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: