A Sombre Look to 2021

New Year's Eve is cancelled in Lan Kwai Fong tonight

 

This year's New Year's Eve will be muted with social distancing measures preventing people from marking the end of 2020 in restaurants and bars because of the coronavirus pandemic. Already after lunch streets around Lan Kwai Fong were blocked off by police and barricades about to be put in place.

But if no more than two people can gather what is the point of going there when everything there is closed and the possibility of being fined for not social distancing?

Lai on his way to the Court of Final Appeal

2020 is also ending on a disappointing note with Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying back in jail after the Court of Final Appeal agreed to the Department of Justice's argument to hear an appeal on the question of bail in a national security law case.

However, that case won't be heard until February 1 to decide if Justice Alex Lee Wan-tang erred in granting bail to Lai on December 23. 

Until February 1, the media tycoon will be in jail... his reprieve was a very short seven days.

As for 2021, there will be more of the same. Talking to people in the last few days we all expect social distancing measures to continue well into January in the hopes the pandemic will be under control by Chinese New Year, but for sure the protests have been forced underground for now.

The wave of emigration from Hong Kong has already begun, with people starting new lives elsewhere, lost as to what to do and sad for their hometown. More will join their ranks in the coming months.

Economically it will continue to be tough in Hong Kong, though the fact that businesses with restaurant licenses can operate is much better off than those in New York, Los Angeles, London and Paris. Retail has been hit the hardest, with people either not in the mood or lacking the funds to shop unless it's for necessities.

Looks like a sombre year ahead, but with vaccines coming there is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. 

Wishing everyone a better and healthier 2021.

Sweet Enough? White Rabbit Candy Ice Cream

White Rabbit candy ice cream anyone? Apparently it's a hit in Los Angeles

I remember eating White Rabbit candy when I was a kid. The candy had a retro red, white, black and blue wrapper and then inside a thin edible rice paper wrapped around the milk-flavoured nougat.

Whenever I gave the candy to my non-Chinese friends, they would always ask about the rice paper. It just seemed normal to eat it! I also remember the candy being stuck in my teeth. You couldn't eat too many of them because they just got sickly sweet.

The chewy milk-based nougat is an iconic candy in China

Fast forward decades later and now an ice cream maker in Los Angeles has taken the iconic Chinese candy and made it into an ice cream that people there can't get enough of!

Wanderlust Creamery makes the ice cream by dissolving the milk-based sweets -- including the rice paper -- and originally served it as a promotional treat during Chinese New Year. It is also served in a cone wrapped in paper similar to the candy wrapper.

However the ice cream was so popular that the promotion, originally only nine days, was extended until the end of March.

Jon-Patrick Lopez, Wanderlust's co-founder, was quoted by foodandwine.com last week as saying are 1.3 pieces of White Rabbit candy in every scoop of ice cream.

Wanderlust sold 50 gallons of White Rabbit ice cream from February 1-20, then 50 more gallons from February 21-22 as word spread. On February 24 alone, Wanderlust sold its remaining 39 gallons -- nearly 1,000 scoops -- within eight hours.

This place couldn't enough candy to make the ice cream

The ice cream maker even had trouble sourcing enough White Rabbit candy to make the ice cream, and it was created without the knowledge of the candy manufacturer Guan Sheng Yuan in Shanghai.

When Guan Sheng Yuan found out about the White Rabbit-flavoured ice cream it was reported to be "pleased"... and probably wondering, why didn't we think of that?

Picture of the Day: Trump Gummy Candy

It didn't take long for someone to come up with this...

If yet another piece of news about US President Donald Trump wants to make you fume with frustration, you can now do something about it -- eat him.

A colleague recently visited Los Angeles and brought back this pack of gummy candies in the likeness of the bombastic leader of the free world. They look similar to The Donald, complete with the big head, big hair, suit and tie.

Interestingly they're all orange... was that intentional?

We love the packaging that screams, "Make America sweet again", with a caricature of Trump with the speech bubble: "Eat me!"

It even adds the candies were made in China, and at the bottom, "May leave a bad taste in your mouth".

So the next time Trump's off-the-cuff comments on Twitter or in the Oval Office has you fuming, get out the pack of gummy candies and bite his head off. Again and again.

That sugar rush is a good (albeit temporary) feeling.

Review: La La Land

Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling star in a romantic musical called La La Land

Lunar New Year is a time to meet up with relatives, eat too much, and watch movies.

Today I went to see La La Land, and it was a nice feel-good movie for the holidays.

Viewers are immediately swept up in the opening scene of gridlock on a Los Angeles highway, but then suddenly a young woman breaks into song and dance and everyone else gets out of their vehicles for an impromptu dance party.

The opening scene is so memorable and energetic

Do they really happen?

But your disbelief is suspended then and pretty much for most of the movie.

We soon meet Mia (Emma Stone), a struggling actress trying to get her big break, and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) an ardent jazz aficionado.

It takes them three chance encounters to realize a spark between them, and viewers soon disccover it's their idealism that brings them together, and only in LA.

Gosling and Stone are great together, and pretty impressive they not only sing but dance too, harking back to the singing and dancing films like Singing in the Rain and Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, but now with iphones, Priuses and cappuccinos. Gosling also plays the piano with ease.

The pair play idealistic artists pursing their dreams in LA

And the colours! They are so technicolour brilliant that you have to wonder if they were digitally enhanced like the scene where Stone and Gosling first sing and dance together at sunset. But according to director Damien Chazelle, they really did shoot the scene at the "magic hour", and they only had the chance to do five takes.

However it can't all be hunky dory -- tensions arise when the dreams of how they envision their careers take different paths, and the ending isn't what you expect it to be, but the wistful what-ifs are a bit too predictable.

Nevertheless, we couldn't help but be swept off our feet with La La Land, with the intense colours, singing, dancing, wry humour and a big dollop of escapism, especially in these uncertain times.

La La Land

Starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, John Legend

Directed and written by Damien Chazelle

Our Princess Leia

Princesses can also hold their own, in a galaxy far, far, away...

There are only a few more days left in the year and it was very sad to hear the news that yet another celebrity who made an impression on my youth was gone.

Actress Carrie Fisher passed away this morning at the age of 60, a few days after she had had a heart attack on a flight from London to Los Angeles.

Actress Carrie Fisher died today at the age of 60

We all thought our Princess Leia had died.

Many of us remember when Star Wars came out in 1977, watching this beautiful brunette woman with these large buns around her ears and dressed in white.

Up until that point, my preconceptions of what a princess was was developed from watching Walt Disney movies, like Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Snow White -- how the princess or the beautiful woman was saved by a dashing prince and how they would live happily ever after.

Princess Leia shattered those old fashioned images for me -- and countless other little girls -- love her. While she might be a princess, she was very adept at shooting guns to kill storm troopers, knowing her way around the Death Star, wearing a long dress that covered her up and flat boots, and even having funny zingers to fend off the attentions of Han Solo and Luke Skywalker.

Fisher in Star Wars with Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford

The next Halloween I was Princess Leia though I remember it was very cold wearing that thin white outfit with a brown belt. But we all wanted to be Princess Leias and Luke Skywalkers.

Watching the original Star Wars trilogy again in my 20s made me see how the dialogue was much more wittier than my six-year-old brain could figure out, and I could see the sexual chemistry between Han Solo and Princess Leia.

She redefined for me the definition of a heroine -- that she could achieve things herself -- she didn't need to depend on a man. They seemed like tools she could use to achieve her means.

I didn't watch the thinly autobiographical Postcards from the Edge, but I later saw Fisher in When Harry Met Sally..., another favourite movie of mine, where she plays Sally's best friend Marie, who immediately clicks with Harry's best friend Jess and they soon get married.

Fisher with Bruno Kirby in When Harry Met Sally...

It was lovely to see Fisher again, and saying some funny lines.

Now I feel like I should read some of her books, where I am reading in obituaries that she was an even better writer than actress, writing about her life experiences as the daughter of Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, growing up in Hollywood and getting into drugs, and being diagnosed bipolar.

Carrie Fisher, thank you. Thank you for telling an entire generation of little girls in the late 1970s that we too can be our own Princess Leias -- able to hold our own, witty, smart, strong and caring.

Hawker Stalls to Make Way for Food Trucks

Will we soon see food trucks inspired by the movie Chef in Hong Kong?

A few months ago our ever thoughtful Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah came up with the brilliant idea of Hong Kong having food trucks after watching the comedy Chef starring Jon Favreau and Sofia Vergara.

It's about a down-and-out chef who realizes his dream of making Cuban sandwiches that are a hit in Los Angeles. And during this journey he teaches his son his passion for food and rekindles his love for his ex-wife.

The food truck idea came from official John Tsang

What a perfect ending.

But food trucks in Hong Kong?

We already have local hawker food. Well, we used to have a vibrant hawker food scene until the government decided to clamp down on the stalls for fear of hygiene issues. The authorities stopped issuing dai pai dong licenses and so they are dying out because the next generation isn't interested in such hard work, nor can these licenses be sold either.

And also last month the Michelin guide introduced a list of street food places and now some are reportedly under threat of greedy landlords who want to raise the rent to squeeze more profits out of them.

So why doesn't the government scrap its food truck idea and instead revitalize areas for hawker stalls and be the landlord so that the rent is controlled and everyone -- locals and tourists -- not only get authentic cuisine but at value for money prices!

What a novel concept!

Can you imagine food trucks parked right here in Wan Chai?

Oh wait -- maybe that's too complicated for the government to understand.

So instead we'll be stuck with food trucks in bizarre locations like by the ferry piers in Central, Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai, Ocean Park and Disneyland, serving "gourmet" food at expensive prices. That's because the operators need to shell out at least HK$600,000 for a food truck and they need to make a profit too.

Just boggles the mind how our senior officials come up with such ideas. And they are supposed to be working for us, the taxpayers...

Getting the Dudamel Treatment

Conductor Gustavo Dudamel (centre) getting lots of love from the audience

Over two years ago I went to Los Angeles and visited the Walt Disney Concert Hall, a massive steel structure that looks like massive pages from a musical score. We got to have a peek inside, though the Los Angeles Philharmonic wasn't inside, nor its musical director, Gustavo Dudamel.

The 34-year-old is quite the sensation. He received his musical education through the El Sistema system, where children learn instruments and how to perform together several hours a day -- for free.

It's given Venezuela, that was ruled by Hugo Chavez until his death in 2013, an opportunity to prove the state can do good things for the arts, and Dudamel is that poster boy.

Perhaps that's why he is very humble on stage, thanking practically each and every one of the musicians on stage with him tonight, after they performed Gustav Mahler's Symphony No 6 in A minor at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall as part of the 43rd Hong Kong Arts Festival.

When I found out he was coming to perform here, I tried to order a ticket right away, and was told the cheaper ones were all gone and had to buy the more expensive ones at just over HK$1,000 ($129) a pop! It was a lot to swallow, but I felt this may be my only chance to see the musical wunderkind who once broke one of Leonard Bernstein's batons while conducting the New York Philharmonic back in 2007.

It was practically a full house tonight, as everyone there was as excited as I was to see Dudamel do his musical magic. When we entered the concert hall we were told there would be no intermission -- four movements straight through for an hour and a half.

To be honest I don't know much about Mahler and his music, but this piece was palatable and pleasant to listen to, with periodic punctuations from the various percussion instruments from a gong to xylophone, and even using a wooden mallet to hit a block of wood very loudly -- twice! Some percussionists had to leave the stage to play cowbells in the distance!

There was a very full orchestra on stage, where the double bass sat on the left side of the stage, perhaps to make room for the two harpists and two harpsichordists? We could not tell from our angle what kind of keyboards they are, but they weren't upright pianos.

When Dudamel made his way to the podium, it was even more impressive to see there was no stand for his music, as he had memorized the entire score! He is apparently a Mahler aficionado -- he won the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra's prestigious Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in 2004.

Dudamel also completed his Gustav Mahler Project in 2012 -- conducting all nine symphonies (including the unfinished 10th) by alternating between the LA Phil and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela that he still leads.

While he knew the score off by heart, the LA Phil players were well versed in the music and played very well. By the end of the 90 minutes, many in the audience jumped to their feet to applaud him and the orchestra. Near me were two people holding up the Venezuelan flag and it seemed like he saw it too.

We clapped non stop for several minutes as Dudamel came out several times to bow and get each of the players who performed solo parts to get their recognition. However there was no chance of an encore when the lights went up and Dudamel asked the orchestra members to leave the stage.

Boo.

Nevertheless it was neat to see a young person leading an orchestra with players that were almost twice his age. He was keen for them to get as much of the accolades as him. Very classy.

Gustavo Dudamel & the Los Angeles Philharmonic

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall

March 19, 2014

Gustav Mahler Symphony No 6 in A minor

Allegro energico, ma non troppo; Heftig, aber markig

Andante moderato

Scherzo: Wuchtig

Finale: Sostenuto -- Allegro moderato -- Allegro energico

Food Truck Fun

Chef stars Jon Favreau (centre) who resorts to making Cubanos in a food truck

Just came back from watching Chef with YTSL at Palace IFC, starring Jon Favreau in a fun comedy with lots of yummy food on film.

OK the food part isn't as mouthwatering as the opening scene of Eat, Drink, Man, Woman, but it also gives an interesting insight into the restaurant industry and why chefs are fanatic about what they give their guests to eat.

Favreau is Carl Casper, the chef who works in a fine dining restaurant owned by Dustin Hoffman's character. When a top food blogger has made reservations to review the restaurant, Carl puts out all the stops ready to present a creative menu.

But this is vetoed by the owner and having lost all interest, it seems Carl's food only gets a two-star review that goes viral.

Carl tries to hit back, but in a very public way that climaxes into a rant that also goes viral.

The El Jefe goes on a road trip from Miami to Los Angeles

He has to start all over again and his ex-wife Inez (Sofia Vergara) takes pity on him and invites him to Miami where her other ex-husband (Robert Downey Jr), a wealthy narcissist gives Carl an old dirty food truck.

This gives an opportunity for Carl to bond with his 10-year-old son Percy, who seems to shuttle back and forth between parents. Martin (John Leguizamo) from the restaurant comes by to help out, and the trio go on a road trip driving the food truck back to Los Angeles.

As Carl teaches Percy how to make Cubanos, a type of Cuban sandwich, we also get some cooking tips and watch how they prepare these delicious-looking bites.

The scenes are spiced with lots of humour, physical and verbal. Now we know what chefs do during a hot summer nights...!

However there are a few holes in the story -- what kind of job does Inez have that requires a publicist? And there's not indication of how she grew up in Miami and then has lots of staff tending to her household. She also seems too young to be Carl's wife...

A scene from the movie showing a mouth-watering steak

Also, would an ex-husband help another by giving him a food truck? Seems like there were some favours made behind the scenes that we are not privy too, but are expected to accept.

Nevertheless we enjoyed the foodie road trip and how social media can make or break a restaurant. The posting of messages on the screen, allowing us to read them was fun and entertaining, and Chef is also a lesson in what not to do on Twitter.

I won't be looking at cornstarch the same way again.

Picture of the Day: Fish by Frank

Frank Gehry's glowing fish were inspired by an accident

Canadian architect Frank Gehry is known for his buildings that defy description because they are in shapes that go against convention.

Over a year ago in Los Angeles I enjoyed checking out the Walt Disney Concert Hall that looked like a mass of silver paper strewn all over the roof.

A lovely touch was the garden that had a rose-shaped fountain made with broken blue and white tiles dedicated to Lillian Disney, wife of Walt. Sadly the building was completed six years after she died, as she pledged $50 million to the project.

Gehry has also made his mark in Hong Kong with Opus One, that were briefly the most expensive flats in the city. There are only 12 units in the building that have great views of the city below.

On a much smaller scale are his fish lamps made from ColorCore formica mounted on a wire frame. Apparently the story is that when Gehry was working on a commission for Formica in the 1980s, he accidentally dropped a piece of ColorCore laminate which shattered and to him the pieces looked like fish scales.

Gagosian Gallery in Hong Kong is showing some of fish lamps that glow from within. The shapes of the fish are simultaneously rough and fluid due to the uneven shapes of the material, but the light shining in them give them shape and depth.

Along with the fish were some alligators or were they crocodiles?

Nevertheless the fish were appropriate for Chinese New Year with the saying 年年有鱼 or "May every year end in a surplus".

Frank Gehry: Fish Lamps

Until March 1
Gagosian Gallery

7/F, Pedder Building

12 Pedder Street

Central

gagosian.com