Picture of the Day: Jade Rabbit Celebrates Christmas

So the jade rabbit celebrates Christmas with two reindeers...

Walks along the harbourfront are becoming more interesting and intriguing as the decorations by the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre are modified for the upcoming holiday.

For example during Mid-Autumn Festival, there were displays put up featuring a white rabbit meant to represent the jade rabbit, who is Chang-e's companion on the moon (it's a long story).

So there are displays featuring the rabbit with a giant moon, or in a pumpkin (with devil horns for Halloween), and inside the orange structure one can sit with the rabbit and listen to Moon River...

Now that Christmas is fast approaching, the rabbit is back, but this time with a red and white hat over one ear, and is accompanied by two stubby-looking reindeer, one wrapped in a blue scarf, the other in red with a bow.

So while we appreciate the sculptures are being reused for environmental reasons, it's a bit confusing having the jade rabbit celebrating Christmas, is it not?

Picture of the day: Full Mid-Autumn Moon

The moon last night near the Wan Chai Ferry

 

The weather is finally starting to cool down, though it's becoming more like Singapore's in that there are intermittent showers for 20 minutes and then it's sunny again.

Mid-Autumn was a protracted one this year -- I started receiving mooncakes back in July as hospitality businesses hoped to make up for some losses by selling earlier. Some restaurants and hotels reported very good sales this year, even though a few raised prices, or customers wanted the most expensive hamper sets to give away as corporate gifts.

This picture on the Wan Chai harbourfront near the ferry pier was taken last night and I saw the moon tonight and it was a bit rounder and brighter (I was out for dinner so I didn't have a chance to admire the moon until afterwards).

In general everyone seems to be happier to celebrate the festival with loved ones, as last year the pandemic restricted numbers in restaurants, or people were not in the mood to go out.

Here's hoping Hong Kong can ride this pandemic out a bit longer, but also keeping in mind borders need to be lifted in order for the economy to get better. There is only so much companies can do to rely on local consumption.

中秋节快乐！

Happy Mid Autumn!

Making a Clay Lotus

My lotus flower with the petals supported by tissues

 

Earlier this week I had a chance to get crafty and learn how to make a lotus flower out of clay.

Leo Wong is a clay sculptor and his day job as a landscape architect so he has a lot of time to observe flowers in nature.

Wong showing us how to make petals

He taught a few of us how to make a lotus flower in a few steps (and with his help)! And he explained the difference between lotus and water lily is that the entire lotus flower is edible, while the latter is not.

First Wong told us to roll some clay into a ball, and then press it down with the palm of our hand and then roll it out until it was a few millimetres thick. 

Then using a leaf-shaped cookie cutter we cut the shape out of the clay and then placed it in a silicon mold that instantly created some lines on the petals.

The pointy end is the top of the lotus petal and we curled that part together and then made the petal more round, as those closer to the middle are more rounded than those at the outer edge.

We added "glue" or wet clay on the lily pad-shaped clay and placed each of the petals on it, slightly apart from each other. 

When that was done, it was time to do the next layer, the smaller petals placed in between the first layer. 

To finish it off, Wong put a yellow clay-shaped middle of the lotus flower in our lotus flower and added little hairs around it as decoration. He made them by pushing clay through a sieve.

The first layer of petals glued onto the lily pad

Wong explained our lotus flowers needed about a week to completely dry, after which point the clay would be thinner and then it would be glazed then fired.

Lots of fun and can't wait to see what it looks like when it's done in time for Mid-Autumn Festival!

 

Picture of the Day: Mid-Autumn Moon

Looking at the full moon from Tamar tonight in Admiralty

 

Yesterday many people were preoccupied with watching what was happening with the National Day protests in Causeway Bay that saw at least 86 people arrested by evening.

But did people get the chance to see the full moon?

With yesterday's chaos behind us, this evening people seemed relaxed and in a more festive mood. I walked home from Wan Chai and along the waterfront there were many people, out to see the moon.

A young family with very big rabbit lanterns!

At Tamar, people laid out blankets and had picnics. One man had a bottle of wine with cheese and fruit. All the groups were all socially distanced and relatively quiet. 

Along the waterfront many people from kids to adults carried lanterns as they walked around. 

The humidity and temperature has dropped considerably making it a nice walk. Hard to believe 10 months have already gone by and now we are into fall.

 

Patriotism is an Obligation, not an Option

City Garden Hotel is celebrating National Day with pride

 

Tomorrow is not only Mid-Autumn Festival, but also the 71st anniversary of the establishment of the People's Republic of China.

Some businesses are trying to show how patriotic they are, with City Garden Hotel plastering two flags, the Hong Kong and Chinese flags to celebrate national day.

Luo said patriotism is a duty, not a choice

There's also another big banner in Admiralty near a flyover for everyone to see.

The campaign to force Hongkongers into submission continued today with Luo Huining, director of the liaison office stressed patriotism is not an option but an obligation.

"As Chinese, loving the country is not a choice, but a duty, and even more so, the correct path," he said.

Stark words for people still reeling from last year's extradition protests, and now the recently implemented national security law.

"The National People's Congress enacted the Hong Kong national security law to end the madness of Hong Kong independence advocacy and the black violence that ran out of control," Luo said, referring to the colour worn by anti-government protesters.

He added civil servants and students should receive more education on national security, the country's situation, Chinese history and culture, the Chinese constitution, and the Basic Law.

Red banners celebrating national day

To demand Hongkongers to be patriotic to China is while not surprising, will not win the hearts and minds of the people. 

This hard line approach will only make people more recalcitrant.

Meanwhile also today the families of the 12 detained in Shenzhen pleaded in front of the liaison office to be able to pass messages and mooncakes to their loved ones.

The People's Procuratorate in Shenzhen's Yantian district said this evening they had approved the arrests of 10 in the group over crossing the national border unlawfully, and two others for planning the offense. 

A woman, who is wanted by Hong Kong police, and Tang Kai-yin, a 30-year-old salesman who was earlier charged with conspiracy to commit arson with intent were both accused of organizing the operation.

Pro-establishment newspaper Sing Tao Daily cited a source saying that Tang was the driver of the speedboat with 11 others on board.

Under China's Criminal Law, people arrested for illegally crossing face one year in jail, but those who are convicted of organizing others to do so can be sentenced to up to seven years in jail.  If someone is found to have a principal role in operating a syndicate for illegal border crossings, or who violently resist law enforcement, the penalty can be life in prison.

To hear the 12 have been formally arrested and charged will be devastating news for the families.  

This year Mid-Autumn Festival will be sombre one with the coronavirus pandemic, social-distancing limited to four in public, and now dramatic weather with thunderstorms and heavy rain... and yes -- love the country -- it's a must!

Picture of the Day: Mid Autumn Festival 2019

Brilliant shot of Lion Rock for this year's Mid-Autumn Festival

While it was Mid-Autumn Festival on Friday, many protesters did not take a break to celebrate the full moon with family and friends around the dinner table and eat mooncakes.

Instead they gathered in shopping malls, again to sing the newly-adopted anthem, Glory to Hong Kong, as well as chant various slogans, and raise an outstretched hand to show the government needs to meet their five demands.

Others took advantage of the Mid-Autumn Festival to create lanterns, some yellow with the umbrella on it, or even Pepe the Frog, or even protest slogans on them and walked around parks and streets displaying their lanterns.

The more sporty or adventurous ones headed to Lok Fu and then climbed up to Lion Rock to shine some lights. There some got out their mooncakes to share with friends and fellow protesters.

What a memorable way to spend Mid-Autumn Festival!

Picture of the Day: Festive Mix-Up

A pretty lantern in Kennedy Town, but the caption doesn't match the occasion

This weekend I've been busy getting ready for the Year of the Pig -- I cleaned out my flat -- even cleaning lamp shades that were very dusty! Washed windows and mopped the floor. I bought a small bouquet of flowers and even made lots of dumplings!

I even brought back the wrappers from Vancouver, which are very thin. However I did not estimate how much filling I would need and had to go out two more times to buy more minced pork and make the recipe again...

The wet market was doing a roaring trade -- well at least the food vendors were, and meanwhile recycling bins and garbage bins were overflowing... many doing a Marie Kondo of their homes. For me it's a continual exercise...

After dinner I went to the Kennedy Town pool for my usual Sunday swim and passed by Belcher Bay Park. They had a nice light display on and I decided to take some pictures on the way back. I admired the lantern and then looked down at the description.

It said the lantern display was for the Mid-Autumn Festival! Then I remembered that the Leisure and Cultural Services Department likes to rotate its displays around the 19 districts, so this was their way of recycling.

I'm glad they are re-using decorations, but why not at least update the description to say the lanterns are for Chinese New Year celebrations instead?

Picture of the Day: Mid-Autumn Moon

The moon is clearly visible from Sanlitun Village in Beijing

I have arrived in Beijing for a few days and during the day it seemed like the city wasn't too busy as it's Mid-Autumn Festival. Perhaps they would rather stay home to avoid the crowds or just celebrate the day off at home.

The weather here is perfect, mid 20s and a bit cooler in the evenings where wearing a light jacket is enough to keep warm.

This evening the sky was so clear that the moon was clearly visible. It wasn't huge, but very bright!

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! 

Making Bamboo Lanterns

My almost finished lantern! Lots of work involved but fun to do!

Mid-Autumn Festival is in late September, but I already received my first box of mooncakes on Monday! We're in the heat of summer and yet mooncakes are being promoted by restaurants and hotels at the moment.

The frame built and then adding fabric

The Peninsula Hong Kong invited a few of us to learn how to make traditional lanterns for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Two years ago I learned how to make one using tissue paper, and this time we used cloth.

Our instructor, surnamed Yeung, is 40 years old and he claims there are only three people in Hong Kong who are considered masters in making bamboo lanterns and lion heads. He explained he is the third generation in his family to be in this field.

 

First we took some bamboo sticks that had already been pre-bent at different points to create a hexagon shape. To hold both ends together, we used strips of tissue paper and a thick glue made with flour to secure the bamboo. We had to do four of these sticks.

Then the lantern started to take shape putting two of these hexagons at right angles to each other and again binding them with the tissue paper strips and glue. Then another was placed on a diagonal to match up the angles to create triangles and then the other.

 

Lots of glue (and sticky fingers) to create this hexagon lantern

Phew! That was hard work!

Now we had to start gluing on strips of fabric onto the frame. We applied a stickier kind of glue that got all over our fingers and needed turpentine to get off -- that's how strong it was. We applied glue on the bamboo frame on one square and then put a white piece of fabric on top and tried to stretch the material onto the frame as much as possible so it wouldn't look flimsy. Afterwards we trimmed the fabric as close to the edge as we could.

Then we did the triangles in yellow fabric and repeated the process. Another major step done.

Next we were encouraged to decorate the lantern by painting the four squares with a bright orange paint and even paint Chinese characters on it. I'm terrible at calligraphy so I just stuck flowers that were cut out for us.

Finally to make the ugly edges disappear, we were given a trimming to glue on all the edges and the lantern instantly looked much better. To finish it off, a fringe trim at the bottom and voila! A lantern!

Just need to add the trim to make the lantern look nicer

When we built the lantern, there was no frame for the candle inside so it's literally only a lantern shell. But it was fun nonetheless! It took over two and a half hours to make it!

Mini Hong Kong Brings on Nostalgia

A girl looks on at a street scene that looks quite real, but is very small

My dad bugged me to go see the "Feature of HK" miniature exhibition at Olympian City and I finally got around to it because it's closing in two days. I got to the shopping mall at Olympic station after work and there was a line-up to get in. Luckily it was a short wait, but it wasn't fun having to jostle with everyone else not only to get a decent look of the exhibits, but also take pictures.

A traditional shop decorated with Chinese New Year flowers

Nevertheless it was kind of disappointing there wasn't an introduction to the exhibition -- the general public probably didn't care, but it would have been nice to know who the people were behind these pieces -- they are all locals as far as I know, some of whom have even published books on how they make these miniature dioramas.

Some of the pieces were very large, like a replica of the Tai O former police station that is now a hotel, or a series of stalls along cobblestone steps that looks like Pottinger Street, another about wooden huts for people living on Mount Davis Road.

But many of them were small, specific shops, like a cha chaan teng, or a barber shop, jewellery store, shoe shop, one selling roast meats or a general store. The amount of detail that went into each one was staggering, from the individual pieces of candy or fruit in the grocery store to the old school green floor tiles of the barber shop.

The detail of this grocery story is quite amazing!

There was one store that sold snacks like fish balls and egg waffles, lanterns for Mid-Autumn Festival, and another selling dried seafood and even eggs! Even the tea shop had tea cakes wrapped in paper.

People looked at each one, fascinated with the detail and they would comment about how the scene reminded them of their childhood. For most of the visitors who were over 40, it was a trip down memory lane.

A lot of research when into each piece but also trying to recreate the items with as much detail as possible was amazing. It's definitely a labour of love, but perhaps to see people so fascinated with what they have done is probably rewarding enough for them.

A small barbershop complete with green tiles

Nostalgia about Hong Kong from several decades ago is still very emotional for people. It makes them realize how much things have changed in the city, for better or for worse. It will be a theme that businesses will continue to exploit to tug at the heart strings because most people have fond memories of the past.

Picture of the Day: Mid-Autumn Festival

Several white rabbits around a bouquet of flowers and Chang-e on the right

Two days ago we had blue skies and it was very hot. I took a fantastic picture of the sunset while waiting for the Star Ferry to take me across to Central from Tsim Sha Tsui.

Then on Saturday we had thunder and rain, though not the Amber rainstorm warning the Hong Kong Observatory had put up but had to cancel soon after.

There was a festive atmosphere at Belcher Bay Park

So today the hopes of having clear skies to see the full moon for Mid-Autumn Festival today were dashed with overcast skies, though no rain.

I had hopes of going for a swim this evening under a full moon at the Kennedy Town Swimming Pool didn't happen, but for once it was wonderful to have the pool practically empty because most people were out having dinner or too full to swim.

Next door at Belcher Bay Park, it was festively decorated with coloured lanterns strung along and even spot lights shining on certain areas that practically made it like daylight.

A good number of the neighbourhood residents were hanging out on the grass picnic style, and kids carrying lanterns ranging from traditional paper ones to plastic blown up ones of minions and cartoon characters, or even neon lit coloured bands. Other families wandered around the park as if taking an evening stroll after a big family dinner complete with mooncakes.

Children brought their lanterns to play with in the park

There was also a large lantern display featuring several white rabbits prancing around a basket of flowers and Chang-e standing by the side.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Watch Out for Mooncake Bribes

Name officials you think are spending too much money on mooncakes

With Mid-Autumn Festival on September 27, mainland Chinese officials are warning that the giving of gifts, particularly mooncakes, could be a hotbed for corruption.

Xinhua reported Song Dajun, deputy chief of the Party work style supervision office under the Chinese Communist Party Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), said: "The root is still there even though the tree has fallen".

Interesting metaphor considering the anti-corruption drive is still ongoing, so how can the tree have fallen already?

He called on supervisory bodies to be extra vigilant ahead of and during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays a few days after, as this period could be "used as a cover for subtle bribery".

Mooncakes are dense pastries usually filled with lotus seed paste and duck egg yolks, though these days there are numerous variations, like milk custard, red bean with mandarin peel, even durian and chocolate. Some are presented in elaborate packaging that may give the appearance of an expensive gift.

So beware! If you see Chinese officials spending excessive amounts of money during the upcoming festivities, report them to the CCDI! Violators will be named and shamed in a weekly report on the CCDI website from September 16.

Mid-Autumn Open Air Concert

The Mid-Autumn moon at midnight over Terme di Montecatini

This year's Mid-Autumn Festival will be a memorable one for me.

First of all I brought to Italy some mooncakes from Hong Kong to celebrate this special event with my parents and their friends.

I brought both the highly prized egg custard mooncakes from The Peninsula, andd also traditional ones from a place in Fanling where the baker may retire any time now.

After a dinner of rustic barley soup, swordfish and tiramisu, we tucked into some mooncakes and then headed to Terme di Montecatini to listen to a gala evening of music.

The beautiful setting for tonight's concert

The spa itself is gorgeous -- built in the 17th century, it has painted tiles on the walls, frescoes on the domed ceilings and marble columns and floors. The property is large and spacious, and off to one side are the actual waters -- Regina, Rinfresco and Tettviccio to name three of the six that come out of taps.

With the full moon slowly rising above, we sat outside in the open air to watch a concert featuring four opera singers in an exercise in musical diplomacy between Italy and Russia, or more specifically Montecatini and St Petersburg.

It seems ironic the concert is happening now with the current conflict in Ukraine, but perhaps that's what music does -- trying to bridge political gaps through mutual interest.

The fantastic tenor and soprano with the conductor in between

Nevertheless, it started off late, well after 9.30pm and then there were the translations of welcome messages from the Montecatini mayor and a Russian representative in Italian, English and Russian, so the concert didn't actually start until after 10pm.

Half an hour later there was a 15-minute intermission which made us wonder what was going on. But it seemed like many of the locals were there to socialize and didn't mind the early break.

Following the intermission was when the concert really came together and the audience was rapt by the performances of the tenor and soprano in particular. The other soprano had fallen ill and the conductor called another to replace her yesterday. She did a fine job.

The conductor even sang a few lines in a duet with the substitute singer which was amusing. It was also impressive that he could speak in the three languages relatively effortlessly.

So who can forget a Mid-Autumn Festival with a full moon overhead and listening to the operatic works of Tchaikovsky and Puccini like La Boheme and Turandot in a gorgeous Italian spa?

Pictures of the Day: Mid-Autumn Festival

A hot pot lantern with a tiny but round moon in the distance!

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! 中秋节快乐！

The weather in Hong Kong has cooled in the last few days and with Mid-Autumn Festival here, the drop in humidity with some wind have been very welcome.

A reflection of the water bottle dome lit with LED lights

For today, companies must let their employees off early so that they can have the traditional dinner with their families and eat mooncakes.

So YTSL and I took the opportunity to have an early dinner and then head to Victoria Park where the main Mid-Autumn Festival event on Hong Kong Island is held for the public.

Inside was like a curtain creatively lit by water bottle lights

We arrived from Tin Hau station and immediately saw a giant dome made of plastic water containers lit with LED lights and got into the massive lineup. Luckily it went quite quickly -- just over half an hour, walking through the snaking queue until we got into the dome.

A traditional puppet show that's now mechanized

The shell itself is made of those giant water cooler containers and then inside there's thousands of water bottles also with small LED lights in them. They were like a curtain of water bottles which makes for an interesting low-cost design. Apparently the water bottles will be recycled after this event is over.

After our short tour of the dome we wandered around a bit -- or more like waded through a sea of people, everyone constantly taking pictures everywhere, making it hard to dodge and move.

There was a row of stands with businesses selling everything from drinks to cotton candy, dried squid, and even cha chaan teng chain restaurant Tsui Wah selling toast and its signature milk tea in a bottle.

One of the better-looking lanterns on display

We also saw some traditional crafts, including puppets, but these were automated.

However we weren't very impressed with the lantern selection this year. It seemed like the theme was food, and so there was a giant hot pot, a bamboo steamer with dim sum in it, a massive skewer with fish balls on it, and egg waffles too. Yawn Lame.

After that we were pretty much wiped out from having to deal with the crowds. You can only take so much before you just want to go home! Nevertheless we were pleased the weather held up nicely, the big round moon poking through the clouds periodically, because Typhoon Usagi may visit us on Sunday...

Fish balls and egg waffles... hmm...