Four Hours

Sorry for the long absence, but Mr. Grey Cat and I have been busy over the past few weeks. I have been fortunate enough to visit a friend in Scotland (more later) and he has been busy working. Today we both had a free day and what does that mean? Groceries. Thrilling. Yes, in case you forgot, I live in Hong Kong perhaps the most dynamic city in the world and while we may want to spend our days sailing on a junk, drinking fine wines, socializing with the worlds movers and shakers (not that we know any); we still must take care of everyday life and like most of us the world over, that means doing groceries and running errands. So list in hand we trekked off to one of two local grocery stores. After disembarking from the bus (this is sounding ever more glamourous isn't it) we went to the post office (oh the thrill of mailing parcels!) and the bank (trust me ATM lines are the same the world over, I am always stuck behind the person paying every bill imaginable) then to Fusion (grocery store, the one that happened to stock the most times on the days list). An hour or so later we arrived home with a list of deliverables (laundry soap!) and fresh supplies, including two steaks for dinner.

The rest of the day was spent by Mr. Grey Cat doing taxes (oh the excitement! ) while, I feeling sympathy for him and figuing he deserved an amazing meal afterwards,  decided to put my culinary skills to the test. So music on, wine in hand (ok that came later), and a bazillion dishes later (my kingdom for a dishwasher!) we had dinner.

What besides steak was for dinner you may ask? Today is a beautiful day, 23 degrees and sunny. Perfect BBQ weather. The sad thing is, we do not have a BBQ or even a balcony to put one on. However we do have a really good combo microwave that is also a steamer, convection oven and griller. We had never used the grill function and decided to give it a try, hence the steaks. But no matter how much you love steak, that alone is not enough. Mr. Grey Cat expressed the desire for cookies the other day, so I decided to bake some for desert. Then I made a green bean salad and a tomato/corn/avocado salad as sides and homemade steak sauce. Simple right? Yes and no. While none of the dishes were complicated, by the time I had baked the cookies, blanched the beans, cooked the corn, hulled and chopped the tomatoes, sautéed the onions,  made the dressings, chilled the salads, made the sauce and had the steaks marinating, I had used almost every dish in the house and it was pushing 6pm! For us Canadians that is almost unheard of! Not even cooking dinner by 6! Most of us have eaten and we are on our second cup of tea by then. But by that time there wasn't much to be done except grill the steaks. Roughly 15 mins later the result is pictured above.

And it was good. The steaks, while not as good as our BBQ, were acceptable and much less expensive than going to a restaurant for a steak dinner, the salads were fresh and tasty, with very little left over and the cookies were yummy, but then it is hard not to like peanut butter/chocolate chip cookies. To me the only thing missing was our beautiful patio and deck, but then when I sat in our window seat and looked out at the Hong Kong/Kowloon skyline, Beatles playing in the background, I thought, what is there to complain about?

Shek Kwu Chau Incinerator

A Junk in Victoria Harbour as smog veils the city. 

I love Hong Kong. Honestly, I really do. No other city in the world has quite the mystique that Hong Kong does. It is a fascinating mixture of East and West, bustling, busy, dynamic, exotic and undeniably cosmopolitan. It touts itself as Asia’s World City and mostly I feel that is an apt title. But for a city that is so very advanced it is also so incredibly backwards. Business drives this city. BIG Business. And as is often the case, business, particularly BIG Business comes at the expense of the environment.

The government is very happy to lay Hong Kong’s air pollution problems on what gets blown over the border and that to some extent is very true. But for a city that is as cosmopolitan as Hong Kong, it lacks some of the simplest environmental initiatives.  While HK may not be able to control what blows down from China it can certainly control pollution of its own creation. Roadside pollution is a big issue but Hong Kong only recently introduced vehicle idling laws and honestly they are woefully inadequate. Three minutes is a long time for a vehicle to idle and the fines are small. There are no emission regulations and as a result many vehicles are poorly maintained and heavily polluting. When the power company proposes a rate hike the government responds be offering a rebate to consumers, who would be better served in learning to reduce power consumption (including myself). Faced with a growing population and the garbage it generates, instead of promoting waste reduction measures like recycling and composting, the government proposes to build a super incinerator in an environmentally sensitive area.

Shek Kwu Chau, the site of the proposed incinerator, is an island located near Lantau Island and Cheung Chau. It is uninhabited except for a Drug Rehabilitation Centre and you need permission from the government to get there. Its waters are home to dolphins that are increasingly threatened by habitat loss and pollution. The incinerator project requires extensive land reclamation that will increase the stress on these already fragile animals.  Why the government would propose to build an incinerator using, from my understanding, outdated polluting technology on an environmentally sensitive area, in a city with already poor air quality, with no existing transportation links to move the garbage and with no public consultation makes little sense to me. But then I am just one woman. I am not Big Business and I suspect that Big Business is behind this project.  However I have a voice. It may a small one, but it is still a voice and I believe we can stop this project.

Please visit the following sites for more information and to find out what you can do to stop this project: 

Living Islands

Green Power

Petition to Stop Incinerator

The Hidden Cat

I have been rather scarce lately and I apologize. So what have I been up to since Christmas? This year for the fist time since I have know Mr. Grey Cat we were able to go to see his family for Chinese New Year. The last time Mr. Grey Cat was home for CNY he was some one who receives red packet and this time he was the one giving them out. It had been so long that he didn't know what we were supposed to do. We had no idea how much to put in them or who we were supposed to give them too. Thankfully I he has a wonderful family who were more than happy to help us out. I must confess that I was a bit worried about meeting many members of his family for the first time, even though we have been married for 14 years! I need not have been concerned though. Everyone was very warm and friendly. All in all it was a great trip, filled with lots of friends, family and food. However the highlight of holiday was not CNY, but a bicycle ride around Marina Barage with our niece and nephews. It was a wonderful morning with three of our favourite people. 

Not long after retuning home from Singapore we had a visit from another of my favourite people in world. My sister made her very fist trip to the Far East and stayed with us for three weeks! It was nice having her and I enjoyed playing tour guide. It is always interesting when people come to Hong Kong for the fist time. This city is never what they expect. Most are amazed at how large it is and how green it is and she was no exception.  

Speaking of how green HK is, this past sunday was the first beach cleanup of 2012. These cleanups are organized by DB Green and happen throughout the year alternating between the local beaches. They had a very good turn out despite the grey, cool weather. This was my first beach clean up and while I always knew the beaches needed help, I didn't realize just how bad they get. The amount of plastics is mind boggling. The photo below does not show just how bad it was. I expected bags, bottles and wrappers but I did not expect to see so many toothbrushes! Sadly there were many lighters and syringes, thankfully without needles. 

There was also plenty of fishing nets. It made me wonder if some of them came from the fishing boat I regularly see not far off the shore. 

The sad reality is most people do not think of what happens to their garbage and while Hong Kong is a very modern and advanced city, it is way behind much of the modern world in environmental protection. 

Grandpa's Garden

Hong Kong is an expensive place to live. While taxes are low (especially compared to Canada!) housing is very expensive and food can be expensive too. Many foods are imported so not only are they pricey but they have a large carbon foot print. Market shopping is the best, because you can get a large variety of local products, but where I live there isn't a market close by. While I believe in buying what is local and seasonally available whenever possible I am not so dedicated that I will travel out of my way and lug every thing back on the bus, ferry or MTR. There are two supermarkets close to me, both of which I can walk to and both of which deliver. They are where I do most of my shopping. 

I had heard there was a small organic farm not to far away in Nim Shue Wan, which is a tiny village on the hike to Mui Wo, not far from DB.  So on New Years day my friend and I decided to take a walk and see if we could locate it. Sure enough, along the path and up the hill we found a terraced garden patch full of neat rows and labels of all kinds of produce called Grandpa's Garden. 

One of the terraces in Grandpa's Garden. 

Apparently it started as a sustenance farm for a local family as the kids grew up and moved on became a small business for Grandma & Grandpa (Mr. & Mrs. Wong). They only grow what is in season, use companion planting to reduce pests and test the irrigation water by keeping goldfish in the ponds. If the fish are healthy the water is good. 

I asked what was available right now and was shown some beautiful spinach, potatoes and parsley so I bought some. 

Yesterday the spinach was in a salad and today I made a yummy vegetarian meal: Spinach, tomatoes & beans with curried potato salad with apple & raisins. (Rima, if you are reading this the recipe for the Spinach, tomato & beans came from your wedding shower cookbook!) 

I think I will be making many trips there in the future! The produce is beautiful and I can finally shop local and in season again. 

If you are interested in reading a bit more on Grandpa's Garden follow the link: Grandpa's Garden

Hotel Penaga

I have always liked small hotels and B&B's and when traveling, whenever possible, I have tried to stay at unique spots.  The is nothing wrong with Hiltons, Four Seasons, Holiday Inns...etc, but they are kind of like McDonalds. No matter where you are you know exactly what you are going to get. I find the smaller establishments add to the overall travel experience and can be part of the adventure. Sometimes it is great. Castle Stuart in Scotland will always be one of my favourite places; and sometimes it is not so good. There is a B&B on Mantoulin island that I hope is either no longer in operation or vastly improved! We chose to stay at a little boutique hotel called Hotel Penaga. Originally 1940's shop houses, over the years they had fallen into disrepair. It was later transformed into this pleasant holiday hotel, with large rooms, a good restaurant, spa and garden. 

The lap pool. 

Christmas lighting in the garden. 

The garden is very nice and is accented with interesting pieces. 

A view from inside the hotel looking to the street.

Another view of the streets below. 

The hotel reflected in the building across the street. 

I didn't really know what to expect from George Town. It is a UNESCO world heritage site, so I knew there would be lots of colonial buildings, but I think I expected the inner city to be a bit better preserved. However, I have been to Malaysia before so what I found did not surprise me. There are lots of beautiful buildings but what fascinated me was this overall impression of neglect and decrepitude. For every beautiful building there are several more in serious need of work and rather than being disappointed in it, I found it added to the appeal. 

The building below was actually attached to our hotel through an alley way. It gives you some idea of what the hotel might have looked like before the restoration work began. 

Hotel Penaga is on the left. Parts of the hotel extend behind the rundown building to the right.

On every street and around every corner I found fascinating old ruins. This yellow house had obviously been damaged by fire, but I imagine it was once beautiful! 

I know many people would see this and be disappointed, especially those of us from North America. We expect sanitized, Disneyesque holidays but that could mean missing out on something really special. 

Penang & Kek Lok Si

This Christmas, Mr. Grey Cat had some time off so we decided to give ourselves a little holiday getaway to the island of Penang in Malaysia. We didn't have a lot of time, just two full days, and rather than go to a beach resort we chose to stay at a boutique hotel in George Town. The inner city of George Town is a UNESCO world heritage site and was once a hub of the Spice trade. Ethnically and religiously diverse, it is home to many Mosques, temples and churches to serve it's varied population.

Temples of all shapes and sizes abound, we passed a huge modern christian cathedral and since Malaysia is a Muslim nation we could hear the call to prayer from just about everywhere. 

We spent quite a lot of time at Kek Lok Si, which is the largest Buddhist temple in southeast asia. 

Do you see the little dot on the gold roof in the photo above? That is someone working on the roof. The temple is having some improvements done. Here is a better look....

I found this rather puzzling as well...

Has the work been going on so long that the roof tiles have started to grow foliage? 

Anyone who has ever visited a city of any size has seen their share of beggars and homeless people, I was surprised to see many in the temple. They seemed to have their corners staked out along various corridors.  Surprisingly this was the only place in George Town that I saw any begging. I don't mean to claim that there isn't any (I don't know the city, there could be lots) I just didn't see it. 

Sadly her cup, like all the others I saw was virtually empty. I don't mean to advocate that people should give to beggars, it may just perpetuate the problem, especially if it is crime/corruption related,  but I do feel for people forced by circumstances into such a situation; and I have at times given food or change. One thing I do understand is that the issue of poverty and homelessness are complex and I try not to judge. While I am not a religious person, I find this saying to be very meaningful:

 "There but the grace of God, go I"

Ok, I will get off my soapbox now and on to more pleasant things. The more I travel the more I realize that people really are the same. Despite differences in culture and religion, in the end we all want the same things. I love the wishing tree in the temple, where people would place ribbons with their prayers in the hopes that they will come to pass. What I love even more is how at any time in our lives we have all wished/prayed for the same things. 

        

We also went up Penang Hill. Honestly I could have done without it, but it is supposedly one of "the"things to do in Penang. Had we been smarter we would have realized that it was a school holiday. What does that mean....Long Lines and Crowds! But line up we did, crowded on the train and up the hill we went. 

Up the hill we were treated to what would have been a really nice view, but it was hazy. Still it was not bad, especially compared to Hong Kong this time of year! 

Parking & Wildfire....

  I am sorry I have been so quiet lately. As many of you know I have been dealing with a herniated disc in my neck for some time now. I admit it has been very frustrating. Mostly because I can't do many of the things I enjoy,  such as swimming and photography. My camera is just to heavy, even using my rapid strap, which slings it over my shoulders. My life has mostly been revolving around doctors and physiotherapy appointments, but it is helping and ever so slowly it is getting better! Also it has forced me to expand my photographic horizons into the world of iPhone photography.  

A couple of weeks ago Mr. Korat and I took the Kai To ferry over to Mui Wo, which is a small town on Lantau Island just over the mountains from us. I really love this little community. It is small but friendly, with great sprit. Unlike Discovery Bay it is not car free so many people own and drive cars, however it seems the preferred method of transport is the bicycle. Like DB, Mui Wo has a ferry service to Central, where most people work. This is the scene at the ferry terminal on a weekday afternoon...

This was also one of my first iPhone photography experiments, and what I missed shooting was the Gweilo guy, walking from the ferry and unlocking his bicycle in his business suit! 

These bikes are quite common around town. They allow people to ride with their kids and have a basket under the seat for their shopping. I once saw one go by with a kid in a car seat that was strapped to the bike! 

I have been asked about the wildlife that I see here and I can't say that I have ever seen very much. I have grown up with urban wildlife and while it can at times be a nuisance, I do miss it. Sure there are some very beautiful birds and butterflies and of course it is semi tropical so there are a lot of insects. There are also many snakes in Hong Kong, some poisonous, such as cobras, so one needs to be careful when hiking, but generally the wildlife keeps to itself and is rarely seen. There is one animal that is hard to miss and that is the Water buffalo and feral cattle. Water buffalo are indigenous to Lantau and live in small herds throughout the island. It is very common when taking a bus or taxi over the island to see one at the side of the road, however they are threatened by urbanization and the governments attempt to move them from populated areas. I am not sure what the story is on the feral cattle, but they are also seen in herds. Buffalo and cattle are not aggressive but they are large and if they become agitated they can be dangerous. Just this spring a man was gorged by a buffalo (he survived),  and when you see them it is best just to keep your distance and mind your business. Imagine our surprise when Mr. Korat and I turned a corner and came practically face to face with a herd of cattle! Most of them were happily munching away in someones garden, but this little calf was more interested in the tasty grass on the driveway of this little shop.

Here is a CNN article about Lantau's Buffalo and some of the issues surrounding them: What's up with the buffalo's on Lantau Island?

If you wish to learn more you can visit the Lantau Buffalo Association