HONG KONG - Hiking on Lamma Island yesterday was awesome. Well, the scenery was awesome, but I'm still trying to adjust to the humidity. There was so much moisture in the air yesterday that it actually started spitting rain on several occasions without any clouds in the sky. I walked a long loop that circles the southern part of the island and continued north to Yung Shue Wan - the largest settlement on the island and where Chow Yun-Fat reportedly grew up. By the time I got there I looked like I just stepped out of the shower so I stopped into one of the local pubs for a pint while I waited for the ferry back to Hong Kong Island. I struck up a conversation with my neighbour, a Brit in his seventies who has lived in Hong Kong for almost 60 years. His father had come out to the colonies with his wife and kids in the 1950s to work as a civil servant and never left. It's pretty interesting to stumble across these reminders of the colonial past. This old guy was full of stories about Hong Kong in the old days and I was disappointed when I heard the bell indicating that the ferry was about to leave.
Hong Kong never ceases to amaze me. Even after living here for the better part of a year back in '04-'05, I am still discovering so many new places and things. Today I met up with my friend Rachel (who I used to go to school with) and her boyfriend Kwan. I told her that I wanted to go and see how locals really partake in the dim-sum ritual. Now, I'm not a dim-sum virgin, but the vast majority of times I've gone it has been with other foreigners and we've really spent most of our time trying to make sure we don't get stuck with the dishes containing things like pig lungs and intestine.
For those who aren't familiar, dim-sum - or yum-cha as it is often less-accurately called - is a popular meal in the southern part of China. Families often get together on a weekend morning/early afternoon to socialize over steaming baskets of food and copious amounts of tea. I've really wanted to go to a local restaurant for a while to see how the typical Hong Kong family enjoys this Chinese equivalent to brunch.
I met Rachel and Kwan at the Yao Ma Tei MTR (subway) station and they escorted me to an anonymous looking building on Pitt Street. After heading up a few flights of stairs we came into a large dining room with little old ladies pushing steaming carts around the room. Ornate wooden beams lining the ceiling suggested that the dining room had been there for a long, long time and the well-worn vinyl floor tiles gave the impression that it has been well used over the years. Almost as soon as we sat down we had a steaming pot of tea and a hot pot of water. Kwan used the hot pot of water to essentially sterilize the chop-sticks and bowls that we'd be using to eat with - this sort of double check to make sure things are clean is fairly common here.
A woman came up with a steaming cart with the familiar bamboo basket steamers and went through the various things she had to offer. Rachel translated and asked if anything appealed. I had already resolved that I would at least try some of the unusual dishes I know are typical dim-sum offerings since I was going for the culture; but when Rachel said disappointingly that all of the small intestine had already been gobbled up, I have to admit to breathing a bit of relief. The whole experience was really nice. The three of us chatted about the food, local politics and all sorts of things. They were more than happy to answer all my naive questions about the food and Hong Kong culture - essentially, perfect dim-sum companions.
After eating, Rachel and Kwan took me to Chi Lin Nunnery, a fantastic Buddhist temple and convent located near Diamond Hill. The temple isn't nearly as old as some of the impressive ones you can see in Mainland China, Japan and other places, but it was built using traditional wood joining methods and it's really quite impressive. Actually, one of the most impressive things about it is the fact that it takes up a huge amount of real estate. In a city where land is among the most valuable in the world, setting aside a significant swath of it for a temple is pretty amazing.
After the nunnery, we dropped by a Daoist temple that was a hive of activity compared to the tranquility of its Buddhist counterpart. The temple's courtyard was full of incense smoke. Some people were praying with burning joss sticks clasped in their hands, while others ferociously shook Chien Tung to find out which wooden stick held their fortune. I burned a few joss sticks and asked for good things to happen - I'm confident they will.
Tomorrow I'm back to HKU to interview my former professor Cho-Nam Ng. As an environmentalist in Hong Kong, Prof. Ng is a bit of an anomaly. I'm looking forward to catching up with him.
I've been trying to get in touch with Pui-Fung Leung from Greenpeace China, but no luck yet. I'll see how I make out tomorrow.
A.
Hong Kong never ceases to amaze me. Even after living here for the better part of a year back in '04-'05, I am still discovering so many new places and things. Today I met up with my friend Rachel (who I used to go to school with) and her boyfriend Kwan. I told her that I wanted to go and see how locals really partake in the dim-sum ritual. Now, I'm not a dim-sum virgin, but the vast majority of times I've gone it has been with other foreigners and we've really spent most of our time trying to make sure we don't get stuck with the dishes containing things like pig lungs and intestine.
For those who aren't familiar, dim-sum - or yum-cha as it is often less-accurately called - is a popular meal in the southern part of China. Families often get together on a weekend morning/early afternoon to socialize over steaming baskets of food and copious amounts of tea. I've really wanted to go to a local restaurant for a while to see how the typical Hong Kong family enjoys this Chinese equivalent to brunch.
I met Rachel and Kwan at the Yao Ma Tei MTR (subway) station and they escorted me to an anonymous looking building on Pitt Street. After heading up a few flights of stairs we came into a large dining room with little old ladies pushing steaming carts around the room. Ornate wooden beams lining the ceiling suggested that the dining room had been there for a long, long time and the well-worn vinyl floor tiles gave the impression that it has been well used over the years. Almost as soon as we sat down we had a steaming pot of tea and a hot pot of water. Kwan used the hot pot of water to essentially sterilize the chop-sticks and bowls that we'd be using to eat with - this sort of double check to make sure things are clean is fairly common here.
A woman came up with a steaming cart with the familiar bamboo basket steamers and went through the various things she had to offer. Rachel translated and asked if anything appealed. I had already resolved that I would at least try some of the unusual dishes I know are typical dim-sum offerings since I was going for the culture; but when Rachel said disappointingly that all of the small intestine had already been gobbled up, I have to admit to breathing a bit of relief. The whole experience was really nice. The three of us chatted about the food, local politics and all sorts of things. They were more than happy to answer all my naive questions about the food and Hong Kong culture - essentially, perfect dim-sum companions.
After eating, Rachel and Kwan took me to Chi Lin Nunnery, a fantastic Buddhist temple and convent located near Diamond Hill. The temple isn't nearly as old as some of the impressive ones you can see in Mainland China, Japan and other places, but it was built using traditional wood joining methods and it's really quite impressive. Actually, one of the most impressive things about it is the fact that it takes up a huge amount of real estate. In a city where land is among the most valuable in the world, setting aside a significant swath of it for a temple is pretty amazing.
After the nunnery, we dropped by a Daoist temple that was a hive of activity compared to the tranquility of its Buddhist counterpart. The temple's courtyard was full of incense smoke. Some people were praying with burning joss sticks clasped in their hands, while others ferociously shook Chien Tung to find out which wooden stick held their fortune. I burned a few joss sticks and asked for good things to happen - I'm confident they will.
Tomorrow I'm back to HKU to interview my former professor Cho-Nam Ng. As an environmentalist in Hong Kong, Prof. Ng is a bit of an anomaly. I'm looking forward to catching up with him.
I've been trying to get in touch with Pui-Fung Leung from Greenpeace China, but no luck yet. I'll see how I make out tomorrow.
A.
1 comment:
Dear Mr Valkuk, I am so impressed by your beard. but even more your blog. Keep up your good work! Im reading~~~
Post a Comment