Blue skies, fresh air and general health note

The Kadoorie Brothers' Memorial Pavilion
located at the highest point of Kadoorie Farm
and Botanic Garden lies 602 meters above sea level

View of Kwun Yam Shan (elevation 552 meters)
and the surrounding countryside from the
Kadoorie Brothers' Memorial Pavilion

In a week when Beijing has been covered with "fog" (or, more probably, smog), here's going ahead and offering up visual proof that: a) the bad visibility currently affecting the capital city fortunately isn't to be found everywhere in China; and b) Hong Kong really does have some beautiful blue sky days -- and in the cooler, not just summer, months to boot. (N.B. the whiter bits in the second photo actually are the result of glare from the sun rather than gray bits of pollution.)

On a personal note: It was lovely to breathe in air that felt fresh as my two hiking companions and I headed up Kwun Yam Sham (whose height is given as 546 meters -- rather than 552 meters like Victoria Peak, as is the case on the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden's official map -- in this Wikipedia entry on Hong Kong's highest mountains, peaks and hills) on foot -- rather than shuttle bus, as many are apt to do -- and then further up to the memorial pavilion erected in honor of the facilities' two founder-benefactors that stands as high above sea level as Hong Kong's 18th highest mountain, Kowloon Peak (AKA Fei Ngo Shan) last Sunday.

On a personal fitness note: around this time last year, I had a health scare -- and actually ended up taking one month off from work as a result. These days though, I'm feeling in better shape -- and consider it a positive sign indeed that the afternoon's exertions actually left me feeling more rejuvenated than tired. Indeed, I'll take it as a genuinely good indicator that as I hiked up to those two upper reaches of Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (the upper portion of which is dedicated to conservation more than actually used for farming these days), the most pain I felt came from breathing significant amounts of cold air into my lungs pretty quickly -- that is, the kind of pain that doesn't last for long and also doesn't seem to do much harm at all, touch wood!

Put another way: I reckon that all the hiking I've been doing has done me a world of good -- physically as well as mentally. So lest there be any doubt, I truly do recommend this activity to people -- to boost fitness as well as generally have a fun time outdoors in the company of friends -- and am ever so grateful that Hong Kong has as many cool places to hike about and to as it does. :)

From the Twisk Country Park Management Centre to Lin Fa Shan (Photo-essay)

A friend recently asked me if I thought the day would come when I would have covered every meter of hiking trail in Hong Kong. My answer was that I sincerely doubted it. For one thing, Hong Kong has hundreds of kilometers of hiking trails. For another, there are some hikes that I just don't think I ever will be capable of going on and successfully completing. And for a third, I've taken to happily revisiting hiking trails I enjoyed going on the first time -- this not least since I've found that going on them during different times of the year can give one a different feeling and experience from the previous time that one had ventured along the same route.

As an example, the first time I went on the trail that takes one from the Twisk Country Park Management Centre to the Tsuen Wan end of the Yuen Tsuen Ancient Trail via Lin Fa Shan was on a super hot summer's day, among whose chief consolations were the grand vistas that stretched for miles, particularly visible during the latter part of the hike. In contrast, the second time I hiked this trail was on a cool November day -- one which did offer up some beautiful views too but also got me focusing more on my surroundings and engaging in such activities as insect spotting and exploring ruined buildings...

The first of many grasshoppers my regular
hiking companion and I spotted along this trail

One of many views we got of Tai Mo Shan --
Hong Kong's highest mountain at 957 meters above sea level

A way bigger and greener grasshopper
than the first one we spotted on this hike

What used to be a school at Lin Fa Shan are
now just evocative ruins in the middle of
Hong Kong's second largest country park

I'm not sure when the school was abandoned but
its buildings and grounds sure look like they are
well on their way to being reclaimed by nature

A tree has sprouted up in the middle of
what used to be the school's outhouse!

Almost every step we took in the area, we would cause
some grasshopper to jump up and out of our way!

Still my favorite of the grasshopper photos I've snapped :)

A Simple Life (film review)

The simple but evocative poster
for Ann Hui's latest film

A Simple Life (Hong Kong, 2011)
- Ann Hui, director
- Starring Deanie Ip, Andy Lau, Qin Hailu, Paul Chun Pui, Anthony Wong Chau San, Wang Fuli, Hui Bik Yee, Hui So Ying, etc.

Two Saturdays ago, Hong Kong's A Simple Life won big at the Golden Horse Awards held in Taiwan -- with its helmer, Ann Hui, and two leads, Deanie Ip and Andy Lau, respectively coming away with the Best Director, Actress and Actor prizes. (Although it lost out to Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale in the Best Feature Film category, it looks to me like the decision to award the Taiwanese historical epic that prize was prompted more by politics than outright merit -- this especially so because it only won one major Golden Horse award compared to the Hong Kong drama's three.)

A few hours before the 2011 Golden Horse Awards ceremony began, I was privileged to be in the audience at a special screening of this critically acclaimed work centering on the relationship between a 40-something man (essayed by Andy Lau) and the amah who had worked for his family for some six decades (portrayed by Deanie Ip) that was screened at the Venice Film Festival and Toronto Film Festival but is due to only get a general release in Hong Kong in 2012. On account of such as its female lead having won the Best Actress prize at this year's Venice Film Festival, I was really looking forward to checking out Ann Hui's latest offering as well as unable to have anything but high expectations for it.

Ahead of my viewing of the film, I also knew that A Simple Life's main characters are based on -- and share the same personal names as -- movie producer Roger Lee (who co-produced this offering with Chan Pui Wah and Ann Hui, and also co-scripted this effort along with Susan Chan) and his family's long-serving amah, a woman who gave her name to Deanie Ip's character in the movie. And upon viewing it, one can't help but feel that this work is Roger Lee's way of paying touching tribute to a woman whose loyalty to, care for and love of Roger Lee's family looked to have been rewarded with her employers coming to consider her very much a part of the family -- and an individual that many of them came to feel considerably indebted to.

Lest it be thought otherwise, however, let me hasten to point out that this is not a film where everything is boringly peachy keen throughout. This is not least because Ann Hui's drama focuses on the period of its female protagonist's life when old age and attendant illnesses make her decide to quit the only life and work that she's known for decades and move away from her employer's home to a home for the aged where she finds new friends but, also, that death is disturbingly near.

Still, this is not to say that A Simple Life is the kind of maudlin depresso-fest that it might have been in less capable hands -- or, even, those of Ann Hui circa the late 1980s and much of the 1990s. For one thing, it has its share of scenes that will make one smile and even laugh out loud. For another, there really is so much warmth evident in much of this work -- and a noticeable generosity in terms of a ready willingness to show the goodness in many people, including many a character whose part may be small yet will stay in the viewer's memory.

Making her first big screen appearance in a decade, Deanie Ip gives the performance of her career as a woman who did not let her humble origins and status get in the way of having a strong sense of self and dignity. In some ways, her character reminds me of the protagonist of Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day; only, even though she too never married, she looks to have been far happier about her lot -- in large part because she clearly is appreciated by the people she gave so much of her life to serving (and in a far more spirited and far less obsequious manner throughout).

Although he is not able to completely shake off his superstar mannerisms, Andy Lau gives a much more restrained -- and consequently effective -- performance in A Simple Life than usual. He also deserves the credit for his generosity in allowing Deanie Ip to take center stage for so much of this offering. Furthermore, it is a genuine boon for this film that he and his female co-star really do have the kind of chemistry that comes from having known and worked with each other for decades.

To say the least, then, I came away from viewing this Ann Hui offering feeling that the critical praise and many prestigious awards it has garnered are well deserved. Alternatively put: I was very moved by this film -- and so much so that I ended up crying five times during my viewing of it; with my tears coming from witnessing scenes that touched me in good and happy ways as well as viewing segments that left me sad and, if truth be told, rather fearful as to what old age will invariably bring. In any case, even while I expect the tears to flow again should I view A Simple Life a second time, I really am very much looking forward to doing just that -- for it's a work that's so good that I consider it really worth checking out more than just once! :)

My rating for the film: 9.5

Ripped (This week's Photo Hunt theme)

As I write this, I'm not sure if this will be my final Photo Hunt entry -- not because I don't want to participate in the meme any more but, instead, because I don't see any themes on the list on organizer tnchick's blog past December 3. I'm hoping that it won't be the case as this week's entry is the kind that makes Photo Hunt feel meaningful to me -- in that it got me hunting through my now pretty substantial photo archive to find appropriate images for the designated theme.

As it so happens, I ended up going all the way back to August 2009 in my archive -- to photos I took after a multi-arts troupe visiting from the Netherlands called Hotel Modern came to Hong Kong and performed The Great War. A work that that fuses drama, visual art, object theater, puppetry, music, and film, it has the company making use of various paraphernalia to construct scale models of the nightmare world of the world war one soldier, then projects them on a large screen in real time to show the horrors of trench warfare and how lives were -- and Europe itself threatened to be -- torn and ripped apart over the course of "The World to End All Wars".

After the performance, audience members were invited on stage to more closely check out the miniature sets and talk to troupe members -- something that many people, including myself, eagerly did. Looking at what was used to fashion a compelling and actually moving anti-war story left me in greater awe of the abilities of the performers and the way in which they were connect imaginatively with the audience. I also was struck by how engaging the individual members of Hotel Modern were -- and how they seemed genuinely happy to answer questions they've undoubtedly been asked scores of times before and talk to their audience.

Thus it was that despite feeling saddened by the story that was told that evening, I actually left the performance venue feeling pretty good. Put another way: it really was heartening to encounter talented individuals who seemed less interested in "bigging up" themselves and more in their craft and message -- and especially so when their work are clearly successful in touching other people's hearts. :)

Lion Rock Country Park hike -- and Amah Rock views (Photo-essay)

As regular visitors to this blog know, I think that Hong Kong rocks. Funnily enough, among the things I like about the Big Lychee are its rocks -- and so much so that I actually penned a feature article on them called Hong Kong Rocks a few years back!

More specifically, I've been blown away by the rock formations I've seen in places like Po Toi (see also here, here and here) and the geology of Ma Shi Chau. At the same time, it's undoubtedly the case that the two most famous of Hong Kong's rocks and/or rock formations are not on those islands but, rather, located in the hilly range that is seen as the divide between Kowloon and The New Territories.

Although I would like to some day, I have yet to hike up to the iconic Lion Rock. But last November, a friend and I went on a hike in Lion Rock Country Park that allowed me to get close to -- and actually touch! -- the legendary Amah Rock. And even though going there involved a detour along the official trail we were going along that day, it most definitely was worth it for the "I was there" factor alone but, also, the view from up there... :b

As a sign near the start of the hike warned,
we would be hiking through monkey territory

What -- you thought I was kidding?!

From this angle, Amah Rock looks less like a woman
carrying a child than an Easter Island type statue to me!

Speaking of mysterious objects -- doesn't it seem
like the photo above is of a ghostly insect?!

On the way up to Amah Rock, we passed through
this quiet and atmospheric area

Close-up view of Amah Rock and signs
designed to protect people but also it

The view from up there

Amah Rock viewed from a distance
later on the same hike :b

In praise of yummy roe! :)

Ha jie lo mien (shrimp roe egg noodles) -- the specialty
of Yuen Long's Ho To Tai Noodle Shop

The culinary holy trinity of -- from left to right --
herring, sea urchin and salmon roe at Sushi Shin
(with the sea urchin sushi being so good I had to have two)

Uncooked mentaiko (spicy pollock roe) is great but
grilled mentaiko cooked right is downright heavenly! :b

Earlier this evening, my regular hiking companion and I dined at Ho To Tai Noodle Shop. A Yuen Long institution established in 1948 (pretty old by Hong Kong standards!), it's famed for its shrimp roe egg noodles and wonton soup. So, of course, that's what we had to have there!

Considering that it was awarded a Michelin star earlier this year, our total bill for two -- that also included a plate of cooked lettuce drenched with oyster sauce and a bottle of Coke -- of HK$126 (a little more than US$16) wasn't bad at all. And while I have to say that I've had better ha jie lo mien at Ping Kee in Tai Po, what we had at Ho To Tai Noodle Shop was pretty good too -- and was just the ticket after an over 10 kilometer hike that left us craving salty foods as well as liquids.

However, as I found myself reflecting on the long bus ride out of Yuen Long back to my neck of the Hong Kong "woods", the truth of the matter is that I love eating roe so much that it doesn't need a long hike to whet my appetite for it! Also, while shrimp roe noodles can be just the carbohydrate plus salty flavor ticket on evenings like this, my taste for roe actually encompasses a whole range of roe: including that to be found in Japanese and Korean as well as Chinese cuisine.

As an example, my favorite sushi is actually not toro (fatty tuna) but ikura (salmon roe) -- and the only reason why I don't consider uni (sea urchin) my absolute favorite is because it really has to be really fresh and of high quality to be seriously sublime tasting. Furthermore, I become a majorly happy camper when a sushi restaurant I go to also offers herring roe, tarako (salted pollock roe) and -- especially -- mentaiko sushi.

As befitting its Korean origins, I first encountered spicy pollock roe in a Korean restaurant (though, funnily enough, I can't actually remember whether that maiden encounter was in South Korea or a Korean restaurant in London -- on Poland Street, just off Oxford Street, near one of the Marks and Spencers branches there, to be more precise -- that I used to frequent back when I was a teenager!). And I felt like jumping for joy when I re-encountered that which known to Koreans as myeongran years later at a Korean grocery store in my Philadelphia neighborhood!

After returning to Asia, I re-encountered mentaiko on a visit to Kyushu, Japan's southern-most main island. A prized local delicacy there, it is sold in gift packets not just in food stores but also at railway stations and even the regional airport. And just imagine my delight upon discovering the daily buffet breakfast at my hotel included offerings of mentaiko as well as rice, miso soup, grilled fish, natto and more "international" (read "Western") offerings like cereal, breads and such!

Over here in Hong Kong, my "go to" place for mentaiko is Yi Pai Ya, an izakaya in Causeway Bay that specializes in ox tongue but actually has a lot of delicious offerings on its menu. At this dining establishment that I am equally comfortable going to alone or with friends, the mentaiko is served grilled by itself or as the filling for onigiri (rice balls). And although I do like onigiri, I cannot bear to have the mentaiko taste "diluted" by being mixed with rice and seaweed -- so it's mentaiko on its own every time for me! :b

Hand-written (This week's Photo Hunt theme)

The longer one lives in Hong Kong, the more it becomes evident that for all of its official posturing about being Asia's World City, the Fragrant Harbour actually is a place where Chinese -- in particular, Cantonese -- predominates. Among the facts are these: 92% of Hong Kong's population is ethnically Chinese; and 89.2% of the population are Cantonese speakers.

At the same time, however, it also is the case that English is an official language in Hong Kong along with Chinese (with Traditional Chinese characters and Cantonese being the favored options in the Big Lychee rather than the Simplified Chinese script and Mandarin/Putonghua that are preferred in Mainland China). And it's true enough as well that the vast majority of the 3.2 percent of (native) English speakers that make up Hong Kong's population have never learnt much more than a smidgen of Cantonese, if any at all.

Still, it's not like the twain shall never meet as well as Chinese and English speakers -- and, more to the point with regards to my Photo Hunt entry this week, Chinese and English readers -- are concerned in terms of common interests and needs. So, as an example, what looked to have been originally envisioned as a very local -- and, yes, traditional looking (see the middle picture at the top of this blog entry!)-- kaito route between Sai Wan Ho (on Hong Kong Island) and Tung Lung Chau, with information about it posted only in Chinese, has had relevant bits of English hand-written on it for the benefit of potential customers who can't read Chinese (but can read English).

For more on Tung Lung Chau, please feel free to check out two of my photo-essays here and here of this island located off the tip of the Clear Water Bay Peninsula that is home to the ruins of a Qing Dynasty fort, prehistoric rock carvings and visually impressive geology, including sea cliffs that are rock climbers' delights. (And yes, if anyone wondered, it's one of those places in Hong Kong I've "discovered" via hiking... ;b)