"A Thing Of Beauty Is A Joy To Behold" – Antiques And Tea On Hollywood Road

Spent the morning on Hollywood Road, the antique and art neighbourhood. Almost all the stores on both sides of the street west of the escalators feature Chinese antiques and furniture, with a number of schlockier stores thrown in for the tourists looking for cheap items. To the east it is mainly contemporary art galleries, with a number of restaurants and bars/pubs catering to the local expat crowd, yours truly included, who live in the Mid-levels close by the escalators. There are some magnificent pieces in the windows. I’d love to cruise the stores with someone knowledgeable.

Part of the time was spent with the manager of our real estate agency, at her cousin’s tea house. Her cousin sells tea and tea service porcelain, and conducts classes in tea appreciation, as well as tea tastings and full Chinese tea ceremonies. Just up my alley. If any of you who come to visit are tea lovers, I’ll arrange a visit.

I spent a wonderful hour there tasting two teas – a white and a “rock” tea. We had four pourings of each in order to taste the subtleties of each subsequent pour. It was conducted as a tea ceremony, but, of course, I turned it into a class and took notes. (Anyone surprised?) A very pleasant experience. The owner and the tea master (of ceremonies) both lived in Toronto and speak perfect English.

I had to leave the apartment early in order to catch the escalator while it was going down. It switches direction around 10:30 each morning.

For the Canadians reading, I felt at home when someone came up to me on the street and offered me a poppy. He was from the HK branch of the British Legion. So now I’m walking around with my poppy. The difference is that I don’t have a coat to put it on, so its in the buttonhole of my golf shirt. (Eat your hearts out.)

Well, the bed is made, literally, and I’m sleeping in it.

Once Dale and our bed get here the motel will be open for customers. I stocked the kitchen and bought all the paper goods and cleaners and sprays that Dale needs to keep the apartment to her cleanliness standards. I’ll just clean it when it gets too much for me and do a real job before she gets here.  (Dale's addendum: or maybe he'll actually hire a helper to do it!)

Last night I went to a talk at the Hong Kong Jewish Historical Society by a senior judge who has lived here for 30 years. He’s from Rhodesia originally and had some interesting comments about growing up white in Africa during the 50’s and 60’s. Unfortunately, as a sitting judge he couldn’t say much about his recent career.

Work had been long but satisfying. I’m off to Tokyo on Tuesday for the rest of the week. I’ll have notes about the trip and what I see of the city next week. Everyone here has warned me that the movie, Lost In Translation, is a true reflection of the foreignness and otherworldliness of Tokyo. We have to take the commuter train from the hotel to the office. I may get lost in commuting.

Bought my pass to the Jewish Film Festival. Looks like it will provide some good entertainment, including a film about a group of fat Israelis who decide to train on their own to become sumo wrestlers. May offer a networking opportunity too. Just don’t expect reviews like Dale’s of the movies at the TIFF.
                           Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival 2009

This week’s observations:

• Shades of everywhere else: they have banned smoking inside restaurants, but now the debate rages as to what constitutes “inside” with respect to patios and semi-enclosed extensions.

• For the Montrealers in the audience, there is a Peel Street here, with the same slope. I’m glad the escalator is a block away.

• Further to last week’s note on the paper collectors, this past Tuesday’s paper noted in an article that 102 scrap paper traders had been fined in the first nine months of the year for underweighting paper by 10% to 38%. Quote from a community organizer, “They are poor enough so they have to make a living by collecting scrap paper. It is good that Customs now helps monitor the situation.” Sometimes governments get it right.

• Also on last week’s comments, the past week the news has been filled with reports, articles, etc. about the high price of property, with consumers’ advocates calling for the government to step in and do something, the government saying that it is looking at the situation, and, most telling, the developers stating that they will reduce some asking prices in order to cool down the market.