Joy (This week's Photo Hunt theme)

Funny but true: When I'm feeling good, I often describe myself as feeling happy, elated, exhilarated and even ecstatic but I don't usually talk about feeling joyful, joyeous or just being imbued with a sense of joy. Of course this is not to say that the word is not alien to me. After all, I'm familiar with the Joy to the World phrase and hymn.

Still, the plain fact of the matter is that I tend to associate the word less with a certain feeling and more with a particular person. For Joy happens to be the name of a good friend I made at college (and who I know -- from e-mails she sends me from time to time -- does occasionally (or is it regularly?) check out my blog! ;b).

Although we've remained in touch (thanks largely to the wonders of the internet), I've actually not seen Joy for years, decades even. I've not given up hope though of our meeting up again some time in the future. This especially with it being so that since moving to Hong Kong, a number of friends from the American phases of my life have come visiting -- including, one November day last year, a mutual friend of Joy and myself from our Beloit days.

Kathleen Adams may now be a Loyola University of Chicago professor but I -- and, I'm sure Joy too -- tend to think of her still as one of my favorite Beloit profs... and also a professor who actually became a good and fun friend. (Among other things, even when I was an undergraduate, Kathleen and I would do stuff like be part of an informal anchovy pizza eating cabal, go drinking together -- and also played for the same intramural indoor soccer team one year! (And for those who are wondering, this kind of student-professor relationship wasn't that unusual... Beloit was/is that kind of place!))

So I was really happy to play host to Kathleen and her family for a day when they came sailing into Victoria Harbour on what looked like a very nice cruise ship-turned-floating college courtesy of the Semester at Sea. Since they were conveniently docked next to the Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry pier, one of the first things we did was to take the Star Ferry over to Central. After arriving in Central, we caught a bus up to The Peak -- where we lunched at a Tsui Wah, then did one round of the Victoria Peak Circuit (whose northern side offers up particularly splendid views of Hong Kong).

All in all, I think a good time was had by all. So Joy, if you're reading this, here's offering to take you on the same -- or similar -- excursion should you come over to Hong Kong for a visit, okay? And in the meantime, here's offering up some photos to you (and other visitors to this blog) from that day to enjoy -- courtesy of this Photo Hunt entry. (And on the subject of Photo Hunt, I am glad that it is being continued after all, albeit with a new host(ess) and, consequently, meme button! :b )

Old and new in Penang

View in George Town that takes in a clan house as well as
a newer (i.e., dating back only to 1960) building

View from above of the ground floor at the China House
established in the heart of George Town by
Australian developers Narelle McMurtrie and Alison Fraser

View that takes in part of the marina at Straits Quay
out in the Sri Tanjung Pinang section of Penang

This time last week, I was back in my nominal home state of Penang. Over the course of my flying visit (which totaled just five days even if one were to count the days that I flew into and out of the place), I revisited old haunts but also checked out parts of the territory that I had hitherto not ventured into -- not least because at least one of them had not yet opened when I last visited in September and the other also had not existed the last time I actually lived in that part of the world.

When I was a child, we had family friends visit from Singapore annually. On each of their visits, at least one of them would remark that it seemed like Penang never changed even while Singapore was rapidly changing (and -- it went unspoken but nonetheless was clearly implied -- getting more and more developed).

In the years and decades that have passed since then, there is no doubt that Penang too has changed and developed. Among other things, where previously we would pass by paddy fields on the way to and from the airport, there now is a not so new satellite town and free trade zone that is home to miles and miles of factories and whereas in my youth, trishaws often had schoolchildren (including myself) as passengers, these days one is far more likely to find tourists seated in their carriages.

Ironically, in recent years, it seems that a lot of change has actually come in the wake -- and, indeed, as a result -- of George Town having been inscribed (together with Malacca) onto UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2008 (i.e., one year after I moved to Hong Kong). And it really is the case that each time I've gone back to Penang this year, I feel like I'm seeing more and more signs and indicators that Penang -- particularly the historic inner city area of George Town -- is attracting more tourists and also having an increased number of facilities that cater to tourists but are reaping cultural as well as economic dividends for the locals too.

As an example, the China House cafe, restaurant and art gallery may have been established by non-native Penangites with an eye to attractive international visitors but when a Penangite friend and I went there for breakfast last Sunday, it seemed like all of the clientele present at the time were locals. And while Straits Quay had a vibe that made it feel --as I remarked to the person who took me there and whom I hung out in an Irish(!) bar with there for a couple of hours -- like I wasn't actually in Penang, its clientele also consisted of locals as well as (obvious) foreigners.

In any event, these two places look like nice and cool additions to the Penang landscape. Still, I definitely do hope that much of Penang's older sections will escape the wrecker's ball for a time to come and also not get renovated beyond recognition -- something that, touch wood, George Town's UNESCO world heritage listing will help ensure, together with a greater general appreciation by local people and the government of its cultural and historical attractions and attributes.

From Lin Fa Shan down to Tsuen Wan (photo-essay)

For those who wondered: I'm okay, thanks. It's just that I was busier than usual this past weekend -- having a full day of work on Saturday, among other things -- as well as was away from Hong Kong between Friday and most of yesterday. And then when I got back yesterday, I was so tired that I called it a day several hours earlier than usual; so delayed putting up a new blog entry today...

But now I'm back on line and blogging again... so here's putting up another photo-essay that covers the hike I went on that took me from the Twisk Management Centre to Lin Fa Shan... and further along via the Yuen Tuen Ancient Trail down to Ha Fa Shan, from where my regular hiking companion and I descended a large number of stairs to Allway Gardens, one of Tsuen Wan's earliest and largest private housing estates.

Alternatively put: this hike through Tai Lam Country Park ended on the edge of a super busy market town -- conveniently all right yet posing a shock of sorts to the psyche by way of hammering home that one really wasn't all that far away from crowds of humanity after all even though it might have felt that way for much of the afternoon's excursion! ;b

As one of these signs shows, the ruins of the
abandoned school at Lin Fa Shan are just around
2 1/2 kilometers away from the outskirts of Tsuen Wan...

...yet in this hilly countryside, one also would be
right in presuming that there are acres of
uninhabited countryside nearby and about the area

Admittedly, the views from Shek Lung Kong could have been
clearer when we visited but, if truth be told, it still was
pretty splendid -- seeing as it was one of those days where
the human eye could see more than the camera capture well


An interesting looking rock that comes complete
with what looks like an identifying marker

Compare this photo with this one taken on a hot
-- but way clearer -- summer's day

The flag of the People's Republic of China
flies proudly at the top of a nearby hill

View of Tsuen Wan from near one edge of Tai Lam Country Park

As someone kindly wrote down at the bottom of the
flight of stairs leading from Allway Gardens up to near
the official start of the Yuen Tsuen Country Trail, there are
578 steps to climb to get up there -- and for the record,
I have ascended as well as descended those 578 steps! :)

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. :)