Self-portrait (This week's Photo Hunt theme)

Self-portrait taken with the help of a mirror in an abandoned house* deep in the Hong Kong countryside... I think that the fact that this house still contains some furnishings, yet clearly has not been lived in for some time, helps make for an eerie photo -- and if I didn't know that the figure in it was me, I'd have thought that was a ghost there! (And yes, this is the closest that I think I'll ever get to putting up a photo of myself on this blog -- and if not for this week's Photo Hunt theme being what it is, there would not be even this!!) ;D

*Something I was surprised to discover while hiking in Hong Kong is how even while parts of it are super densely populated, there also are whole villages, never mind houses, within the territory that have been abandoned -- some of them apparently in such a great hurry that furnishings including family portraits as well as bulkier items like television sets and chairs have been left behind. But upon delving into its history, I've discovered reasons for this state of affairs -- which, as it turned out, wasn't due to a great plague befalling the area or even people leaving their homes during the second world war when Hong Kong was occupied by Japanese forces but, rather, for more benign reasons including urban development in other parts of the Big Lychee and a British law coming into effect in the then British colony that allowed Hong Kongers to move to Britain.

Colourful Youth at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre

Just a small portion of the audience there at
the Hong Kong Cultural Centre this past Monday
to take in a screening of a restored 1966 film

Some of the film's stars (from left to right --
Nancy Sit Kar Yan, Connie Chan Po Chu and
Woo Fung (aka Wu Fung)) were there to grace the occasion! :)

When I was living in Philadelphia, I used to fantasize about moving to a Movie Mecca where I would not be alone in my Hong Kong movie appreciation. And there's no denying that I certainly have been luckier than many an overseas fan of Hong Kong cinema in having had my dream(s) of moving to Hong Kong and finding people who enjoy watching Hong Kong movies with come true.

Still, it's not all that common for me to get to watch a Hong Kong movie in a 1,734 seater venue like the Hong Kong Cultural Centre's Grand Theatre, never mind watch the movie with over 1,700 rabid fans of -- if not Hong Kong cinema in general, then at least one of its stars. Yet, that was precisely the case this past Monday evening, when the Film Programmes Office held a special screening there of a restored version of a 1966 musical drama starring Connie Chan Po Chu and Josephine Siao Fong Fong.

As many a neutral viewer is sure to observe, Colourful Youth is no film classic -- what with it being a film that appears to have been shot on quite a tight budget (hence its truly artificial looking outdoor as well as indoor sets whose surfaces emit the kind of noises when stepped on that make clear that they're wooden in nature even when "dressed" up to be tarred roads and such) and being in possession of many a scene where people over-act and a number of others where onlookers can be seen visibly gawking at that era's teen idols in the background.

But as the reactions of many of those attending this past Monday's screening of this movie which largely revolves around a group of college students headed by Josephine Siao Fong Fong's classy character, Connie Chan Po Chu's earnest one and Woo Fung's fun-loving character showed, it does deserve to be described as a restored treasure. For even while pretty much the entire audience could not help but laugh hysterically at the music-filled drama's one death scene, it was with a genuine joy de vivre of the kind that was full of love as well as infectiously shared.

Come to think of it, considering that its story included such melodramatic components as a loving mother forced to be a mistress in order to ensure the financial well-being of her unknowing child, a pair of female college students led astray by professional students out to milk money from them and another female college student who has strained relations with her step-mother, Colourful Youth has a pretty large amount of laughter and comic moments as well as songs and dances.

On a personal note: I got close to hysterical upon hearing Josephine Siao Fong Fong sing an ode to a grandmother to the tune of The Wizard of Oz's Somewhere Over the Rainbow; and found it quite the fun experience to hear the audience members seated around me bursting into song to join Connie Chan Po Chu as she sang a catchy solo midway in the movie! And lest it not yet be realized: I found the experience of viewing this Yu Ho-helmed Hong Kong cinematic adaptation of Taiwanese writer Chu Hak's novel to be a really amazing and wonderful one -- in large part because of the people I watched the film with rather than because of the movie per se.

All in all, the distinct impression I got was that many of the individuals in the audience at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre's Grand Theatre this past Monday had first viewed the film in 1966, back when it was first released in theatres, and had been colorful youth themselves -- who thus easily identified with the movie's protagonists -- back then. Some 45 years on, however, they now were older than the parents of the offering's teenaged main characters -- and consequently could appreciate the movie's actually pretty conservative messages to do such as study hard, aspire to do good for the less fortunate, and obey one's elders!

Yet, at the same time, there was no doubt that these now older folks had not lost their sense of fun and appreciation for life in general and this movie in particular. Consequently, they truly were a close to perfect audience for this movie (in 2011 as well as 1966) -- and it genuinely felt like a major privilege to be able to view the movie alongside them.

My rating for the film by itself: 6. My rating for the experience of viewing the film where and when I did: 9.5!

From Tai Mei Tuk up into Pat Sin Leng Country Park (photo-essay)

One of the great things about going hiking in Hong Kong, observed a friend some time back, is that it can feel like one has gone out of the territory since hiking allows one to visit areas of Hong Kong whose landscape dramatically differs from the stereotypical concrete jungle that many people tend to associate with Asia's World City. And in the case of a hike I went on along the Pat Sin Leng Nature Trail, the holiday mood came over me pretty much as soon as I got off the mini bus at Tai Mei Tuk, an area bordering Plover Cove, the Plover Cove Reservoir and Pat Sin Leng Country Park which Hong Kongers flock to on weekends to indulge in such as Hong Kong-style barbecue, Thai food, leisure bike riding and water sports.

Because I had agreed to meet up with my that day's hiking buddy in Tai Mei Tuk and I arrived there before her, I had a bit of time to enjoy the sights -- and take some photos -- there before we set out to the trail's official start several minutes walk uphill from the area. So this first photo-essay covering that day's hike begins not at the official hike start point but the idyllic spot whose name translates from Cantonese as "the very end" but actually was the de facto beginning of a good day out for me that Sunday... ;b

Looking out into Plover Cove and beyond
from the shore at Tai Mei Tuk

Scenic (even if densely packed) public barbecue area in
Tai Mei Tuk (with the Pat Sin Leng range in the background)

Near the official trail start is the sobering sight of the
Spring Breeze Pavilion built to commemorate
two teachers who perished after being caught
in a deadly wildfire in the area in 1996

Misty view from uphill of Plover Cove Reservoir
on a very humid -- but, thankfully not rainy -- day

View through a break in the thick foliage of the
northern portion and shores of Plover Cove Reservoir

The kind of exotic flora I see on hikes that prompted
me to buy two Hong Kong wildflowers books
-- yet which I still can't identify! ;(

Beautiful buds waiting to bloom?

I don't know what species of butterfly this is (or even if
it may be a moth) but I sure do love its eyes --
and my being able to get so close to photograph it! :b

Pigging Out at the Kimberley

A whole suckling pig all roasted, stuffed and waiting
to be a dinner's piece de resistance

For those who were wondering: in keeping with its
Chinese roots, this pig(let) was stuffed with glutinous rice!

In the middle of this week, I texted my regular hiking companion to tell her that I really wanted to go hiking this Sunday. And it wasn't just because the previous two weekends had been hike-less ones on account of their being on the rainy side either.

Rather, it also was because the past week or so has been a bumper one in terms of pigging out -- what with it including another imaginative omakase meal at Sushi Kuu and a pair of meat-heavy multi-dish dinners at newly opened Japanese restaurants with different friends on two consecutive nights. But the midweek meal that truly got me thinking that I absolutely needed to do some pretty major amounts of exercise this weekend to compensate for my gluttony was one that I had at a Chinese restaurant: to be precise, the Kimberley Chinese Restaurant in the Kimberley Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui.

With six other diners (all of them female, I will add), I shared two starters, one pot of substantial rich beef and radish soup, a fried salmon skin accompaniment for the soup and a whole stuffed as well as roasted suckling pig. And even while there assuredly were leftovers for people to take home, the truth of the matter is that we all did a pretty good job of stuffing ourselves with the stuffed suckling pig that I've wanted to try ever since seeing the photos over at the Life as a Bon Vivant blog of it along with the other ordered dishes that evening!

As regular readers of this blog will know, I'm no stranger to the joys of eating suckling pig -- including back at home in Penang. However, I actually wasn't previously familiar with suckling pig whose preparation included being stuffed with glutinous rice -- and so much so that despite the descriptive efforts of a foodie friend who loves this pig very much, I needed to view visuals of it to really be able to imagine what it'd be like and start hankering to try out the dish.

After finally getting to do so, I have to state that the pig actually looks more interesting than it tastes. On the positive side, the cook(s) did a very good job of roasting the meat and making it so crispy that you can hear it crunching away inside your mouth as you chew on it. Sadly though, the glutinous rice was less tasty than I'd have liked... and I found myself wishing I could spice it up with some cut red chillies and soy sauce... or a dollop or two of Maggi sweet chili sauce!

Still, it was not like I had any problems polishing off that substantial portion of stuffed suckling pig that was put on my plate. Hence the need to go hiking this weekend... which I am happy to report that I was able to do -- more specifically, on an approximately 9 kilometer long trail in Sai Kung East Country Park earlier today despite the weather being unusually warm for February (and maxing out at 25.5 degrees Celsius in the area and 26.6 degrees Celsius in Hong Kong) this Sunday! :)

Mostly Black (This week's Photo Hunt theme)

More than a decade and a half ago, I spent two years working and living in Tanzania. Towards the end of my East African sojourn, I treated myself to a safari trip that included visits to Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Tarangire National Parks and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

Over the course of a few days, I was treated to the sight of thousands of pink flamingos and migrating wildebeest, hundreds of elephants and zebras, and scores of other wild creatures including lions, lionesses and their cubs, cheetahs, hippopotamuses, hyenas, baboons and giraffes. But -- somewhat astonishingly to me at the time -- my safari companion and I discovered that our eagle-eyed guide reserved particular passion and enthusiasm for sightings of rare birds.

These days, when out hiking in Hong Kong, I often think of that guide -- because, if nothing else, hiking in the Big Lychee has taught me to appreciate the smaller and noticeably seasonal, even if not super rare, natural sights. And yes, certain birds definitely fall into this category -- but so too do certain insects such as the super big -- and, yes, mostly black! ;) -- spiders and beautiful butterflies that make Hong Kong their home for at least part of the year.

Oh, and should this Photo Hunt entry have you hankering to see more photos of Hong Kong wildlife, do please feel free to go here and here on this blog for a few more close-up shots of certain of this territory's denizens that I'm happy to see when out hiking (but would be far less happy to see inside my apartment -- as was the case a few weeks ago when a scarily giant centipede decided to visit! :O).

What watching movies made me do!

Not your average tempura platter

...nor your average bowl of chawan mushi

Blame it on Departures -- more specifically, the particular scene in the multi-award-winning Japanese movie whose protagonist is a cellist turned nokanshi (embalming master) where the lead character's boss is shown cooking and then consuming a portion of fugu shirako with great relish. For after viewing it, foodies such as a friend of mine here in Hong Kong and myself found ourselves yearning to try eating what is delicately described as blowfish or pufferfish milt and more baldly as that fish's SPERM.

As one might expect, this particular culinary delicacy is actually not something that is readily available -- and not least because it's seasonal. And, as a matter of fact, last year, my friend and I missed out on trying it because we went to a restaurant that we knew served fugu shirako here in the Big Lychee a little after the season for it.

With that missed opportunity in mind, this year, we decided to pay another visit to the restaurant in question (Sushi Kuu) one month earlier in the year than we did last year -- and were ecstatic to discover on the evening we were there to see that the kitchen did have some fugu shirako available. Alas, after the head chef tested it (by literally touching and stirring some of that sperm about in a bowl with his bare hands), he told us that it wasn't fresh enough to grill like had been the case in that memorable Departures scene.

Cue a strong sense of disappointment and feeling of "so close yet so far. AGAIN". Only... a few minutes later, as we dug into first a tempura portion and then a chawan mushi dish set before us, we got to realizing that even though the chef had decided that the fugu shirako was not fresh enough to consume grilled, he had deemed it okay to consume in the form of tempura and as an ingredient in the chawan mushi! So the wait was over -- at least for non-grilled fugu shirako!!

And for those who wonder: it doesn't have a particular strong taste. Rather, what stands out from the experience of consuming this slightly salty-tasting delicacy is its wonderfully soft, creamy texture. Also, like with, say, clotted cream, there is a richness to the fugu shirako that makes the experience of consuming it seem really decadent and threaten to be overwhelming if you have too much of it but come across as quite divine when partaken in small quantities.

So... would I eat it again? Most definitely! Only next time, I really do want to eat it grilled... like in the film!!! :b

From Mount Butler down to Braemar Hill (Photo-essay)

Last Tuesday, I put up my first photo-essay of an 11 kilometer Hong Kong Island hike I went on last spring that conveniently began at the junction of the busy thoroughfare that is King's Road and the uphill bound Mount Parker Road halfway between two MTR stations. This evening, I'm continuing the documenting where I left off the last time: at the top of 436-meter-high Mount Butler.

But while I did feel a sense of satisfaction upon having reached the summit of Hong Kong Island's 6th highest peak even though it is only the 72nd highest mountain or hill in Hong Kong as a whole, the fact of the matter is that the hike was far from over -- and there truly were a number of other cool views to be had before the hike's official end inside Tai Tam Country Park (Quarry Bay Extension) as well as the unofficial one near a stop for buses heading down the hill to Wan Chai, Siu Sai Wan and other points on Hong Kong Island...

A view of the urban jungle from deep within
the Hong Kong Island countryside

The peak with the visible trail is Mount Butler --
and yes, I came down that very trail
to the point where I stood to take this photo :)

Some people don't like seeing urban structures when hiking
but I reckon it adds to the overall Hong Kong hiking
experience to view them in the distance

This particular trail takes hikers close by
the Mount Butler HF Radio Receiving Station

It also overlaps in parts with Wilson Trail Stage 2
and Hong Kong Trail Stage 5

Help with ID-ing this flower would be appreciated!
(In the meantime, I'll just describe it as a pretty
pink flower spotted on Braemar Hill!!)

Natural rock formation or artificial sculptural arrangement?
Either way, one has to weave past them to get to the hike's end!

A scenic rest spot on the edge of the country park
that marks the official end of the hike