On Top of Hong Kong

A view overlooking Tsim Sha Tsui and Hong Kong Island

Going back of house in a hotel is a really cool experience -- even more so when you're over 100 floors up.

The ships going in and out of Victoria Harbour

Anita, a good friend of mine visiting from the United States and I went to visit Peter who is the executive chef at the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong which opened in March in the ICC building, the tallest in the city.

We first toured all the food and beverage outlets, Tin Lung Heen, the Chinese restaurant, Tosca with its open kitchen, the bar with large white and red chandeliers on the same floor and also the Chocolate Library above. The Chocolate Library has some creative desserts there, as well as packaging where you can buy a box of chocolates placed in a box that looks like a book.

A place setting with an old picture of Hong Kong

We also went up to Ozone, the highest bar in the world where the balcony is enclosed except for the roof so people can smoke outside on the 118th floor. During the day it has a relaxed atmosphere, but in the evening it looks completely different and reminds me of the scene in Star Wars where Han Solo and Chewbacca go into a bar to acquire a space ship.

Obviously there are some amazing harbour views up there and we visited on a clear day. During the fireworks Peter said you actually look down on them instead of up -- something I hope to try soon. He also pointed out that while we know there are lots of ships that go through the harbour, from up above you can see there is actually heavy traffic in the water.

Afternoon tea sets ready to be served

The private rooms have beautiful table settings including plates that have pictures of old Hong Kong which is different. Each private room we went into was more impressive than the last.

There is also a chef's table, another private room that seats eight or 10 and Peter will personally prepare dishes for VIP guests at a mini kitchen in front of the table. Most of the dishes will have already been prepared elsewhere but are finished in the room for a personal touch. But on the day we went, Sunday, the room was filled with tempting desserts put together for afternoon tea, as there was no other place to store them. We later found out how little refrigerator space there is for the entire hotel.

It is obviously more designed for the guests than the staff as some areas like the cold kitchen just had enough room for two of three people maximum. There were also many doors to go through for fire safety regulations. With a vertical hotel it also meant going up and down several floors in elevators not to mention ferrying food up and down too.

Freshly made dongpo pork that was braised for a long time

We also visited the Chinese kitchen where they were preparing stocks and we watched one chef heat up his wok on the open fire. "That's what wok-hay is," Anita remarked. She said she tried to explain this to her friends in the US where you know Cantonese food is good when the wok is hot enough. We also saw a large slab of dongpo pork, or braised pork belly just finished cooking and we got to have a small slice of it to try -- practically melt-in-the-mouth good.

Apparently singer Coco Lee will be celebrating her wedding nuptials to Bruce Rockowitz at the Ritz-Carlton and we checked out the ballroom which has lots of mirrors and crystal chandeliers which would be a challenge to clean. We can only imagine how lavish the banquet will be in such a striking hotel.

The crystal chandeliers in the ballroom

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and now I have a greater appreciation for chefs not only standing all day in the kitchen but also working in challenging environments so that others can enjoy your food.

Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong
International Commerce Centre
1 Austin Road West
Kowloon
2263 2265
www.ritzcarlton.com

Igniting Further Tensions

On March 16 a Tibetan monk set himself on fire in an apparent protest against the repressiveness of the Chinese government in Aba county in Sichuan Province.

And yet three other monks were convicted Monday of being his accessories to murder and sentenced to 10, 11 and 13 years in prison.

The uncle of the monk called Drongdru, was imprisoned for 11 years for "intentional homicide" in hiding the 16-year-old monk, Phuntsog, while the other two were sentenced for "plotting, instigating and assisting" in the immolation.

However some people don't agree with how the government claims they were accessories to murder.

Tibetan rights groups report witnesses saw the monk set himself on fire and then they put out the flames but then started beating him. At that point monks and local residents took the monk to the monastery before taking him to the hospital. Phuntsog died the next day.

Afterwards there were protests near the monastery resulting in heavy police presence.

However it's these verdicts that are only going to exacerbate the already high tensions in the area.

"We urge Chinese leaders to address policies in Tibetan areas that have created tension and to protect Tibetans' unique linguistic, cultural and religious identity," a US state department statement said.

Tibetans are resentful of the Han Chinese coming into their areas not just through population but also an influx of money thinking economic development will make the ethnic minority not only happier but also grateful for bringing them into the modern era.

But it seems Tibetans are happy with their nomadic, simple existence and don't want to see their culture and religion diluted by their Chinese rulers.

As a result there is a clash of values with the Han Chinese unwilling to compromise or to understand what Tibetans want or need, creating tensions that escalated to riots in 2008.

Since then the Chinese government has been very wary of Tibetan unrest and has forced monks to undergo "patriotic education".

Monks immolating themselves is rare and even the Dalai Lama condemns it. But a handful have turned to this painful and frightening act as a silent protest against Chinese policies.

And so with these latest rulings of jailing others who may have assisted in this immolation may serve as a warning for other monks not to protest, otherwise their fellow brothers will be jailed for their actions.

This will sure lead to even more tensions in the area and extreme measures.

Does HK Need an Eye?

This is the now iconic London Eye... should Hong Kong have one too?

OK get this folks -- Hong Kong might follow London and Singapore and have its own 60-metre-high "eye" along the Central waterfront.

The Hall Organisation and Great Cities Attractions Global in the UK want to bring an observation wheel to Hong Kong in a proposal that was presented to the Harbourfront Commission today.

The company wants the wheel to be near where piers No 9 and 10 will be in one to three years.

"The wheel will definitely become a focal point of the harbour, offering postcard photo opportunities. It will attract people to the harbourfront and can promote vibrancy both day and night," the potential operators said in the proposal.

Peter Wong Yiu-sun, an engineer and commission member thinks it's a good idea. "We need something other than just cafes on the waterfront. A wheel can add vibrancy to the area." He did not think typhoons would pose a safety risk to the wheel.

But another commission member Paul Zimmerman had reservations. "It's immediately iconic, but it seems to be having a wheel in Hong Kong after London and Singapore is a bit 'me-too'," he said.

"It's a positive thing that people are starting to throw out ideas for the harbourfront, but I would hope for something more creative and outstanding."

The proposal for the wheel says it would carry 336 passengers at a time, would be lit with LED lighting and would open daily from 9am to midnight.

Thoughts of having the perfect seat to watch fireworks in Victoria Harbour come to mind with the wheel and yet another tourist attraction to suck up those visitor dollars.

Other than that, what good is the wheel for? Yet another place to shine gaudy LED lights; we have enough of that every night at 8pm with the laser light show.

Why do public spaces have to be so heavily programmed? Why not leave it up to the residents to use the space as they wish?

Or how about creating a garden park area with some grass, flowers and trees? Or open spaces for exhibitions or local farmers to sell their goods?

Hong Kong people deserve a space they can call their own -- after all the government is using their money to build it.

Ai Weiwei's Nightmare

For Ai Weiwei, Beijing is "a city of violence"

It's fantastic but also frightening to see Ai Weiwei speak out publicly when his minders hinted he should not do so for at least a year.

After he was released in late June, 54-year-old Ai at first seemed to avoid saying anything controversial, but now doesn't seem to care what the consequences are. He has started sending tweets on his Twitter account and given interviews to foreign media about his detainment, how he was monitored 24 hours a day with police watching him only three feet away and questioned about his political activities. That experience that could have broken the Beijing-based artist has not deterred him from writing any essay that was published on Newsweek's website yesterday.

Beijing is two cities. One is of power and of money. People don't care who their neighbors are; they don't trust you. The other city is one of desperation. I see people on public buses, and I see their eyes, and I see they hold no hope. They can't even imagine that they'll be able to buy a house. They come from very poor villages where they've never seen electricity or toilet paper.

Every year millions come to Beijing to build its bridges, roads, and houses. Each year they build a Beijing equal to the size of the city in 1949. They are Beijing's slaves. They squat in illegal structures, which Beijing destroys as it keeps expanding. Who owns houses? Those who belong to the government, the coal bosses, the heads of big enterprises. They come to Beijing to give gifts—and the restaurants and karaoke parlors and saunas are very rich as a result.

Beijing tells foreigners that they can understand the city, that we have the same sort of buildings: the Bird's Nest, the CCTV tower. Officials who wear a suit and tie like you say we are the same and we can do business. But they deny us basic rights. You will see migrants' schools closed. You will see hospitals where they give patients stitches—and when they find the patients don't have any money, they pull the stitches out. It's a city of violence.

The worst thing about Beijing is that you can never trust the judicial system. Without trust, you cannot identify anything; it's like a sandstorm. You don't see yourself as part of the city—there are no places that you relate to, that you love to go. No corner, no area touched by a certain kind of light. You have no memory of any material, texture, shape. Everything is constantly changing, according to somebody else's will, somebody else's power.

To properly design Beijing, you'd have to let the city have space for different interests, so that people can coexist, so that there is a full body to society. A city is a place that can offer maximum freedom. Otherwise it's incomplete.

I feel sorry to say I have no favorite place in Beijing. I have no intention of going anywhere in the city. The places are so simple. You don't want to look at a person walking past because you know exactly what's on his mind. No curiosity. And no one will even argue with you.

None of my art represents Beijing. The Bird's Nest—I never think about it. After the Olympics, the common folks don't talk about it because the Olympics did not bring joy to the people.

There are positives to Beijing. People still give birth to babies. There are a few nice parks. Last week I walked in one, and a few people came up to me and gave me a thumbs up or patted me on the shoulder. Why do they have to do that in such a secretive way? No one is willing to speak out. What are they waiting for? They always tell me, "Weiwei, leave the nation, please." Or "Live longer and watch them die." Either leave, or be patient and watch how they die. I really don't know what I'm going to do.

My ordeal made me understand that on this fabric, there are many hidden spots where they put people without identity. With no name, just a number. They don't care where you go, what crime you committed. They see you or they don't see you, it doesn't make the slightest difference. There are thousands of spots like that. Only your family is crying out that you're missing. But you can't get answers from the street communities or officials, or even at the highest levels, the court or the police or the head of the nation. My wife has been writing these kinds of petitions every day, making phone calls to the police station every day. Where is my husband? Just tell me where my husband is. There is no paper, no information.

The strongest character of those spaces is that they're completely cut off from your memory or anything you're familiar with. You're in total isolation. And you don't know how long you're going to be there, but you truly believe they can do anything to you. There's no way to even question it. You're not protected by anything. Why am I here? Your mind is very uncertain of time. You become like mad. It's very hard for anyone. Even for people who have strong beliefs.

This city is not about other people or buildings or streets but about your mental structure. If we remember what Kafka writes about his Castle, we get a sense of it. Cities really are mental conditions. Beijing is a nightmare. A constant nightmare.