Jeff and Dale attend a ball

On Saturday night we attended the Canada Chamber of Commerce annual ball.  An "intimate" affair for 400 people, of whom we knew three:  Donna and David (Donna works for Manulife, and David is my "dumplings" buddy) and Andy Maxwell, the owner of Maxwell's Clothiers.  It was really nice to dress up!  The ball was held at the Grand Hyatt ballroom, and was semi-tastefully done.  We are not sure why these women were prancing around like this, considering the theme was Northern Lights.

The food (filet mignon) was delicious, and the table settings were classy. The guests of honour included the mayor of Montreal, Gerald Tremblay and his wife, Suzanne Tailleur.  Unfortunately, the event started to slide downhill when the entertainers hit the stage:  Natalie Choquette and her daughter, Florence K. (wonder if she is a Kafka fan).  Natalie is a comedic opera singer, and her daughter is a jazz/blues pianist/singer.  I was not amused, although Jeff and the rest of the audience seemed to enjoy the performance.  It went on for over an hour!

After the show, the MC hosted a live auction.  There was also a silent auction going on all evening.  Typical HK - shop, shop, shop.  One of the prizes in the live auction was a one-week rental of a villa in Italy with 5 bedrooms. It looked almost as nice as La Bastide, the villa in Theoule, France that we visited several times with our friends, Susan and John.  Jeff telephoned Susan (in Toronto) in the middle of the auction to see how much we should bid on it!  It "sold" for $80,000HKD (a little over $10KCDN).  Not our budget...  We left after dessert (Nanaimo bars), when the extremely loud band started up.  Their first song was "Celebrate"- reminding us of weddings and bar mitzvahs in North America!

Speaking of shopping, we are often at a loss to figure out where to buy everyday items.  In North America, shopping is so easy:  large supermarkets, drug stores, hardware stores, and of course Walmart carry mostly everything.   In HK it's a challenge to find emery boards, hair elastics, picture hooks, and birthday cards.  As one expat I recently met mentioned, she misses "space" - not only in her apartment, but also in shops.  Last week, Joan and I ventured over to Gateway, a warehouse space that was advertised as the Costco of HK.  It was definitely not the same kind of experience as shopping at Costco.  The store is located on a very busy downtown street (similar to King and Yonge) (no parking, but nobody here has a car, and delivery is free if you spend over 850HKD - about 110CDN).  The shop is down three flights of narrow stairs.  The shopping baskets are child-size, and the aisles are narrow.  Gateway carries quite a few Kirkland brand items, like chocolate-covered raisins, cashews, etc., and many American brands.  They only sell packaged goods, not fresh or frozen products.  The bottom line for me was that their prices were even higher than our small neighbourhood supermarkets.

Jeff and I are always marvelling at how well traffic flows in HK, and how excellent the subway, buses and taxis are.  Two weeks ago, Jeff asked me to join him and some Toronto colleagues for dinner.  The bus trip from our apartment normally takes about 20 minutes.  I left home at 5:40 p.m.  The bus arrived at the next stop (500 meters away) at 6:10 p.m.!  We crawled along the roads through the worst traffic I've ever seen, until we finally reached the scene of the accident about another kilometre along the road.  The accident had happened at 2:30 that afternoon, and when my bus got there it was after 6:30.  The crew was still sweeping up the debris.  Traffic barely improved after that spot.  At 7:30 I got off the bus, got onto the subway and went home.  I arrived home at 8:15, crabby, wet, and very hungry (Mars bar notwithstanding).  Jeff brought me a nice doggy bag for dinner at 9 p.m.  The moral of the story is:  when there is a traffic accident, take the subway instead of ground transportation, or just stay home.

The plight of Wing Lee Street illustrates a lot of the complexities of life and living in Hong Kong.  This particular street is located about a 10 minute walk from our apartment, right in the middle of a high-rise neighbourhood.  It is not really a "street", but more of an alley-way filled with crumbling 3-storey tenements that were built about 50-55 years ago.  Many of these "old" buildings throughout HK have been torn down, or are slated for demolition, since they are filled with mould or are structurally unsafe.  In general, they have not been maintained or upgraded over the years.  The Urban Renewal Authority planned to redevelop (tear down and put up high-rises) Wing Lee Street, but changed its mind after the movie, Echoes of the Rainbow, won the best film award at this year's Berlin Film Festival.  The film, shot on Wing Lee Street, is a story of a boy's life in 1960s HK.  The filmmaker said that because of urban redevelopment, it is increasingly difficult to find neighbourhoods that depict the atmosphere of old HK.  Many of the tenements on this street are abandoned and boarded up.  However, some are still inhabited by the original tenants.  Some of the aging tenants are happy that they will not have to move, while others are disappointed that they will not be moved to better housing.  Wing Lee Street has now turned into a tourist attraction.  Whenever I walk by, there are always people taking photos.

Books and reading:  Jeff just finished reading a biography of Charlemagne.  He is almost finished Margaret Macmillan's Nixon in China.  I've read a number of excellent novels since moving to HK.  I highly recommend The disappeared (takes place in Cambodia:  not for the faint of heart), Olive Kitteridge, The help, The reluctant fundamentalist, The space between us, The road home, The elegance of the hedgehog, and the Stieg Larsson trilogy.

Happy birthday to Jeff on May 7.  Thanks to Joan and Ronnie for the bubbly.  By the way, Jeff has now reached another prime number.  Jeff's birthday present is next weekend's trip to Canton (Guangzhou), led by Jason Wordie.

I am very excited about my trip home next week.  A week after I return, Jeff will be in Toronto for meetings.  We received several "bookings" for our guest room this week, and are looking forward to having friends and relatives visit in the near future.

Here is a link to an article that you might find amusing:
Chinglish

My favourite photo of the week:

Got my wish!

I guess it pays to complain - even to Mother Nature!  Since the last blog, we've had summer-like (North American summer, that is) weather - warm, sunny, and dry.  We've taken advantage of the blue skies and continued our local weekend excursions.

Cheung Chau is one of the beautiful outlying islands, half an hour ("fast ferry") from Central.  Last Sunday (the 25th), we hustled down to the ferry docks and rushed on to the 11 a.m. ferry.  You know you're in a small town when ... two pairs of hands were waving at us from the crowded lounge.  Joan and Ronnie had the same game plan as we did!  The four of us followed the itinerary from our trusty guidebook and wandered through the back streets of this charming fishing village for a few hours before enjoying an al fresco lunch at one of the fish restaurants on the water.  Cheung Chau is noted for its beautiful public beach and also for its Bun festival (bun festival), which we will try to attend next year (advance booking is a must).  The hidden gems of the island include several temples, an abandoned, crumbling hospital (Joan wants to renovate it and use it as a summer cottage),  some colonial buildings, and an old banyan tree (the buildings around the tree were demolished to allow the island's fire engine to pass!).  There's a picturesque uphill walk on a path that's called the "Mini Great Wall".

Hong Kongers do love their dogs and cats - this pooch was enjoying his Sunday outing along the boardwalk in Cheung Chau.

And the cat was all dressed up!

We also found the perfect snack:  freshly fried potato chips spiralled on a stick:

This past Saturday, we planned to go to Stanley Market (see Jan. 15) to buy some souvenirs and gifts for friends.  When we got to the bus station, there was a huge crowd of helpers waiting for the Stanley bus.  It dawned on us that it was May Day, and all of the helpers had the day off!  In order to avoid the crowded market, we decided to go to Shek O instead.  Shek O is a peninsula on the southeastern part of HK island.  Like Cheung Chau, it has a gorgeous sandy public beach (carefully roped off, with lifeguard stations).  There's a road that passes through some very large, very pricey gated houses leading to a blue bridge that connects you to the islet of Tai Tau Chau.  Once across the bridge, there are steep paths that lead uphill (of course) to a green pagoda at the top.  The view from the top is Northern California-like:  ocean, rocks, and beach.  It is also pure HK:  not too far in the distance are clusters of high-rise apartments, reminding you that you are still in this crowded city!  We're planning to return to the beaches at Cheung Chau and Shek O once the South China Sea warms up.

Jeff has been buying custom-made shirts from Maxwell's Clothiers for over 20 years.  They are a HK-based tailoring company that sends its personnel across North America, taking measurements for shirts, suits and coats.  Base prices are reasonable for Canada, however once the taxes and shipping costs are added the clothing tends to be more expensive.  Jeff was thrilled to discover that the main branch is on Hankow Street in Kowloon (where many of the tailors are located).  After ordering two summer suits, we walked up Nathan Road.  Nathan Road is like Yonge Street, it runs north/south for miles and miles.  Our destination was a new family-style Szechuan restaurant in Mong Kok that had received very positive reviews in one of the weekly papers.   You can order your food in varying degrees of spiciness.   Jeff ordered a number 2 (out of 5) spicy, while I ordered a number 1 (the waiter laughingly said "baby spicy").  The food was so hot that I thought my mouth was bleeding!  I took three bites, and then I passed the dish to Jeff, who polished most of it off after he finished his own plate.  He didn't even break a sweat!  I do feel like a wimp, but I will continue to try spicy food in preparation for travels to India, Hunan and Sichuan at some future time!

My father asked me recently what we watch on T.V.  In addition to some LIVE hockey games (go Habs go), we watch the occasional old movie.  In spite of subscribing to over 100 channels, the nightly routine goes like this:  Jeff turns on the T.V.  Jeff checks the T.V. guide to see what's on between 7-11.  Jeff rechecks the T.V. guide.  Jeff turns on the HBO movies-on-demand menu.  Jeff scrolls through all of the movies.  Jeff scrolls through them again.  Jeff turns off the T.V. and plays freecell on his Itouch!  There is one magic button on our remote control:  it changes the language of the program.  It works well on sports channels, where we switch from Chinese to English!

I have a confession to make: against my Toronto-honed green sense - I've given up on recycling.  The city has paid lip-service to the green whiners by placing bins (plastic, paper, cans) on main streets.  The bins are usually overflowing with all kinds of garbage.  I finally gave up when I saw an old Chinese man walk by the bins across the street and proceed to hawk into one of them!  I promise that we will return to being green when we return to Canada.

Stay tuned next week for a review of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong annual ball. Manulife is the major Canadian company in HK, so it is a sponsor. Jeff feels it is our duty to attend and wave the flag.

Mystery food of the week: