It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas.....

Everywhere you go....... 

Or so the song says and if you live in Canada, it has for a while. 

I can remember, not so fondly,  putting up my store's Christmas promotion dressed in my Halloween costume and I was never surprised to see Costco bringing Christmas items out in September. Christmases in North America are over commercialized and in your face from Nov 1st onwards. While I am sure there are a few people who love it, for most of us, myself included, it gets to be a bit much. Working in the retail industry made it that much worse. Looking at Christmas displays was one thing, but the ever present carols repeated in endless loops as the background to your working day, were on an entirely different level.  By the time the holiday actually arrived I felt that if I heard Little Drummer Boy one more time I would find that drum stick and shove it up Santa's you know what. Obviously other people feel the same way too since I read a week or so ago, that Shoppers Drug Mart has agreed to not start playing their Christmas music so early. Add to that the exhaustion of dealing with the crowds, long hours and the inevitable customer service issues, it was hard to enjoy the holiday. 

I find in Hong Kong Christmas is much saner. Christmas is a public holiday, but the majority of the population are not christians nor do they celebrate Christmas. As a result Christmas is not so obvious. Starting in November the stores slowly bring out Christmas merchandise, but I can not recall seeing a Christmas commercial on TV nor are there carols playing on the radio. Stores don't go all out with crazy Christmas sales promotions and my mailbox is not weighted down with 10lbs of paper that is all flyers, mixed with the inevitable bills. In fact today was the first day that I really realized we are in the Christmas season. While in the washroom of all places, at Elements mall in Kowloon, I noticed that the music ever so softly playing was Christmas music. When I walked out I listend carefully and sure enough, the carols were playing in mall itself. I then noticed the decorations and soon stumbled on to the big Christmas display. 

I am not sure what the Alice in Wonderland type tree and mushrooms have to do with Christmas and they obviously won't be doing Santa Photos (another nightmare from Christmases past), but given that I am a minority here, I appreciate what is out there and enjoy it all the more. 

Ikea Does Have Everything!

Remember a while a go I told you about my quest for a rolling pin? I have no idea why I never thought to look in Ikea for the rolling pin, since they have everything. Well, my latest trip to Ikea proves it. They do have everything! 

Hong Kong has very liberal liquor laws and since moving here I have become used to seeing alcohol everywhere. There are specific booze and wine shops such as Watson's Wine but the only restrictions on the sale of alcohol is on who can buy it. Technically you have to be over 18 to purchase booze, but I haven't been able to put it to the test. I am well past the stage of my life when I needed to bring ID to purchase alcohol. So because of the lack of any restrictions you will find all sorts of alcohol in the grocery store. And seeing cans of beer or bottles of Smirnoff Ice next to the bottles of water and iced tea in 7-11 is common. Heck, compared to some designer waters, beer is a much better value, if not cheaper! But now you can pick up some booze along with your Besta storage unit and MJOD beer glasses! Meatballs anyone? 

*editors note: Ikea does NOT have everything. They do not have frames for 8x10 photos! 

Pink City

I retuned home just before sunset today and was busy putting stuff away when I suddenly noticed the light in the flat looked odd. When I looked up and out my windows I noticed everything had turned pink! I quickly grabbed my new little camera, threw open some windows and grabbed a few shots before the light changed. I have never seen the light like this before. It must have been just the right combination of conditions to create it. It was fairly clear today, but with some haze, there is a typhoon east of us that has given us some winds and clouds and sun was setting. All of them for a few brief minutes combined to give us this:

It lasted a couple of minutes only and it was beautiful! Honestly, this is the real colors. I have not done a thing with the photos and having witnessed it, I can assure you it is not some strange colour cast created in the camera. 

It is too bad the sun sets over the mountains behind me as it must have been quite a sight. I imagine the people that live in Pok Fu Lam must have had an amazing sight! I hope a few of them managed to see it. 

Toys

I know I have been fairly quiet lately. Honestly after the typhoon, not much has been going on. It has been a quiet summer here and I really haven't done much, plus I am quite sure you don't want to hear about grocery shopping or trips to the dentist. While it has been nice after a while you begin to realize that you haven't really accomplished anything. Being an expat *cough* Tai Tai *snort* with few demands on my time it would be easy to let it become the norm; but with school back in and line ups returning to the grocery store and ATM, I figured now is a good time to break the apathy. I need to get inspired again and what better way to break the apathy than by dealing with what frustrates you.

It really all started with this:

And this:

And finally this:

I am sure you are wondering where this is going, so here goes.  I was in Causeway Bay with some friends on a night photography shoot.  It was a nice night. There was just a slight breeze that kept it from being stifling and there was very little pollution, so it was a nice clear night. I really wanted to get some shots of the crowds crossing Hennessy Road, and I wanted to use a slow shutter speed to show the motion. The first one doesn't look too bad, but the tram is not moving, yet it is not very sharp. In the second one, not only is it not sharp, but I couldn't get a level horizon line if my life depended on it and in the last one, see those jaggies in the light streaks? Frustrating! It is even more frustrating because I was using a tripod and it let me down. 

Strangely enough, all my years in photography I have never had a decent tripod. And that night, it showed. You see I knew they wouldn't turn out like I hoped. I could see my camera moving despite the tripod. Sure it wasn't a lot, but as far as vibrations go, a little goes a long way towards ruining a photo. 

It was a wake up call for me. How can I treat myself seriously as a photographer, yet try to get by on a cheap tripod? Especially since I love night shooting! After all it is not just the camera that makes the pictures, it is the whole package (body, lens, filters...etc) coming together to produce the photographers vision. One piece fails and everything goes to pot. So I started researching tripods and this is the result: 

Cut me some slack here. This was taken with an iPhone. 

It is a Manfrotto 055CXPRO4 with a 322RC2 head (I know who will be googling that...Tad, Jen, Alex...)  and I love it. Fully extended it is taller than me! Also it is carbon fibre, so it has all the stability without the weight.

Then while looking for the tripod, I thought of another photographic dilemma. My camera itself. No I did not go and replace my body with a brand new Canon 5D Mark 3. That would only make the problem worse (and my wallet much, much lighter). You see most of the time, I just don't want to lug my camera around! Sure, I have a compact, but I find it boring and uninspiring. While looking at tripods I also looked at small cameras. The new 4/3 and mirror less systems are nice and small, they still require you to have lenses. And while they may not weigh much, they do add bulk. Then I saw the new Canon G1X and it got me thinking...There are cameras out there that will give me the manual controls and RAW shooting ability that I sometimes want, in small packages. So off I went to do more research and this is the result:

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7, in sparkling white (I am a girl after all!) 

I have only had it since this afternoon but I am happy so far. 

 And while my cats have had enough of me following them around with it, The Grinch doesn't care.

Or does he......

Vicente

Last night we had an unexpected visitor named Vicente. Vicente was a tropical storm that was hovering out at sea and it was predicted to make land fall well west of Hong Kong. The weather forecast was for some squally showers and a bit of wind, not nice, but not bad. Vicente has other plans though, and it decided to prove that Mother Nature is unpredictable. It hovered out at sea for a while, gathering strength, then changing course and visiting Hong Kong for a spell. Maybe it had a craving for Dim Sum or Egg Tarts, I don't know but by 6pm a Signal 8 was issued and it was getting noisy, but we were comfy and dry in our flat so we watched a movie. Next thing we knew it was a Signal 9 and the winds were loud and the rain was heavy. Then sometime around midnight - 1am a Signal 10 was issued. Signal 10 is the highest and is rarely issued. In the past 65 years there has only been 13 Signal 10's issued, the last in 1999! A Signal 10 means you are in for it. And boy where we! Vicente had now been upgraded from a tropical storm to a Severe Typhoon (aka, Severe Hurricane). The winds were howling and the windows rattling. They were also leaking profusely by this time. Buckets and towels were deployed and just when we thought we found all the leaks, we found a few more. Mr. Grey Cat tried to patch a few spots with Sugru, but it didn't do much. It was just too wet and the wind just forced water through every gap it could. And so started our night, we would try to sleep for a bit then one of us would get up, empty buckets and change towels, throwing the wet ones in the dryer, only to do it all over again. I was wondering to myself why we didn't change the windows when we renovated the flat. Not that it is a guarantee against leaks, but I am sure there would have been less. Interestingly we did not loose power or internet so I did manage a very late night Skype chat with a friend in New Jersey! Finally at about 5 am the winds lessened and we fell asleep. I awoke grateful that the only clean up I have to do is a few loads of laundry and that most importantly everyone I care about is safe. 

Sugru, the silicone wonder! 

Towel in deployment. 

This is where most of the leaks were. Not the window that you see, but the
 ones just above it out of the frame.
They are above the bay and so were dripping onto the window seat.
 But even if we hadn't emptied the buckets a few times we still
 would have been fine. 

More towels. 

While my windows leaked, I am grateful they did not break, unlike these
unfortunate people.
 Looking down from my flat I could see
that we were not the only ones with leaks, many people had towels and
 buckets in their windows. 

The Kindness of Strangers

I always enjoy my outings with my fellow AWA Shutterbugs. They are all wonderful women and we have a fun time together taking photos and exploring different parts of Hong Kong. Each trip out is its own unique experience and after each I take something with me, whether it is new ideas or photo techniques, a bit of cultural knowledge or just the lingering pleasure of time well spent. Today though we had an extra treat.

It started normally enough. I planned an outing to Peng Chau. It is a small island with lots of character and I thought it would be a fun place to practice shooting the alphabet. There are new buildings, old buildings, ruined buildings, temples (several hundred years old!) and if you go far enough there is a trail that takes you up to the highest point on the island which has wonderful views of Lantau, Kowloon and HK island. It also passes an old limekiln, which is one of the first industries on the island. Evidence shows that lime production was likely started around 618AD! However the kiln is much newer and was abandoned in the 1950’s. In short Peng Chau is a fun place to take photos, but today, we had a little extra character to the outing.

This week there is a Chinese Opera being performed on the island. Chinese operas are quite fascinating. In 2009 the Cantonese opera was listed as one of UNESCO’s ‘Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity’. I have been to a Chinese opera before, and to be quite honest, and even though they are interesting, it is something that I can only take in very small amounts, so I was pleased that while we were there the opera was not being performed. Since the venue was (we thought) empty, we decided to go take a look around and see if we could find letters to photograph. Soon we were joined by a couple of men, who were working on the stage. They started to talk to us and ask us questions about what we were doing. I should point out that I have taken Cantonese lessons but so far about the only thing I can do is count and say a couple of very basic phrases so we had no idea what they were trying to tell us. At first we thought they didn’t want us to take photos, but when we were on our way out, we were told (via hand signals) to come back. Next thing we knew we were ushered back stage and they started showing us around!

It became even more fun when they started bringing out the props and letting us try on some (hat & sword). Soon they figured out what kinds of photos we were taking and started helping us find letters! He then saw that one of the actresses came into the stage and brought her out to talk to us. She was very pleasant and spoke English quite well. Apparently she is the lead actress for the afternoon performance and the third lead for the evening performance. She then invited us to stay for the afternoon show. It was still a few hours away and we still had plenty of island to explore, but it was certainly one of the days highlights.  

During the rest of our wanders we ran into several other locals who treated us with warm smiles. As we wandered we would run into a couple of them several times always to have a smile, wave and pantomime picture taking. All the while giving us the impression that they were happy to have us there and glad we were enjoying their home. 

People are often complaining about how rude people are these days and that nobody seems to care about others anymore. Certainly big cities have a “numbing” effect on people as we rush about our daily lives. But today on a tiny island on the doorstep of one of the world’s biggest cities, people still have time for a smile and to show kindness to strangers. 

Good Life

"Got this Feeling that you Can't Fight

Like this city is on Fire Tonight

This could really be a Good Life"

   -One Republic

                        

Calm Before the Storm

There is tropical cyclone heading pretty much right for us. It will get a bit wet and windy tonight. In the meantime the light looks nice!

View from my flat. 

Looking towards HK Island. You can see the Ferry's. One leaving DB and the other returning.
I think they are the last for the day, due to the incoming storm. 

Looking at HK Island on the Right and Kowloon on the left. 

HK Island

Kowloon.

Blame Brazil!

I consider myself a pretty good cook. Master Chef good no, but a decent home cook. I can take a recipe and make it my own and I can do wonders with some garlic, chicken, and a can of tomatoes. There is one thing I have never really tried much of and that is baking. I have done some. I make pretty good chocolate chip cookies, banana bread, crumbles, and once I made a green tomato cake that was a big hit, but I have never really ventured beyond the usual suspects, until today that is. 

You see a couple of weeks ago I was searching online for new cookie recipes. Mr. Grey Cat loves cookies and I thought it was time for some variety. I came across a recipe for Lemon Cookies that I thought would be worth trying, but before I made it, I needed a couple of things. Like a rolling pin. I don't really know how I have managed to live to ahem years and never owned one. So I went looking for a rolling pin. Of course the local department store did not have any in stock and neither did it's larger counterpart in Central. I certainly did not feel like traipsing all over the city looking for a rolling pin and fortunately I got lucky and saw one at City Super on the way home one day. It is a nice one too, made of Brazilian hardwood, which I figured must be good since it cost enough. I then wanted a mat to roll dough on, but I couldn't justify the price City Super was asking for what is nothing more than a sheet of silicone. So the cookies had to wait a bit longer. About a week later I found a good mat at Ikea for a nice Ikea price, so I bought it. I also found a rolling pin. For a lot less money of course. Honestly I never thought to look in Ikea for a rolling pin, but considering that they have absolutely everything else, up to and including the kitchen sink it was rather silly of me. I consoled myself with the fact that I doubt the Ikea one is Brazilian hardwood. Only one last thing remained and that was some cookie cutters. Ikea did have those, but I didn't like them, not that I have anything against Moose shaped cookies, but it is just not me. 

Last night I started on the cookies. I followed the directions and made the dough, I then wrapped it in plastic and put it in the fridge to chill, just like the directions said. I still didn't have cookie cutters but I wasn't too worried about them since I could use an overturned glass. I did think something other than circles would be nice so I decided to wait until today to roll and bake them (the recipe did say the dough could chill for up to 3 days). After getting my hair cut I went into Wing On and saw some flower shaped cookie cutters that were quite nice so I decided to buy them. When I got home I put on my apron and got to work on the cookies! This is the result:

My icing is way too thin and I obviously did not roll the cookie dough to an even thickness since it happily took the path of least resistance and ran as fast as it could for the sides. Either that or it did not want to be associated with the cookies. Despite being thin, the icing actually tastes pretty good but the cookies are not the yummy lemony wonders all the recipe comments made them out to be. I even took the advice many commentators said about adding extra zest and juice. Not only are they not very pretty,  they just don't taste that good. But they are not bad enough to throw out, which might be worse, because it means I have to eat them. Good thing Mr. Grey Cat is home for a few days, and he is not fussy. Personally I think the Brazilian hardwood is to blame...

Sam Pak Wan

There are many reasons people visit Hong Kong, but it's beaches are not one of the. This is too bad because Hong Kong has some beautiful beaches, many of them quiet and isolated. On Lantau island where I live is Cheung Sha Beach, the longest in Hong Kong and quite pretty. Within walking distance for me there are two beaches. There is the main south beach, which although very pretty is too close (read right beside) the Ferry for me to consider swimming in. Then there is the quiet, currently undeveloped Sam Pak Wan beach by the north plaza. 

The tragic thing is Hong Kong's waters are not very clean. There is a large amount of shipping and then there is its location right on the Pearl River Delta in China and all the pollution from there. This was really hit home to me on the weekend. Friday was World Oceans Day and in honour of this DB Green held one of it's beach clean up days. Since I had nothing on my calandar I decided to go to the beach and help out. Now I have done beach clean ups before and it is an issue the world over, but this weekend I found it very depressing. 

 This is a shot of the beach when I arrived. It doesn't look to bad does it? 

Look again....

There was a beach clean up held here not that long ago. It was busy with over 100 volunteers helping out and it looked amazing afterwards, but as you can see it didn't take too long to get ugly again. It is very discouraging. It was also sad to see very few people turn up. However those that did were rewarded with a Sausage BBQ donated by Hemmingway's, one of our local eateries and a sampling of wines courtesy of Barefoot Winery. 

Sadly as I was leaving, I looked out towards Hong Kong island and in the foreground I could see all the stuff we would soon be cleaning up yet again. 

Yumm

“It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?” - A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

I had a conversation the other day with a friend about how social interactions are different here in Hong Kong. Not the differences between Chinese customs and western ones, but even amongst fellow expats.  Back in Canada I would pick up the phone and have long conversations with friends or hop in the car and  have a cup of tea or a cold drink in a friends kitchen. We would have people over or go to someones for an afternoon BBQ. Sure there were movies, shopping, coffees and lunches, but a large part of my social life involved the home, either mine or someone else's. 

Here it is different.  Here I talk very little on the phone but text a lot and friends and I are usually meeting somewhere for coffee or lunch. I actually thought to myself that I have become a "lady who lunches" and it scared me a bit. I never thought of myself as the type of person you think of when you hear that phrase. Yet here it is normal, pedestrian even. In Hong Kong homes are small and it is not unheard of for a family of four (or more) to be living in 5 or 6 hundred square foot apartments. People barely have room for themselves, let alone a guest,  and as such they go out more. And since social interactions revolve around food they often have lunch (or dinner, or cocktails...etc). Most people don't have cars, and while the transportation system here is phenomenal, if you have a friend who lives in another area Hong Kong it could take an hour or more to get there so meeting half way makes sense. I find groceries to be quite expensive. The wet markets are cheap, but since many things are imported they are pricey. So a moderately priced meal at a  restaurant is not necessarily expensive compared to eating at home and with so many wonderful places to choose from, well, why not have lunch? 

Scotland

Although I live in Hong Kong and love it, I am a Canadian and as such if you ask me what the best country on earth is, I will naturally say Canada, but I am wondering if perhaps I will should start answering Scotland. Honestly it is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever seen. It has everything, fresh air, mountain peaks, green valleys, rolling hills and clear rivers and there is just something about the quality of the light. I can't quite describe it, it is crisp and soft at the same time. Maybe it has to do with its northern location but moderate weather. Regardless it is beautiful.

What makes Scotland even more beautiful is the people. Especially my friend, which was the reason for my visit. She may live in New Jersey, but Scotland is her home and while she was on a long break back we decided to meet up. After all it is almost the halfway point for us! A few days after arriving in Glasgow we went off to the Inverness area where we had rented a cottage on small farm in the village of Croy. The cottage was actually one of three made from a converted barn on their farm. It was perfect. Clean, comfortable and amazingly well equipped for a cottage rental. Our hosts were lovely and we also enjoyed the hospitality of their various animals. I have to say there is nothing like fresh eggs laid by happy hens!

We also had another friend from Hong Kong join us. She had never been there before and so we spent most of our days checking out all the things to see. One of the reasons we chose Inverness was to see Cawdor Castle, which I had missed on a previous trip. Our timing wasn't so good though. It was closed for the season! Not to worry. One thing Scotland has in abundance is castles, and we managed to visit a few good ruins. Namely Spynie, Duffus and Urquhart. I have to be honest. I love castles! One ruin may be much like the other, but to me it doesn't matter. I am very happy to spend my days crawling around castle ruins. 

You just never know what treats you may find...... I hope William & Sylvie had long and happy lives. 

William McQueen & Sylvie Elgin, July 1709 x

We also enjoyed visiting a couple of old Abbeys. But what I found more interesting than the Abbeys is the graveyards around them. Every single marker has a story to tell and mostly we will never know a single word of it.

I just have to wonder, what was this person like in life? What was their story? I will never know but I have to wonder, if I stayed long enough and listen hard enough will I hear a whisper or two? 

We spend a lot of time just driving around the area and even though I was using a GPS, I still managed to make a couple of wrong turns. One such turn brought us to see these beautiful swans in a small loch. They were not bothered by us at all and we were able to get right up to them. 

Of course all holidays must have a bit of the unexpected and running into these fellows while on a walk was certainly unexpected! 

Finally, if you have ever wondered what is down that road? I urge you to turn off your GPS and take a look! You never know what you may find. That is what we did and we were treated to an amazing old Gaelic Church while driving around the Black Isle. I loved it. It was old and slowly nature was reclaiming it and to me it was one of the highlights of the trip. And if we hadn't wondered what was down there, we never would have seen it. 

Thank you my friend for a lovely holiday!