An annual Hall haunting returns...

Just like last year, residents of our hall's 10th floor crafted a marvelously spooky haunting for us to enjoy...

Unsuspecting victims were greeted on the first floor and asked to register
(you know, just to make sure everyone who entered also made it out alive).

While waiting for the next tour to begin
(only a two or three people were allowed to enter together),
victims were encouraged to apply their own creepy makeup.

The Angry Spirits prevented photography during the tour,
but afterward we shared a little ice cream and good cheer with them.

The 10th floor Halloween tradition was as strong as ever this year. Happy Halloween, everyone!

Introducing Javis...

David, one of our residence hall's senior tutors, recently celebrated the birth of his new baby boy with us (and the rest of the hall's tutor team)...

Daddy and Javis, smiling at each other

David brought a delicious pot of 豬腳薑醋 ("pig feet ginger vinegar"),
a dish traditionally served after the birth of a child

Everyone was very excited (even Fui Fui)!

Congratulations!

Show time!

Over the last few months, I've become a kind of consultant / mentor to the newly-launched rock band we have in our residence hall (a wonderfully rewarding role that puts my 20+ years of percussion experience to good use). This week, the band had their first show of the year...

I was a "guest artist" on two of the numbers.

The crowd had a great time!

The band currently has 12 members who rotate in and out depending on the song.

The show lasted a little over an hour and everyone truly did a fantastic job. They are an enormously talented group of individuals, who have treated me with great kindness and respect, and I'm very proud to be associated with them.

Experiencing an Ancient Mid-Autumn Festival Tradition

October means Mid-Autumn festival (and mooncakes)!

This year, a group of our residence hall students decided to introduce us to an ancient Mid-Autumn Festival game from Fujian province...

The basic action of the game is quite simple: players take turns tossing six die into a bowl...

...and, depending on the outcome, prizes are awarded. Once all the prizes are distributed, the game concludes. (Determining the outcome for a roll is where things get a little complicated, so I won't dig into that here, but you can read more about it if you are curious.)

Mooncakes are the usual prize, but the students would have had to buy nearly 200 mooncakes to support the size of the activity, so that would have been far too pricey. Instead, they used individually-wrapped snack food items of various values, and that was definitely good enough. After all, the prizes didn't really matter, it was just a great opportunity to participate in an ancient tradition and spend quality time with members of our community.

Discovering a new vegetable...

Earlier this month, while Katherine and I were strolling past a vegetable stand in Kennedy Town, I spotted a vegetable that I had never seen before...

Look rather like the head of a bull, no?

And they can be arranged in pretty patterns!

They are called "water caltrops" (or, in Chinese, "菱角") and they have a tough, shiny shell that could easily be mistaken for hard plastic. Normally, they are prepared simply by boiling and peeling...

The result is a bit starchy and potato-like (but more firm than your average boiled potato) with a very mild flavor that reminded me of American chinquapin chestnuts. Quite tasty, actually, but a lot of work for little reward. ;>

Celebrating Katherine...

Katherine's birthday was this past weekend and we kicked off the celebration by going to the IFC mall to see two films of Katherine's choosing: District 9 (an work of absolute brilliance, but quite disturbing in its social themes and graphic violence) and the Fame remake (fun with some great musical performances, but overloaded with underdeveloped - and in some cases uninteresting - characters). Between showings, we snuck up to the 3rd floor atrium inside Agnès b. La Loggia...

...and relaxed in front of the le pain grillé...

A hot chocolate for Katherine, a blueberry smoothie for me

After the second film, it was time for dinner, and Katherine requested a return to our favorite Italian restaurant (located in Wan Chai). Unfortunately, when we arrived, we learned that last month it had changed hands, changed its name, and changed its menu (it didn't change its base cuisine, though - it was still an Italian restaurant). Sadness! Katherine decided we should give it a try anyway, though, so we entered...

An appetizer full of shellfish

Katherine's seafood marinara

My gnocchi in a creamy Gorgonzola sauce

It might not be quite as wonderful as it was before, but it was still very much enjoyable, and I fully expect us to return.

The next day, we invited Katherine's parents and brother over for a birthday celebration dinner, where I turned these...

Fresh shrimp, alive and hopping

...into this...

Gumbo! (my recipe)

I also decided to try something new and whip up a very traditional Hong Kong dessert (even though it was a bit unorthodox as a birthday cake substitute)...

Sweet walnut soup (my recipe)

Not to worry, though - Katherine still had the birthday cake of her choice...

A napoleon cake from the Lucullus bakery chain

It was a lovely weekend-long celebration full of fun, food, and family!

Happy Birthday, Katherine!

An amusing English-to-Chinese translation...

HBO is currently running a massive advertising campaign in Hong Kong targeted at female viewers...

One of the many enormous, wall-sprawling murals we saw in the MTR stations this weekend

Seeing "chick flicks" caught my attention first, since I don't think it is widely used or even widely known here, but its Chinese translation is the real gem: "women emotion movies" (the five characters just above the English). Ha! As if, somehow, these movies evoke emotions that men just don't have. ;)

An afternoon with Ang Lee...

Academy Award winning film director Ang Lee (李安) stopped by the University of Hong Kong this week and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see him.

There was a very long line to enter the auditorium (and this was just for people who had reserved seats!)

Ang (far right) sits with the moderator and a group of secondary school students

The house was absolutely packed, with all the standing room completely consumed, and for good reason - Ang was charming, insightful, sincere, and a real delight to listen to. Katherine and I had a wonderful time and left with a real craving to see some of his films.

Urban birdwatching...

Sitting on our balcony and trying to get a good look at the birds flying around us is really quite difficult. This week, though, I happened to spy a Black-Collard Starling on the roof of a neighboring building...

The roof's overhang has large holes (as you can see), so I was fortunate that this fella peered through one before he vanished.