Hong Kong Continues to Flatten Curve in Eerie Silence

Today's sunset from Wan Chai, with no one walking around outside

Yesterday Hong Kong recorded zero new coronavirus cases, and with such good news, the daily 4.30pm press briefing was cancelled.

However health experts warned that now was not the time to lift restrictions, that there had to be 28 consecutive days of no cases for that to happen first.

Four people who came back to HK were new cases

And then today the city reported four new cases, all of them infected while overseas, and so the counting down of restrictions has to be reset again.

As a result "social-distancing measures" will continue, with bars, karaoke bars, beauty salons, spas, fitness centres and pubs will remain closed, as well as barbecue pits and campsites.

However, starting on Friday, restaurants can have more than 50 percent capacity, as long as tables are at least 1.5 metres apart, or separated by partitions for another 14 days.

Yesterday I visited The Peninsula Hong Kong and was told despite the measures, the hotel's restaurants were busy with local patrons, though not all of its restaurants were open. The iconic Gaddi's which serves contemporary French cuisine had yet to be open since late January and would open next week along with Felix and Chesa.

Social distancing in restaurants will continue for 14 days

Meanwhile in Wan Chai at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong tonight, the Tiffin Lounge was completely shut down as it was a buffet concept, while the coffee shop called Grand Cafe was doing a decent, though quiet business.

All the hotels in the city are offering staycation packages, but how many people would actually take up the offer? Lots of people may still be worried about taking the health risk of staying in a hotel, while others may have lost their jobs or gone on no pay leave and would rather save their money.

From what I've heard from restaurant and hotel people is that they are projecting things to be practically back to normal by June. Even if it were to be OK, the rest of the world will not have flattened their curves to zero, so there probably won't be any overseas visitors coming to Hong Kong anytime soon.

Tiffin Lounge in the Grand Hyatt has completely shut down

It's a tough situation for everyone involved, which means everyone. Around the world.

After I left the Grand Hyatt, I walked towards Admiralty and was shocked to see the streets had no cars; if there were cars they were just parked on the street. It was so easy to cross roads without worrying about vehicles hurtling past.

On the one hand it was surprising and quiet, but the other was sad and eerie.

Relaxing Hydrotherapy

Looking down on the various baths in Scandinave Spa on a snowy day

I'm in Vancouver for the holidays and a very good friend of mine arranged for us to go to Whistler today to try Scandinave Spa there. On Yelp many rave about it and we were about to find out why.

We left Vancouver around 9am and managed to arrive at the spa at 10.20am. I hadn't gone up to Whistler since the mid 1990s so it was a surprise for me to see how developed the ski mecca has become, particularly after the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The Sea to Sky Highway has improved significantly, with stretches widened with two lanes, or straightened and not as winding and treacherous as before.

As we approached Whistler, light rain became snow and the area became a winter wonderland with evergreen trees covered in white.

Lots of fog spread around Whistler to create a moody feel

We turned off to Spruce Grove Way and continued up a winding path to the spa. When we arrived, there was a line up! A line up at a spa which seemed unusual.

Once it was our turn to check in for the outdoor bath access (CAD$58), we were given two large towels and key locks and told the changing rooms were downstairs. The biggest rule here is silence! Everyone is instructed to leave their mobile phones behind in the lockers and not to talk, though many spoke in hushed tones during our visit.

After changing into bathing suits, we wrapped up in towels and headed outside to the baths. I didn't bring any flip flops -- and was surprised the spa didn't provide any footwear, but just as well. Walking barefoot outside wasn't too cold -- or was it because we didn't have too far to go?

First stop was the steam eucalyptus steam room. It's circular and amphitheatre style with three layers of seating with the strong smell of eucalyptus to keep people awake.

Since we arrived soon after it opened, the steam room was jam packed with people, but they eventually left. After about 10 minutes we were sweating and needed to get out of the heat. We headed to the cold pool with the water set at 17 degrees. What a shock to the system! I didn't stay in there long!

A modern fireplace and nice tree ornament

Our next stop was the warm relaxation pool, where we felt like those Japanese snow monkeys that hang out in the hot spring baths, as snow was still falling on us, albeit lightly.

Probably my favourite place was the solarium, though there wasn't much sun here, but it was warm. We sat in recliners and listened to new age music; I couldn't help but close my eyes and nap for a bit, though on our second round, some men were actually snoring!

We did the process all over again and this time I plunged into the cold pool -- interestingly we were cold but not freezing, perhaps because our body temperatures were hot from being in the steam room and then back into the jacuzzi.

Needless to say we were thoroughly relaxed. Was it that we were in a beautiful setting? Everyone keeping quiet and focused on having a relaxing time? Or because we were soaking to the point of becoming like prunes?

After a few hours here, we showered and then put our clothes on again. My only gripe was the changing room didn't seem spa-like -- more like a gym, and even then the floor wasn't very clean, which makes a difference when you aren't wearing flip flops... If this was my gym in Hong Kong, the floor would be free of dust bunnies for sure!

We sat in the lobby for about 15 minutes, drinking some cold(!) water of lemon and cucumber, a few glasses to replenish our systems before heading out for a very late lunch at 3pm.

If just going to the outdoor baths was relaxing, imagine pairing it with a massage too!

Scandinave Spa

8010 Mons Road

Whistler
(604) 935 2424

scandinave.com/en/whistler

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?

An Italian Spa Town

The Spa Excelsior has gorgeous ornate architecture

On Saturday night I took an evening flight on an Air France A380 and managed to sleep most of the way (though on and off) to arrive in Paris at 6am.

Another spa down the road to drink the water

Just to transfer flights we had to go through a massive line for security and then another for our passports. Then I waited for my parents and their friends to arrive from New York for our connecting flight to Florence at 10.10am.

And I waited and waited... and almost all the passengers had boarded when they finally arrived.

An hour and a half later we finally arrived in Florence and began our tour which took us to our hotel in Montecatini, an hour's drive.

The town only has a population of 22,000 and completely depends on tourism. During the high season up to 100,000 people will be in the town, which is famous for its spas.

As our guide pointed out, these aren't the spas that are about facials, massages and treatments, but the old school ones where people were diagnosed and drank spa water to cure their ailments.

A carousel for kids to have fun on a Sunday

Montecatini apparently has six different kinds of waters and a building with classic architecture -- libertarian as they call it -- is most probably a spa.

We were also told the water isn't like spring water and those who are advised to drink it may take some 10 minutes to sip it. And then they may be recommended to drink another kind of water before drinking the last one, which apparently has the same salination content as our bodies. The guide said drinking too much of the last one will have you peeing all day!

The town is also known for composer Giuseppe Verdi coming here in the summer, and apparently wrote some of his best operas here.

Everyone checking out the desserts at a sweet shop

It's very walkable and easy to navigate here, lots of shops and cafes. However, shops are closed during siestas, which run from about 1-ish to 4-ish -- the "ish" meaning whenever they feel like opening...