Deity Hau Wong's Birthday

Believe it or not Hong Kong is a nation of immigrants. Since 1949 there have been over 5 million of them, primarily from the mainland. Prior to that Hong Kong had many small villages with their local customs. Due to the cultural revolution in China many of these local festivals vanished. However, in Hong Kong some remain. I had the opportunity to visit one such festival. It is for Hau Wong's Birthday. It is celebrated in only a few spots in Hong Kong, one of which is in Tung Chung. It was a wonderful day, full of sights, sounds and smells. 

 Golden Pigs are brought to offer the god. I don't know why they are called golden since they are red, but who am I to judge. 

 A local woman enjoying the festival. 

At times the air was so thick with the smoke form incense it looked like something was on fire somewhere.

Lots of flags everywhere. 

There were many dragon dances. 

And lots of music. The whole day was so loud my ears were ringing for hours. 

More pigs. 

This dragon was very long and it would twist and wrap around itself. 

A major component of the festival is the Chinese opera. I was able to go back stage to see the performers getting ready. 

The day was loud and hot. I admit to being very tired by the time I got home, but I feel very fortunate to have experienced this day. There are so few of these local festivals left and it would be a shame to loose them. As for this years festival, I think Hau Wong will be pleased. 

Mid Autumn Festival

The Mid Autumn or Mooncake Festival is a celebration of the lunar harvest in Chinese culture. It is celebrated through out the world but for the first time in my life I got to experience it here in Hong Kong. What a fun night it was! A friend and I had a yummy dinner in Central before heading off to Victoria Park to check it out. 

Our first sight was this large fish made of hundreds of red lanterns. 

This is another view of the fish and it changes colours! 

There are lanterns, strings of lights and lighted displays everywhere. 

We missed the first Fire dragon dance so decided to get out of the park for a bit to cool off and get away from the crowds. We went into a hotel down the street and had a glass of wine as well as some water. 

During the festival people walk around with brightly lit lanterns and glow sticks. Even the dogs get into the spirit! 

We went back to the park for the Fire Dragon dance. Unfortunately we did not know where it was and before we knew it, it was being performed quite far from us. With so many people this was the closest we could get! 

The other part of the Festival is Mooncakes! Traditionally they are made of Lotus Seed paste and salted egg yolk. While I like the yolk ones, they are not my favourite. This box has olive seeds instead! 

Yumm! 

Discovery Bay North Plaza

Here are a couple of shots I took the other night at the North Plaza in DB. It was a quiet, clear evening. 

This is the view from the Plaza. The tall building on the right is on Hong Kong island and the one on the left is on the Kowloon peninsula. 

Today....

I went to school to make the world a better place and since graduating I can not say I have done much with my degree. Last night I forgot what civil society is. This filled me with resolve. I would volunteer, I would use my degree! This morning is another day and once again, I will likely do nothing that contributes to the betterment of society. I have faith that this will change once we are more settled and I will find some way to use my degree, just not today.  Today it is enough that I know I am fortunate. Today, I woke up not knowing hunger. Today, I can choose to eat anything I feel like. I can even have my meals cooked and delivered to me if I wish. Today I will drink tea made with clean water. Today I will be cool when it is warm, dry when it is wet. Today if I want to, I can buy a pair of shoes; impractical, high-heeled shoes. Not because I need them, but because I want them. Today I will appreciate for what it is. 

Noodle Show

 One thing that can be said about Hong Kong is there is no shortage of places to eat. At any time someone can have their choice of pretty much any type cuisine in the world. So perhaps because of this, despite living in Hong Kong for several months, it is not all that surprising that I had not yet gone to a good noodle restaurant. 

Friends decided to rectify this the other night and took out to Peking Garden in Tsim Sha Tsui last week. One of the highlights of eating there is the Noodle Show, where the noodle chef comes out and hand pulls a fresh batch of noodles right in the middle of the restaurant for the patrons to see. They are amazingly fast and incredibly skilled! 

           

  

Of course the show is only part of the experience. In the end it comes down to the meal and what a wonderful meal it was! The noodles were incredibly fresh and tasty. It is hard to believe they went from a lump of dough to part of a tasty meal right in front of my eyes. 

Poopy Foot

 As most of you know, not long after moving here we adopted a new kitty as a companion for our cat Suzie. Wibbles (aka Wibs, Wibble Woo, Willblemeister, Bunny Cat..etc) has CH (Cerebellar Hypoplasia) which causes his motor skills to be, well, not so hot.  Wibbles is a great cat and we couldn’t have asked for a better companion for Suzie and ourselves. He is affectionate, loving and so much fun to have around. He may be small but his personality is huge! While most CH cats require no special care, there are things you must be aware of if you choose to bring a CH cat into your life. One of these things is “Poopy Foot”.  Because of their lack of coordination, CH cats may at times step in their litter box business. Wibbles is generally very good and this has only happened a couple of times since we got him, but last night was one of those nights.  So at midnight I was up, cleaning his foot and moping floors. Not the best bedtime activity, but one that is sometimes a reality of pet ownership.

I bring this up because I want to people to understand the importance of knowing what you are getting into when you get a pet. Any pet, with or without special needs. Mr. Grey Cat and myself knew this is one of the many possible issues we would potentially face when we got Wibbles. Before we made the decision to bring him into our lives we researched his condition so that we would have a realistic understanding of the pros and cons of having a CH cat. As a result we decided that we were prepared to deal with what may arise because of it. Too many people get a pet; be it a cat, dog, rabbit, hamster, fish, lizard, bird or anything, without fully understanding the responsibilities involved. Sadly this often results in abandonment or euthanasia, simply because someone was smitten by a cute face and didn’t realize how much work keeping a pet can be. Many people think of pets as disposable, something that is acquired on a whim and gotten rid of because they don’t fit with their lifestyle. It can be guaranteed that at some point that cute face will likely break something, have an accident or get ill. It can also be guaranteed that it will likely be at the most inconvenient time for you. When you get a pet, you become responsible for a living, breathing animal that has needs and wants. In short a LIFE. Just like having a child you must be prepared for the good and the bad. If you can not commit to caring for their needs 100% then don't get one. Pets will give you unconditional love and in return they ask for very little, just your love, understanding and patience. And maybe a treat or two.

Having pets has been one of greatest joys of my life. I would not trade the experiences I have had over the years with my many different pets, good or bad, for anything.

Remember: Pets are for LIFE. 

Mid Reno

It is hard to believe that we are mid way through our renovation project. There are just three and a half weeks to go and it is hard to imagine the finished product. It is actually coming along quite well, but I will be glad when it is done. So far I am impressed with our contractor. The quality of the work is excellent and they are extremely patient with our novice questions and concerns.