Is this not very unhygienic?

I was out shopping in Happy Valley today when I ducked into an alley to get to the bakery. This is what I spotted airing in the alley:

Here is a close up of what I believe are legs of (parma?) ham:

I can't tell you who these belong to but I can tell you that this alley runs along the back of the row of shops on the short lane called Tsap Cheung Street which joins King Kwong Street and Yuk Sau Street in Happy Valley. Also in the alley was a cat and a lady hosing the back of the shop next door (yellow hose in the top photo).

I can also tell you that if these are legs of parma ham, they are worth a fair amount. At a shop nearby, I noticed a sign advertising parma ham for $150 per 50 gms. BUT, would pay that amount of money if you know where these have been stored? This is not the first time I have come across this scene. One time, a man was washing them, giving them a good scrub right there on the ground! And the tub of water he was dipping his brush in didn't look all that clean either. Ew!

Enough said. Time for dinner.

Mahjong cake

I attended a birthday dinner last night and my contribution was the birthday cake. As the "birthday girl" is an old hand at the game of mahjong, I got her this beautifully crafted cake from Maxim's Bakery. The two "longevity peaches" were extras for HK$20. The mahjong table, tiles and dice plus the peaches were all  made of chocolate.

It was a pity to have to cut it up! I am happy to report that the cake was every bit as good to eat as it was to look at.....

Mahjong themed birthday cake

Note that the dice add up to "8" a Cantonese lucky number. The tiles make up a winning hand.... "Royal Flush" anyone? There are even tiny replicas of chips on each side of the mahjong table. Quite the work of art.

If you would like to check out this bakery's offerings, please note that it has a website and online ordering.

Snowy mooncake 冰皮月饼

I have a great passion for mochi so when the opportunity came to attend a “snowy mooncake” making class, I signed up straight away. Since I love the traditional mooncakes, I have never had snowy mooncakes before.

My thinking is, if I learn to make snowy mooncakes perhaps I could make them “off season” – win-win, right? Have traditional mooncakes when they are available to purchase then make the snowy variety when mooncake festival is over!

Well, the snowy mooncakes I took home from class is a disappointment. The ones I made certainly looked like the ones at the shops, so I was quite pleased. However, as always, it’s the taste that matters. The pastry is tough, not chewy, light and soft. The question is – is the problem the recipe or is it my technique? I guess I should have asked to try the ones made by the instructor during class. Of the 6 fillings used during class, 4 were pre-made, store bought. And of the remaining two which were made in class, one was plain green bean and the other, black sesame. In the picture of the snowy mooncakes I made, the purple one is yam flavoured, the pink is strawberry, the orange is mango (bottom right) and the white ones are either plain or coconut flavoured. There is a pale green one, but it looks almost white in the picture. That’s melon flavour.

Snowy mooncakes made by myself during class

So now, I have resolved to get me some snowy mooncakes from the bakery to find out what I should aspire to. This could open up a whole new avenue for my research. I have a recipe book on mochi making and it includes a recipe for snowy mooncake, so perhaps I should try that out. I know that a baking supplies shop in Wanchai stocks ingredients for snowy mooncakes, which I almost bought last year but didn't. The ingredient sets included instructions on how to make them. I will definitely let you know if I find a good recipe.

Scene from class

Radish cake 蘿蔔糕

My aunt called me last week for a recipe to the very popular cantonese yum cha item - radish cake 蘿蔔糕. Perhaps she is already  thinking ahead to Chinese New Year! Anyway, since I was writing it down for her, I may as well share it with you too. And, I was inspired to make it so you can see what it will end up looking like!

Ingredients
1.5kg radish
3 slices of ginger
300 gm rice flour

Radish cake cooling in the pan

1Tbsp cornflour
1 Tbsp sugar
1-1.5 tsp white pepper
1.5 tsp salt
water

Note- 1.5 kg is equivalent to 2.5 catty, if you are shopping at the wet market. You will need to buy a little over so that you will still have 1.5kg after peeling and shredding.

1-2 chinese sausages
20 dried shrimps
3 dried chinese mushrooms
5 dried scallops

Method

1. Soak dried shrimps, chinese mushrooms and dried scallops separately. Make sure they are thoroughly soaked, especially the mushrooms and dried scallops. 
2. Dice chinese sausages into small bits.
3. Squeeze dry the mushrooms, remove the stalks and dice into small bits.
4. Pull dried scallops apart, into shreds.
5. Pound the dried shrimps with a pestle and mortar.
6. Heat a frypan, fry chinese sausages until just cooked through but not crispy. Dish up. Then, fry the mushrooms, adding oil in the pan as necessary. Mushrooms soak up a lot or oil. Dish up
7. Next, fry the pounded dried shrimps and scallop shreds with some oil until fragrant. Dish up.
8. Peel and grate the radish. Do not grate too finely. The thickness of 2-3 matchstick would be about right.
9. Heat a wok with 2 tablespoons of oil. Fry ginger slices for a little while then add in shredded radish and sugar. Using medium heat, fry till the radish is soft, about 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove the ginger. Dish up the radish but leave the liquid (stock) in the wok. Leave the radish to rest for a while and drain any stock from the radish back into the wok.
10. Measure the stock from the radish and add enough water to make up 600 ml. Add in 2 teaspoonfuls of oil.
11. Sift rice flour and cornflour into a large mixing bowl.Stir in liquid and mix well. When the batter is free from lumps, add in radish, meats and mushroom then, season with salt and pepper. Mix well.
12. Oil the steaming pan. Add in radish cake batter and steam in a covered steamer for 1 hour.
13. Cool thoroughly at room temperature. When completely cooled, the steamed radish cake can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about one week.
14. To serve, cut the radish cake into 3/4 inch slices and fry till both sides are golden brown.
15. To add a spicy twist, you can add in some X.O. sauce when the radish cake is nearly done.

Radish cake-ready to serve

Hong Kong Chinglish

I just called Directory Assistance 1081 for a telephone number. I asked for the telephone number of Chair One Salon in Causeway Bay and was given this number to write down: "2573 2263 repeat, 2573 2263".

I call the number and amidst the background noise, I hear this "Wei... 翠華....." - [Hello, Tsui Wah .... the restaurant]. Hahahaha!

Day 3-Kyoto京都市

We visited Kyoto today.

Kyoto, formerly the imperial capital of Japan is now its 8th largest city. It is 14 minutes by Shinkansen from Shin-Osaka station to Kyoto station. However, as we were setting off from Sheraton Miyako Hotel, it is much cheaper and just as quick to travel by regular train. Here’s how the 2 options stacked up:

Shinkansen:
Tannamachi 9 Chome station to Shin-Osaka Station (changeover at Namba Station)
Shin-Osaka station (Shinkansen Nozomi 360)
Total cost – ¥1,650
Total travel time - 52 minutes

Regular train:
 Tannamachi 9 Chome station to Temmabashi station
Shin-Osaka station to Gion-Shijo station in Kyoto (Keihan Line Ltd Express)
Total cost – ¥600
Total travel time - 60 minutes

Besides, the places I’d like to visit are closer to the Gion-Shijo station anyway.

The weather in Osaka and Kyoto been really hot and dry, topping 30°C everyday. Before I left Hong Kong, the weather forecast on my iPhone was for cooler temperatures and a fair bit of rain. I don’t think I’ll be needing the raincoat and spare pair of shoes I packed! Anyway, the point is, whilst I had originally planned a more ambitious schedule for Kyoto, I don’t think I am up to it in this scorching heat. So I’ll pare down to the top 3 places - Ginkakuji (銀閣寺, Silver Pavilion), Gion (祇園) and the cultural show at Gion Corner. The focus is on traditional Kyoto, on the eastern side of the Kamogawa River. Have to leave out the manga museum, the Imperial Palace and the Nishiki Market (錦市場, Nishiki Ichiba).

Here is a great website for information on Kyoto http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2158.html

I highly recommend the cultural show at Gion Corner. Firstly, whilst the performances are in Japanese, the introductions are conducted in English and it is aimed at tourists. You get a “taster” of 7 different Japanese performance/arts – Chado (tea ceremony), Koto (Japanese harp), Kado (flower arrangement), Gagaku (court music), Kyogen (ancient comic play), Kyomai (Kyoto style dance performed by Geiko or Maiko) and Bunraku (puppet play). The show lasts an hour and there are 2 performances each day at 6 and 7 pm. I learnt the hard way that tickets are only on sale from 5.30 pm – I headed to the theatre as soon as I got off the train to make sure I secured our tickets for the 6 pm performance. That’s not all, due to wonky map reading by one in our group, a 10 minute walk from the station turned into a 40 minute walk in the heat. (Did check out the Kenninji Temple along the way though). Funny thing was, no one in Kyoto knew where the theatre is – even when I showed them the address etc in Japanese. Definitely something for foreigners only! In fact even the concierge at the hotel in Osaka had not heard of this performance. Pity – it should be better promoted. In fact the theatre was only 1/3 filled for the 6 pm show.

Kyomai performed by Geiko (Geisha)

Before I left Hong Kong, I printed off a discount coupon from the theatre’s website http://www.kyoto-gioncorner.com/global/en.html.
The full price of an adult ticket is ¥3,150 and ¥2,800 with discount. It is even cheaper for young persons - ¥1,900 for 7-15 year olds and ¥2,200 for 16-22 year olds.

We had lunch at a traditional Japanese restaurant close by the theatre, along Hanami Koji Dori. This is a cobbled stone street with preserved machiya houses converted into restaurants. The restaurant we picked offers a choice of traditional tatami seating and western style dining tables. As the tatami seating did not have a cross-legged-challenged-people friendly “pit” under the table to hang your legs, I opted for the regular dining table. The pretty little Japanese garden at the back of the dining area was very pleasant especially when viewed from the air conditioned interior. The four of us either had the Japanese beek steak lunch set or the more traditional Japanese tofu/sashimi/tempura lunch set. Total cost for 4 meals is ¥13,110. We were served by a very gracious lady in kimono.

We then headed off to Shijo Dori to catch a taxi to Ginkakuji (銀閣寺, Silver Pavilion). This is a Buddhist temple originally intended to be covered in silver, similar to the Kinkakuji Temple (Golden Pavilion) which is covered in gold. The taxi ride cost us ¥1,520 in a super hot taxi whose driver kept nodding off….seriously, I had to wake him up when the lights turned green! Even my attempts to chat with him only worked for a bit. At least his eyes were opened when he was driving, so I thought I’d let him doze at the stop lights. Funny thing, the return trip cost us only ¥1,200. Mmmh, do you think we were taken for a ride??

The walk to the temple from the street is lined with souvenir shops and eateries. Very my kind of thing. We stopped off for shaved ice cups, mochi and some souvenirs on the way out. Bought myself some furoshiki風呂敷– scarve sized fabric for wrapping gifts, bento boxes etc. Its my current “thing”. My daughter was delighted with her shurikens 手裏剣(“sword hidden in the hand”) or as some refer to them as “ninja throwing stars”.

Entrance to Ginkakuji costs ¥500 per person. Only disappointment is that you can only admire the temple from the outside. As they don’t throw open the doors and illuminate the interior, we had no idea what the temple is like. We were free to explore the extensive gardens, including a walk up the hill. There is also a gift shop on the way out. Great for a respite from the heat.

Ginkakuji in Kyoto

Then, back to Shijo Dori by taxi. We drove via a different route, passing the Kyoto University and  the Heian Shrine 平安神宮, Heian Jingū, and  through the shrine’s giant red torii gate. We had a bit of time to fill before heading back to the theatre at 5.30pm. So, some retail therapy along Shijo Dori. Shijo Dori is filled with shops selling traditional Japanese goods, souvenirs and foods such as pickles, dried foods, mochi, rice crackers, fans, fabrics etc. Stock up here for gifts.

Headed back to Osaka for dinner – shabu shabu.

For more information on Kyoto, I found this to also be an excellent website: http://www.kyoto.travel/

Osaka Day 2

Planning to see and experience as much of Osaka as we can today to make full use of our one day subway pass. It costs ¥2,000 for a whole day unliited travel plus pre-paid entranceto a 40 attraction plus discount coupons to restaurants and attractions. Here’s how we spent our day.

Osaka Castle (entrance fee ¥600)

View of Osaka Castle from the main gate

Replica sailing ship, the Santa Maria at Osaka-ko/Osaka Bay (price of ticket ¥1,600)

Ferris wheel, the Tenponzen also at Osaka Bay (price of ticket ¥700)

The Santa Maria - photo taken from the Tenponzen ferris wheel near the  Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan

Ferris wheel at HEP FIVE, in the Uemeda area (price of ticket ¥500)

Dotombori River Cruise (price of ticket ¥700)

Night view of Dotombori River

 The total price of entrance tickets we saved was ¥4,100. In addition, the total cost of subway tickets had we bought single tickets as required would have easily cost us upwards of ¥1,500. Did we get value for money? Most certainly. In fact, had it not been such a hot day, we would have gone to a few more places. Also, unfortunately, the Aqua Liner river cruise at the Osaka Castle did not run on Sundays or that would have been another ¥1,600 value. The package also included a ¥900 discount coupon to the Spa World – but we did not make use of it as it is a segregated “nude” spa which meant that we couldn’t spend the time all together . We also would have liked to have visited Uemeda’s Floating Garden Observatory (¥700) but it seemed like a trek in the heat from the nearest subway station. There’s always next time……..All told, I was very satisfied with my all-day subway pass.

We are heading to Kyoto tomorrow. Nice!

Osaka Day 1

I had requested for non smoking adjoining rooms for my family of 4 and the only adjoining rooms available at the hotel during our stay is on a smoking floor. Sigh. I guess I’ll give it a shot and see if this works out. I forget how accepted smoking in public is in Japan compared to Hong Kong.

Right next door to the hotel is a shopping center with coffee shops, retail outlets for fashion, a supermarket – brands known to every Hong Kong person includes Muji, McDonalds, Yoshinoya, Mozoroff Cafe and Subway (the sandwich shop).

Time to venture out. We headed back to the Namba/Dotombori area. It’s very touristy, very happening. We had to have ramen拉面 ( ラーメン) for dinner – what else. Time to check out what Osaka has to offer. I picked a small no nonsence ramen shop on the Sennichimae Shopping Street. Not a word of English understood here. I decide to be adventurous and tried a chashu ramen with a thick soup. It tasted like it had mashed up hard boiled egg yolk in the soup – more like thick gravy than soup. By the time I finished the ramen, the bowl was just about bone dry! The gravy/soup clung on to the ramen so that nothing was left behind. Very different from the watery Hong Kong style soups for noodles and the Japanese miso and even tonkatsu soups. Definitely better for winter time. Of course, there was also the half a nearly hard boiled egg. The chashu was everything I wanted Japanese chashu to be – melt in  the mouth layers of meat and fat! Yummy! Several condiments were on the table. The chilli sauce was very good.

Poster in the ramen shop in Osaka

My bowl of delicious ramen

Speaking of "nearly hard boiled egg" reminds me of the time I dropped into a ramen shop in Hokkaido's ramen alley one Christmas. I asked if my son could have his egg fully hard boiled instead of nearly ..... The answer was a firm "no". They only do eggs one way and it cannot be changed. How quaint. I  have not asked again, ever, anywhere, in  Japan.

The Namba/Dotombori/Shinsaibashi area is full of alleys with brightly lit shops and eateries open till late (I have yet to figure out what time the shops close). There were some shoppers dressed in kimonos but sadly, I did not spot any geikos (in kanji 芸妓 or in Chinese 艺伎) (as geishas are called here is Osaka) this evening. I am not giving up...keeping my eyes peeled. Maybe I'll be luckier in Kyoto? Let's hope.

Osaka here I come…

Good timing. With Typhoon Vincente out of the way and the airline backlogs nearly cleared, I’m on my way to Osaka for a quick 5 day trip. I have my hotel booking and my YOKOSO! OSAKA ticket. Sheraton Miyako Hotel Osaka is built on the Kintetsu train station and is a mere 400m from the subway station via underground walkway. I am very pleased with my choice of hotel as I am definitely going to be taking public transportation in Osaka. My Yokoso! Osaka ticket includes a train ride from the airport to Namba station and all day subway and bus rides.  As it came free with my air and hotel package, I chose this option. The airport limousine (coach) runs directly between Kansai airport and the hotel. Most definitely, I will be taking the airport limousine on my way back. The train ride from Kansai costs 1.350¥ plus 200¥ for the subway and the door to door airport limousine costs 1,500¥.

Yokoso! Osaka flyer

Follow this link to the Nankai Railway company website for more information on Yokoso! Osaka tickets. Please note that the tickets are only available outside of Japan so you will need to purchase them prior to your trip.

Typhoon Vincente

The Hong Kong Observatory issued a No. 10 storm signal in the early hours of this morning. It was lowered to signal 3 at 10 am this morning. It was a wild night. Some of my windows leaked and I had some mopping up to do this morning. A window from a higher floor landed partially on my balcony. My potted plants were strewn about. Two trees in the estate garden that were damaged during the previous typhoon were uprooted.

This is what the streets around my area looked like at 12 noon.

A broken branch hanging precariously

Branches blown about

Airport Express

Did you know that the Hong Kong Airport Express now runs every 10 minutes? I believe this was shortened from once every 12 minutes.

The 35.3km journey between the HK International Airport and Hong Kong Station in Central (last stop) takes about 24 minutes.

I found this announcement on the MTR website:

Take a taxi as a feeder to enjoy Airport Express offer!

Enjoy 50% OFF Airport Express! From now until 30 June 2012, passengers can enjoy 50% off Airport Express from Kowloon Station or Tsing Yi Station to the Airport when using an Octopus Card. Simply present your taxi receipt of $60 or above on the date of issue at the Customer Service Centre of the two stations.

A lot more people should know about this offer. All told, the Airport Express is a great service.

Dark Shadows

Dark Shadows is a vampire fantasy based on a TV series of the same name. I have not watched the TV series, so have nothing to compare to. However, I must say that (director) Tim Burton's movie is exceptionally entertaining. It stars Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and Eva Green.

To enjoy the fast paced movie, with many plot lines and back stories, don't question too much (eg. if he is the only child of his parents then who are the current Collins living in his manor?) or you'll might miss some twists. The story is a bit rushed in parts - whilst he has supposedly fallen for Victoria, there is scant attention paid to developing that relationship. Instead, the movie focuses on his relationship with the witch Angelique, his ex-lover, who had doomed him to a fate worse than death. Its quite understandable that the movie seems quite rushed. Afterall, the original TV series ran for 1,225 episodes between 1966 and 1971!

The movie has everything, romance, humor, murder, betrayal, back stabbing, greed, lust and even a concert by Alice Cooper. I thought it was a thoroughly enjoyable movie and I would happily watch it again.

For trailers and more facts about the movie see http://darkshadowsmovie.warnerbros.com/index.html

Is it a doughnut or is it a choux puff?

It’s Mother’s Day tomorrow so, Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums.

Wondering what to do on a lazy weekend afternoon? Here is a recipe for a crowd pleaser which can be prepared in a jiffy with minimum cleaning required. I call it Chinese Choux Puffs廣東人叫「沙翁」and it is a delectable cross between choux pastry and doughnuts 「甜甜圈」. Delicious! I have quite a soft spot for doughnuts and these are a healthier version (is it possible??). My logic tells me that as the puffs are filled with air, there is less carbohydrate and therefore less calories .... provided you don't eat too many, of course!

Chinese Choux Puffs「沙翁」

Chinese Choux Puffs

Ingredients
200 ml water
40 g vegetable shortening or lard
80 g plain flour, sifted
3 eggs
2/3 cup castor sugar
Oil for deep frying

Makes about 25 puffs

Method

1. Place water and vegetable shortening in a medium pot and bring to boil. Turn off the heat and tip in sifted flour. Stir vigorously to mix. Keep stirring until mixture is smooth.  Make sure there are no lumps of unmixed flour.
2. Beat eggs in a separate bowl.
3. Stir beaten eggs into the batter.  Mix well to form a thick glossy batter.
4. Heat oil for deep frying. Using two soup spoons, drop in heaped teaspoonsful of batter (about the size of a fish ball). Make sure that the oil is not too hot. Deep fry until cooked through (with no uncooked batter inside) and golden brown.  The puffs will turn over whilst cooking so that there is no need touch them until they are ready. The puffs will split and expand to 2-3 times the original size (if not, the oil is too hot).
5. Lift from oil and drain on kitchen paper towels for a few minutes.
6. Toss the puffs in castor sugar and serve immediately.

These puffs do not keep well and should be enjoyed fresh.

It is important to cook the puffs till they puff up and split or you will have uncooked dough in the puffs. 

What happened?

Look what I spotted whilst in Central on Saturday? Recognise the bronze lion statue? Yes, indeed, it is one of the pair guarding the HSBC headquarters on Queens Road Central. Notice the gashes - how did the damage occur? I thought I might find out in the news in the following day or two but have not come across any mention. Does anyone know who or what or why? Please enlighten me.

Salvador Dali sculpture in Central 薩爾瓦多•達利

It's great that in Hong Kong, art and other displays are not consigned to museums and galleries but is made accessible in small doses to the public. Current examples are the woolly mammoth display at the IFC Mall (see post of 19th April). Another is the display of cheongsam 旗袍 (qipao) in an exhibition that opened yesterday at Olympian City in Tai Kok Tsui (the exhibition runs until June 10).

Did you know that there is a bronze sculpture, Woman Aflame by Salvador Dali on display at the Landmark in Central? It located just inside the Queens Road Central entrance, next to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel next door.

In case you find it difficult to read the text in the photograph of the plaque accompanying the sculpture, this is what it says:

"The ends of my moustache are radar aerials with which I feel everything that happens in the world around me and that people think throughout the day". Quotes such as this give us all an insight to the mind of this great and fanatical artist.
This sculpture of a woman with her skirt in flames and a chest of drawers down her front was adapted from Dali's famous 1937 painting "Burning Giraffe".
This painting drew upon Dali's premonition of an apocalyptic war. Here the imagery of a woman with drawers recurred in Dali's works  and alludes to his obsession with the mysteries of female sexuality. Dali was influenced by Sigmund Freud's work on the interpretation of dreams and the hidden sexual meanings of dream images. Dali was of the view that the human body is full of secret drawers that only the psychoanalysis is capable of opening.

Salvador Dali was a prolific Spanish artist known probably more for his paintings than his sculptures. In fact, as it states on the sign, this sculpture is based on one of his paintings, the Burning Giraffe:

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Burning_Giraffe)

One of Salvador Dali's best known is perhaps the 1931 painting "The Persistence of Memory":

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Dal%C3%AD)

Recognise the melting clocks?

Popcorn

There is a new food outlet on level 1 of the IFC Mall, next to CitySuper called Garrett Popcorn Shops. They sell a variety of "fresh made" popcorn both sweet and savoury. I sampled the cheese and the caramel flavoured ones. Both were definitely stronger in flavour than the ones at the cinema. The counter staff looked like they were having a quiet day so I thought, "why not?". I bought the smallest bag of the cheese flavoured one. I expected warm or even hot popcorn ("fresh made") but it was only a slightly warm when I picked the bag up. I had the popcorn about two hours later by which time the popcorn was already chewy. What more, it was very salty and greasy. It was not possible to have more than a handful without needing a drink. Perhaps the caramel one would have kept better? Anyway, I did not pick the caramel flavoured one because it was far too sweet and I knew that whilst the little sample was nice, it would not have been possible to enjoy a bagful. The popcorn is sold in a variety of sizes but I cannot imagine why anyone would want to get more than a little bag as the popcorn definitely does not keep well.

Garrett Popcorn Shops - IFC Mall Hong Kong

Menu

Cheese popcorn - $49

Baby Mammoth Lyuba in IFC Mall Hong Kong

I visited the hugely popular display of a baby mammoth that lived 42,000 years ago in Siberia. Located in the IFC Mall at the Hong Kong station in Central, the display drew a large crowd even on a Friday evening. The crowd was even larger on Saturday morning with a queue from the front door. I must say, the 32 day old baby mammoth named "Lyuba" is rather cute and worth a look. Entry is free.

Here are some pictures for you to check out:

Hong Kong’s new Chief Executive

With the 2012 elections over, I ponder over the vote results. Of the total possible 1,193 votes, C.Y. Leung gained 689, Henry Tang 285 and Albert Ho 76 votes. There were 82 invalid votes and 61 absentees.

Congratulations to C.Y. Leung. The South China Morning Post (front page today) deemed this an unconvincing victory as he had won with only 57.7 percent of the votes available. In contrast, the first Chief Executive, Tung Chee-hwa won 320 of 400 votes in 1996. In 2007 the incumbent, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen was re-elected to his current term with 649 votes from the 796 strong Election Committee (or 81.5 percent). Well, in my opinion, it was a decisive win when you look into the genesis of the race. In the beginning, Henry Tang was a shoo in. In the end, he gained less than half the votes C.Y. Leung did having lost the confidence of his early supporters. The cynic might say that C.Y. Leung did not win the race but was handed victory by Henry Tang who could not keep himself out of negative limelight. Towards election crunch time, Henry Tang’s chances of being elected started to fade. The question then on people’s minds was whether C.Y. Leung could gain the threshold 601 votes.

There is also a ground swell of the Hong Kong population who are unhappy that anyone had won. These are the people who favour returning “white tickets” 白票 to demonstrate their dissatisfaction over the three candidates. The HK University ran a mock poll open to all HK residents with a permanent identity card. 220,000 people voted. The majority of people returned “white tickets”. This may be appropriate for a mock election but I query whether this would be practical in the case of a real election. In any case, C.Y. Leung polled slightly better than Henry Tang, with 17 percent of the mock votes.

Another question that mystifies me is the number of what I’d call “no votes” i.e. the invalid votes and the absentees. In a jurisdiction where the population is craving for universal suffrage, did these fortunate 143 people entrusted with the important task of selecting Hong Kong’s next Chief Executive not appreciate the privilege and the responsibility they carried? Surely these 143 appreciated the fact that there is no “do nothing” option? By doing so, they have allowed others to decide for them. If they have reservations about all three candidates, did these people not realize that in any event, one of the three candidates was likely be elected anyway and it would have been better to vote for the best of the three than to bury your head in the sand and hope for the whole thing to start again with fresh candidates? Fortunately, it was not a close outcome and the 143 votes would not have changed the results. In the end, C.Y.Leung won by 404 votes and he had the necessary minimum number of votes. Fortunately, these 143 “no votes” did not matter in the end. However, in my opinion the privilege should be permanently withdrawn from them.

Dressed Salads

I love salads but usually not for dinner. So I was really glad my daughter convinced me to make an exception on Friday when we popped into Dressed Salads in the ifc Mall (Central). I had the "special of the day" which was lamb kebab with a Greek salad. It was a beautiful meal with just the right portion of meat, fetta cheese and olives. Here's a picture of the dish:

Election for Chief Executive of Hong Kong

So this is it. The night before THE DAY. How the tables have turned. Like they say, a day is a very long time in politics. 6 months ago, it seemed Henry Tang was the shoo-in. Even 2 months ago, it still seemed like he was invincible. And now, CY Leung seems like he has pulled ahead.

Well, I think that it is important that the matter is resolved tomorrow. The politicking and mud slinging has gone on long enough. I don't think I'd like to see another few months of this fiasco in the event that none of the candidates receive the requisite minimum of 601 votes. Possibly with one or two new candidates and probably with also the same ones. To what end? I'd like to think that all the factions have laid their best cards on the table (if not why not?) and the existing 3 candidates are the best of the breed. So why bother to have another round of politicking? What is obvious is that politicking is a new profession in Hong Kong. Dare I say - what we have had to date are more akin to administrators.

Well, I do hope that whichever candidate wins tomorrow's election appreciates the opportunity to prove himself and most importantly, remembers that public office in a democracy is a privilege not a right. May the best man win! The people in Hong Kong deserve that much. Most importantly, may all the politicians, the Public Service and the people of Hong Kong bear in mind that it is important to re-unite for the sake of the economy and for the welfare of the people. Thank you to all three candidates (CY Leung, Henry Tang Yin Yen and Albert Ho) for campaigning vigorously.

Umbrella .... in Cantonese

Look at the cute umbrella I spotted in a gift shop at the Peak. With some Cantonese rain related phrases, it would make a practical yet nostalgic momento for a home sick friend living overseas. The umbrella comes in several colors including blue and black.

The versatile chopsticks 筷子

I was using a pair of chopsticks to beat some eggs for my breakfast omelet this morning when I started thinking about how useful chopsticks are in the kitchen. First of all, do you ever use chopsticks as an egg beater? Honestly, it is the best tool for the job. Of course, there are limitations. I wouldn’t use it for beating eggs for a chiffon cake, for example. Only a balloon whisk would be up to that task.

Instead of steaming baskets or steaming racks, mum would use a pair of bamboo chopsticks to hold up dishes to be steamed in a wok. To prevent a pot from boiling over, she would place a chopstick across the top of a pot to tilt up the lid a little. This way, the lid is covering the pot but there is sufficient ventilation to prevent messy boil overs. I used to own a pair of super long chopsticks which I’d bought from a Chinatown grocery store in Australia. This was exceptionally useful when deep frying food. With this pair of chopsticks, I could stay a safe distance away from splattering oil. Also, the bamboo chopsticks did not get as hot as a pair of metal thongs would. Nifty. Too bad I haven’t been able to find these in Hong Kong.

Here are some interesting tid bits about chopsticks:

Chopsticks originated in ancient China as early as during the Shang dynasty (1766-1122 BC). However, some people believe that it was probably not until the Han dynasty when chopsticks were used as eating utensils. Prior to that, chopsticks were probably used for cooking – for example, for stirring the pot and picking up food. But then again, Zhou, the last emperor of the Shang dynasty, was reputed to have used a pair of ivory chopsticks. Gold and silver chopsticks became popular in the Tang dynasty (618-907 AD). It was believed that the silver chopsticks could detect poisons in food.

In Japan, around 24 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks are used a year. This works out to around 200 pairs per person per year. In China, an estimated 45 billion pairs of disposable chopstick are produced annually. This adds up to 1.66 million cubic meters of timber or 25 million fully grown trees every year.

If you are now interested to learn more about the humble chopsticks, you may wish to visit a chopsticks museum in Shanghai. The address of the Kuaizi Museum is 191 Duolun Road (Hongkou District) 多伦路文化名人街上海市虹口区. In Hong Kong there is a specialty chopsticks retailer called Chopsticks Gallery at the Ngong Ping 360 Village (Lantau Island).

Hong Kong Census 2011

The Census and Statistics Department has issued a press release of the population census conducted in 2011. Detailed results will be published in the coming months. So what’s changed since the previous population census in 2001?

The Hong Kong population has increased from 6.71 million people in 2001 to 7.07 million in 2011. During this time, the median age of the population rose from 36.7 years to 41.7 years. And the forecast is that the population will continue to age, with the median age in 2039 predicted to be 47.6 years. In my blog post of August 4th 2011, I pointed out the disparity between the ratio of males to females. Well, to update:

Census Year	2001	2011
Sex Ratio (males per 1,000 females)	960	876
Never married (male, age over 20)	27.8%	28.1%
Never married (male, age 20-49 years)	39.3%	46.8%
Never married (female, age over 20)	24.4%	25.4%
Never married (female, age 20-49 years)	34%	38.9%

So, how is it that there are so many single people in Hong Kong? Is it time for some Singapore style government sponsored match making? Yet, interestingly, we constantly read in the press about the need for more private schools, the lack of maternity beds etc etc. Also, where are the guys? As pointed out in my August blog post, the number of female foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong contributes to the disparity between males and females. The press release did not offer any explanation as to increased disparity. Has there been a marked increase of foreign domestic helpers or foreign brides or has there been an exodus of men? Looking at the statistics, there has been an increase in the proportion of never married men which tends to counter the argument about foreign brides…

Are Hong Kong men and women too choosy? Or are they choosing not to formalize their relationships with a marriage certificate?

Another interesting statistic I found was the median monthly income from main employment of the working population which was $11,000 in 2011, representing an increase of 10% in the past 10 years. From my personal experience in the last few years, this seems a small wage rise -especially given the recent announcement that in the 12 months ended January 2012, the CPI was on average 5.5% higher than the preceding 12 months. So I looked around for some more information.

The CPI index in 2001 was 94.9 and in 2011, the CPI index was 106. This implies that on average, consumer prices have risen 11.69% in the 10 year period. This was lower than what I had guessed, then I realised that a significant portion of CPI is attributable to the cost of housing which has been on a roller coaster since 1996 (remember how prices tumbled during SARs?). For guidance, I turned to the Census and Statistics Department’s 5 yearly Household Expenditure Survey. Apparently, in 2010, Hong Kong households spent an average of 28.2% to 33.3% of household income on housing. In New Zealand, it is 16% and in Japan, 6.5%. Eat your heart out!

Sensible marriage advice

I was fascinated by two little books (or should I say booklets as they only measure 7cm by 11cm) titled “DON’TS FOR HUSBANDS” and “DON’TS FOR WIVES” by Blanche Ebbutt. Never heard of her? Well, neither had I. The books were originally published in 1913! Okay I was intrigued - how can this still be relevant a hundred years hence? I had to read them….

You know what? Many of the advice are still so applicable in this day and age. In those days, the English “wives” the author was referring to generally did not work outside the home. It was not until 1918 when women over the age of 30 and who met minimum property qualifications were enfranchised. This was extended to all women above the age of 21 in 1923 ie a good 10 years after the book was first published. In any case, if you read the book bearing in mind the period in which it was written, it is surprisingly sensible and not at all sexist. The book also has references to how to treat servants-how relevant to Hong Kong today!

Here are few that I really like, see what you think of them:

For Husbands –

• Don’t think that because you and your wife married for love there will never be a cloud in your sky. Neither of you is perfect, and you will have to learn to avoid treading on each other’s corns.


• Don’t hesitate to mention the fact when you think your wife looks especially nice. Your thinking so can give her no pleasure unless you tell your thought.


• Don’t forget your wife’s birthday. Even if she doesn’t want the whole world to know her age, she doesn’t like you to forget.


• Don’t quarrel with your wife. She can’t if you won’t. Mud sticks and so do words spoken in anger.


• Don’t refuse your wife’s overtures when next you meet if you have unfortunately had a bit of a breeze. Remember it costs her something to make them, and if you weren’t a bit of a pig, you would save her the embarrassment by making them yourself.

For Wives –

• Don’t omit to pay your husband an occasional compliment. If he looks nice as he comes in dressed for the opera, tell him so. If he has been successful with his chickens, or his garden, or his photography, compliment him on his results.Don’t let him fall back on self-esteem all the while for want of a little well-directed praise.
  Don’t nag your husband. If he won’t carry out your wishes for the love of you, he certainly won’t because you nag him.


• Don’t say “I told you so” to your husband, however much you feel tempted to. It does no good, and he will be grateful to you for not saying it.


• Don’t sulk with your husband. If he has annoyed you, ‘get it off your chest’. A sulky wife is as bad as a termagant.


• Don’t refuse to give way about trifles. When a principle is at stake it is a different matter, but most matrimonial differences arise from trifles.


• Don’t return to an old grievance. Once a matter has been thrashed out, let it be forgotten, or at least never allude to it again.

Definitely a good read and a good gift for couples with a sense of humor.

At issue are truth and integrity

Did any of you watch Henry Tang Ying-Yen, the Chief Executive hopeful on television last night? For some time, Henry Tang has been embroiled in a controversy with allegations raised in the press about an “illegal structure” at No 7 York Road Kowloon Tong, a property which he co-owned with his wife until 2010. (In 2010, he transferred his share of the company that owns the property to his wife thus making her the sole owner.) The “illegal structure”, which he had dismissed as a small storage area, turned out to be a large basement of approximately 11 meters by 19 meters installed over an extended period of several years. Two glass panels at the bottom of a swimming pool provide illumination to the basement. This was verified by government officials from the Buildings Department late yesterday. Henry Tang and Mrs Tang (Lisa Kuo) met the press after the inspection to make a statement and answer questions.

I was absolutely amazed at his gumption. His statement had two key points – it was his wife’s doing and that even though he was aware that the renovations were illegal he did not handle the matter swiftly as it occurred during a low ebb in their marriage in 2007. Okay, swiftly? This is 2012, a good 4 to 5 years since! This coming from someone who said (roughly translated from Chinese) that “a man has to have broad shoulders and a strong spine”? In response to a direct question by a reporter “Did you lie?” he said he was confused and torn between his desire to tell the whole truth and protecting his wife. So………faced with two difficult choices he chose to not tell the truth and then when the chips are down, ” throw his wife under the bus” anyway. Go figure! You would have thought that Henry Tang had a few months or at least a few weeks to prepare for this final showdown and I am so disappointed that last night’s performance was the best that he could do. In life, one has to prepare for the worse and hope for the best. Surely in this case, he hoped for the best and did not prepare for the worse.

Mrs Tang on the other hand has shown unwavering loyalty to her husband despite his infidelity and again in this incident, courage and integrity to own up to the truth and shoulder full responsibility for the illegal structure and sincerity in her remorse and let’s not forget her single minded dedication to her noble (if misplaced) purpose of providing the best for her family’s comfort.

Let’s vote Mrs Tang for Chief Executive instead!

For a report in the South China Morning Post click here.

Water Chestnut Pudding

For the Lunar New Year, I got busy with making some traditional favorites as gifts to family and friends. Amongst this is the very famous Hong Kong Cantonese dessert called the water chestnut pudding. It’s a great “pantry staple” (it can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week). As part of my experimentation, I varied the recipe by substituting some of the rock sugar with some Chinese brown sugar which comes in blocks 冰片糖. It added a very pleasant depth to the flavor and so I would recommend it. Here is the recipe for this adaptation of the original recipe:

Water Chestnut Pudding with brown sugar

Ingredients
500 g water chestnut powder
500 g rock sugar冰糖
250 g Chinese brown sugar冰片糖
8 water chestnuts
3 litres water

Method

1. Peel water chestnuts and chop into little bits.
2. Boil 1.5 litres of water, rock sugar and brown sugar in a large stock pot. Add in the chopped water chestnuts.
3. Place the water chestnut powder in a large mixing bowl. Add 1.5 litres of water and mix thoroughly. Make sure that the batter is absolutely smooth with no lumps of water chestnut powder.
4. When the sugar is dissolved, add in one cup of the water chestnut batter. Stir immediately. The sugar solution should thicken slightly and the mixture is clear. Bring to boil again.
5. Turn heat off and stir in the rest of the water chestnut batter. The mixture is now opaque. Keep stirring the bottom of the pot to ensure that the mixture does not stick.
6. Divide the mixture into 3 deep 8 inch dishes.
7. Place a trivet in a wok and fill with water to slightly above the top of the trivet. Use high heat. When the water is boiling, place a tray of the batter on the trivet and steam with the lid on the wok for about 20 minutes. When cooked, the pudding will be honey coloured and clear. When necessary, top up the water in the wok with hot water.
8. Leave the cooked pudding in the dishes to cool.

Whilst still warm, cut into slices and serve.Leftover pudding can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week. To reheat, fry slices with a little oil.

This is what water chestnut pudding batter looks like before being steamed.

This is water chestnut pudding being steamed. Notice that the batter is translucent around the edges and is turning a light brown honey color.

Postcard from Bangkok

I am on a trip to Bangkok and was taken by the jumble of overhead cables - see photograph below. Definitely, there were telephone cables in that bundle – as you can see from the photograph of a telephone booth. But, I wondered if there were also electricity cables. Walking up the stairs to catch a ride on the Skytrain, I could have reached out and touched these cables and wondered if it is a safety hazard?




Hope you are all having a great time celebrating the Lunar New Year with your family and friends. I am so glad to escape the freezing temperatures in Hong Kong - it’s sizzling hot here in Bangkok. I went to the massive Chatuchak Weekend Market (nicknamed JJ Market) with a reputed 15,000 stalls yesterday. It’s conveniently located near the Mo Chit Skytrain stop. What a monstrous jumble. I had no idea where to start when I got there. The cold juice straight from a freshly opened green coconut was definitely the highlight of the trip. The tourist brochure says you can find everything there, even live snakes – well I can’t verify that as I did not see any but I can definitely say that it would not surprise me if I did.

Goldfish pudding mould

I have had a few queries about the mould for making the goldfish new year pudding. So here is how it looks like.

This is the large sized mould. When you use it during cooking, it will be "upside down". You will have to balance it in a dish by resting the edges on the edge of the bowl. However, if your dish is too big, rest 2 chopsticks across the top of the dish to support your goldfish mould. Ensure the mould is level before fillling it with the mixture.

Coconut pudding 年年有馀

Wow! Chinese New Year is only 15 days away. I realised this morning that I have a mountain of things to organise such as the food gifts to senior relatives and the "return gifts" for the younger relatives and then the presents to the little ones. In addition, I need to stock up my pantry with the appropriate ingredients such as dried scallops, mushrooms, dried mussels, abalone, sea cucumber etc. I'll also need to organise the red packets which means a trip to the bank.

Here is a recipe to kick start the preparations. I'll be making these for my close relatives. It is a pudding made from coconut milk and glutinous rice flour called 椰汁糕 in Cantonese. It can be sliced and eaten whilst warm or kept in the refrigerator until needed. If eaten later, you will need to cut the pudding in slices and pan fry till warmed through. For the Chinese New Year, I make mine in the shape of goldfish to symbolise 年年有余. The recipe below is for the goldfish version. You could steam the mixture in a regular shaped pan. Omit colouring in this case.

Ingredients300 gm glutinous rice flour
2 Tbsp Tang flour
1 ¼ cup coconut milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp condensed milk
210 gm sugar
100 ml water
Orange food colour (approx. 1 drop of red to 3 drops of yellow colour)



Method

1. Boil sugar with water until sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool.


2. Sift flour into a mixing bowl.


3. Mix coconut milk, oil and condensed milk with the sugar syrup.
4. Pour mixture into the mixing bowl and stir to mix with the sifted flour. Stir until mixture is smooth and free of lumps.
5. Spoon 3 tablespoonsful of this mixture into a separate bowl and color this portion orange. Make sure that this color is quite vibrant.
6. Lightly oil the goldfish steaming mould.
7. Carefully spoon the orange mixture in small areas around the mould. Then carefully fill with the white mixture.
8. Steam for 30 minutes.

Notes: the goldfish mould is plastic and is available from specialty cookery shops (eg DIY in Wanchai) and occasionally from household goods shops such as Jusco $10 or Japan Home. It is also available from a kitchenware shop in Sheung Wan (see post 20 July 2010).

This recipe makes 1 large, 2 medium or 6 small goldfish.