An amazing ekiben with 30 different ingredients!

  

An ekiben with 30 different ingredients!

 

Healthy, and yummy! :b

 

Before this recent trip to Japan -- my first ever in the pandemic era -- I wondered if I should eat when on a train.  This even though not doing so would deprive me of something I get quite a bit of pleasure out of: eating on a train while watching the world passing by through the train window; with the pleasure quotient exponentially increasing when one's got a delicious ekiben (station bento) to eat.

 

I didn't eat anything (besides a couple of gummy candies) on the Narita Express from Narita airport into Tokyo.  But that train ride reminded me that the train compartments have about the same amount, if not fewer, people in them as a fairly small restaurant.  So on the next train ride I took -- the first of a number that I'd take on a shinkansen on this trip -- I got an ekiben to eat on it from a specialty ekiben shop with quite the variety of options.

 

Speaking of variety: the ekiben I chose was one that trumpeted its having 30 different ingredients!  The Japanese are taught to eat 30 different foods a day in order to have a thoroughly balanced diet.  I'm not sure how many Japanese people actually do this (regularly) these days though.  All in all, it seems quite the effort to do so -- and I'm meaning eat, never mind make, such meals!  And to have a single meal be made up of 30 different ingredients seems pretty amazing to me; all the more so when I can confirm that the ekiben I had was actually pretty tasty as well as felt healthy too!

Among the ingredients that I could make out are the following: rice (of course); seaweed; shisho (perilla leaf); ume (pickled plum); egg; potato; corn; at least one kind of fish (cod?); fishcake (made of another kind of fish?); shrimp; carrot; radish; corn; chicken; konnyaku (devil's tongue); pumpkin; a number of varieties of green vegetables; and a number of different beans (including edamame, peas and chickpeas)!  And flavour-wise, there were bits that were sweet; others salty; others sour; others umami; and something a little bitter by way of one of the green vegetables -- that was not a bad thing at all, actually!

All in all, a wonderful moveable feast.  And for the bargain price of 1000 Yen -- which, at the current exchange rate, works out to just HK$52 or so.  Would you be surprised to learn that I wish I could eat this regularly?  And I bet I'd feel -- and be -- a lot healthier if I did so too! :)

Hong Kong sights in 2023 that did not exist back in July 2019 (Photo-essay)

I met up this evening with a friend visiting from abroad who was last in Hong Kong in July 2019.  She told me she had hesitated to visit -- not only because of the pandemic but, also, the national security law but ultimately decided that there was an annual event being held in Hong Kong this month that she simply didn't want to miss for five years running.  She also had feared that the Hong Kong she knew (she's been visiting Hong Kong regularly for decades) no longer existed.

 

On the eve of her departure, her assessment is that Hong Kong has noticeably changed but much of what she remembered and loved about Hong Kong also still exists.  With regards to the latter: more friends have remained than she expected.  With regards to the former: it's not just that her favourite cha chaan teng has closed down but also what she described as "a general feel".  And than there are the noticeable physical changes -- with the following being the kind of things that did not exist back in July 2019 -- or, at least, one month earlier:

 

Seemingly strangely laid out brickwork (the result of

hasty patch up work in the aftermath of such as this and this) 

 

Covered up (political) graffiti -- I can recall to the day

when I first smelt spray paint and saw someone spray painting

a message onto a wall: August 24th, 2019

 

Gray blocks (of covered up political graffiti) 

on the road

 

Pro-democracy messages in what appears to otherwise

be pretty normal eateries, coffee shops and other shops

(i.e., members of the Yellow Economic Circle)

 

 

Wire fencing on the sides of many an overhead bridge

that makes them look and feel akin to giant cages

 

 

(New) political graffiti -- this one being the Chinese

characters for "freedom" -- that's not (yet) been covered up

 

Flags on display in, again, unlikely places -- and there

just being a lot more China and Hong Kong flags everywhere

(still, some one and a half weeks into October)!

 

And, of course, a far greater police presence 

(and variety of police vehicles) than before!

Hong Kong after dark in the national security law era and Covid times (Photo-essay)

As the famous saying goes: "A picture says a thousand words".  So while I've already blogged about Hong Kong's reduced nightlife, here's offering the following photo-essay of photos taken on different evenings this past week that will help give an idea of what different parts of urban Hong Kong look like after dark these days.  And yes, ironically, I was out at night more than usual this week as it so happens -- include earlier this evening, in fact! ;b

From a distance, the lights look far from out in Hong Kong

And the views of Victoria Harbour from the Star Ferry

still can look downright magical

But when one turns one's attention to the interior of the 

Star Ferry though, I'd wager that Hong Kong's status 

as Asia's World City doesn't look super solid :S

I really wish it were otherwise but many of Hong Kong's

neon signs have seen better days  -- and we're talking here 

of those that remain (as opposed to have been taken down) :(

Ditto re the singalong parlours that the likes of Lonely Planet

have highlighted but few locals under the age of 60 (or is it 70?)

would seriously think of spending an evening in!

 

As for Four Seasons Pot Rice: the queues are long gone -- seemingly due 

to a combination of jacked up prices, the food no longer tasting all that special, 

and people not dining out that much anymore at night in these Covid times

 

Still, what really hammered home how quiet Hong Kong now is

after dark was seeing how empty Times Square was this evening

 

I realise that this was a Sunday (as opposed to Saturday or Friday) 

night -- but even so, right??!!  (Put another way: I'd never have

imagined a sight like this in the pre-national security law era)

Hong Kong's reduced nightlife and further governmental cultural faux pas are yet more signs that Hong Kong is not "back to normal"

A neon sign being renovated -- or, as is more likely

these days, about to be removed?

 

Last night, the Hong Kong government launched a campaign to "spice up Hong Kong's nightlife". For those who've been in Hong Kong before: can you imagine this: i.e., this city that I used to think exemplified the "city never sleeps" ethic as much as, if not more than New York, needing to have a “Night Vibes Hong Kong” campaign?  We're talking, after all, of a city with 24-hour McDonald's and supermarkets, and which used to have -- but no longer, and here's the rub -- bookstores and cha chaan teng. 

 

Here's the thing though: It used to be that I had places to go eat and drink at after viewing (classical music) concerts which began at 8pm (and would end around 10.30pm) at Hong Kong City Hall or the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.  And more often than not, I'd head over to my favourite sake bar in Hong Kong, which opened at 5.30pm and closed at around 2am -- or later, if there were clients who wanted to stay past that time -- and which also served food (as the Japanese tend to eat while they drink, as opposed to just drink the way that the Brits are wont to do).

In our Covid times though (yes, Covid is NOT gone!), I still don't go to concerts. And I don't go to bars even 1/20th as much as I used to do. And Sake Bar Ginn closed down more than a year ago now (and its Japanese owner has left Hong Kong).  And while "Club 7-Eleven" may have played a part in its demise since it was located in Lan Kwai Fong -- whose most popular drinking spot has, for years, been outside a branch of that convenience store located in a prominent corner of that section of Hong Kong which ceased being "Party Central" ages ago -- it's worth noting that in recent years, I've also seen branches of 7-Eleven which no longer are open 24 hours as I had previously assumed that all of them were!

 

But while I've not been to a concert in years and no longer spend that much time in bars (including to watch Arsenal play -- since I now watch their matches on cable TV at home!), I still go to cinemas and film screenings.  Pre-Covid, after an evening screening at Broadway Cinematheque, I'd sometimes go for a late night claypot rice dinner at Four Seasons Pot Rice, an eaery I first started going as a tourist back in the early 2000s when it was located in Temple Street (rather than on Arthur Street, as is the case now).

 

Broadway Cinematheque is still around of course -- and, frankly, remains my favourite cinema in Hong Kong.  The Four Seasons Pot Rice place. But while I think the former's doing okay, I was shocked to see when I passed by the latter last night that whereas it used to be a super popular, bustling spot (with long queues waiting to get into the place), it no longer attracts customers -- locals and tourists alike -- the way that it used to.  Is it because the quality of the food went down, its prices got jacked up too high or the combination of the two?  In any case, there's no denying that it looks like its days are numbered.

 

On a more general note: for many people, Hong Kong used to be a city of lights -- specifically neon lights. But the authorities are actually getting people to TAKE DOWN the neon signs, saying they are dangerous (as they are big and heavy and could fall down in such as typhoons); rather than, say, appreciating and preserving, never mind encouraging, the existence of what for many are/were integral parts of Hong Kong life! 

 

A further indication of how out of touch/culturally ignorant the authorities are: their campaign last night featured what appeared to be white dancing lions. As more than one person pointed out over on Twitter: white dancing lions are associated with/supposed to only perform at funerals! 

 

Another school of opinion had it that the dancing lions in question were actually nocturnal silver lions -- which would make more sense given the theme of yesterday's event.  As Kevin Yam has pointed out though: "usually the silver lion pairs with a gold lion to avoid confusion with white lion, but... [the Hong Kong government] can’t really do that because a gold lion Ka yellow and in Cantonese a yellow lion is pronounced the same as yellow ribbon, which makes it politically sensitive."  Pathetic, right?  Well, that, in a nutshell, sums up the authorities efforts to get -- as well as pretend that -- Hong Kong back to "normal"!

Memories of a visit to Hagi's Daishoin close to four years after the fact (Photo-essay)

Close to four years ago now, I went on a trip to Japan that would be my last one for far longer than I thought would be the case.  So much has happened in the intervening years (including more protests than I actually can remember and also a multi-year pandemic).  As a result, my chronicling of what actually was a pretty awesome trip (which included visits to a cool rabbit island, an island in Seto Inland Sea that's home to an unbelievable temple and an amazing underground cave along with a historic town along the Sea of Japan that attracts few foreign visitors) has been broken up... and not completed!

 

But I complete it I must and will; not least because I want to share how wonderful the places I visited on that October 2019 trip were.  So eight months after offering up a photo-essay of my visit to Mori clan temple of Tokoji in Hagi, here's sharing photos from my visit to the scond Mori clan temple that same autumn day: with Daisho-in being home to another atmospheric, lantern-filled graveyard -- this time the even-numbered generations of Mori lords (as opposed to Tokoji's odd-number generations of Mori lords!)...   

 

While Tokoji is located within walking distance of other historical  sites 

(including Shoin Jinja and the former home of Ito Hirobumi), Daishoin is 

literally on the other side of the train tracks from the more built up part of Hagi 

 

The walk from the nearest bus stop to the temple passes along 

citrus fruit orchards which are the dwelling places 

of critter like this cool looking spider :)

 

It's easy enough to figure out the path to Daishoin though

thanks to the way being lined by these stone lanterns

 

Daishoin's temple compound is quieter and more rustic than expected

 

There's a distinct air of age and neglect about the place

-- and I admit it, I thought it felt kind of eerie!

 

Nonetheless, through the gates of the graveyard I went!

 

Thank goodness for Puppet Ponyo being with me -- 

and she really did add some color to the place, at the very least! ;b

 

All joking aside, I found the graveyard of the Mori lords (and 

eight samurai who committed seppuku on the death of their lord) to be 

a thoroughly impressive place that I feel privileged to have got to visit

The all female-helmed Fresh Wave Award Winners Highlight (17th Fresh Wave) selection! (Film reviews)

  

The Fresh Wave International Short Film Festival winners this year 

(seen here at a post screening Q&A with a presenter) were all female! :D

 

Fresh Wave Award Winners Highlight (17th Fresh Wave) (Hong Kong, 2023)

-> Al Niente

Lam Lo, director and scriptwriter; starring Law Kar-ying, Kate Yeung, Rachel Leung

-> Lykke Til

Bobby Yu Shuk-pui, director, scriptwriter and star

 -> Before the Box Gets Emptied

Ho Sze-wai, director and scriptwriter; starring Tang Siu-kit, Ling Ching-kin

 

The Fresh Wave International Short Film Festival is an annual event which aaims to promote and encourage local short film production, and to discover and nurture young talents.  This year, its 17th edition, saw 38 films being screened and three very different offerings -- which, to my surprise, turned out to all be helmed by female filmmakers -- emerge as the winners and get extra screenings in the form of a special selection.  

 

The winner of the Audience Choice and Best Screenplay Awards, Al Niente was the most star-studded of the trio that I viewed; with veteran actor Law Kar-ying portraying a dementia-stricken father who lives in the same apartment -- and is looked after by -- his two adult daughters (played by Kate Yeung and Rachel Leung).  Like the film's director-scriptwriter, Lam Lo, younger daughter Ling has spent time in the USA (from which she's recently returned) as well as Hong Kong; whereas the more traditional -- and, it's implied, more close-minded and controlling -- elder sister Munn has not.  

 

The two sisters obviously care for their father but they clash over how to deal with him.  Ling seeks to make use of music therapy to help her former music professor father and indulges him when he mistakes her for an ex-lover.  She feels he responds well to the music therapy but Munn is unconvinced, at least initially.  How she comes to feel otherwise is shown in a moving scene in this work that manages to contain quite a bit of drama and emotion in some 30 minutes or so that just flew by for this viewer!

 

The helmer of Lykke Til came away with the fest's Best Director award.  Bobby Yu Shuk-pui is also its star and scriptwriter -- and, at one point in the film, sings and plays a second role along with the main one she has as Ann, a young Hong Kong woman who now lives in Norway.  She's in a relationship with a Norwegian woman but her future in the country is still not certain since: for one thing, the relationship appears to be on the rocky side; and for another, she has not yet been able to get a work visa.  

 

Despite the latter, Ann goes off to another town a few hours by train away from where she lives to interview for a job at a Chinese restaurant whose boss is also originally from Hong Kong (and with whom she speaks in Cantonese -- which the film is primarily in though it also has Norwegian and English dialogue).  One wonders how much of this short film is drawn from Bobby Yu's life; this not least it turns out that she is yet another bi-national filmmaker (in her case, based in Hong Kong and Oslo).  In any event, her effort is an intimate feeling film that explores a number of issues that are simultaneously universal but also personal.             

Even if one were to not know it beforehand (as actually was the case for me), it's easy enough to guess upon viewing the first few minutes alone of Before the Box Gets Emptied that it's the winner of the Best Cinematography award.  Put another way: cinematographer Ho Sze-wai's award is well deserved.  And director-scriptwriter Ho Sze-wai also deserves the accolades that come from being the helmer of this year's Fresh Wave Award (top prize) winner.

 

Before the Box Gets Emptied tells the story of two young boys who are best friends.  Marco and Chris hang out together in playgrounds taking part in Beyblade battles, ride together on the light rail and on the waterfront of their home town of Tuen Mun.  Bemasked when outdoors, this is a film clearly set -- as well as shot -- during the pandemic.  And although politics is not explicitly discussed in the work, it also quite obviously has affected their lives; including by way of Chris' family deciding that it would be better for them to migrate to Australia.    

 

Before Chris departs, the boys make (more) memories; with seemingly mundane sights and activities taking on more value and meaning when it's realised they'll soon not be something that can be done in each other's company.  Watching them together, knowing that they soon will be parted, tears at the heart.  As does a melancholy Cantopop song with the kind of lyrics commenting on an uncertain future that can seem to speak to the audience (like was the case with Vital Sign, which I viewed earlier this year at the Hong Kong International Film Festival).

 

In many ways, Before the Box Gets Emptied feels the most local of the three films in this selection.  And yet, it also involves a major character leaving Hong Kong.  This tells you so much of the contemporary state of Hong Kong.  Long looked upon as a "borrowed place" with "borrowed time", it really can feel like this these days; even while the majority of its residents actually still remain and feel rooted to the admittedly imperfect place they call home, sometimes reluctantly.  

 

My ratings for the film: 9 for Al Niente + 8 for Lykke Til + 8.5 for Before the Box Gets Emptied = an 8.5 average

Preventing the commemoration of a massacre that took place in Beijing 34 years ago but not actual, contemporary murders in Hong Kong

More cops than civilians in this photo taken in

Victoria Park (a public park in Hong Kong) yesterday!

 

It's not yet June 4th but the authorities have already stepped up their efforts big time to make sure that the Tiananmen Square Massacre will not be publicly commemorated in Hong Kong this year (like it was for 30 years -- with a candlelight vigil in Victoria Park).  Among other things, 5,000 police officers -- not in riot gear but, still, dressed in anti-stab vests, complete with some collared thing around their necks -- were deployed to patrol Hong Kong Island's largest urban park and the areas nearby yesterday (June 2nd).  

 

It made this part of Hong Kong look like a terrorist target/police state.  It also seems like other parts of Hong Kong were not being policed as much as usual. Hence some criminals might have seen yesterday and might see this weekend as an opportune time to commit actual, serious crimes.  Like what happened in a busy shopping mall in Diamond Hill yesterday. As in: a man went and fatally stabbed two women. Right outside Plaza Hollywood's Sanrio Gift Gate outlet, to make things seem even more surreal than usual. 

 

Something I want to stress to those of you reading this outside Hong Kong: Murders are rare in Hong Kong (which generally has a very low crime rate); never mind ones taking place during the day in a crowded public space. And really should be when one considers how many police there are in Hong Kong and how super well funded the police force is too! 

 

The problem, of course, is that the police look to have the wrong priorities.  I mean: In view of the Diamond Hill murders yesterday, you'd think that the police would decrease the number of officers deployed to discourage people from going to Victoria Park to mourn the victims of a massacre commited 34 years ago, right?  Instead, the number of cops deployed there and nearby areas today (June 3rd) went up to 6,000!

 

And this evening, arrests look to have been made of artists (Chan Mei-tung and Sanmu Chan, separately), and a young couple carrying a bunch of white chrysanthemum flowers.  Here's the thing though: It's (currently) unclear if they have been arrested or just taken away from the area (Causeway Bay) by the police.  Because... well, what crime have they actually commited?

Is it a crime to mourn?  Is it a crime to remember the Tiananmen Square Massacre?  It is it a crime to carry flowers while walking around a popular shopping and dining area?  Is it a crime to shout out, as Sanmu Chan did, "“Do not forget June 4! Do not forget June 4! HongKongers don’t be afraid of them! Do not forget tomorrow is June 4”?

 

A reminder: For 30 years, candlelight vigils were peacefully held in Victoria Park to commemorate the Tiananmen Square Massacre on June 4th.  Then, in 2020, before China imposed a national security law on Hong Kong, the candlelight vigil was not allowed to be held that year -- supposedly public assemblies were disallowed as an anti-pandemic measure; and that has become the "practice" since.  

At the same time, the government keeps on trying to tell the world that "Hong Kong is back"!  To what?  Definitely not normal.  Something I trust that the tourists in Causeway Bay this evening will see full well along with local Hong Kongers.  And the world at large as the news of what's happening -- or, as the case may be, is not allowed to take place -- in Hong Kong spreads internationally.

Already thinking of June 4th on the first of June

  

It may not look like much but the corner building

used to house a museum I'd visit annually

 

I used to make a point to visit the June 4th Museum (that commemorated the Tiananmen Square Massacre) around this time of the year.  My most recent visit there, on June 1st, 2021, coincided with a number of Food and Health Department Services also paying a visit to the premises.  As a result of their visit, the museum closed down -- and no longer exists.   

For a number of years, it also was a tradition of sorts for me to attend the Candlelight Vigil at Victoria Park on June 4th.  Again, that option no longer exists for me; with the authorities having closed the whole park -- Hong Kong Island's largest urban park -- on June 4th last year and in 2021 to the public.  (So people couldn't just not assemble to remember and mourn on the football courts, as had been the case for 30 years, but also avail themselves of other park facilities including tennis courts and children's playgrounds.)

 

In 2020, 2021 and 2022, the pandemic was the reason/pretext given for banning large public gatherings like the June 4th candlelight vigil.  But despite the pandemic no longer being considered to be at an "Emergency" level, there will once again be no candlelight vigil at Victoria Park on June 4th this year; this not least because the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, its organizing body, no longer exists and a number of its key members, including Chow Hang-tung and Lee Cheuk-yan, are currently behind bars.     

So Hong Kongers are having to come up with other ways to comemmorate June 4th this year; with many determined to do so despite the authorities very clearly trying to extend the borders of the People's Republic of Amnesia to include Hong Kong.  In addition to the removal of books about the Tiananmen Square Massacre from public libraries, a number of incredibly petty moves have been undertaken in recent days.

This includes the harassment of establishments such as a store in Sai Kung run by former pro-democracy District Councillor Debby Chan after she announced on Facebook that her shop will give away free candles to commemorate June 4th and the Hunter Bookstore operated by another former pro-democracy District Councillor, Leticia Wong, after she made known that she had trilingual scripts of May 35th, a play about June 4th, in stock by the police and representatives of such as the fire services and the housing department.  (As has been seen with the June 4th Museum and also a number of "yellow" restaurants and bars, the shops get accused -- often with no basis -- of violating minor regulations.  For example, Debby Chan's store was visited by the police who were there ostensibly to check if it was selling alcohol to underaged customers!)    

 

Then there's the farcical case of a cinema having been "advised by industry representatives" to cancel three private screenings of a film that has nothing to do with the Tiananmen Square Massacre because those screenings were scheduled for June 4th.  As it so happens, the private screenings had been organised by  AsOne, an online shopping platform and store founded by yet another former pro-democracy District Councillor -- in this case, Derek Chu -- who told Hong Kong Free Press that "It was scheduled on Sunday simply because the directors (who were going to do a post-screening Q&A) are not available on weekdays. But I think it’s the date that was targeted, not the movie".     

 

For the record: the film in question is To Be Continued, a local documentary about an iconic North Point entertainment landmark and its founder, legendary impressario Harry Odell, which had its world premiere in April at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.  And having been one of the people who saw it at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, I can personally attest to it not being about the Tiananmen Square Massacre (unlike, say, The Gate of Heavenly Peace, which I viewed not so many years ago -- but which can now seem like another life time now -- at the Hong Kong Arts Centre, and is available to be viewed on Youtube)!

 

In any case, Dora Choi, one of To Be Continued's co-directors (along with Haider Kikhaboy), has confirmed that all three screenings of her film scheduled for this Sunday have been cancelled. "It’s a great pity that To Be Continued cannot be screened on June 4 (Sunday). Since the film was screened in April, weekends have always been a peak time for audiences. Also, the two directors are only available to meet the audience on weekends", she told the Hong Kong Free Press. 

 

More than by the way, this is not the first time that the Golden Scene Cinema has felt obliged to cancel screenings of films as it was the cinema where screenings of Inside the Red Brick Wall, the award-winning documentary about the PolyU siege, had been scheduled to take place back in March 2021.  And I must admit to wondering if the Golden Scene Cinema folks are feeling particularly targeted by the powers that be and thus feel a greater need to be more careful than most because the cinema and its parent organisation is considered to be part of the Yellow Economic Circle.    

Seeing how To Be Continued was my favourite of the films I viewed at the 2023 Hong Kong International Film Festival, I do hope that people will have more chances to view it (and take the opportunity to go do so).  I've just checked the Golden Scene Cinema website and see that there are other screenings scheduled for it: on June 9th, 11th, 12th, 16th, 18th and 19th.  Seeing as they all appear to already be sold out, I hope that more screenings will be added -- though I guess public as well as private screenings will not be taking place on June 4th.

Over on Twitter, HK Hemlock (of the Big Lychee, Various Sectors blog) has jokingly asked: "Why not shut all all cinemas on June 4? Indeed, why not close everything on that 'sensitive' day? They could call it a Number 64 Signal."  Thank goodness for small mercies that Hong Kong cinemas will, in fact, stay open on June 4th.  And, if one were to look at the offerings, one might even see films playing on the day in which resistance and rebellion are depicted as positive, admirable actions too!

Hong Kong's not all back to normal (yet) but at least there was a parade again on Tam Kung Birthday today (Photo-essay)

Today is Buddha's Birthday in the Chinese lunar calendar (and a public holiday in Hong Kong).  It's also the first day of the Cheung Chau Bun Festival.  And it's also the birthday of Tam Kung, a Taoist sea deity worshipped in Hong Kong (and Macau) -- in whose honor there is a parade of lions, dragons and unicorns over in Shau Kei Wan.  

 

Thanks to the Wuhan coronavirus, there was no Tam Kung birthday parade in 2020, 2021 and 2022.  But today saw a return of that annual traditional event (which I last checked out in 2017).  If  memory serves me right, there were a lot more cops in attendance today compared to six years ago and the parade seemed less grand this year.  Still, I've got to say that I enjoyed seeing what I saw over in Shau Kei Wan for the most part this afternoon -- and I once again came away from the festivities with a bunch of photographs of what I thought were pretty cool proceedings...

One of a number of temporary (community) prayer spots 

erected in various parts of Shau Kei Wan today

Unicorn dancer and supporters/crew making its way 

along Shau Kei Wan Main Street

Dancing "lions" duelling by the entrance of 

Shau Kei Wan's Tam Kung Temple

 

Acrobatic lion dancers doing their thang!

 

The lion troupe's drummer put up an impressive show too!

 

And there were dragons too -- on the street, and temple roof!

 

It's just a few meters from the Tam Kung Temple in

Shau Kei Wan to Victoria Harbour/the area typhoon shelter

 

It wasn't Tin Hau's birthday but her temple (which also 

houses a Buddha statue) on Shau Kei Wan Main Street

was festively decorated today too! :)

Three banes of my life are here: political oppression; the pandemic; and the summer heat!

  

It's (literally) hot out there again now!

 

The Hong Kong Observatory issued its first “very hot weather” warning of 2023 this morning at 11.45am, indicating the mercury was expected to reach at least 33 degrees Celsius today.  Before the warning was cancelled at 5.30pm, temperatures had risen to highs of 34.7 degrees Celsius in Sai Kung town, 34.4 degrees Celsius in Sheung Shui and Yuen Long Park, 34.3 degrees Celsius over at Lau Fa Shan, and 34 degrees in Tai Po and Ta Kwu Ling.  And even though I did not venture into the New Territories, I still felt on the hot side where I was!

 

With the issuing of the "very hot weather warning", we've got confirmation that summer has arrived in Hong Kong -- and if this one goes the way of those in recent memory, it will stay into October, some four and half long months away.  As it stands, we've already been warned by the folks over at the Hong Kong Observatory that "2023 is likely to be one of the warmest years on record"; with the possibility of record breaking heat this summer having brought about a decision to issue new "extremely hot" weather warnings when the mercury soars above 35 degrees Celsius this summer.

 

If it's not already clear: summer is my least favourite season of the year.  And while this has been true of all the places I've lived in which has four seasons, I must say that this is particularly so of national security law-era Hong Kong.  

 

This is because, along with the high heat, the summer also brings with it bad memories of events that took place on the days and nights such as July 21st, August 5th, 2019, August 31st (and not just because of what happened inside Prince Edward MTR station) and September 15th, 2019.  Oh, and no longer being able to go out and take part in the once annual June 4th candlelight vigil and any more pro-democracy marches and rallies (including on July 1st) really is frustrating and depressing; this even though I suppose I should thank the authorities for making it so that I won't sweat like a pig and risk getting heat rash while out protesting on hot summer day and nights as used to be the case!

 

During the summers of 2020, 2021 and 2022, I sometimes found myself wondering how much of the oppression -- and sometimes accompanying depression -- I felt was due to the authorities, how much was due to the heat and how much was due to the pandemic.  

 

In 2023, I have pretty much concluded that the heat does have a negative psychological effect on me; ditto the pandemic.  But, really, what upsets and oppresses me the most is what's happening to Hong Kong politically; this especially since the bad news can feel so relentless and like it will never stop coming.  (A candidate for today's lowlight, by the way, would be it having been reported in the Hong Kong Free Press today that 13 more people were found guilty by a judge on Saturday of "rioting" in 2019, including a man who claimed to be a photojournalist.) 

 

Still, on the subject of the pandemic: I know the World Health Organisation has declared it to no longer be a global emergency but -- despite what many people think -- it has not declared the pandemic over.  And as it so happens: Hong Kong is in the middle of yet another Covid wave; with it being estimated that there are "more than 10,000 new cases each day at the moment"!

Professor Ivan Hung of the University of Hong Kong said that there currently are about 220 patients were in a serious or criticial condition in hospital in Hong Kong.  Note: Hong Kong no longer requires everyone who tests positive for Covid to be hospitalized though; so, hopefully, the hospitals will not be overwhelmed like they were last year.  

 

Also, Hong Kong no longer has a mask mandate in place; but it's noticeably so that more people are masking (again) these days than was the case a month ago.  Still, I do wish that more people masked on public transportation and enclosed spaces such as cinemas as is currently the case.  Also, why oh why are there people who wear masks under their noses and mouths?  Like, I'm sorry, but unless you breath through your mouth rather than the nose, the former option is not going to help you or anyone breathing the same air as you!  And for the latter: Masks aren't talismans, you know!

While the anti-extradition/pro-democracy protests made me really f**king love Hong Kong and feel bonded to Hong Kongers (and a part of a great community), the pandemic has left me questioning the intelligence and humanity of many of my fellow human beings; this not least when it comes to discussions of Covid vaccines as well as the Wuhan coronavirus itself.  For the record: I'm pro-mask and also pro-vaccine; and I believe that if more people were, we would have a better chance of vanquishing this coronvirus -- which, sadly, does not look like it will be just disappear and die off the way that SARS did in 2003 but, instead, will be here and plaguing us some time to come; just like China's national security law for Hong Kong. :(