Picture of the Day: New Old Coins

Lots of old coins, never used, in a tin box

My relatives have been busy doing some serious spring cleaning in their flat.

They are cleaning out really old magazines, books, clothes and anything else that they don't need; at the moment these items are all stacked up in the living room waiting to be taken away, as they live in a walk-up so they are saving this for the garbage man to manually collect day by day, or to take down themselves to a nearby recycling area or the local garbage dump.

They also found lots of money! Over HK$2,000 in coins! 

Before the Octopus card came out in 1997, people had to have exact change when boarding public transport, from buses to trams and ferries.

So their mother, who passed away several years ago, had gotten coins from the bank to ensure she always had enough change and after the Octopus card came out, the coins were forgotten and so much was amassed that my relatives hauled them to the bank to be counted. They even returned coins with the Queen's head on them (issued before 1997). 

Apparently no one is interested in buying these coins online.

She had also collected stamps and my relatives managed to sell a stamp book or two on an online buying and selling platform called Carousell for about HK$10 each. Who collects stamps these days?

Not only that, she also collected a lot of fresh bills, dating back to the 1970s, all of them from HSBC in a special booklet, and also coins too.

Some date back to 1960 which is quite amazing. They are all rolled up neatly in paper and labelled very clearly. I should also add she used to be a teacher, hence the clean hand writing.

In any event my relatives hope to find a buyer for these coins and bills and I hope they do. One man's junk is another man's treasure!

Brick-Sized Art

A beautiful hot day looking at Central and Admiralty

Today I started out on a mid-morning walk with the aim of hitting 15k. That meant walking from Kennedy Town to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and a detour to the Upper House Hotel for a break for a gourmet cookie and lemonade before heading back home.

Someone writing mini calligraphy!

It was really hot out -- 30 degrees at least, but it was a good time to be out with hardly anyone walking along the waterfront. With the 123 new coronavirus cases reported today -- a new record -- it was even more important to be social distancing as much as possible.

When I was approaching the convention centre, on the ground I could see something in between the bricks. Upon closer inspection, I saw dioramas of everyday life in the size of a brick!

There were three that I could find. One featured an outdoor patio or rooftop setting with house plants sitting on some tiles and a table with tiny pieces of paper with calligraphy written on them. Someone was practicing calligraphy, writing Chinese idioms. An ink stone was there along with a brush.

Someone's room with magazines and suitcase

Another one looked like a room of a young person, with a skipping rope on a stool, some magazines, unfinished homework and a suitcase. Unfortunately moisture got into this particular diorama, and with the noon day sun it was hard to take a photo without my shadow in it!

The last scene seemed like dinner on the table for three people with three pairs of chopsticks on the table. There's scrambled eggs with chives, a plate of stir-fried kale with garlic, steamed minced pork patty, steamed fish and a tureen of soup that had been simmering for hours. Oh yes and three bowls of rice.

There are also some old pictures on the table, passport photos and a class photo. Off to the side is a small table for a child making a toy airplane.

Dinner for three is ready on the table

These brick-sized scenes must be fairly new -- they have changed the "art" selection around the convention centre recently. But if I didn't look too closely I would never have noticed these dioramas on the ground! I didn't look too closely around the area to see if there was any information about the artist. But now I have another excuse to walk over there again...

The Sad Demise of Print

Eat and Travel Weekly ends publication on August 3

Eat and Travel Weekly used to be the bible to pick up if you wanted an authoritative guide to the restaurant scene in Hong Kong. It featured the newest restaurants, reviews, the best of the best, as well as travel tips for destinations around the world.

One former editor told me that working there would ruin your digestive system because when they tried to find the best char siu or the best mooncake for example, they definitely tried a lot of them -- in one go.

An article testing out different Mont Blanc cakes in town

Samples from 50 or even 100 establishments would be couriered to the office, where someone was delegated to label each one from one to 50 or one to 100 so that they could be tasted blindly.

And yes, they would try each one to try to determine which one deserved the gold standard.

However, in the last few years, the economy has taken a big hit especially in print media, and advertising plunged, forcing the magazine, owned by Next Media (now Next Digital), to be downsized and folded into Next Magazine in 2015.

But a few days ago it was announced the popular magazine would have its last print run on August 3, and from then onwards will be digital only with a website and mobile app presence.

The announcement comes after the trouble publishing company owned by Jimmy Lai Chi-ying sold several magazines to businessman Kenny Wee Ho for HK$500 million, but Eat and Travel Weekly was not included in the deal.

A story about different styles of izakaya in Hong Kong

"Owing to the decline of print media, it is with regret that we are announcing the end of our print edition... although the room for survival in print media is shrinking, we will carry on with our professional spirit and continue to shine on the digital platform," said a statement on the magazine's Facebook page.

"Lastly, we would like to express gratitude to our readers for their support over the past 20 years."

It's sad news when such a popular publication ceases to put out a print version -- if Eat and Travel Weekly can't survive, what hope is there for the rest of Hong Kong's magazines?

This is the death knell for print publications in Hong Kong -- that the shift to digital is moving really fast, as everyone checks their smartphones for the latest news, than deliberately go to the newsstands to get a magazine.

Which publication will die next? Stay tuned.

Bye Bye Brother Cream!

My first encounter with Brother Cream in June 2014

Sad to see Brother Cream and his owner's convenience store in Tsim Sha Tsui East to go due to rising rents.

I managed to see the chubby British shorthair cat a few times in the last two years or so, and yesterday, the last day of the shop's operation, a number of fans came by to say goodbye.

However Brother Cream didn't seem to care about all the fuss, with so many visitors and media around that he lounged around napping for most of the day.

His owner sold Brother Cream merchandise as well as books

The demise of the shop is also a sign of the times, as the owner, Bee Ko Chee-shing said that even if he moved to another location, business would be difficult because fewer people are buying magazines and newspapers.

He tried to capitalize on the fame of the cat by producing two books, Brother Cream in East TST, and Cream Chicken Soup, along with public appearances and even an advertising contract with department store Wing On, and a statue of him at Times Square for Chinese New Year.

However these were not enough to keep the money rolling in, though Ko admits if it wasn't for those gigs, he would have closed shop two years ago.

Brother Cream shot to fame in 2012 when he was allegedly stolen and fans posted notices of him around the area. The media picked it up and the cat made front page news. He was apparently returned about 20 days later and by then had garnered lots of fans and even a Facebook page.

He even made a special appearance for Chinese New Year

In the meantime Ko will give Brother Cream a break and hopefully fans will be able to see the fluffy feline somewhere again soon.

Thanks Brother Cream, for hanging around. You brightened up many people's day, just for being you.

Pictorial Past

Bound in happiness -- a year's worth of magazines

My great aunt passed away over a year ago and her daughter-in-law began cleaning out some cupboards that were filled with lots of old books kept from over the years.

Features of the famous Chinese opera performers of the day

Two interesting ones she found were The Happiness Pictorial (幸福) from 1956 and 1957. These were monthly magazines one could buy or subscribe to, and if you wished, you could buy a hardbound copy of a whole year's worth.

I guess my great aunt or great uncle liked these magazines so much that they bought the hardbound ones.

A double-page spread on toys, old and new

We flipped through them and it was a fascinating look at what life was like over 60 years ago. Each issue featured an array of different topics, such as dim sum today, or western baking, the latest fashions, space for local photographers to showcase their work, cartoons, and travel.

The pages were mostly covered in pictures with Chinese text with some English translation. So as someone who doesn't read much Chinese, this was a fascinating read into Hong Kong at the time.

First of all the layouts weren't particularly effective, and pictures should have been edited down. The writing wasn't particularly informative or well written, but gave us a general gist of what was going on.

Contrast these pictures with today's harbour scenes

Each cover would feature starlets and my relatives explained to me that many in the 1950s and 1960s committed suicide because they were in relationships with men who treated them badly.

On the back cover there was always an ad for White Flower Oil or 白花油. Back then back page cover ads in colour were HK$1,000!

Artwork was also featured, like water colour paintings, wood block prints and paintings by artists like Pablo Picasso.

The content was so random that one had to wonder what was the point of this magazine, but perhaps during this period, it served a wide audience, who may have enjoyed different aspects of it. This was obviously before the days of specialization!

A beautiful wood block print within the book

Nevertheless, it's such an intriguing look at how people during that time saw lifestyle and what it meant to them.