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!