An Omicron New Year

Just as Omicron has entered the Hong Kong community, people gathered in restaurants, hotels and outdoors to ring in 2022.

It has been confirmed there are at least two local cases of Omicron that originated in a Chinese restaurant in Festival Walk shopping mall in Kowloon Tong.

At Moon Palace restaurant, one Cathay Pacific crew member dined with his 76-year-old father, who also tested positive for the variant, as well as a 34-year-old construction worker who was sitting 10 metres away and eating with his family.

At least 3 people were infected at Moon Palace

Two other Cathay crew have tested positive for the virus as well.

Cathay's internal rules are that aircrew staff should only go out briefly for essential items and coronavirus testing during the isolation period. But now it looks like they must quarantine for seven days instead of three, and with not enough crew, flights will be affected, including cargo.

There were concerns on Twitter that the shipments of food at Marks & Spencer would be affected, though as we know, most food in Hong Kong is imported. Mail to various countries will also be affected.

So perhaps we are already in the fifth wave, but for the most part people were out and about tonight to celebrate the end of 2021 and welcome the new year.

While temperatures were mild, the last few days the pollution index has gone up and today was particularly hazy all day. We didn't make it up to the Peak and just as well -- we probably wouldn't have been able to see much -- so we opted the harbourfront instead.

People getting tested for Covid at Festival Walk

And when the countdown to midnight happened, suddenly fireworks exploded from the tops of several buildings nearby which was quite a sight. Hong Kong has hardly had any fireworks for the past two years so it was nice to have 10 minutes of them going off as well as a synchronised drone show.

Here we are in 2022. But now Hong Kong is seeing Omicron spreading in the city -- and hopefully that will spur the unvaccinated to finally get their jabs. It's time to get tough on those not yet vaccinated otherwise the city will never be able to move on.

We need to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Upcoming Dull Year of the Ox

How can you dig into poon choi if only two people per table?

 

Hongkongers were glum as soon as they heard yesterday from Secretary for Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee that social distancing measures would continue well into Chinese New Year. There were hopes that the decreasing numbers would lead to a loosening up to the start of the Year of the Ox.

But alas, that will not happen.

Chinese restaurants will not be busy this year

The current rules on dining (two per table, dine-in service until 6pm), will continue, while face-to-face classes in schools won't begin until after the Lunar New Year in mid-February.

This is terrible news for Chinese restaurants that were hoping to recoup some of the losses sustained all year. How can any family in Hong Kong have a happy new year when they can only have two per table? Even having dim sum for two people is difficult, let alone poon choi or a large feast.

How restaurants are going to overcome this obstacle and financially survive in the next few months is highly questionable.  While they can offer takeaway meals, these eateries can only make so much money from this, and anyway the festive atmosphere has been preemptively been sucked out by the government, unable to control this virulent fourth wave.

While 32 new cases were recorded today, there's an outbreak in Princess Margaret Hospital in Kwai Chung, and a construction site where workers are building a tunnel between Tseung Kwan O and Lam Tin. 

CNY is a time for family reunions, not this year

The police are out and about in packs of six or more (when the regulations stipulate two per group in public spaces), checking restaurants in Tseung Kwan O today and other parts of the city, but is that enough to keep the number of new cases down?

Chan, the health secretary, claims the government could even regulate private events, scrutinizing to make sure people are complying to strict measures in their own homes.

While she didn't get into specifics of how that would be executed, one would think a snitch line would be instituted. 

But it's true -- I have neighbours who during the Christmas and New Year holidays, held house parties with lots of people. Not only can I hear many voices, but also the numerous pairs of shoes outside prove there's more than just a family of four inside.

If people are too noisy, then there's reason to believe there's a big party going on... which really should not be happening during a pandemic.

Just saying.

Picture of the Day: Looking Down on Hong Kong

From High West a view of Hong Kong, Kowloon and beyond

 

For New Year's Eve my friend and I decided to close out the year to do something different -- hike up the Peak and go up to High West in time for midnight.

We had to prepare because it would be very cold that night -- down to 7 degrees Celsius, and we needed headlamps too to make our way up unlit paths.

Walking up the Peak the skyline was stunning

I wore several layers under my down coat, and even brought mittens and a hat! The headlamp definitely came in handy in several parts of our hike up, and in particular going up High West, a section of the Peak that has no lighting whatsoever.

When we got there just after 11.30pm, there was a group of lively Italians drinking, eating and chatting with friends back in Italy on their phones. A pair of young local guys seemed intimidated by them and left shortly after we arrived so we occupied their spot. 

While we were hot and sweaty walking up, we soon got quite cold from sitting around waiting for midnight to arrive! Luckily it wasn't too windy, but my hat definitely came in handy. The view up there was so clear it was amazing. The skyline was so brightly lit that perhaps there were a lot of people at home.

And looking up above, the moon was full and for once in Hong Kong you could see many stars around.

Meanwhile another group of French people came up too, complete with those New Year party hats and tiaras and headlamps too.

A southside view of Cyberport and Aberdeen

When midnight rolled around, we all shouted and hollered, popped open our champagne bottles and toasted to a new year.

Soon after taking some pictures, we descended down and then my friend and I managed to catch the bus down the Peak -- which was quite full of people -- and grab the last seats at the back of the top of the double-decker bus. A massive traffic jam took us forever to get down at first, but by 1.30am I was back home.

I won't forget this New Year's Eve for a long time, and hope to be able to use this headlamp again!

Starting the New Year in the Forest

A nice way to start 2020 with a walk through Pacific Spirit Regional Park

Last night New Year's Eve was a complete washout non-stop heavy rain forced several local mountains to cancel special events planned.
 However, by around 10pm the rain had stopped, though we were expecting more rain this morning for the start of 2020.

But the weather cooperated and we woke up to fantastic blue skies and warm weather -- up to 11 degrees, perfect for a walk outside.

In the late morning we headed out to Pacific Spirit Regional Park and enjoyed the fresh air, and immersed ourselves in the forest. The latest trend is "forest bathing", to be in nature and appreciate the beauty, inhale the clean oxygen and relax.

The new trend is to call this "forest bathing"

There were lots of puddles though from the heavy rain, which my younger nephew particularly enjoyed, walking through them in his yellow boots.  

We went walking for about an hour, encountering many others on their regular walks with their dogs and children, wishing each other a Happy New Year. What a nice way to start 2020 in Vancouver -- no rain!

Picture of the Day: Full Moon 2018

A very bright and round moon this evening for the coming 2018

It's finally 2018 on the west coast and a full moon to boot!

It is the largest and brightest full moon for the year as it is closest to the Earth for 2018.

This one is called a supermoon because it is coming closer than 361,554.9km of earth.

My picture is really fuzzy, but you get the idea.

What a wonderful way to start 2018! Round and bright

Egg Tarts and Dumplings

Here's two trays of the dumplings we made

Over the Christmas and New Year holidays, I tried to do some decent cooking because in Hong Kong, the kitchens are small and mine is not very well stocked with ingredients let alone cooking equipment.

I managed to try a brownie recipe from Jamie Oliver's Christmas Cookbook. It called for dark chocolate, white chocolate, sour cherries and I added nuts in there. It turned out a bit gooier than I expected, but it wasn't too sweet thanks to the sour cherries.

For our New Year's Eve party, my visiting nephew told us he would contribute to the potluck by making egg tarts and we were surprised and skeptical. Could he really make them? He said he had made it before and found a recipe online.

Some of the finished egg tarts that tasted really good!

On the day I watched him make it, carefully mashing the butter with a fork, then mixing it with flour, letting it set in the fridge, and then making the egg custard. When the dough was ready, my niece and I helped him shape the dough into each of the holes of the cupcake pan which was a tedious process, before pouring the egg custard in and then baking it in the oven.

In the end it turned out quite well! One of my uncles who doesn't normally eat sweet things had one and a half egg tarts before dinner. The crust was a bit tough, but it was strong enough to hold the egg custard, which was actually quite delicious.

On New Year's Day, we planned to make dumplings. We had some minced pork but not enough meat, so my mom came up with the idea of adding leftover turkey meat that she shredded by hand.

Added to the meat was minced garlic, chopped spinach, mushrooms, some oil, sesame oil, Chinese wine and salt.

My mom and I started wrapping them, and then my niece and nephew came back from shopping and they started helping out too, the first time for them to wrap dumplings. They learned pretty quickly and soon we were all done, with a few wrappers left over.

And the dumplings tasted so good -- they tasted even better thanks to the roasted turkey meat, and with a hint of ginger was very tasty!

So if you ever wondered what to do with leftover turkey -- make turkey dumplings! And always use the carcass to either make a broth or congee. Your stomach will love you for it!

Remembering Dal Richards

The King of Swing Dal Richards died just days before his 98th birthday

While many of us were getting ready to countdown the minutes to the start of 2016, one of Vancouver's icons passed away.

Dal Richards was a big band leader who had performed at 79 consecutive New Year's Eve gigs. He missed witnessing his 80th when he passed at 11.41pm on December 31 at 97.

I had the pleasure of interviewing the King of Swing about 10 years ago in his loft downtown that was full of memorabilia from performing for decades. But what I remember most about him was how full of energy he was even then in his 80s.

He may have physically moved slower, and hearing not so good, but his mind was still very sharp and had quite vivid memories; unfortunately I cannot recount them for you, only that he used to perform at the top of Hotel Vancouver from 1940 that was broadcast live on CBC Radio.

Richards performing with Lorraine McAllister in 1958

"It's Saturday night, at the CBC presents the music of Dal Richards and his Orchestra from the Panorama Roof," he recounted. "High atop the Hotel Vancouver, overlooking the twinkling harbour lights of Canada's gateway to the Pacific, it's music by the band at the top of the town."

How he got into music was really by accident.

Richards was born and raised in Vancouver, and was named after the doctor who delivered him, Dr Dallas Perry.

When Richards was a boy he fell while holding his slingshot and the prong gouged out his left eye. It was replaced by a glass eye, but to recuperate he had to spend long periods in the dark and he became despondent.

Dr Perry suggested the boy learn an instrument and he took to the clarinet. The rest, literally is history. It was during this time he became exposed to jazz and was hooked.

By the end of high school he had his own band and played his first New Year's Eve gig in 1935 and never really stopped working in one capacity or another.

His secret to long life?

"Well, if you find something you like doing in life, pursue it with your heart. That is what I've done with music. I found that it was my love, so I enveloped my life totally."

Richards leaves behind his wife Muriel, and a daughter Dallas with singer Lorraine McAllister, who died in 1984.

Thank you Dal for your boundless energy, optimism and humour, and of course your fabulous music!

A Viennese Start to 2015

At the finale of the performance when performing the Radetzky March

To celebrate January 1 in Vancouver, my family and I attended the annual New Year's Concert Salute to Vienna at the Orpheum Theatre downtown.

We went last year and had a good time so we thought we'd try it again and we weren't disappointed.

It was a full house and the former Austrian trade commissioner (did she just leave her job?) wore a dirndl, a traditional country dress with a blouse, bodice, and full skirt below the knee. She talked about how these concerts, that are presented in various cities in Canada started 20 years ago and now they are performed in not only Vancouver, but also Calgary, Edmonton, Hamilton, Montreal, Quebec and Toronto.

She even added tickets for January 1, 2016 would be available online this evening, or the old school way in a few days. Talk about advance ticket sales!

In any event, the show got underway and conductor Imre Kollar from Budapest was fantastic. You could tell he was very comfortable talking to the audience and telling jokes to liven up the atmosphere.

The Orpheum always has a warm glow when there's a show...

After The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra performed the Overture to Die Fledermaus, Kollar turned around to say that he could see there were some late comers to the performance. He suggested they would want to hear the piece again and even got the orchestra to play the first several bars again.

He later talked about a friend who played the viola and was half gypsy, half Hungarian. The mother was Hungarian and the father was a friend of the father's....

Or he asked the tenor his favourite song, and when he named it, the conductor said they didn't have the score for that piece, but the orchestra would do their best.

The tenor later returned to the stage to see Kollar was not there so he stepped onto the podium and started conducting the orchestra, when the conductor returned and had no choice but to start singing the first few bars of the song...

And after the ballet dancers leave the stage, Kollar asks the audience how their performance was, because his back is to them and can't see them dancing...

You get the picture.

The two opera singers were fantastic, particularly Polish soprano Katarzyna Donalska was utterly amazing. Her voice range was so extensive, when she hit some very high notes, it reminded me of those cartoons where the opera singer is able to break glass!

In particular Les oiseaux or Doll Song from Tales of Hoffman was excellent, where she acted like a mechanical doll, or shall I say a flirty doll where at one point rearranging her top that was holding her ample bosom...

Tenor Martin Piskorski was also good -- for someone in his late 20s. He was comfortable on the stage too and also hit his notes perfectly, particularly with Dein ist mein ganzes Herz, from Land of Smiles.

The show was also energized with a couple who are international champion ballroom dancers, and ballet dancers from the Kiev-Aniko Ballet of Ukraine.

At the end the audience was invited to stamp their feet for Strauss' Thunder and Lightning Polka, Op. 324, which was fun, and then we were invited to stand for the singing of Auld Lang Syne, followed by the famous Radetzky March.

Wonder how they will top this conductor next year?

Salute to Vienna: New Year's Concert 2015

Orpheum Theatre

January 1, 2015

salutetovienna.com

New Year's Viennese Style

Inside the Orpheum Theatre waiting for the New Year's concert to begin

To celebrate the start of 2014, my family and I went to The Orpheum Theatre to watch "Salute to Vienna New Year's Concert 2014" performed by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra with Viennese conductor Matthias Fletzberger, guest performers and six dancers from the Kiev-Aniko Ballet of Ukraine.

We'd never gone to one of these concerts before so we were pleasantly surprised by the combination of Strauss -- lots of Strauss -- singing and dancing.

The program not only featured Johann Strauss ad his brother Josef, but also Franz Lehar and Emmerich Kalman.

After the Overture to Die Fledermaus, Fletzberger gave amusing commentary for each piece. Soprano Monika Fischl from Budapest was amazing, particularly when she performed her second piece, Johann Strauss' "Fruhlingstimmen" Walzer, Op 410, where she had perfect pitch and control of her voice. Towards the end she had a mini duel with a flautist!

We also enjoyed the comedic singing and dancing duo Szilvi Szendy and Karoly Peller, both from Budapest. They came out dressed in a sleek ballroom dancing dress for say the rumba and a tuxedo respectively so we were surprised to see him flinging her around, her going through his legs and him doing cartwheels. How do you do cartwheels on stage in a tux? She also did the splits!

The ballet dancers were a nice accompaniment to the orchestra, though it was more about the female dancers, while the men were more the arm ornaments.

Finally the audience got to have a bit of fun taking part in Josef Strauss' Jokey Polka, Op. 278 where the conductor instructed us when to clap as if giving a horse a slap on its behind. More clapping ensued in the encore of Strauss' Radetzky March where Fletzberger again gave us hand signals of when to clap.

"Salute to Vienna New Year's Concert 2014" is being performed across the country these few days, from Vancouver to Calgary, Edmonton, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Quebec City.

We had the music, dancing and singing Viennese style -- the only thing missing was the super dense chocolate cake called Sacher Torte!