Happy New Year!

Holiday celebrations begin early in HK.  Over-the-top Xmas decorations start to appear on November 1st, right after Halloween.  It seems to me that there's a competition to fit in as many plants, trees and decorations as possible in any given public space.  The lobby of our building (on the left) is not very spacious, and less so with the large tree and plentiful poinsettias!  The malls are all decked out with trees and cartoon and seasonal characters.  And Xmas would not be complete without the local ballet company performing The Nutcracker.  Last, but not least, is the constant drone of Xmas music - although we have yet to hear Jose Feliciano's Feliz Navidad.

Some of my ongoing activities have wrapped up for 2010.  Instead of having a regular book review meeting in December, the book club enjoyed an end-of-year dinner at the Phoenix Restaurant.  Amazing how lively we all became with two or three glasses of wine in us.  We each brought a favourite book, explained why we chose it, and then exchanged them during dessert.  I chose Gweilo, a memoir of a HK childhood, by Martin Booth.  It's considered a classic by expats living here.  We'll be resuming our reviews at the end of January, beginning with the Orange Prize winner, and continuing with the Booker, the Pulitzer and Commonwealth winners.  (Not sure how much I will be contributing to our discussions, since I've recently picked up and quickly put down The Lacuna and Tinkers)

This term's English conversation group at King's College also came to an end.  I'm sad to leave my Secondary 7 (senior high) boys - they're a lot of fun, but also very serious.  As Christopher (third from the right) explained - their lives will be over if they don't succeed in their "A Levels" in March and manage to get into the right program at the right university.  They all study until midnight each night, even during the holidays.  Life will resume for them after exams, I hope.  During the weeks we met, I learned a lot about the educational system here, and also realized that aside from being coerced into achieving high marks, they are just regular boys with voracious appetites and interests in everything from music (Michael on the far left and Christopher), to botany (Edgar on the far right), and sports (the rest of the group).  Ben (second from right) said that if he doesn't do well in his exams, he will buy a motorcycle and bum around Australia!  I wish them all every success.

One of the most popular tourist attractions in HK is the Big Buddha on Lantau Island.  Jeff and I have not been there yet, nor have we been to Disneyland (waiting for Kyle to visit), or Ocean Park (but we will be there tomorrow to attend a wedding!).   I did manage to visit the 10,000 Buddhas Monastery in Sha Tin with a few ladies from the AWA.  I'm sure there are more than 10,000, but we only had a few hours to visit the temple, and I couldn't count fast enough.  The path to the temple is quite steep, but lined with life-sized gold-painted buddhas, each with a different face.  There are also thousands of colourful ceramic buddhas, as well as pagodas, gazebos, and columbaria.   We were intrigued by the sign cautioning us not to give alms to the monks - we often see monks begging in our neighbourhood, and now I'm sceptical ...

Living in HK, we basketball junkies are desperate for any hoops entertainment.  Jeff and I were therefore very excited to see a blurb advertising the 18th 3D-Gold Super Kung Sheung Cup being played at Queen Elizabeth Stadium from December 14-19.  Because the information on the website is all in Chinese, we had no idea who was playing, the age of the athletes, nor the level of their skills!  Our 50HKD tickets ($6.50CDN) entitled us to front-row, centre-court seats for a triple-header.  As you can see from the photo, very few people showed up for the 5 p.m. game (5th place between India - undernourished-looking players - and a team from Mainland China).  Jeff and I were the only gweilos in the crowd, except for Norman Black, the coach of the Philippines team (yes, I spoke to him, and yes, he played in the NCAAs and in the NBA - three games with the Pistons).  The caliber of the players was slightly better than Canadian high school, but not quite university level.  We lasted through two and a half games, and left when the American team (mostly Division II dropouts) was ahead by 20 points.

The low point of the evening was our dinner.  We opted for the jumbo hot dogs instead of the dumplings, and yes, they did taste as bad as they looked!

Before we left for Penang, Malaysia (next blog), we managed to get in a wonderful hike along the Wilson Trail.  We took the MTR to the eastern end of Kowloon, and then hiked up the road to Devil's Peak and the Chinese Permanent Cemetery.  We passed the ruins of an old fort, long abandoned, with a spectacular 360-degree view.  We then hiked down the hill to Lei Yue Mun, a fishing village noted for its seafood restaurants.  We had a delicious lunch outside, and then slept all the way home on the subway!

It's been an amazing year, full of surprises and full of history and culture.  Our lives have certainly changed:  Jeff works harder than ever, but we love exploring and learning about HK and Asia in our free time.  We never tire looking outside our window at the magnificent skyline of this exciting city, and feel very fortunate to have this opportunity.  Thank you to Helen and Lou, Shelley and Issie, Cousin Lou, and Nancy and Randy for visiting with us.  We're looking forward to our next group of visitors, starting with Suzanne and Robert next weekend!

We wish all of our family and friends a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year.

Hong Kong's answers to the Toronto International Film Festival

Friends in Canada ask what I miss from home.  In September, I was truly envious of Susan and John, Bill, Judith, and Diana, who wrote and told me about all of the great films they saw at TIFF.  HK hosts an international film festival in the spring, but we didn't attend it, since most of the films that were of interest were screened during the week we travelled to Cambodia (ah, the choices we have to make in life!)  We made up for TIFF by watching lots of films during the fall festivals.

Many of the consulates here sponsor film festivals.  First it was the Australian, then the Jewish, the French, and the German.  An Israeli festival is scheduled for January (why don't they combine it with the Jewish film fest?  Reminds me of the joke - two Israelis, three points of view).

A funny thing happened on the way to a screening at the Oz festival:  as I was walking down the street in Wan Chai near the theatre, I heard a woman say "Oh S---" very loudly.  She was a tall, blonde Aussie, stranded at an intersection - she had no idea how to get to the other side!  On main roads in HK, there are no traffic lights - you have to cross the street by the overhead footpaths, but finding the access to the paths can be tricky, since the staircases or escalators leading up are often hidden inside office buildings.  Dale to the rescue!  Since I had been in the same situation a few months before, I knew how to navigate us across the road.  She told me her whole life story in the five minutes it took to get to the theatre, and she was so happy to arrive on time, that she invited me to the pre-film cocktail party (she works for the Australian consulate).

The Jewish Film Festival was fun, though poorly attended.  We shmoozed with the director of the film The Third Richard, and passed the information about this terrific film on to the Toronto JFF via the grapevine.  We bought "macher" (big shot!) passes, and were able to see as many of the films as we wanted, although by the end of the week we began to run out of steam.

When the French film festival was advertised, I hustled to buy tickets to six films, including one with Gerard Depardieu.  Talk about people aging badly!  He's 61, and looks much older.  In the film Mammuth, he portrays a retiree travelling around to collect his pension.  He shows off his not-svelte physique, and, as my French friend, Jacqueline says, he's repulsive.  I would like to recommend The Big Picture (L'homme qui voulait vivre sa vie) - it's a terrific drama/mystery that is well-acted and well-paced.  Catherine Deneuve is exquisite in a supporting role (she has aged very well!).   We also saw Tournee (On tour), which won an award at Cannes this year.  I'm quite convinced that the panel of judges of that illustrious competition was paid a lot of money to vote for this embarrassingly bad film.

We saw an excellent German film last week called The Invention of Curried Sausage.  It was reminiscent of Goodbye, Lenin.  Barbara Sukowa won the best actress award for it at the Montreal Film Festival in 2008.

Being the film junkie that I am, I also went to see Le Concert on a rainy Wednesday afternoon (watching movies in the middle of the day is the height of laziness!).  It's one of the best films I've seen in a long time.  I was in a small arts-film theatre, with about 25 locals.  I laughed and cried throughout the film, but the rest of the audience was silent - I don't think humour translates well from one culture to another, especially through subtitles!  

The last of my film recommendations is Echoes of the Rainbow, a sentimental tear-jerker that was filmed on Wing Lee Street (blog May 10, Oct. 14).  A group of us watched the film the night before attending Professor Woo's lecture on the urban transformation of Central.  Professor Woo wrote her report on Wing Lee Street a year before the film was shot, so when all the hype occurred about preserving this street, she suddenly found herself a media star! (There Goes the Neighbourhood)  I was rather surprised at how clean and neat the filmmakers portrayed the street - I'm not sure it has ever been anything but a run-down slum.  But that's show-biz!

Some good films, like Woody Allen's You Will Meet a Tall, Dark Stranger, have come and gone very quickly in HK.  By the time we decide to go to the movies, the only films showing are action and sci-fi.  We'll catch up on what we've missed on our 15-hour flights to Canada next spring!

I am Canadian

Each year, in early December, the Canadian Consulate hosts a commemorative ceremony at the Sai Wan War Cemetery, honouring the memory of the Canadian victims of the Battle for Hong Kong during WWII.  This year's event, also marking the 65th anniversary of the end of the War, was held on Sunday, December 5th.
The Japanese coordinated their attacks on Hawaii, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia.  These attacks were all launched on December 7th and 8th 1941, depending on which side of the International Date Line the attack came.  Two battalions of Canadian soldiers - the Royal Rifles from Quebec City and the Winnipeg Grenadiers - had arrived in HK in mid November, 1941.  Along with the British soldiers already on guard in HK, they were ill-prepared for the Japanese attack.  The battle was brutal: almost 300 of the 1,975 Canadians died, and 500 were wounded.  Another 300 died as POWs in either HK or Japan.  These were the first Canadians to engage in a land battle in WW2.

The cemetery rises up the hill from the sea.  When it was built in 1946, there was a clear view of the channel where the Japanese pontoons crossed from Kowloon to invade HK Island.  Today, the view is obstructed by the high-rise buildings in Chai Wan, at the eastern end of the island.  The Canadian soldiers buried in this cemetary include Brigadier John Lawson, the highest-ranking officer to be killed in the defence of HK.

Jeff and I were moved to tears throughout the ceremony.  The crowd was assembled at the bottom of the hill.  A bagpiper led the dignitaries slowly down the long slope.  The dignitaries included Doreen Stiedle, the Consul General, and three veterans of the battle - Horace Gerrard, Frederick Cooper, and Arthur Pifher (all in their late 80s) and their families, including their grandchildren.  The junior choir from the Canadian International School sang "Amazing Grace" during the speeches and the laying of wreaths.  The highlight for me was Fred Cooper's reminiscences of the battle and his imprisonment in Japan for the duration of the War.  He spoke in a strong, calm, understated way.  I suppose he's just a typical Canadian, if there is such a thing.  We felt very proud, to put it mildly.

At the end of the ceremony, the 1st HK Canadian Scout Group placed poppies on the Canadian graves, accompanied by the choir singing "What a wonderful world".  The morning ended with the choir and audience belting out O Canada (followed by the Chinese national anthem).
The crowd slowly climbed the hill again to the luncheon reception at the top.  I was walking behind an elderly woman who was being helped up the hill by a younger, local woman.  I asked if she needed another arm, and we chatted as we hiked.  She is the widow of one of the soldiers who had died in the battle.  She's a francophone living in Winnipeg.
This event has made us reflect on how fortunate we are living in Hong Kong in peaceful, prosperous times.  Throughout our travels, we always have been, and will continue to be proudly Canadian.

Bauhinia blooms in December

We're not in Canada any more, Toto!  Trees bloom here in the winter!
The bauhinia (also called the Hong Kong orchid) is the national flower of Hong Kong, as well as the emblem on its flag, coins, and coat of arms.  The city is now covered in bright pinkish-purple flowers, and, along with the clear skies, the sight is breathtaking.  The smell of the flowers masks some of the stinkier scents of the city, too.  We've been told that these trees will bloom until March.  As northerners who only witnessed colourful trees and flowers from May until September, we certainly appreciate the vegetation of HK all year long.

Speaking of plants, our good friends, Joan and Ron, left HK two weeks ago.  Joan bequeathed me her plants, despite my protests that I am the kiss of death for anything green.  She insisted that African violets and anthurium require very little care - water once a week, and keep them out of direct sunlight.  I've been heeding her advice with excellent results so far.  (There are little red buds on the anthurium, which might even turn into flowers!)  I'm now encouraged to venture to the flower market in Kowloon to buy some orchids, although last winter's orchid adoption was a dismal failure (sorry to admit this to Susan, my Toronto buddy who is a card-carrying member of the Orchid Society).

Two of our passions in HK are discovering new neighbourhoods, and learning more about the history of this territory, in particular WWII and the Japanese occupation (1941-1945).  Recently, I've been on several historical walks and have attended some interesting lectures.  As often happens, the lectures and walks mesh into a more coherent understanding of a place and time.

Shau Kei Wan

I first glimpsed SKW while lazing about on a junk boat called the Aqua Luna.  After a dim sum lunch in Kowloon,  a group of Friends of the Museum, Chinese University of HK (herein referred to as "Friends" - no Quaker connection whatsoever) boarded the junk and cruised eastward towards the shipbuilding docks of SKW.  The Aqua Luna is a new ship, designed and built by the eighty-year-old man in the photo.  As we approached the row of old-fashioned docks, we noticed the Aldrich government housing estate, but couldn't imagine anything remotely interesting behind it.

SKW is a densely-populated neighbourhood in the north-east end of HK Island.  At first glance, it looks like a planned, ugly district of high-rise public housing apartments, akin to the "projects" in large North American cities.  Although these buildings are a blight on the skyline, there is still much vitality and heritage to be found here, especially in the older, central part of the neighbourhood.

At a recent lecture given by Professor Woo Pui Leng, I learned about the urban transformation of this neighbourhood.  SKW began as one of the original fishing villages of HK, since there was some flat land on which to build small houses.  Many of the fishermen lived on houseboats.  Over the past 150 years, land reclamation has filled in the entire bay, so the original village is now situated way inland.  It is hard to imagine the old Tin Hau Temple on Main Street in its original setting on the waterfront.  Tin Hau Temples honour the goddess of fishermen and sailors.  There are many of these temples in HK, and none of them seem to be within one kilometre of water any more!  In SKW, all of the reclaimed land is filled with housing estates (named after Major Aldrich, the British army engineer who first surveyed Hong Kong), elevated expressways, and transportation hubs.
The changes here, and elsewhere in the city, happened over several decades, and were due to the enormous growth in the population after 1949.  I was astounded to learn that the population of HK has grown by 1 million in each decade from 1950 to the present day, due to the influx of people from Mainland China.

The original two-story shop-houses of SKW were gradually dwarfed by dense housing.  In 1964, the famous tenement known as the Corner Building was built at the streetcar terminus.  Instead of having the balconies face the prominent tram roundabout, the small, cell-like windows of the kitchens and bathrooms are in the forefront of the rounded building.  The next stage of urban growth featured the Ming Wah housing estates.  This cluster of buildings contains numerous tiny apartments, however, there are floating corridors separating rows of flats, bringing light and air into the interior.  The buildings were designed to give residents a view of the green mountains behind, and the sea in front.  The mountains are still there, but the sea view has been replaced by the Aldrich buildings!
A few days after Professor Woo's talk, I joined an AWA historical walk with Jason Wordie in SKW.  We climbed way up into the hills and saw the remains of the British gun batteries that were no match for the Japanese attack on HK Island in 1941.  The walk also brought Professor Woo's information into perspective.

I discovered that there is still an old-fashioned village on Main Street, with a beautiful wet market one street away.  The local shops and enticing eateries have not changed despite the urban growth around them.  Culturally, locals still prefer to live the way they have for decades - buying fresh food daily at the local markets, eating dim sum at tiny restaurants, and shopping for household goods in small, specialized mom-and-pop stores.

Jason's walk ended on an amusing note.  AWA outings normally end with an optional lunch.  The convenor announced that she had made a reservation for us at Ruby Tuesday's in Tai Ku.  Vanessa, Angela, and I shouted "not me!!" and hightailed it to a Main Street cafe, where we ate delicious dim sum.  Our entire lunch cost the equivalent of $6.50CDN for three!  We splurged on fresh egg tarts for dessert - three for 5HKD ($0.65).  Sure beats an American hamburger!