was wrong. There is certainly bustle, as defined:

n. Excited and often noisy activity

But there was no hustle, as defined:

n.

1. The act or an instance of jostling or shoving.


2. Energetic activity; drive.

In fact, despite the throngs of citizens on the streets, there was no hurry or rush. There was no physical contact, which I still find absolutely amazing considering the density of people on the streets. (The only time I was bumped, it was by a tourist who thought walking widely two abreast when everyone else was squeezing by her was perfectly acceptable.)
If this had been downtown Auckland I would have been jostled from pillar to post and probably been walked at or through on multiple occasions.
It was another revelation. I had been given to believe that the Chinese culture doesn't go in for the queuing idea and that it was largely a case of who can get through to the front first. I have, in fact seen a bit of that here at home with some of our newest migrants. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was a complete fallacy. I don't know if it is the 100 years of British influence, or simply the constraints of such a large population in such a small space making it impossible not to have developed either good manners or the world's first "manners-rage" incident. (Like road rage, only up-close and very personal.)

My first evening in Hong Kong was very much dominated by the twin impressions of light and sound. But I have to say, even with all of the bright advertising and shop lighting and the bustle of commerce of all kinds below us, I managed a very sound and peaceful first night's sleep in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong: Our Arrival

We took a late afternoon flight from Singapore and landed at the newish Hong Kong International Airport on Lantau Island. As our airplane made its approach to the airport we were lucky enough to see the array of outlying islands and some of the actual landing with the last of the day's light.

It was a long taxi from the runway to the terminal, and once we disembarked we started the processing that goes with international travel. Unlike Singapore where everything is relatively efficient we found ourselves in a long slow moving queue. The "meet and greet" people tried to reduce this impression by having passengers line up one at a time behind each person currently being checked through by customs officers, with the rest of us in the traditional long single line queues. It probably felt a lot longer than usual because as a novice visitor I was really keen to get out and begin seeing Hong Kong.

Once out of customs and baggage claim, we headed out onto the huge main concourse. It took us a few minutes to get our bearings and finally we decided on taking a taxi to the hotel, ensuring that on our first night in the city we would not get lost nor need to walk for miles in the astounding heat and humidity. Besides, work was paying. ;)

When you get to the tourist information area I'd suggest you pick up all the maps they provide, as I later discovered that some maps give a slightly wider coverage than the 'tourist attraction' map. They also kindly give you an approximate cost for transport via taxi to the various districts of the city. In our case we were staying at the Holiday Inn on Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui.

The trip to the city was quite amazing. By this time it was nightfall and we were to get our introduction to Hong Kong's night lights.

The first thing to strike me as we left the airport precinct was the amount of greenspace and countryside. I know that it's silly, but I just didn't have a mental picture of a green Hong Kong.
After that revelation the next thing was the lightshow that is the Tsing Ma Bridge and it's neighbours the Ting Kau Bridge and the Kap Shui Mun Bridge at night. Spectacular. And free (if you exclude the cab fare). The only shame was not being able to take photographs from a moving taxi.

The entry to Kowloon is flanked by the port area, and boy what a port ! (See what I do for a living, in case you think this a weird observation.) It is huge. It is vibrant and bright at night. But this is only the beginning of the light show. We began to enter the shopping district of Kowloon known as the Golden Mile. The signage is almost overpoweringly bright, and I wondered how on earth I was going to manage to sleep at night.

As we pulled into the side-street entrance to the Holiday Inn, I was feeling a little overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of this city at night. It is like nothing I have ever seen before.

Singapore visit

Hello all,

It's struck me that I have been home for a few days now and that I might settle in to do a bit of travelogue on the journey.

I have already had a bleat about airplane etiquette, so we won't revise the in-flight details other than to say that if you must fly any long distances in cattle class through Asia I cannot recommend Singapore Airlines enough. Unless you are extremely tall, or wide, then you will find a day-long flight to be perfectly comfortable. If you have to fly through the night, then it's fair to say that if you can afford to do so, upgrade to business - no matter who you fly with.

It's been about four years since I was last in Singapore, and this visit was too short to enjoy any great tourist moments. We landed late on Sunday night and headed for Traders Hotel which is a five minute walk from Orchard Road. The hotel itself was pleasant and airy, but the room was not particularly large. Breakfast the next morning was completely eclectic, reflecting the variety of guests' cultures. From continental breakfasts through to dim sum and some things I couldn't identify, even with name tags in front of them.

Fantasy Triptych - June Progress

Fantasy Triptych - 5 July 2006 - Progress

Originally uploaded by Twoflour.

Well as you can see, there has been only minor progress this month. I have done some work on the righthand-side of the castle, but that's about it. I'm hoping to do a bit better in July, but I'm not putting money on it.

See you all next month.

Gastronomy has arrived!

Okay, so I have added another page to this blog.

It's called Gastronomy.

It's about food. My favourite foods and recipes. I hope you will enjoy the recipes that I have chosen to share with you.

If you have the time, please drop a comment on each recipe you try.
I'd really like to know what you thought of it.
If you make alterations that worked for you, I'd love to know about them too.

So the first entries are up. They are:

• Tunisian Pepper and Potato Couscous


• Chickpea Burgers


• Buckwheat Noodle Salad with Grilled Tofu and Roasted Peppers

Enjoy !

Ice Age: The Meltdown

Yes, yes, yes. It is another children's film. No, I'm not regressing. At least, I don't think so.

So, the usual cast of characters return in this movie - Manny, Sid and Diego. Scrat, who only gets the credits and ending in the first Ice Age, gets a lot more screentime in this feature and is a laugh a minute. Who would've thought that an animated prehistoric squirrel obsessed with gathering his nut could produce so much slapstick humour.

This time the gang are faced with the melting of the Ice Age and the migration to "the boat" at the end of the valley. Like the first movie, it is the journey that matters and in this case we meet the possums - Crash, Eddie and Ellie - and the fast talking Fast Tony who is brought to life by Jay Leno.

The possums bring a manic energy to the film which counterbalances Manny's more conservative character - see the slingshot scene to appreciate this - and Diego's reticence. There is a particularly funny scene where Diego and Sid first meet the possums which reminds me of my youth and the simple mechanical games we used to be able to play in the amusement arcades.

You will enjoy this movie, I'm sure. It is not a weak second version, dragging out the jokes of the first. It nods to and reinforces the fun things from the first Ice Age, but does not slavishly and unthinkingly redo them. It actually develops the characters along, while maintaining the gags and laughter we all really enjoy seeing in kids movies.

For the fact that it kept me laughing or smiling nearly the entire way through, I have to give this a four out of five.

Hoodwinked

It seems that I have gone on a binge of children's movies for my in-flight entertainment.

This is an animated feature all about Red Riding Hood and her Granny. It includes the Woodsman and the Wolf too.
But that's just about as far as it goes towards the well-known fairytale.

After the traditional start to the movie it begins a clever and very funny divergence into fairytale film noir. It brings in a whole cast of woodland characters, the funniest by far is Twitchy.

I cannot recommend this film enough. If you can see it in a theatre, then spend the money. If not, rent the DVD. I'm sure you will enjoy this. Don't expect flash graphics or any of the whizzbang stuff you get in the Ice Age or Shrek movies. It doesn't really need it. It's a good dose of humour and cleverness that carries this film.

The voices are well cast, especially Boingo who is voiced by Andy Dick. Normally he does nothing for me, but his voice work is so perfect for this character. David Ogden Stiers as Nicky Flippers is also a great choice, along with Glenn Close as Granny.

Trust me... YOU WILL ENJOY THIS !

It gets a 4 out of 5.

Nanny McPhee

Second choice of recent in-flight entertainment was this British update on Mary Poppins.

If you attach a prosthetic nose and some warty bits to Emma Thompson you have the very ugly and lumpy Nanny McPhee. Not quite your lovely smiling Julie Andrews copycat. But just like Mary Poppins, Nanny McPhee is magical. She uses her magic to teach the runaway children of the recently widowed Mr Brown lessons in consequences.

Into this mix you can add an austere and domineering ex-Mother-in-law who supports the family financially, played by the wonderful Angela Lansbury; the young, uneducated parlourmaid who loves the children and their father; and finally Mr Brown himself played by Colin Firth.

Imelda Staunton has a nice piece as the family cook and Celia Imrie as a prospective bride for the hapless Mr Brown, whose continued financial support from his mother-in-law revolves around providing a new mother for his children.

As this is a movie for children, the outcome is not really ever in doubt, but that doesn't take too much of the charm away from it. It was an easy movie to watch, and even though Colin Firth lapses completely into Mr Darcy mode at a couple of points, he and all the others give good, solid performances. Even the children manage to be endearing.

I'd rate this a 2.5 out of 5.

Olé!

A first choice on the in-flight movie selection recently.

This is a typical quirky French film, but with a Spanish turn. Starring Gerard Depardieu and Gad Elmaleh, it is about a French businessman and his Spanish chauffeur. The plot line is straightforward, with the chauffeur saving to build his home in Spain and the tycoon businessman treating him as a friend.

It is an odd relationship between the employer and employee, especially with the wives of each of the men. The tycoon is married to a hypochondriac, while the chauffeur's wife is the cook. The couples behave more like family and friends than employer/employee. Arguing amongst themselves and playing golf together.

It was interesting viewing for the most part, but it was pretty much a no-brainer of a storyline. But the French seem to make a living producing films that have odd endings. And this film was no exception.
It was somewhat a let-down and I'm completely sure that the idea could have been made more of.

In this instance, easy watching on an aircraft, but don't go out of your way for it otherwise.

A two out of five.