I had so much planned this weekend, but we were grounded in our flat as the first typhoon of the season skirted Hong Kong, and brought lots of rain. Luckily, winds weren’t that strong, and no one got seriously hurt.
We had two inches of standing water on our kitchen balcony though. The rain came in almost horizontally and the drain was blocked. To prevent damage to the Korean wonder machine, I mopped up three buckets of water. So, despite of being indoors all day, I had plenty of exercise.
I also sorted through and uploaded pictures from a stroll through Mong Kok last week. Mong Kok is said to be the most densely populated area on earth. It’s a wonderful mixture of old and new, touristy and original, and - yes - it is very busy, even on a weekday afternoon. There are lots of shoppers, tourists, and people living and working in the area squeezing by along sidewalks, markets, and outdoor restaurants. I hope it will always stay as lively as it is today. I think it would be a real shame if street life gets sanitized and moved into shopping malls.
I started in Sai Yeung Choi Street South, which is a shopping street closed to traffic that runs parallel to the more famous Nathan Road.
School had just finished.
Looking for takers.
Hungry shoppers.
Entrance to Ladies’ Market, which is a bit of a misnomer. Tourist Market would be more appropriate.
Recently built apartment high-rise. One is fine, but my fear is that the whole area will look like this in a few years.
This shop is helping to fuel one of Hongkongers’ greatest passions. It’s wonderful to walk through streets and back alleys, and suddenly hear the clicky-dee-clack of Majong tiles and people chatting.
The Ladies’ Market in Tung Choi Street.
Chongsams in all sizes.
If you want to get lots of offers for “Tailored suits” and “Rolex”, wear a Stars and Stripes visor like this lady did. My strategy was to hide behind her.
They are probably not the safest buildings around, but I love how Hongkongers extend their living space by encasing roof terraces and balconies. And then, when the roof terrace looks like a proper building floor, why not build another roof terrace on top of it, and then encase it, and then build another, and another… ? Looking at this building it’s hard to see were the original building stops, and the upward extensions begin.
Bamboo scaffolding being set up. I got vertigo from just watching.
You’ve got mail!
“Toothpick” buildings are another Hong Kong way to deal with lack of space. My guess is that the building in the middle has a footprint of under 400 square feet.
I felt so lucky to have found these old market buildings on Reclamation Street. I had never been to the area before. As I rounded the corner, on the opposite side of a very busy road, there they were, row upon row of wonderful market buildings, run-down but full of charm. I did a bit of research on the internet afterwards, and learned that the buildings predate the second world war, and are still used for a wholesale fruit market.
When I was there, I assumed that the old white building was a market building as well, although I asked myself why it had received special treatment. It’s shiny white walls gleamed in the dark. It’s in fact the oldest surviving cinema building in Hong Kong. The “Yaumati Theatre” was built in 1925, but sadly had to close its doors in 1998. According to Wikipedia, there are plans to reopen it has a theater for Cantonese opera.
The wholesale fruit market.
Afternoon faded into evening, and suddenly there was a corner of golden light in front of me.
It was a store for altars and religious figurines, all carefully wrapped in plastic, which made them look like apparitions.
Once in a while, I like to get lost, stroll around and discover new things. Well ok, you have to make a real effort to get lost in Hong Kong, because there are street signs everywhere, and signposts pointing to the next subway station, but I didn’t look at them, and just walked. And then I rounded a corner and saw the stall selling vibrators, and I knew I was in tourist territory again. Then another stall followed, selling Nepalese bags and jewelry, then another, selling stickers (five sheets for HK$10 with Spiderman, Transformers, and other superheros little man loves), and so it became impossible to continue to pretend to be lost, because this was clearly Temple Street, Hong Kong’s famous night market.
I ate a big plate full of greasy noodles to celebrate the end of my adventure. Yes, that really is a roll of toilet paper on the table. I suppose it does the job of wiping people’s mouths just as well.
Hong Kong really has only two seasons. In summer it is hot and humid and in winter it is cold and dry. This winter was an exception though, for a few weeks the weather played havoc in China- you may have heard it in the news - and we had lots of rain, wind, and lower than usual temperatures in Hong Kong.
Since a few days though, the weather has turned balmy and it feels a bit like springtime /early summer in the northern hemisphere. It’s an in-between season and can last anywhere from a couple of days to a whole month. And it’s during these in-between seasons that Hongkong’s male bird population is out in full force, calling loudly for potential mates. They are all pretty loud, but one species stands out.
Its call sounds roughly like “how-you?… how-youuu?… how-youuuuu?”, can go on for several minutes, and gets increasingly louder and more urgent. One of these desperate Casanovas sits on a tall tree in front of my house, and makes sure we are up very early. I call him Larry, and Larry is damn lucky that there is tight gun control in Hong Kong.
Larry: How-you? (How are you this morning?)
Cosima: tired groan
Larry: How-youuu? (Helloooo! Anybody out there?)
Cosima: Shut up!
Larry: How-youuuuuu! (You are not my type anyway!)
Larry: How-youuuuuuuuuuuu! (Hello feathered ladies, my name is Larry and I am a strong, viril, and beautiful bird in his best years. I can offer you protection and a newly built nest with jacuzzi nearby.)
Cosima: Larry you sound like an online dating ad… desperate. The only thing that’s missing is…
Larry: How-youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu! (…. my net worth is 1 millon Dollars!)
Cosima: Don’t forget to mention the credit card debt.
Larry: How-youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu?
Then, mercifully, Larry stops. But it’s too late, I am awake and can’t fall asleep again.
I did a bit of ornithological research on the net, and found out that Larry is an Asian Koel and belongs to the cuckoo family. He looks like this and sounds like this… only much louder.
Yesterday, I went to see a doctor who practices traditional Chinese medicine. There were several reasons for the visit. The most important one being that I have been snot-nosed and coughing my throat out for more than a week. I have tried to cure my cold with aspirin, tea, and menthol rub, but the little bugs inside of me laughed at that, and choose to drown me in more phlegm, which made it very hard to breathe. A few days ago, I was standing in line at the supermarket and couldn’t get air into my lungs for a few moments, because my nose and throat were blocked completely.
I didn’t want to go to a Western-style doctor, because he probably would have given me a round of antibiotics, which I think should only be a last resort. I also admit, that I was very curious. I have never been to a doctor practicing traditional medicine before. Pharmacies selling natural Chinese medicine are widespread in Hong Kong, and for me they hold a strange allure. It’s a mixture of respect for the ancient knowledge and philosophy behind it, and also wonderment about all the slightly exotic ingredients.
So I went into my neighborhood’s Chinese pharmacy, which looks very different from your typical Western one. The shop is lined with shelves and drawers filled with various dried roots, leaves, and animal parts, and the shop smells … medicinal.
Naively I assumed that I could just go in there, say that I have a very bad cold, and be given a ready-made tea mixture. The shop assistant was an elderly lady, who could speak as much English as I speak Cantonese, which made communication very difficult. But she pulled out her mobile phone, smiled at me, and said “doctor”. She spoke to the doctor and told me to come back (pointing first at me than at the ground in front of her) on “tomorrow tomorrow” (two fingers up) “six o’clock” (six fingers up).
When I turned up at the appointed time, I was led to the back of the shop, to the doctor’s consultation room. Fortunately, he spoke better English than I do. He asked me to describe my illness, asked me a few questions, took my pulse, asked me to stuck my tongue out, and then said that I have a viral infection. He told me that my medicine would be ready tomorrow lunch-time. He charged me US$ 30 for the consultation, which included the medicine. For a Western-style consultation the fee would have been at least three times as much, which is probably part of the answer why traditional Chinese medicine is so popular.
Today, I went back to the shop to get my medicine from the lady. It was a paper cup filled with dark brown tea and two salted plums. The tea smelt ok, but tasted extremely bitter. I am sure it would have been best to drink it hot, but I just couldn’t bring myself to drink it quickly. I needed the whole day to drink the whole cup, and every gulp required great effort… brrrrrrrrrr
I do wonder what was in there. The shop lady told me to call the doctor. I could ask him… but do I really want to know? I am guessing roots and plants with antiviral and astringent properties. But why in hell, do the have to taste so bitter? I asked a Chinese friend, and she told me with a smile that medicine has to taste bitter, otherwise it’s not good.
So, if bitterness is directly related to effectiveness, my cold will be over in no time.
In Hong Kong, your business is not really in existence without a “chop”. I am not talking pork chops here, I am talking about an official company stamp. It’s used to sign off invoices, acknowledge deliveries, or any other official company documents. A chop under a document is as legally binding as a signature, but for good measure really important documents are signed as well.
Until a few days ago, I didn’t have a chop. I thought that I didn’t need one. I thought that the signature of the business owner was good enough. Not for PCCW, a local telephone company. I went to one of their shops to transfer my personal mobile phone account to my business. After the clerk had filled out three forms…
“And now please put your chop here, here, and here… and sign there.”
“I don’t have a chop. I just sign it.”
Astonished glance from the clerk.
“Sorry Madam, we also need the chop.”
“But I don’t have one.”
“OK… I will check with my manager. Please wait.”
A call followed to the manager, who apparently confirmed that mobile accounts can’t be transfered to businesses without chops.
So, I left in search for a chop maker and found one a few blocks further down the road. A deal was quickly made. On the next day, I got a round chop with my company’s name in exchange for HK$60 (US$8).
Afterwards, I went to the phone company, and chopped three forms here, here, and there, and also the three sets of duplicates… here, here, and there. And I was beginning to appreciate the convenience of chops. From now on I will chop whenever I can.
The following pictures are from a little lane between the skyscrapers of Central, Hong Kong’s business district, where several essential services are located: a chop maker, a key maker, a shoe shiner, several shoe repair stalls, and also a jade seal carver. However, my chop maker is located somewhere else, in Wanchai, and I would have loved to take a picture of his tiny hole-in-the-wall shop, but a large truck was parked in front of it, eclipsing it completely.
Hong Kong’s remaining street markets are under constant threat to become the next victims of “urban renewal”. Yesterday, I had some errands to run in Central, Hong Kong’s business district, and afterwards did my bit to save one of them.
The Central Street Market is located on Graham Street, which runs between Queen’s Road, one of the city’s busiest shopping streets, and Hollywood Road, which hosts a lot of art galleries and antique shops.
I bought cucumber and tomatoes…
… delicious pomegranates…
and very fresh shrimps…
Even drive-by shopping is possible ;)…
If you live in Hong Kong, or even if you are just a potential tourist, who thinks that street markets are an essential part of local flair, go here and sign the petition… please :).
Thank you all for your well wishes! I would love to say that my cold is on the retreat, but these little viral bugs are still having a party inside my throat and nose. I am having a fruit and veggie day today, to send some battle-ready vitamins to them.
Yesterday, I spent the whole day in front of the computer to tinker with Cosima Inc’s website. I thought that a flash slideshow of my products would be a cool thing to have, and bought this product, which is a cheap and elegant solution to put a picture slideshow on your website or blog, but as always the devil lies in the details. It took me the whole day to make this work and look like I wanted too. By the end of the day, it was hard to focus my eyes.
So I thought, that I deserved a special treat this morning, and went to the neighborhood coffee shop. It belongs to a local chain, and has very nice decor with comfy chairs and sofas, good jazz music, and a wide selection of newspapers and magazines. Only the coffee is lousy, but drinkable in cappuccino form. So I sipped my cappuccino and read the news on Burma. Apparently even Rambo aka Sylvester Stallone, who was filming at the Thai-Burmese border, thinks it’s a “hell hole”. Then I glanced at the people rushing by on the other side of the window, struggling to get to work on time. The coffee shop felt like a quiet and comfy bubble, swimming slowly against the tide. It was luxurious to be inside of it. Life felt good.
The following blogs are written by Burmese, and have up-to-date information, pictures, and video footage from inside the country and news organizations around the world:
The website of the Democratic Voice of Burma has reports, pictures, and video footage. The video below shows yesterday’s protests in Rangoon. Just from watching videos of the protests over the last days, I get the sense that the protests have changed very much. Earlier footage shows very calm demonstrations by large groups of monks as well as women and men of all age groups, while yesterdays protesters were mainly young men. Besides shooting demonstrators, the military has also raided Buddhist monasteries. Monks were reportedly beaten and arrested. One of the Burmese blogs reports rumors of a split in the military government… I hope it’s true.
Sep 28, 2007 (DVB)–Soldiers have used slingshots to disperse demonstrations in Rangoon today, which have been less organised than on previous days.
Chants from the protestors have taken on a different tone from earlier messages of goodwill, with protestors calling for lightning to strike and kill those who had attacked monks.
“Before they were chanting metta, but now they are cursing the soldiers,” said a local resident.
Troops were deployed at the corner of Sule pagoda road and Anawrahta road where shootings took place yesterday, about six blocks away from the Pansodan junction with Anawrahta road where more than 10,000 people were protesting.
Another group of 5,000-10,000 protestors assembled at around 3.30pm in the Chinatown area at the junction of Strand road and Keile road, also cursing government security forces. No government troops, guards or supporters were seen at this location.
“It’s like they’re trying not to upset the Chinese. We’ve seen an army truck passing by Chinatown, but no troops have been deployed,” said a Rangoon resident.
The group moved on towards Sule pagoda road but was broken up at around 4pm by government troops from battalion 66 firing slingshots at them.
Four army trucks were seen, one with a loudspeaker urging residents not to provide refuge to protestors and ordering them to refrain from firing slingshots at security forces from their homes. The announcements threatened action against anyone sheltering protestors.
There have also been reports that warning shots were fired at demonstrations at Theingyizay market, but these were not said to have been aimed directly into the crowds.
Reporting by Than Win Htut and Aye Nai (www.dvb.no)
1. I have so loved your posts on German and Hong Kong culture and history. What do you love most and what do you dislike most about each place and how did you end up in Hong Kong?
I went to Hong Kong pretty much on a whim after I had finished my university degree in London. I didn’t have a job offer, and was not sure if I would stay for long. I will never forget the first day in Hong Kong. I was badly jet lagged, but the city had such vibrancy that I couldn’t stop walking through the streets and taking it all in. During the first few months I sent out hundreds of job applications, but didn’t have much luck. Most foreigners who work here were transferred within their organizations, and a German applying for a job directly in Hong Kong was out of the ordinary. But just as my tourist visa was about to expire, one of the companies I had applied to and interviewed with offered me a position, and I have been here ever since.
What do I love about Hong Kong? The vibrancy of the street life, just taking a stroll through any of the old neighborhoods at any time of the day is an experience. There are always people on the street, and there is always something interesting to see. The food! Eating out is an integral part of Hong Kong’s culture. From small hole-in-the-wall take-aways to multi-storey restaurants, from the local Cantonese cuisine to delicacies from all around the world, everything is available. I also love the enterprising spirit of Hongkongers. There are so many small shops, restaurants, and companies in Hong Kong, started by people with can-do attitude, and it gives the city an incredible level of energy.
What I don’t like is the slavish adherence to progress, or what is perceived as such. For me progress is a rise in quality of life, and that can’t be achieved by simply building new skyscrapers or shopping malls. However, people’s attitudes are beginning to change more and more. They worry about preservation of their cultural heritage and the environment. I just wish the government here would pay more attention to their concerns.
Berlin is my home city, so I am terribly biased, but I love that the city has its own way. If you travel around Germany and as your last stop go to Berlin, you notice it immediately. It’s not tidy, it’s not terribly pretty – although it has some wonderful areas - , and Berliners can sometimes be extremely straight-forward … ok, rude. But the city ticks to its own beat, and that’s wonderful.
It comes from a mix of different attitudes, I suppose. Firstly, Berliners have a big dose of stoicism (“Uns kann jarnischt”- Nothing can really touch us), which comes from the city’s turbulent history, and that it has survived through it all. Secondly, Berliners are a pretty tolerant bunch. It’s a good place to start something new and out of the ordinary, because chances are that Berliners will not only let you, but also protect it. Thirdly, having money doesn’t necessarily earn you respect in Berlin. So a Gucci handbag won’t buy you any cloud. People will know immediately that you are a) probably from Munich and b) have serious self-esteem issues. Which btw is the direct opposite to Hong Kong, where the right brand name handbag makes the girl.
What I don’t like about Berlin is the passive attitude of some of its people. Berliners are good at complaining about how hard their life is, and blaming others for it. Sometimes I just want to scream to their faces that they live in unbelievable luxury and comfort compared to most other people on this planet, and that it’s no use blaming others for something they have to change themselves.
2. What place in the world have you not yet been to that you are dying to see and experience and why that place?
There are many places I haven’t yet seen and would love to visit. But there is one very special place that I hope to see soon and that is Burma. All I have read about the country, about its culture, the diversity of its landscape, about its history and people, have been incredibly interesting and have wet my appetite. However, I have made the pledge to myself that I only want to see it as a free and democratic country.
If you are of the reading type, I urge you to read some of Aung San Suu Kyi’s books. Her book “Letters from Burma”, a relatively slim anthology of articles she wrote for a Japanese newspaper, is a good starting point to learn about ordinary life in Burma, and how it is affected by the present military regime. She is a very good writer, and Burma almost leaps from the book’s pages. Her official website has a lot of historic and current information as well, and I find the reports on the site from recent visitors to the country especially interesting. Also reading Amitav Gosh’s “Glass Palace” is a good start to learn about Burma’s history in a very entertaining way.
I don’t know if you all have seen the recent news. There are mass demonstrations on Rangoon’s streets, because the people have had enough of the repressive rule of the military junta. The demonstrations were started by Buddhist monks, but ordinary people have quickly joined the protests. The police has tried to stop the protest by firing live ammunition. But people have regrouped, and so far every day has seen new protests.
I know it sounds very bleak, but I don’t think the Burmese people can expect much help from the outside world. Burma’s big neighbors, China and India, are more interested in the country’s rich oil and gas reserves than in the well-being of its people, and the US and Europe will probably just up the rhetoric a bit. I am hoping that the Burmese will be strong enough to bring change by themselves, and I am hoping that a few people in the military junta will go against their own and stop the current bloodshed.
In 1989, Aung San Suu Kyi was democratically elected as her country’s political leader. In the same year the Berlin Wall fell. Change can come very quickly and unsuspected. I hope that now is such a time in Burma, because I would like to visit sooner rather than later.
3. You’ve just joined the sensational new girl band ‘mamaya.’ what kind of music do we play? What is your place in the band? And what should we wear?
The new musical sensation “Mamaya” would play an eclectic mix of rock, jazz, and anything else that strikes our fancy and current mood. People would never know what to expect when going to our concerts. My place in the band wouldn’t matter too much, because I would need to be dubbed anyway. The only musical instrument I play is my stereo, and singing isn’t my forte either. Maybe with a little electronic magic, I could be a background singer?
So why did they choose me for the hottest band in town? Because my hair is wild and I can shake my ass to the beat. Also I am not afraid to get half-nekkid on stage. We all wear the sensational Lime dress in different shades and pair it off with some fancy Birkenstock thong sandals. When the crowd goes wild, we throw our Birkis into the audience, and dance barefoot.
4. What is your favorite book from your childhood and which character in it would you be?
When I was a child, I devoured every Astrid Lindgren book I could get my hands on, and my most favorite character was Pippi Longstocking or Langstrumpf, as she is called in German. I also loved the Swedish movie adaptations of the series. I wanted to be just like her, free-spirited, strong, and witty. Best of all, she didn’t have to take shit from grown-ups… one cool girl!
5. I see you have postsecret linked in your sidebar. What secrets on the site are you most drawn to?
There aren’t any special kinds of secrets that I am drawn to, I find them all very interesting. Everyone of us has secrets, and I find the idea of creating a place for them to be seen wonderful. I am hoping that the people writing to post secret get some solace and empowerment out of it.
I also find it fascinating to see the different human emotions shining through these messages, good and bad ones. I think most of these emotions are honest, and honesty is always interesting.
Thank you so much, Lime, for sending me these questions. I had so much fun answering them. If some of you would like to be interviewed by me, please tell me in a comment.
I wanted to write a long post about this, but it’s much easier to copy and paste an opinion I whole-heartedly agree with. This is from a New York Times article, and boy, is he right:
…Dara O’Rourke, an associate professor of labor and environmental policy at the University of California, Berkeley…
…said that Mattel has been more focused on public relations rather than fixing its problems. He said that Mattel used China as a scapegoat for its own problems and that the toymaker is now paying the price for that.
“There’s no question that Mattel is still completely committed to operating in China and needs those factories,” he said. “There was a lot of scapegoating China, but I would argue that this was caused by a system that is designed to push down costs and speed up delivery. There are root causes and Mattel is behind those.”
It is possible to get well-made products at very attractive prices in China, but for some western companies that’s not enough. There is fierce competition in the manufacturing sector here. Big western companies are in a position of power, and can shop around. They push down prices and do not care enough about the consequences. You would think that a company as big as Mattel - and selling children’s toys of all things- should have an effective quality control system in place. It’s a cost decision, and they decided to go the cheap way.
There are many responsible parties in this, and it’s best to start sweeping in front of one’s own door.
Neither are they weapons. Although the skin is quite tough, the inside is too soft to knock someone out with it. They are called angle luffas and taste similar to squashes, gourds, or okras.
Last week, I cooked them for the first time, and loved their texture, which is slightly different from other squashes, not as soft and soggy. Why I haven’t tried them earlier is a puzzle to me. Whenever they are in season, they are flying off the supermarket shelfs like hotcakes here in Hong Kong, and I have always been fascinated by their huge size and unusual shape… they stand out among the other veggies.
Last week, as I was standing in line to get price stickers for ginger and carrots, no less than three women in front of me were buying them, so I asked the lady in front how she prepares them. She told me to fry them in a wok with garlic. I also decided to add some ground pork and red chilies to the mixture.
At home, I peeled and cut the two luffas, deseeded and finely sliced two fresh red chilies, and also crushed four cloves of garlic with a garlic press.
Then I turned on the wok flame of my gas stove, which can heat the whole flat in winter, it’s that big. First I put some oil in the wok, and after it was hot I added half a pound of ground pork, chili, garlic, and salt. After the pork turned gray, in came the luffa. It took only a few minutes to cook them.
Mmmm… the luffa soaked up the flavor from the meat, chili, and garlic, and had such a nice texture.
While surfing around for other Asian recipes, I found the two food blogs below. The first one is written by two expat journalists living in Malaysia, and even if you are not that interested in cooking, the photos of markets, food stalls, people, and produce are worth a visit. The second blog is all about what the title promises, and also has a very good ingredients glossary for Asian foodstuffs.
Yesterday, I went to see a doctor who practices traditional Chinese medicine. There were several reasons for the visit. The most important one being that I have been snot-nosed and coughing my throat out for more than a week. I have tried to cure my cold with aspirin, tea, and menthol rub, but the little bugs inside of me laughed at that, and choose to drown me in more phlegm, which made it very hard to breathe. A few days ago, I was standing in line at the supermarket and couldn’t get air into my lungs for a few moments, because my nose and throat were blocked completely.
