Despite Fifth Wave, Grave Sweeping Continues

Many ignored government warnings and went grave sweeping

Today is Ching Ming Festival, or grave sweeping and also a gorgeous day. 

The government and health officials had warned people not to go today, but many who adhere to tradition continued the practice.

A friend and I walked from Wan Chai to Kennedy Town and up Victoria Road, where we saw packed buses and lots of people clutching flowers to pay their respects to loved ones. 

There were fewer people at cemeteries today

The police were on hand to control the crowds, helping them cross the street periodically. While there were less people in general, it was still a sizeable number in the hundreds.

Health officials are concerned there could be an uptick in the number of Covid-19 cases following not only Ching Ming, but also the upcoming Easter holiday too.

Today there was a slight rise in the total number of cases today at 3,238, though the number of deaths has decreased to 87, with 81 newly reported, and six backlogged.

The other victims of the fifth wave are restaurants. 

I just found out that American restaurant Red Lobster shut its doors in Causeway Bay. It had only opened three years ago. 

Red Lobster was another victim of Covid-19

The owner said Covid-19 and the dining restrictions made it untenable to keep going and in the end the company sustained too much loss to keep going.

He thinks that those with deep pockets and can survive will live to see a rebound in 2023.

For many that's a long way off when living day by day.

Other restaurants have been taken down too, like Duck and Waffle that I had no idea had disappeared until I walked through IFC Mall and the space was completely empty. Others include Mana! and La Rotisserie, Silencio, Poem, and Second Draft (but for rent reasons).

The other day I wandered to Shun Tak, where people used to go catch ferries to go to Macau. The departure floor is completely eerie, with the floor covered, and every single shop space that used to sell ferry tickets or arrange hotel rooms or junkets are all shut down. 

Shun Tak departure hall is completely empty

When the pandemic eases, reopening Hong Kong and telling the world the city is open for business will be the hardest task for the next chief executive. The Hong Kong Tourism Board also had formidable challenge in promoting the city that has changed so drastically after the 2019 protests and the implementation of the national security law two years ago.

But hey -- let's not worry about that now, and instead focus on getting those Covid-19 numbers down...

Long Walks Yield Discoveries

Brilliant fuchsia flowers to brighten up an overcast day

Perhaps because the weather was overcast today, or people finally heeded the warnings of health officials, fewer people were seen out and about during the Easter holiday.

Today Hong Kong had 11 more coronavirus cases, bringing the total to exactly 1,000; of the new cases, 10 were from overseas, one was local.

Stone Manor was so intriguing I had to take a closer look

To make sure I would avoid crowds of people like along the waterfront, I walked along Victoria Road, a relatively quiet road that few people walk on because of the long incline involved, and it passes by a garbage dump area that has a certain smell... thankfully wearing a mask helps block the pungent odors!

Along Victoria Road are cemeteries and a handful of people came out to belatedly visit their ancestors for Qing Ming. I even spotted my relatives from across the street who were carrying bunches of flowers. For a second I wondered if I should join them, but decided they probably didn't want my company in our era of social distancing and continued on my way.

I passed by socialite Brenda Chau Tam Yuet-ching's home called Villa D'Oro that apparently has a gold toilet, and tycoon Cecil Chao Sze-tsung's place across the street with Happy Lodge where he has probably had numerous trysts.

There are two of these crests, one on each gate

I walked all the way to Sassoon Road and at the roundabout, spotted a house made of stone and circled round to take a closer look. After some research I find Stone Manor was built in the 1930s and is the home of the late Henry Fok Ying-tung's family. Drapes cover up the windows, but it looks like it should be in the English countryside than on a quiet street in Pokfulam.

The gates have a crest that say: Semper Fidelis", or "always loyal".

The last time the home was in the news was when Fok's son Kenneth Fok Kai-kong married former Olympic diver Guo Jingjing there in 2012.

Perhaps I should go on more walks to discover other interesting things!

Coronavirus Dilemma

Along Victoria Road here is a view looking towards Lamma Island

After dealing with a stressful week, I have to say a dose of sunshine does wonders to the body and spirit.

Bauhinia flowers in bloom

Yesterday afternoon I needed to buy some walnuts and almonds for my oatmeal, and instead of taking the bus or MTR to Sheung Wan, I decided to walk to the mom-and-pop shop via the waterfront. Even though it was foggy, it was nice to be outside during the day. We all practiced social distancing, everyone, except runners, wearing masks.

After I came back home, instead of feeling tired carrying back 4lbs of nuts, I felt energized and tackled some work I didn't get to during the week.

This morning I decided to go out for a walk again after breakfast, this time along Victoria Road, where I hadn't gone for a while. There weren't too many people here, and I soaked up the blue skies and very warm temperatures at 22 to 26 degrees.

Thank goodness I wore a hat and the mask came in handy as joggers ran by. It's a few weeks before Qing Ming, but lots of people were already at the various cemeteries along Victoria Road to pay their respects to elders.

My great aunt and uncle are in one of these columbariums and I managed to find them -- there are so many floors and niches that you can only find them through the number on their niche. Thank goodness I had taken a picture last year which showed their code number.

Many people have visited cemeteries ahead of Qing Ming

Qing Ming is a nice time for families to gather in remembrance of loved ones, but this year it's a more anxious time with the coronavirus.

There are concerns of another wave coming, and these fears have already resulted in people staying away from bars and restaurants. Dr Gabriel Leung, an epidemiologist and dean of medicine at the University of Hong Kong, and Chinese University respiratory medicine expert Professor David Hui Shu-cheong have separately called on the government to limit the number of patrons in restaurants and bars.

Leung has added the government should subsidize part of the salaries of bar and restaurant employees so they won't be laid off, but it doesn't seem keen on the idea, and would rather these establishments figure out themselves the best way to stay open but have fewer patrons.

Prof David Hui urges bars and restaurants have fewer patrons

In the meantime, after news on Friday of at least five positive cases of the coronavirus were of people drinking in bars in Lan Kwai Fong, the area was completely dead that evening, and last night too.

It's a difficult situation for restaurant and bar owners, chefs, and staff -- do you stay open? If you do, how will you operate to try to make the environment as safe as possible for everyone?

Even conducting temperature checks and filling out health declaration forms aren't going to ensure the coronavirus will not come into the dining premises -- someone could be asymptomatic but carry the virus and spread it to others.

Already a number of places in Central have had to shut down for two weeks because customers or staff have found out they were positive.

Lan Kwai Fong in Central was eerily quiet on Friday night

Is it worth the risk?

But at the same time, how do you operate a business if your food and/or drinks are not possible for takeaway?

We live in challenging times, but Hongkongers will find a way to survive.

Hong Kong Police Continue Crackdown

Chung Yeung is a grave-sweeping festival, but not many people did that today

Today is Chung Yeung Festival, the autumn version of Qing Ming, or grave sweeping. What should be a day of quiet, reflection, and family gathering was instead turned into another day of Hong Kong being half paralyzed again.

Less than half of the MTR stations were in operation today, forcing many people to use other means of transport (bus, tram, mini bus, taxi), and with the current environment of the Hong Kong government spreading fear, many chose not to go out to do their filial deed.

This had a knock-on effect impacting those in the cemetery industry, from flower sellers to incense and food offerings like roast pork and rice wine.

This Prince Edward memorial has been up since August 31

But it looks like the government doesn't care if people couldn't pay respects to their ancestors, and focused on continuing the spectre of danger looming nearby.

Tonight some 100 protesters gathered at Prince Edward MTR station again. Many believe on August 31, three people were not accounted for when several injured in the station were sent to the hospital. Since then protesters have left funeral offerings in the form of flowers, incense and burning hell money in front of the station entrance (that has since been shut).

Tonight was another opportunity for protesters to pay their respects to them.

However, riot police were having none of it and chased people away with tear gas and shouting.

They were even more rabid in Ma On Shan, where they stormed a shopping mall and pushed away the security personnel who were literally trying to keep the doors shut to prevent them from coming in. The riot police claimed the mall was not a private area (it technically is) and went in to arrest protesters, and even pushed down a Stand News reporter, ripped her glasses off her face and threatened to pepper spray her.

This looks like a scene straight out of a zombie movie: shopping mall security guards tried to hold the doors to stop riot police fr entering but they failed #HongKongProtests pic.twitter.com/nKsmgrT2M6

— Vivienne Chow (@VivienneChow) October 7, 2019

 
https://twitter.com/rhokilpatrick/status/1181225255945158656?s=20
https://twitter.com/rhokilpatrick/status/1181225255945158656?s=20 https://twitter.com/rhokilpatrick/status/1181225255945158656?s=20
What is going on?!

If Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor thinks this is the way to subdue the protests, she has a pack of rabid dogs to tame first. Last night they arrested several children -- as young as 10 years old -- who looked absolutely terrified.

While the police's brutal actions may scare off some people, it has emboldened others to step out and voice their anger from shouting expletives to aiding the protesters with everything from water to food, car rides and even safe houses.

Shopping malls have been a gathering place for protesters

This past weekend violence reached new heights, but unfortunately they are going to climb higher in the coming days, weeks and months.

Meanwhile shopping mall owners and operators are wondering what to do for Christmas, being less than 90 days away. An interesting factoid is that four of Hong Kong's main developers own or operate 100 malls in the city. Talk about ka-ching.

Anyway everyone is wondering now with the current situation what to do about the countdown to Christmas... should they put up displays or risk them being used as weapons or projectiles? Or should they try to bring some cheer to the city?

Tough call, but really it's up to the government to fix this mess they created, four months ago...

Dim Sum Spot: Sun Hing Restaurant

Fried glutinous rice wrapped in egg skins that aren't found in many restaurants

There's a dim sum place called Sun Hing Restaurant in Kennedy Town that opens at 3am -- yes three in the morning -- until 4pm everyday.

A tiny, chaotic place filled with regulars and first timers

Some friends have been there and even gweilo chefs know to go there to eat after they've finished late at night and are feeling hungry.

My relatives suggested we go there this morning as today is Ching Ming and it is on the way to where our ancestors' graves are in Pokfulam.

We got there just before 9am and inside it's very small and very chaotic. People are roaming around with their dim sum cards, staff are carrying out trays of freshly steamed dishes, with lots of shouting for people to get out of the way.

Luck would have it we managed to snag a table for four of us sitting on red plastic stools -- with an extra middle-aged guy calmly taking his time, sitting there playing with his smartphone. He could tell we were newbies and suggested which dim sum for us to get -- but really he meant just get whatever comes by.

Steamed pork topped with quail eggs

Some of the dishes we had include tripe in curry sauce, salted egg yolk steamed buns, braised chicken feet, steamed turnip cake, steamed rice rolls with minced meat, dace fish balls, and siu mai. The kitchen had no time to make har gao, even though everyone was clamouring for it.

However we did have some dim sum that you don't see much these days, like steamed pork topped with quail egg, fried glutinous rice wrapped in an egg yolk skin, pork liver with pork balls, and giant tofu topped with fish paste.

Together with some more steamed buns and Malay steamed sponge cake, the total came to HK$440 which was very reasonable. No wonder people flock here and are willing to wait.

Nevertheless I have to say afterwards I felt very thirsty and wonder if the dim sum had a good dose of MSG in it...!

Sun Hing Restaurant opens at 3am until 4pm everyday

Sun Hing Restaurant
Shop C, G/F, 8 Smithfield Road
Kennedy Town
2816 0616

#MeToo 20 Years Later

Gao Yan was a top student at Peking University before she committed suicide

The fledgling #MeToo movement in China got a big boost recently when a literature professor at Nanjing University was suspended for allegedly sexually harassing and raping a student 20 years ago.

At the time 21-year-old Gao Yan, who was a start student, told her friends that professor Shen Yang, who was teaching at Peking University had forced her to have sex. He also apparently spread rumours that Gao was mentally ill.

Shen, 62, has denied the accusations.

Professor Shen Yang allegedly sexually harassed Gao

Her classmates have been pressing for justice ever since she died. During Qing Ming last week when Chinese families sweep graves to remember their relatives and ancestors, one of Gao's friends, Li Youyou posted an essay online, chastising Shen for not apologizing.

"Twenty years have passed. Your constant lies and crimes should be put to an end," she wrote.

In an interview with The Beijing News on Friday, Shen described the accusations as "malicious defamation".

The essay spread quickly online and some Chinese media wrote stories about it, which may have led to to him being fired.

Even Gao's parents complained to the university in 1998 about the alleged sexual assault, and while the tertiary institution did conduct an investigation that found Shen did have sex with Gao, it only issued him a demerit and did not terminate his employment contract.

Shen is the second prominent professor to be sacked due to allegations of sexual misconduct after Chen Xiaowu of Beihang University.

The movement is slowly growing in China (with other names)

Universities in China need to address the power imbalance between students and professors, but also the same patriarchal hierarchy in companies too.

Nevertheless, getting more people to talk about #MeToo or #MiTu or #woyeshi (the Chinese version) is important. And as some say, eventually truth prevails.

Vegetarian in Guangzhou

Delicious and meaty braised eggplant flavoured with seaweed

For our last meal in Guangzhou before heading back to Hong Kong, my colleague took me to a vegetarian restaurant she used to eat at regularly when she worked in the southern Chinese city.

It's called Yi Tian Yi Su (一天一素) and there are two locations; we went to the one in Zhu Jiang New Town. The other is in Taikoo Hui Mall.

We arrived after 6pm and perhaps because it's Qing Ming holiday, there weren't many people in the restaurant, though two tables with window seats were reserved. Some of the staff recognized my colleague so we had some friendly banter.

Tofu with assorted mushrooms and broccoli florets

The menu is pretty straight-forward with interesting vegetarian items on the menu. Since there were only two of us we couldn't order much, but in the end we couldn't finish it all. We started with a soup (39 yuan) featuring many ingredients, like wai san or mountain yam, cashews, dragon eye or longan, and lotus seeds. At first it tasted bitter, but the soup, which had no added salt, interestingly seemed sweeter towards the end.

We also ordered braised eggplant with seaweed (36 yuan) and the outer skin of the eggplant was peeled and sliced relatively thinly. It was not oily at all and was delicious.

The other dish we had was tofu with various mushrooms including shiitake and Chinese mushroom, and a few broccoli florets (66 yuan). I enjoyed the mushrooms more than the tofu that seemed to taste watery. It would have been better if it was silkier in texture.

Our rice was dotted with red rice for a healthier meal. It was a good way to balance out our trip as the night before we had a really oily dinner. We were fully sated for our journey home.

The bill totaled 151 yuan including a charge for tea and rice.

Yi Tian Yi Su

Room 406, 4th Floor, Li Jing Du Hui

No. 28 Jin Sui Road

Zhu Jiang New Town
020 3820 8923

The other location:

No. 26, Delicacy Square, Food Republic, Basement

Taikoo Hui Mall

Tianhe District

Guangzhou

Aussie Brunch Feast

Little Creatures is right by the waterfront, and caters to large groups

Yesterday I met up with my relatives for our belated grave-sweeping day in Pokfulam. In the morning it was overcast, but by the time we met up in the late morning, the sun was poking out and hardly any clouds in sight. Many other people had the same idea as us, and even the police was on standby in case there were any incidents.

Afterwards we headed to Kennedy Town, and the request from the younger generation was to eat anything not Chinese. This wasn't too hard to fulfill, with several options in mind.

The amiable uni carbonara with very fresh sea urchin on top

My first choice was Little Creatures since two in the party are interested in beer (or alcohol). Little Creatures is an Australian craft beef place and as the restaurant is very deep inside, they had no problems accommodating our group of nine.

The menu had a lot of options and we decided to share some dishes. We quite liked the beetroot and goat cheese salad (HK$95), that came with hazelnuts, greens and a sherry vinaigrette. Another straight-forward salad is the Romaine lettuce one (HK$90) with anchovy dressing and Parmesan.

The pizzas were geared more for one or two people sharing, not nine. However, we enjoyed the thin crusts and how they were quite light. I didn't get to try the mushroom one (HK$110) with truffle paste, rocket leaves, emmental and mozzarella, but the prawn one (HK$145) featured random bits of prawn with cajun spice, sweet peppers, emmental and mozzarella.

Everyone was impressed by the uni carbonara (HK$160). They were surprised a western restaurant would have sea urchin on the menu... which kind of demonstrates how locals who eat mostly Chinese food don't know that uni sells whatever cuisine you're serving.

The sinfully delicious brownie with ice cream on top

The sea urchin was very fresh, and the creaminess added another dimension to the otherwise straightforward carbonara with pancetta. The pappardelle bolognese (HK$140) was delicious too, combining lamb, beef and pork with pecorino cheese with wide pasta noodles.

A fun dish to share is the smash avocado bowl (HK$90), where the avocado is whipped up in a processor, and seasoned with lemon, coriander and bits of tomato and paprika, served with deep-fried tortillas. Corn chips would have been fine, as we had to break up the large tortillas ourselves, and you either got a big chunk or a tiny morsel.

I caught the tail end of the grilled merguez sausage (HK$120), a slightly spicy sausage, accompanied with an onsen egg, and new potatoes seasoned with harissa. This would have been my brunch choice if I ordered my own plate...

On the whole we all enjoyed the food, the portions were OK and nicely seasoned.

A ginormous house made cake with marscapone

To finish the meal we ordered three desserts, one of them being waffles (HK$95) that's part of the brunch menu. But more impressive were the brownie and house made cake.

The brownie came with a scoop of ice cream on top and then the server poured thick hot chocolate sauce on top. Oh boy. And it was sweet as expected, but had a rich chocolately taste.

A slice of house made cake is enormous! Luckily there were many of us to share it! It was a chocolate marbled cake that wasn't too sweet and came with a scoop of marscarpone.

After that I had a nap and then proceeded to hit the treadmill to burn off those calories! I'd eaten at Little Creatures when it first opened, and then again a few months ago so it's good to know the consistency and quality is still there.

Little Creatures

Shop 1, G/F, New Fortune House

5A New Praya

Kennedy Town
2833 5611

littlecreatures.hk

Cheap and Cheerful

Two catties of the signature Man Lou boiled dumplings

A trip to Beijing is not complete without eating jiaozi, or boiled dumplings, and one well known local place is called Xian Man Lou (馅老满).

When I lived in Beijing, a German chef friend of mine came to visit with Chinese master chef, Liu Guozhu, as they were going to open Golden Flower in Wynn Macau.

They were in Beijing to do some research, as Liu used to be one of the chefs at the famed Beijing Hotel, where he cooked for the likes of Queen Elizabeth II, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and paramount leader Deng Xiaoping.

The filling inside has minced pork, chives, egg, and shrimp

Liu told me in his strong Beijing accent over the phone to meet them at this restaurant and I amazingly found it in Andingmen.

It's a two-storey restaurant and I found the two of them on the second floor at the back at a giant round table, and Liu had practically ordered every other dish on the menu. He warmly greeted me and told me to just try as much as I could!

The two chefs were leaving Beijing the next day and I was left with three bags filled with boxes of leftovers. It was insane!

Fast forward to this trip, my friend and I ended up in Andingmen after we wandered through Wudaoying hutong and I suggested we go to Xian Man Lou.

About a 10-minute walk later we were there, and after a short wait we had a table, also upstairs. I was surprised to find the restaurant wasn't as busy as it used to be, but perhaps because of the Qing Ming public holiday, there weren't as many students patronizing the restaurant at this time.

We'd had a late lunch, so we only had a few dishes. We ordered a cold appetizer of "crispy seaweed" (20 yuan), which wasn't crispy, but thick strips of seaweed that were rolled up and then sliced.

The filling here features a mackerel paste and chives

Then we had two different kinds of dumplings. While the restaurant says you can order yi liang (or one cattie, which equals 500 grams or 5 dumplings), they would rather you order er liang or two catties.

The signature lao man jiaozi (21 yuan for 10 pcs) was delicious and hearty -- it was filled with minced pork, chives, eggs and shrimp. The shrimp was a bit crunchy, and we liked the combination with the chives to brighten the flavours.

For a bit of experimentation, we tried the dumplings filled with mackerel and chives (31 yuan for 10 pcs). The mackerel was made into a smooth paste and combined with chives, though coriander would have worked just as well. I'd never had fish dumplings like this before and neither had my friend and she quite liked it.

We both downed a bottle of Yanjing beer (9 yuan) and we barely finished the food.

Nevertheless I'm glad Xian Man Lou is still there, and the dumplings are just as I remembered them! And as you can tell from the prices, it was a cheap and cheerful dinner!

Xian Man Lou

Anhu Beili Yayuan, Gulou

Andingmen
(+86) 6404 6944