Helen and Lou

The smiles on their faces sums up the vacation!

I don't even know how to begin blogging the most wonderful, special time that Mom and Dad and Jeff and I had together, both in Hong Kong and on our cruise to Vietnam.  I suppose I will start at the very beginning, when Mom and I dreamed up this trip.
In August 2009, when Jeff and I told Mom and Dad that we were planning to move to HK, I said "We're moving to Hong Kong in a few months, and you're coming to visit us."  Mom looked and me and said "OK".  Dad looked like he wanted to crawl under the table - I think the thought of such an ambitious trip was a bit overwhelming!   Once we were all in agreement (Dad notwithstanding), we decided that the best time for them to visit would be late October/early November, when typhoon season is over.  Throughout all of the arrangements - frequent flyer flights, health insurance, cruise details, and what to pack - we all held our collective breath that everything would go smoothly.  In September and early October, there were a couple of setbacks - Dad came down with bronchitis/pneumonia, and then Mom caught a three-week cold.  But by October 25th, they were packed and on their way.

The 24-hour (and 3 calendar day) journey took them from Montreal to Vancouver, and then on to HK.  Since they were scheduled to arrive at 6 a.m., we had arranged for a limousine to fetch them at the airport.  They arrived at our apartment around 7:15 - Mom hopped out of the cab, blue eyes shining, looking like a million bucks!  Dad looked bedraggled and bewildered - a nap was definitely of primary importance.  While he rested, Mom unpacked, and then we scooted around the neighbourhood so that she could get a sense of the city.  I shlepped her to the cleaners, up and down steps, and to one of the local coffee shops for a cappuccino.  Then up the escalators and back home.  We spent the afternoon at the historic Ohel Leah synagogue, and visited an exhibit on the Jews of Shanghai at the Jewish Community Centre.
Mom and Dad also amused themselves watching the construction of a huge apartment building right next door.  As luck would have it, construction had reached our eye-level, so we could even wave to the workers who pranced around like Cirque du Soleil performers, erecting bamboo scaffolding and pouring concrete on the 28th floor of a high-rise.  (btw - the construction has now surpassed 40 stories, with no end in sight)

Day 2:  Clear skies, cool temperatures.  We got to the Peak Tram before the crowds.  The creaky old train crept up the mountain, affording us magnificent views of the skyscrapers along the way.  At the top, we took photos of the harbour, and also the vast country parks that cover most of HK Island.  Dad, of course, spent a lot of time talking to strangers (I've inherited that habit).  Luck was on our side, since the view was clear - unimpeded by the normal pollution and haze.

Our next stop was Stanley Market.  We took the scenic route on the top of the double-decker number 6 bus.  All of our visitors, including Mom and Dad, are amazed at the beautiful vistas just 15 minutes beyond the congestion of downtown.  The Market is colourful, with lots of fun souvenirs.  It was a pleasure for me to spend a weekday afternoon in Stanley, since Jeff and I normally go there on weekends when it's extremely crowded.  On our taxi ride home, I sat in up front with the driver, but kept turning around to make sure Mom and Dad were ok - there are lots of hairpin turns, and the drivers keep up a good pace!  (reminiscent of Chevy Chase and the Japanese tourists in the movie Foul Play).

We ended a great day at Hometown Dumplings, our favourite local eatery (blog Oct. 14).  The waiter gave Mom a lesson in how to use chopsticks - easy!  Dad was not convinced - his sweet and sour fish tasted just fine with a fork!
We walked home (up the escalators), and watched the daily 8 p.m. light show!  Free entertainment at the Biteens'.
Early to bed - tomorrow is WALKING day!



Well rested, and completely un-jetlagged, we started our 2-hour walk the next day at the Man Mo Temple.  Built in 1848 (and renovated several times), this is one of the most well-known Buddhist/Taoist temples in HK.  We managed to arrive before the tour bus onslaught, and were able to walk through the buildings, and smell the strong incense.  From the Temple, we walked east along Hollywood Road, stopping to look at the collections in a few art galleries.  We walked through the wet market (open-air food stalls) on Graham Street and Gage Street, and saw the contrast between the old world and the new. We even walked down Pottinger Street - just about the most difficult, steep, road to walk on in the city!  (In fact, my HK friends were aghast that I would take my "old?" parents on it!)  Pottinger is lined with small kiosks, usually selling seasonal paraphernalia.  Halloween was two days away, so the shops were filled with masks and costumes.  Lots of fun.  We all ran out of steam when we reached Marks and Spencer on Queens Road - time for lunch.  Once refreshed, we shopped in "the lanes" off Queens Road, and headed home up the escalators.

My mission was to show off my parents to as many of my friends as possible, so we had an enjoyable Italian dinner at Vivo with Ed and Hanora.  Ed is in the shmatta business. He and Dad talked shop.
After dinner, we all went back to our apartment, and enjoyed our tea with Mom's mandel bread - I wonder how they stayed so fresh on all of those flights?




On Saturday, we taxied to Ocean Terminal (directly across the harbour in Kowloon), where we boarded the Royal Caribbean Legend of the Seas.  Our 5-day cruise took us to Sanya (on Hainan Island in South China), Da Nang, and Halong Bay.  Although the ship had a tired look about it, it was still very comfortable and relaxing.  We were each able to do our own thing - Jeff found a quiet spot in the library and worked on a report, Mom played the slots in the casino, Dad napped, and I read.

We shared our dining table with two couples from New Zealand (Dunedin - the last post office before the South Pole!), and had a lot of fun.  I discovered a kindred spirit in Shirley (extreme left in the photo) - she's also an avid mystery reader.  (Last week we exchanged book lists.)  The only minor problem was that Mom and Dad had some difficulty understanding the New Zealand accent.  Living in HK, with expats from so many different places plus locals with heavy Chinese-accented English, Jeff and I have become expert at understanding almost everyone who is speaking our language.

Sanya was not an interesting stop.  It is a growing city that China is touting as the next Hawaii.  There are some 5-star resorts along the coast, with many others under construction, but aside from the empty high-end mall that our bus took us to, the rest of the city looked run-down.  The majority of visitors are from the Mainland, but there are also a large number of Russian tourists.  Although the city is moving forward, we still noticed yoked vendors like the one in the photo.

Our two stops in Vietnam were very interesting, and whetted our appetite to spend more time exploring that country in the near future.  Both Hoi An (near the port of Da Nang) and Halong Bay are UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Hoi An is charming: old streets lined with temples, French colonial buildings, and tailor shops.  The highlight of the town is the 16th century Japanese bridge that connected the Japanese and Chinese quarters.  Disputes between the two communities were settled on the bridge.  There were hundreds of bicycles and motorbikes racing through the town, and Mom decided she'd like to try riding a motorcycle!  (Not on my watch, thank you!).  We also did some shopping at a silk embroidery workshop which was very similar to the one we had visited in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Halong Bay is on every list of places to see before you die.  All of the passengers were on deck at 9 a.m. to experience sailing through the most beautiful vista of rock islands in the world (although the New Zealanders claim that there are similar sights in their country, too).  We stood for almost two hours, mesmerized, taking photos, and trying to soak it all into our memories.  The sky was clear and the view was breathtaking.

After the ship anchored near Halong City, Jeff and I took the junk boat tour of the islands.  The tour took us to a recently-discovered cave as well as to a floating fishing village.  People live very primitively.  There is no schooling for the children, and there is no health care for the families.  We were able to disembark at one of the houses, and observed how the people sustain themselves.  The houses are very small, and there were no beds - just hammocks.
Mom and Dad took the tender to Halong City, where they encountered hoards of women and children begging and following them.  They were very unnerved.  They hired a rickshaw to take them to the local market.  Dad tore his pants getting into the rickshaw, which only added to their unease.  The highlight of their visit was buying a pair of "custom-made" sandals for $6US.  Mom chose the soles and the top strap, and watched the woman create a fashionable pair of shoes.

On formal night, we all dressed up for dinner.  The excellent Filipino cover band played in the main atrium, and Mom and Dad danced.  They got applause, especially from the Chinese passengers who also snapped their photos.  Dad's sore hip doesn't seem to affect him when he's dancing or playing golf!

On Thursday morning, we arrived back in HK to rain - a good excuse to laze around, unpack, sort the laundry, and relax.  Later that afternoon, we taxied to IFC mall so that Mom and Dad could experience one of HK's premier high-end shopping malls.  They were impressed (but bought nothing).  After dinner, I led them through the mall, across the elevated covered footbridges, and up the escalators to our apartment.  Lots of walking, lots of new sights.

I finally got to show Mom and Dad my favourite HK building on Friday morning - the Central Library.  We then walked through Causeway Bay in the pouring rain to meet Jeff at Din Tai Fung for dim sum.   Unfortunately, it is impossible to cross the intersections at street level in this area.  We had to climb up and down two steep flights of 30 steps in order to get to the restaurant.  Like Jeff says, HK is a perpetual step class.  Lunch was delicious, and Dad even practised using chopsticks.  That evening, we had yummy Peking duck at Peking Garden in the Pacific Place mall.

Before their trip to HK, Mom kept saying that she wanted to go to Shenzhen, China to shop (blog April 21).  I had to convince her that we should leave Dad at home with Jeff.  Once we arrived at the Lo Wu mall, she understood my warning.  Thousands of tiny shops and many pushy salespeople following us around shouting "Missy, buy a handbag" or Missy, buy a DVD".  We bought gifts and then had a quiet lunch at the Shangri-La Hotel across the street.  After lunch, I showed Mom around the 5th floor of the mall, where all the tiny tailor shops are located.  She was most impressed with the fabric hall in the centre of the shops.  Row after row of every kind of fabric imaginable.
Dad and Jeff had a great day while we were in China.  They went to the Ohel Leah synagogue for services, and then stayed for the kiddush lunch.  Dad met the new Rabbi, who studied at McGill, and who knows Rabbi Steinmetz at Dad's shul in Montreal.  Jeff also introduced him to our friends, Ursula and Stephen, and Howard (from Toronto) who is the director of the HK Jewish Film Festival (next blog!).  We had befriended a couple from Melbourne on the cruise, and they were also at services.
Later that afternoon, Jeff took Dad to the HK Museum of History.

Sunday was another "walk your feet off" day for Mom and me.  We visited the crowded Sunday markets of Kowloon - the flower market, bird market, and ladies' market.  The highlight was definitely the egg tart on Nathan Road!  Unfortunately, Mom was not wearing good walking shoes, so by the time we met up with Jeff and Dad, she was hobbling along.  Dad and Jeff had also done a lot of walking through the Museum of Art.  I think Jeff and I had finally worn them out!



We saved one of HK's best attractions for last:  a trip across the harbour on the Star Ferry.  Mom and Dad left smiling, happy, and full of memories.

Shelley, Issie, and Cousin Lou

So many places to show our visitors, so little time!

Toronto friends Shelley and Issie spent four busy days in HK a few weeks ago.  They arrived late on Friday night, and were met at the airport by Jeff, whose flight had just landed from Singapore (yes, it's that busy business travel season again).   I think that the hustle and bustle of HK must have shocked them, since they had just completed a two-week trip in the rainforest of Borneo (another destination to add to our wish list).

The next morning, Issie and I were off to Bowen Road for a run.  Bowen Road is a runner's paradise - it's flat (a wonder in itself, since we live on a mountain), shaded, and car-less.  I managed 7 km, but Issie did the whole route (11km).  Issie has recently completed his goal of running 39 marathons (one each month) until his 60th birthday.  His foundation has raised almost $100,000 for cancer research.  Needless to say, he is one of our heroes!

After our bagels and cream cheese breakfast, we headed out to walk and walk and walk.  We showed them our favourite haunts - the wet market in Central, the escalator, colonial and modern buildings, and Kowloon, ending the day feasting at the Temple Street night market.  One of the more interesting stops we made was at a Chinese medicine store (above left).  Shelley is a pharmacist, so she was even more fascinated than the rest of us with the goings-on in the shop.  The pharmacists very seriously measured all kinds of dried potions, then wrapped them up carefully and handed them to their customers.  We have discovered that Chinese herbal medicine is still very popular.  It is regulated in the same way as Western prescriptions.CMHK

The next morning, we decided to do what many locals do on Sundays - enjoy dim sum.  The meal at Metropol was scrumptious, and Shelley was thrilled that her favourite dish (turnip cake) was on the menu.  There were a lot of strange items carted around, notably ox stomach with turnip, which we politely declined!

Jeff left for Kuala Lumpur after lunch, but I continued shlepping our guests through beautiful Pacific Place and Hong Kong Park, where Shelley's skirt got tossed around "Marilyn Monroe" style at the fountain.  Tourists and locals were snapping photos of my sexy friend!
We had a good laugh.
Day three brought lots of sunshine: perfect weather to visit the historic Ohel Leah Synagogue and Stanley Market.  We ended the day at swanky IFC mall, eating more Chinese food.  I felt sorry for the young fellow sitting next to us whose two female companions had ordered only vegetarian dishes.  He kept eyeing our food, and asking what we were eating.  He was so intrigued with the fried eel (yes, it's delicious), that he ordered some for himself!
We concluded Shelley and Issie's visit the next day with a tram ride to the Peak, followed by the ferry to Cheung Chau (blog May 5) for lunch.

We spent a wonderful evening with Cousin Lou from Toronto.  Lou has visited HK many times over the past 15 years, but we managed to show him sights he'd never seen.  After dinner in Wan Chai, we walked underground through the Pacific Place mall and up the escalator into Hong Kong Park.  We were behind the skyscrapers, and the sky was lit up with their flashing lights.  The park is very quiet, especially at that hour, so the effect was beautiful.  We walked through the park, across the footbridges, down the path near St. John's Cathedral, and into Central.  After the quiet of the park, we hit the wild streets of Lan Kwai Fung, with all the 20-somethings spilling onto the road with their drinks.  We climbed up the steps to Hollywood Road and up the escalators to our apartment.  Lou has given a thumbs up to the Biteen tour guides, and plans to bring Mary along with him next spring.

Waiting for the big typhoon

Thursday morning.
The T3 warning has been hoisted in the lobby.  I've just returned from my walk up the Peak.  The sun is shining and it's breezy - why all the fuss?  People are scurrying around buying groceries and supplies just in case ...
Day care centres have been closed, and warnings are up all over the Internet.
Severe Typhoon Megi is on its way from the Philippines.
When I opened my computer this morning, there were five emails from Canada asking me if we were okay here in HK.  There was also an email from the AWA French conversation group cancelling tomorrow's lunch at a HK yacht club.
Cousin Lou (Toronto) is on his way here from China.  He's due to arrive this evening, weather permitting.  Wonder if we will be able to dine al fresco with him on Saturday night.

Thursday evening.
Drizzling a bit, but the winds have died down.  Is this the calm before the storm?  Jeff's on his way home.  Time to batten down the hatches.  My friend, Hanora, just told me that the concierge in her building is busy waterproofing the lobby.  Heavy plastic coating.  Masking tape on all the windows.  My hairdresser told me that his ceiling leaks and the property manager has been negligent in fixing it.  This situation could get interesting.

Good news:  the HK Observatory just advised us that there is little chance of Signal No. 8 being raised overnight.  Perhaps the worst of the typhoon will pass us by.

More good news:  the long-range forecast predicts clear skies by mid-week with maximum temperatures of 24-25 degrees.  No need to worry that Helen and Lou will be melting in severe heat.

Strange name of the day:  (Mr.) Nose Chan (Program assistant, HK Asia Society)

Friday evening.
We're down to T1.  I carried my folding umbrella around all day - a lot of good it would have done had the winds picked up.  The storm has changed course and is heading north to Fujian.

Saturday morning.
All storm warnings are off.  Business as usual in HK.  The harbour is busy, and construction has resumed in full force.

On to the next adventure.

This is a very small town

Last Wednesday, I began my weekly volunteer assignment at King's College, a high school in the western Mid-levels, about 15 minutes (walking of course!) from our apartment.   The goal of the program is to give students a chance to practise their English conversation skills.  My group consisted of 8 17-year-old seniors.  We had a lot of fun getting to know each other.  After they told me their names, I tried to remember them all - it took a few rounds but I finally got it.  My ice-breaker was a roll of toilet paper.  I passed it around and told each student to take as many squares as he wanted to.  Some took one, others two or three.  Then I told them that they had to tell that many different things about themselves.  What a bunch of chatty guys!  Their English skills are very good (the better ones have Filipina maids who only speak English), and they loved ribbing each other.  Because the program is during the lunch hour, the kids are allowed to eat while we talk.  A lot of the conversation centred around food, and at the end of the session, the boys offered to bring me lunch next week!  I will bring egg tarts for dessert.  After the program, I took the subway to Causeway Bay ("downtown" where Jeff works), and went to the library to return/pick up books.  On my way back to the subway, a young Chinese boy said "Dale?" - it was Michael, one of my King's students!  I even remembered his name!
The moral of this story is - foreigners can't assume that they are invisible in HK.

My favourite coffee shop has closed.  Oscar's made the best cappuccino that I've had in HK.  Unfortunately, business was terrible, so bye-bye.  Their downfall was their location - a side street filled with little shops and small local restaurants.  Well, there's always Starbucks or Pacific Coffee for those who need a caffeine fix.  Speaking of Starbucks, Jeff was on his way to lunch a few weeks ago, with his book in front of his nose.  He walked to his favourite Korean restaurant, opened his eyes, and found a Starbucks in its place.

Coffee shops are great places to talk to strangers.  This morning, the fellow in line ahead of me was holding a hockey stick!  I said "I guess you must really miss Canada!".  Turns out he's been living in HK for 15 years (he's originally from Unionville, north of Toronto).  He owns a company that manufactures hockey sticks.  Their factory is just over the border in mainland China.  We talked about the one ice hockey rink in HK (mega ice).   He still plays pick-up once a week.

Our neighbourhood dumplings restaurant (Hometown Dumplings) (reminds me of the Yangtze in Montreal) had to move because the building is being torn down (it's only 20 years old, but it will be replaced by a 40-story condo).  Luckily, the owners found a new location two doors down.  The food is still good and cheap but the atmosphere is definitely more upscale - the original restaurant had old wooden tables and chairs, toilet paper rolls instead of napkins, ancient calendars and menus lining the walls, and a couple of cats running around (I didn't ask why...).  The new place has glass and rattan tables, flowered seat covers, clean menus, napkins, and five 50-inch televisions.  Same surly staff, but the food is always fresh and delicious.

We hosted our first little dinner party (it's about time, eh?) a couple of weeks ago.  Our guests were Ursula and Stephen, our first HK friends.  Jeff met them last November at the HK Jewish Film Festival.  Stephen's office is across the road from Jeff's and they often bump into each other grabbing a fast lunch-to-go at the supermarket in Jeff's building.  Ursula is my walking buddy - we have a standing date to climb the Peak bright and early Thursday mornings.  She's also the fashionista who introduced me to shopping in Shenzhen.  The dinner (salmon cooked on our George Forman grill, carrot/ginger soup, etc.) was delicious, but at the end of the evening we had lots of dishes to wash by hand - how I miss my dishwasher!

HK celebrated the Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival on September 23rd.  We're not exactly sure when autumn officially begins here, but in Canada, Sept. 23rd is the third day of autumn, and mid-autumn falls towards the beginning of November!  Lanterns decorated the city for a couple of weeks before the holiday.  On Sept. 22nd, we joined thousands of locals in Victoria Park, admiring the decorations and listening to the music.

Good news/bad news:  The good news is that our very noisy neighbours upstairs in 29 E have moved out.  The bad news is that the new owners are renovating the apartment.  We now listen to jackhammers inside as well as outside (an enormous building is going up right next door).  It's impossible to find a neighbourhood in HK that isn't being redeveloped.
There's a huge dig taking place on Stanley Street in Central.  I think they are replacing the pipes under the street.  The construction has displaced the dai pai dongs (outdoor restaurants) that used to line this pedestrian-only block.  On Saturdays and Sundays, the construction crew take off, and as you can see by the photo, restaurants pop up again right next to the dig!

Speaking of renovations, I checked out Wing Lee Street a few days ago (blog May 10, 2010).  Almost the entire block is covered in bamboo scaffolding and green netting, but there are still signs of life in the middle of the construction.  The city has offered to move the residents to public housing at very low rates, but there are still a few who are desperately holding on to their homes.

Jeff and I love to go to museums, temples, and galleries in the summer when it's hot.  I've also been to a lot of art fairs and exhibits with friends during the week.  The photo on the left was taken at Che Kung Temple in Sha Tin.  The young girl brought her pet turtle (turtles are symbols of good luck) to the temple  to bless it at the various shrines.
This temple is across the river from the HK Heritage Museum, where we saw a very creative display of social documentary photography.(Photography exhibit)

Last month, Chloe and I went to a Japanese photography exhibit at the HKU Museum and Art Gallery.  We also admired the permanent collection of furniture, ceramics, paintings, and sculpture.  The chair in the photo on the left has stag antlers for arms!  Chloe, Isabel, and I also visited the Tao Hung Museum of Food Culture.  We were expecting an explanation of  Chinese food - its preparation and presentation.  Unfortunately, we got a wax museum of local foods.  In the photo, Isabel and Chloe are sitting in front of the fake dim sum lunch!  The owner of the Tao Hung group of restaurants collected a lot of junk relating to food and restaurants.

The most interesting item was the old cash register in the photo on the left.  It looked like it had been damaged in WW2 (or perhaps earlier than that!).  The library in one corner of the room had shelves of note books, and also some paperbacks (in Chinese).  None of them seemed to have anything to do with food or restaurants.

A more successful outing was the Edward Burtynsky (member of the Order of Canada) exhibit at the Sundaram Tagore Gallery.  Burtynsky's room-sized photographs of industrial landscapes are breathtaking, even the photo of used oil drums!





Well, once again I seem to have had a lot to blog!  Jeff and I have covered a lot of ground in Hong Kong, but there's so much more to see.

Celebrating Jewish New Year in HK

And I didn't have to cook a thing!

Our synagogue, the United Jewish Congregation (UJC), certainly knows how to look after its members during the High Holidays.  After services on Erev Rosh Hashanah, there was a festive dinner at the Jewish Community Centre.  Unfortunately, services ended late, so we didn't eat until 10 p.m.  While we were having dinner, the heavens opened up and we had a T3 downpour.  Fortunately, we live around the corner from the JCC.  Unfortunately, we were all dressed up and didn't have an umbrella.  Jeff, my knight in shining armour, ran home with his briefcase on his head, fetched my flip-flops and a large golf umbrella, and came back to rescue me.  While he was gone, I chatted with a woman who has been living here for 20 years.  She was afraid to take a taxi home in the rain - I'm not sure how many hours she waited, since the rain did not let up until the next morning!  (Yes, we meet all kinds of crazy expats here.)
On the first day of RH, our main challenge was getting used to the different tunes for familiar prayers.  Jeff and I kept turning to each other and saying "don't know this tune" or "yay, we know this one!"  (We missed Rabbi Weiss and the Narayaver service in Toronto, as well as Mary-Ann, Evelyn, and Richard, our shul buddies.) The service here is Reform, and there's a lot of reading by the Rabbi and responding by the congregation.  We enjoyed the fact that we did not have to get there until 10:30 (services started closer to 11), and we were done by 12:30.  The seats are upholstered - comfortable for naps during Rabbi Stan's sermon.  Instead of a permanent Chazan, we have a cantorial soloist.  Diego is a young fellow from Buenos Aires, who just arrived in HK about a month ago.  He's tall and lanky, and reminds me of Andrew.  I thought he did an excellent job in leading the service, but Jeff felt he was emoting a bit too much.  Since it was his debut in HK, we felt that he had to prove himself.
After services, a pleasant buffet lunch was served.  The congregation is very friendly, and we appreciated the fact that many of the members came over to us to introduce themselves and get acquainted.

Around 2 o'clock, we hopped into a minivan and went to Stanley Military Cemetery. We were led by Alastair, an older member of the congregation, who has a passion for the Jewish history of this part of the world. We visited the graves of Jewish soldiers (some Canadian), volunteers, and citizens, who died during WW2 in the battle for Hong Kong and its aftermath. So many people died during the War that they had to resort to using paving stones and road markers as grave stones (e.g., Essie Greenberg). We placed stones on the graves, and then stood under a tree and said Kaddish, the prayer for the dead. It was a very emotional experience.

Alastair not only told us about the fighting, but also about the Japanese occupation. Many foreigners were detained under brutal conditions in the Stanley detention centre (formerly a school). Isn't it interesting how we can walk today in very peaceful, idyllic places like Stanley or Ypres in Belgium, and almost forget the horrors that took place not so long ago?

From the cemetery, we proceeded to the beach.  It was a very hot (34 degrees), cloudless day, so there were quite a few local Chinese families enjoying the sand and the water.  I can't imagine what they thought of our group, all dressed up and throwing bread into the South China Sea, as we recited the Tashlich prayer!  Rabbi Stan blew his formidable shofar at the end of the prayer.  All-in-all, a memorable day.

Day 2 of RH is definitely optional at the UJC.  I counted a total of 20 in the auditorium.  Rabbi Stan's sermon was about his road trip last summer to a monastery in New Mexico and an Indian reservation in Oklahoma.  I'm not quite sure why he chooses this topic ("what I did on my summer vacation") each year on the second day of RH (as I have been advised).  I guess it's hard to come up with a meaningful theme each week of the year, but I would have preferred a speech with relevance to Hong Kong Jews, rather than a story about his meditations at a monastery.
Before Kol Nidre, Jeff and I ate our Chinese version of a traditional Shabbat meal.  We went to a very good Cantonese restaurant recommended to us by a taxi driver!  The "salad" was hot pot lettuce, cooked at the table in a yummy sauce.  The "gefilte fish" was a whole fish, chopped and mixed with vegetables, then stuffed back into its skin,  and presented on a steaming platter.  But the best dish was our "brisket"- honey-glazed bbq pork, sliced diagonally, with sauce drizzled on top.  All this was washed down "mit a cuppa tea".  Close enough to the real thing.  When we arrived at services, we told Hanora and Ed about our dinner.  They told us that they had eaten at Grappa's, a popular Italian restaurant.  No one cooks in HK!
At the end of Yom Kippur, the Kadoorie family sponsors the break fast for the entire Jewish community. (The Kadoories were mentioned in my Shanghai blog last week.  They moved to HK in the 1940s, and own the Peninsula Hotel chain as well as the  HK electric company.)  Hundreds of people show up for this wonderful spread.  It pays to befriend people who have lived here a while - Ursula and Stephen told us to avoid the crowds in the main hall, and to eat upstairs where there's always a place to sit.
Over all, the holidays were a little of the same, a little different, but very enjoyable.