A day with jet lag...

When Katherine and I returned to Hong Kong on Saturday night, we were both exhausted and slept in excess of 11 hours each. Yesterday, we just couldn't sleep at a natural time, so we stayed up all night (allowing me to get a jump on my Monday work). At 6AM, we decided to head out and participate in something I have long been interested in: early morning dim sum! Before exiting our apartment, though, we had to adorn an extra accessory...

This is a standard procedure that our Hall (among others) is using to help slow the spread of influenza. All residents and visitors who have recently returned from foreign countries are asked to wear surgical masks for the week following their arrival (at least, on Hall grounds). We are no exception, so on went the masks!

Back to the plan: For some time now I've wanted to enjoy a very traditional dim sum experience at the Lin Heung Tea House in Central (which has been featured on Tony Bourdain's No Reservations). Today we fulfilled that wish...

Barely a soul at the main entrance...

...but the inside was packed, even at this early hour

Clockwise from the upper right: steamed rice rolls filled with chicken and taro, beef balls atop tofu skin, and siu mai.

Clockwise from the lower right: Shrimp dumplings, steamed rice rolls filled with BBQ pork, and fried sesame balls filled with lotus seed paste

The wait staff places a "chop" on your bill for the category/price of each item you order

A blurry look at steamers stacked in the kitchen as we quickly hustle to pay our bill

Afterwards, we went to a bakery to get some goodies for later and found a furry friend instead!

Another friend was waiting outside for us (along with a number of others much like him)

After dim sum, we went back to the apartment to finish up work and then went to a 10:15AM showing of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, followed by lunch at a great shrimp noodle soup shop. It's amazing what you can do in a day by or before noon if you just don't sleep the previous night! ;> Now we'll try to stay awake until a reasonable slumber time...and then pass out.

Postcards from Hilton Head

Last night we safely returned from our trip to South Carolina and we have a few images to share...

Jared, Christin, Katherine, and I hanging in the hotel

Sunrise above lazy waves
(jet lag had us up before 6AM every morning, so we have many such pictures)

An anonymous fisherman silhouetted by sunrise

Brown pelicans soar to the horizon

A golden retriever frolics in the surf

This starfish went belly-up

A crab ready to mount his surfboard

Another crab scuttles towards his home

Driftwood pointing vaguely in the direction of Hong Kong

A bottlenose dolphin surfaces not too far from shore

Another dolphin submerges

A great egret perched just below our hotel balcony

A great blue heron patiently waiting for breakfast

The same heron nabbing a fish (gifted by a nearby fisherman)

Sailing at sunset

Mom, Dad, and I at the wedding

Christin and Jared get hitched!

An obviously happy occasion

The perfect reason to fly from Hong Kong to South Carolina

The trip was too brief, but we had a fantastic time, and we'll be seeing all these lovely folks again in a few short months. Congratulations to Christin and Jared!

Dragon Boat Festival!

June in Hong Kong makes me think of three things: Victoria Park's Tiananmen Massacre vigil, lychee season, and the Dragon Boat Festival. Some are a little happier than others, but they are all highlights of living here.

Today our focus is the Dragon Boat Festival because Katherine and I went to cheer on our residence hall in one of the festival's traditional activities: dragon boat racing! This was the first year our hall has ever fielded a team, and they were only able to practice five times before the event (practicing is quite expensive and time-consuming), but even so they did remarkably well.

The races took place on the picturesque beaches of Stanley peninsula, which were packed with participants and spectators alike...

Racers board their boats as one section of the dense crowd looks on

The appropriately-adorned head of a boat used by our team

Our team moving into position for their first race

During the race, the drummer synchronizes the rowing and sets the pace. Before the race, he chills out. (Incidentally, the drummer was using a pair of sticks I gave as a gift.)

And they're off! This, the first of their four races, ended in a second-place finish

They also took second place in their second race

Katherine, trooper that she is, did a little wading while taking pictures

A good time was had by all!

(Three different teams, including our own, posed in this shot for us)

We stayed for about three hours before heading to our next destination: a delicious dragon boat festival lunch at Katherine's parents' place...

As an aside: when my mother learned that Katherine's parents would be moving into a new home, she selected a lovely house-warming gift for us to deliver. Today Katherine and I noticed it, so we thought we should let Mom (and the rest of you) see where it now proudly resides...

(the decoration, not the orchid ;>)

When we returned home, Fui Fui was waiting patiently for us, ready to be lavished with attention...

"I'm ready for my close-up, Mr DeMille"

Next week Katherine and I will be on Hilton Head Island for the wedding of my wonderful sister, so the blog will be quiet for a spell. We hope you are all enjoying your summer!

Lam @ Coliseum!

You may recall that, near the end of last year, a senior alumnus of our residence hall invited Katherine and I to attend the amazing wedding of his son. This week, that same alumnus asked if we would like to join his family for another special event: The sellout concert of a Hong Kong entertainment legend, George Lam (more commonly known as simply "Ah-Lam"). We didn't hesitate to accept!

Ah-Lam, now 62, has been entertaining audiences for over 30 years as both an actor and a singer. He began his career at a time when very little Cantonese music was being produced (it was generally stigmatized as being uneducated), but his work in the 1970s helped define Cantopop and solidify it as the new dominant art form in Hong Kong. He is a rare breed, able to cross generational and cultural boundaries with his craft, and he puts on a great show.

We began our evening with dinner at The Metropolis restaurant in Hung Hom's Harbour Plaza Metropolis Hotel...

The hotel was an extremely convenient meal spot because it sits right beside the concert venue, the Hong Kong Coliseum...

This is where the big boys play

We walked over to the Coliseum, entered, and found our 8th-row seats right on time...

Our group (everyone looking at the camera)

Ah-Lam didn't use an opening act to warm up the audience, he just exploded onto the stage with dancers in tow...

He went solo for awhile...

He was joined by a 20-person choral group for a few numbers...


And there was even a surprise appearance by one of Hong Kong's most famous and influential young artists, Eason Chan, for a duet...

I would describe Ah-Lam's music as somewhat "blue collar" - inspired by the pulse of the working class - and his singing style is akin to crooning. Something that really makes Ah-Lam unique, though, is his talent for weaving Cantonese into songs from other times, places, and cultures. During this concert, there were a few notable examples...

Gloria Estefan's "Conga" converted into Cantonese rap

Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl"

Starship's "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us"

...and plenty more (which I didn't capture on video), like Mason Williams' "Classical Gas", The Trammps' "Disco Inferno", and even Bach's "Minuet in G Major".

It was a sensational evening that we will not soon forget, all thanks to the amazing generosity of a senior alumnus!