Music Videos of the day!

Today the band is from Australia and is: "Regurgitator". Ever heard of them?
Nor had I, until one of my colleagues from down under shared his Itunes library on the network. Now I often listen to their refreshing and very diverse sound universe.

13 Towers, 50 floors 8 apartments on each!

I Hate working at weekends, and this weekend has been one of these times when it had to be, and I in fact kind of volunteered doing this, so you wont hear me arguing any more in this post.
The students in year 12 will go on some “Creativity and Service” trips in November where they will help and support small local schools in Cambodia, Laos and India. It is a project we have participated in for some years now, and it is called: “Schools to Schools”.
Here is a video from one of those visits to Cambodia in 2008.



Our students travel to help and to teach some English, to refurbish classrooms and to bring books and other learning material to the hosts in the countries they visit.
To have something that could show the students in Cambodia, Laos and India, how it is here in Hong Kong where we live, the idea came up to make a small film about students life in Hong Kong, and that way show parts of the city, the Airport and a typical Hong Kong Home.
So that is what this work is; We are travelling around Hong Kong and film how one of the students get’s a “visit” from a friend abroad, and then show’s her around the city and to his home.
So it is not the worst kind of work, as that was pretty much what I would have done anyway, I mean touring around in the city, just not with a group of students and filming equipment.
Our “main character” was supposed to live in one of the many new high-rises in one of the many new settlements around Hong Kong, and this one is very closed to the Airport. These kind of settlements is something, a they are build anywhere where you have some space or can reclaim land, and then they shoot up in the air in record time, and there is everything there; shopping, entertainment and always a good connection to public transport and a MTR Station.
Just to give a little description of the dimensions of these estates I will line up what our host told us about this single estate.
There is 13 towers each of 50 floors and with 8 apartments on each of them.



























For Hong Kong circumstances the apartment is quite spacious, so they are used to house families, and then we can start calculating. A typical family could be anything from 3 to 5 people, so if we take the average of 4 people in each flat then we will come out with a number like 20.000 or so. This is like the size of a bigger town in Denmark, but in just a small -but tall- area.

It can blow your mind and when I think of the village where I grew up, all of the inhabitants could have living in a couple of those floors, nad I cannot stopping thinking what the students in Cambodia, Laos and India might think when they get to see the life style of Hong Kong.

Music Video of the day!

Gorillaz: Will visit Hong Kong in December, and we are going...
Back in 2001 I bought the first album. I was living in Dresden and my brother and family came to visit from Denmark so I took them by car to Poland and the Czech republic. In the car we only had this one CD, but anyway after three days none of us was really tired of the music, I even think my brother went out and bought it when they returned back to Denmark.
I still enjoy the Gorillas while driving, so maybe that is why I choose this video for the video of the day.


Enjoy the ride...

Odd food picture of the day!

There is a saying that Chinese people eat everything with it's back to the sun. Not only that; they also eat it in many different ways of preserving and preparing it, or none at all.
Like these two dried versions here. First there is the Geese and then on the other photo, a Bamboo Rat -which is a little mammal living in the bamboo Forrest in the mountains, or at least I think as I saw this example in the the rice terraces in the mountains, and I have nowhere else seen this on a Menu either.
The other thing in that picture is a bird of some kind but I couldn't find out what that is.
I am not that fussy about what I eat, and the last three years here in China has for sure widened the palette of what I've tried throughout my life so far, but I still can't imagine to buy this Bamboo Rat on a stick, and start chewing on it.

Fainting Goat Cats!

I've had them earlier in this blog; the Fainting Goats. That is goats in the US who has this yhing, that they apparently faint when they are being chased or scared, for which purpose I'm not sure. For me it would be silly to faint and fall over if being chased, then you will for sure be caught and probably eaten. But maybe the hunter just gets too surprised seeing your "food" just faint and fall over, and then gets scared and confused and so loose their appetite or better; run away!
But now I saw this on another blog I read; Fainting Kittens. Unfortunately there is no explanation and no original sound on this clip, so I do not know if they get scared by a sound or something like that, but this is odd and kind of cute.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Music Video of the day!

Hurray hurray. I just read that Skunk Anansie has come out with a new Album on the 13 September this year. "Wonderlustre" it is called and will be the 4th studio album by the band.
Even that one friend of mine told me back in 2006, that in 2006 no one is buying CD's any more, I will run to the closest music store and try to get my own copy.

And to Mario -the friend; even in 2010 people are buying CD's, at least I am!
Here you have Sunk Anansie from a former album.

Flashback: Odda, Norway, July 2010!

This came to my mind while I as thinking about food and eating out in other countries. Someone do not like to try other things than what they are used to from home, and when for instance visiting China, always go to the western orientated restaurants and order stuff they know.


On our way through Norway this summer we came to the very nice little town called Odda, at a beautiful fjord in the middle of the Norwegian highland. We’d just been driving over a mountain where there was still laying some snow and where we got our feet chucked in it and they got a bit cold.
As we came down from up there, on the other side of the mountain, we found ourselves at a long fantastic 30-kilometre fjord with high mountains on each side, and at the very end we were in "Odda". Just at the little harbour we found the only Hotel in the town and checked in.Doing that we asked the receptionist where –or if- we could watch the world cup football, which was on that night, and of Corse there was a bar just across the road for that purpose, so that was settled so the next thing was if he –the receptionist- could recommend a restaurant where we could get a nice typical Norwegian meal, the fresh mountain air had given us a big hunger.
Then he looked at us and said that there was a place a couple of kilometres out side, called “Tyssedahl” where there was a Hotel with good Norwegian food, but in Odda, there was only a little Chinese place.
“No”, we both hummed out simultaniously; “We don’t want Chinese food when we are in Norway!”
“But it is good”, he said, looking at us as were we some kind of Culinary Racists or so, but as we explained to him where we come from, he understood. We got ourselves installed in the room –with a nice view up through the fjord- and jumped into the car again, to go back the couple of kilometers along the fjord, to Tyssedahl Kro and Hotel.The food was excellent there, so was the surroundings, and there we celebrated Cats birth the second time with a lovely salmon dish, before we got back to Odda and the bar, to watch Holland beat Paraguay and enter the Final of the 2010 world cup in South Africa.

The worst Film Monsters!

I have not seen any of these films mentioned here, but I guess it isn't worth it either, or maybe just because it should be that bad?

Enjoy the monsters.

Surprise Music Video!

Two strong female artist meet in this live version of Bjørk's: "Army of me". Skin and Skunk Anansie and Bjørk on the same stage.

Music Video of the day!

It is so nice that you can always discover new music and bands, who rally enjoys you. I've found this band recently and now it is your turn.

Ther will be more music videos of the day in the coming weeks, so just be open and watch and listen.

Beer fish, Bamboo rafting, Water buffalos and Snake Schnapps

If anyone is tempted to visit Guilin and Yangshou, there is something you for certain can expect to eat, see and do.

As a tourist destination with an increasing number of western tourists, you can find any kind of food you want, so if you are not fond of eating anything that has it back towards the sun –like the Chinese does, you can also find the things you know from home, but then again, what is the point of going anywhere?

















Like every else, in China they also have regional dishes and specialities, and in Guilin and Yangshou it is Beer Fish and braised pork with Taro vegetables.
Beer Fish is sweet water fish cooked in beer with tomatoes, onions and capsicum.
The sauce is delicious –the fish as well, just get used to the many bones that normally sticks in sweet water fish. The Chinese just put every thing into their mouth, and then manage to spit out the bones separately –I don’t know how they do it – and the foreigners sit there, trying to separate the bones from the meat on the plate, and so the meal can take ages.
For food lovers, China is though still a great destination, and the times I’ve been there. I have only had one bad meal, and that was in fact on this trip, and in Yangshou.



Things you for sure will see in Yangshou are the famous and stunning water buffalo’s.
Everywhere along the river you can enjoy these majestic creatures taking a swim or standing with their heads deep under the water and then the head suddenly pop up with their mouth full of green see weed, or whatever it is called coming from the bottom of a river.

If you go there you should for sure go on a bike ride in the countryside through the small villages and along the narrow trails and paths between the rice paddy fields.
We did take a guide - a nice guide called Esther- and without her, I’m sure we wouldn’t have been able to find all those small hidden tracks with the most beautiful scenery.
























If you are to tired after 5 hours on a bike, or your backside is aching from the saddle on the bike, the next day could be spend taking a bamboo raft down either the Yulong, or the Li River. You can easily organize this yourself, as you will get plenty of offers just walking the street in Yangshou, and then you just negotiate the prize you want to pay for it. Be aware that they have prices for Chinese and then other for foreigners, which is way apart, so always offer less then half of the prize they are asking, or just have a meeting with you own conscience, and ask yourself how much the same service would be in your country.

When the day is over and you have eaten and need something special, do try the local Snake Wine. No, this is not wine extracted from Snakes, not really, it is a very strong spirit with one or more dead snakes swimming around in it, to add some flavour. It is really a strong mixture, but good for the digestion after a solid Chinese meal.

Celebrating Chinese cuisine!

This is a compilation of the food scenes from Director Ang Lee's Movie: "Eat Drink Man Woman", with the complete opening sequence at the beginning.
Don't go watching that film on an empty stomach, coz you wont be able to hold it through the film, these food preparing scenes are just so delicate in this film and gives a good view into the variety of the Chinese cuisine.

Just a bit of Eels!

This one ids directed by German Director Wim Wenders.


Eels are just SO great,

Guilin Diary 17th October 2010!

Maybe this is going to be a bit confusing in the end, as it goes back and forth in time, but take it as some kind of an experimental way of storytelling. This is the first entrance in my "CHINA NOTEBOOK" Diary, and will take you back to the very first day in Guilin.
I am aware that in the YouTube advert down below, they spell Guilin with two l's, but that is wrong, so do not believe everything you read online, not even my posts!

But now to the Diary.

45 minutes Taxi ride from Airport to our hotel in Town: 100 Yuan. (Chinese currency = 10 is like 1 Euro more or less)

The little hotel we'd chosen was actually pretty nice and one of the bit ARTY kind and it was called "Museum" something something, and was placed just at the big lake in the center of town.
We got a Japanese style bed room and a Chinese Antique Style one. Then the problem was to sort out who should sleep where and in which one.
Not that I should sleep with Ricky or Catriona with Mum or such sort of thing, no it was about who had to crawl down and sleep on a Futon style madras on the floor -Japanese Style- and who should feel like a Chinese emperor in the huge Chinese Antique Style room. That room was big and spacious, with a huge tea ceremony table and a large wooden double bed.
It was really nice that bedroom, but common sense said, that the youngest couple should have the pleasure of sleeping on the floor in the Japanese bedroom. Not that this wasn't nice; it really was, with a little podium and sliding rice paper doors where the futon bed was placed.
So Cat & myself could close this rice paper door to the Japanese style bedroom for one night, while Mum & Ricky slept like two ancient emperors in the antique room just down the hall. The hotel reminded me of one of the better experiences in 2009, when we were on our first bigger China travels, and it was the Culture and Art hotel in Qingdao, a Hotel and a city I can only recommend for anyone who would like to visit China and the former German colony up north at the Yellow Sea.
This was the view I could enjoy when I got up in the morning and went up to the rooftop of our little Arty Guilin hotel in the early morning. The picture on top is from the same lake, but taken in the evenng before, as we took a walk all arounf the lake in the center of the town.
The picture in the middle is from the staircase of the Arty Hotel. Unforntunately I wasn't clever enough to take photos in the two rooms.

Students 48 hour contest film!

Alchemy Connection.

A group of students took part in a 48 hour movie making competition from the 15th to the 17th of October.
For the competition the got a theme: "Connections", a prop: "a Pumkin" and a line of dialog:
"I don't debate it any more, you know! It's just absurd!".

This is what they came up with.

Guilin in Adverts!

Here is some of the scenery used in an advert, also the cormorant fishing is from there and you can see them do it, if you are lucky, or you can go to a set up show in the evening and watch this with hundreds of other tourists. I bet the fish is also trained for these shows.

A Convoy of tourist boats.

I guess the mountainous landscape from around Guilin, are a world famous thing, and something many people, when they see it, connects with China.
It is so odd formations of the hills and mountains that they are easy to remember when seen and they are used as locations in numerous films and even on the 20 Yuan note the motive has found it’s way, and these mountains is why the region has become what it is now; a major tourist destination in China.
Guilin is the main City in the area and the airport is placed here. It is a small airport, but with connections to both Hong Kong and Macau, as well as other major Chinese cities. Tourism here is the main industry, and both Chinese and foreigners comes here in huge numbers.
We were advised to let out Guilin, but take a ferry down the Li River to a minor town called Yangshou.
The boat ride is 53 kilometres and takes 4 hours. Hotels and travel agencies in Guilin can organise this trip.,, but be aware that you are going to be on the ferryboat with many, many other people and with many, many other boats.A bus picked us up at the Guilin Hotel early in the morning and took us to the pier outside Guilin. This pier was like a huge departure hall with numbers of souvenir stalls, and here the hassling in fact started. As we were waiting for the sign to go to our boat, we observed how load and load of busses entered and out came a flow of people, all running after some coloured flag and onto one of the many waiting river ferries, and then when full, they took of down the Li River, one after another.
Finally we could board our boat and we were on the way in this convoy of river ferries, with 3 or more boats behind us, and maybe 15 to 20 ahead.
Included in the ticket was a meal, and for a 4-hour trip it was also needed.
The trip is fantastic and the scenery worth every single Yuan, so it can be endured to share the boat deck with the about 100 other guests, who doesn’t stand there all the time.

First pictures from Guangxi Province!

Down the Li River in Guangxi Province, from Guilin to Yangshou. Four hours through breathtaking landscapes with odd hills and mountains to the left and right. What a nice day to spend half a day, and better if you have to travel the distance anyway to get somewhere.
For us this time it was to get from Guilin to the little city Yangshou, where we were going to spend the next 5 days doing stuff.
What we did, you can see some of it, in the next days (weeks?).

Go China!

The day has finally arrived and we are of to visit the mainland again. These signs are not the ones we are going to encounter this time. These are from the easter holiday trip, wher we followed a group of students on an exchange trip to Hangzhou, China's city of romance, as it is said.
We are going to Guangxi province to visit Guilin and Yangshou. The only thing we know is, that is it supposed to be beautiful and a good destination for some open air activities.
When we are back on the 23rd, I will be able to tell a lot more about it, so I hope you will tune in again later to check out if there is anything new here.
The following pictures are from one of the many small romantic "watervillages" which is around Hangzhou, and some of the atmosphere should also be found in Yangshou, so maybe it will be a repetition, I don't know.

Under en Sort Sol!

One of my favorite bands from Denmark announced a couple of days ago in a danish newspaper, that they are going on a tour again, starting in March 2011.

"Sort Sol" (Black Sun) started as a high school punk band back in the good 70ties and stayed on their path throughout both the 80ties & 90ties and matured to become one of the best live bands in Denmark at the time.

In 1984 they included this duet -if you can call it that - with Lydia Lunch, an American poet, singer and songwriter connected to the New York punk scene at the time, on the album: "Dagger & Guitar".
Nine years later they got a kind of breakthrough when they released the album: "Glamourpuss".
The song: "Let the fingers do the walking" became their biggest hit.

Their music became less "punk" and so they reached a bigger audience.
In their live performances they still included their older and punk stuff, and their concerts was always very intense and very loud.
If I have the chance to go to a Sort Sol concert once again, I will definitely go.
So this could be a reminder to my danish readers to check the live music calendars in spring time 2011.

Pictures of the day. Buildings

The different stages of the development of Hong Kong are still visual in the city landscape. In all areas and neighbourhoods you will find houses and buildings from other decades dotted in between the more fashionable and modern high rises.
The massive “new” buildings from the fifties, where the enormous demand on housing started after some devastating fires in the Squatter camps at the hillsides, and the government just had to take action and build housing for the people coming in to Hong Kong from Mainland China.
These typical Hong Kong blocks is still to be found around the town, and seen from the out side, they look inviting and just as a good location for some Action Kung Fu movie, with a fabulous chase over the rooftop.

At night, the visible contrast in the decades of architecture is more obvious because of the light technology of the modern times, and in not many years, the areas with the houses as here in the front will be gone, and the streamlined look of glass, steel and concrete will be dominating. Gone will be all the small narrow streets and alleyways, which –I think- is still one of the biggest charms of walking through the streets of Hong Kong.

The pop recipe -East & West

It sometimes seems that the cultural difference between east and west is quite big, but not always.
Look at this two music clips, and then compare.
This one can maybe be the asian version of a boy group.

And then this one.


It seems that dancing guys, more talking than singing, and cars is something that counts in both cultures, but there is certainly also differences.

Pictures of the day: "Cars".

Rush hour on Hennesey Road in Central, Hong Kong Island. Whwer you don't want to be when you need a toilet.
An armada of red HK Island Taxis coming down to the party area "Lan Kwai Fong" from the midlevels, either to bring more happy night life people, or to take them safe at home.

Gary Lineker: "Football is a game..."

Naturally it was the Football World Cup that dominated the days back then, and on this day it was the round the last 16 and the classic clash between Germany and England. Our flight out of Hong Kong was shortly after midnight, but this game kicked off at 10 PM Hong Kong time, so be able to watch and manage the flight, we went early to the airport, and then hoped we could watch the match there.
After check in, the route was directly towards the Sports Bar in the hope that not that many others had the same idea.
But what do you think it is like when Germany and England meet in the World Cup tournament and it is shown on the telly. Yes right, absolutely everyone wants to watch, and in and around the airport sports bar it was absolutely packed with people, no chance for us to just squeezing in some corner to watch from there, so we withdrew to another restaurant from where we could hear the roar from the crowd every time something happened over there on the green screens in the crowded bodega.
The problem was that the many roars which came on that night, didn’t really give any hint of what went on, and who of the two was on top, so only live SMS covering from a good friend in Germany, gave the information that the men with the Eagle on their chest, in fact was demolishing the Three Lions and that with 4 to 1. Would have been a good game to watch I guess.
As soon as the match was over, the bar was empty in minutes. All the supporters for Three Lions disappeared out in every corner of the airport to mourn or what ever they did, and the few supporters for Germany stayed around for a bit longer over their drinks, but they too were looking as stunned as their defeated counterparts.
As a Danish guy, I didn’t really care who of those two would have won, as “someone” had predicted both England and/ or Germany to be the new Champions, even months before the tournament actually started, I thought it was fine that Germany had done them so bad, even if it was a bit rotten, with the Lampard goal not given, or was that the irony of the time; as England 44 years before had won the title, with a goal that probably wasn't one, and now they loose this match, with a clear goal, that then wasn't one according to the refferee.
So it was with a funny feeling that we left Hong Kong in the early hours of the 28th of June, with one of the favorites already out, and as Gary Lineker once has said: "Football is a game for 22 people and a ball and at the end Germany always wins!"
Next stop Doha and then Stockholm.

The delayed Diary!

In Many ways, it was Lisbeth Salanders fault that we decided to start our holiday in Sweden and particularly Stockholm.
This woman entered the Mortensens universe some time in the beginning of 2010, when Catriona brought home a book called: “The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo”.
That was because of a book club where someone had suggested this story.
At the beginning I didn’t really connect this title to the book and film I’d read about in an online Danish newspaper, back in 2007. There it was called; “Men who hates women”, which also is the original Swedish title.
I got a copy of the book in Danish, so soon we both were infected by Mr. Larsons story about the fascinating Ms. Salander and the journalist Blomquist and the Millennium Magazine.






After this first book, the second; “The girl who played with fire” was soaked into the memory and short after they final book “The Girl who kicked the Hornets nest” got hovered up by eye and mind.
All the events taking place in and around Stockholm arose a desire to go there and see the places and feel the atmosphere of that city, where such exciting story could unfold.

I’ve been to Stockholm twice before, some many years ago, but Catriona had never, so by planning the holiday, we both were keen on starting there.
See, this is what reading can do to people.

Ten ten twenty ten!

I wonder how many people are getting married today around the world, as this date has it in it; ten ten twenty ten. Could be a line in some pop song as the rhythm in it has a bit of potential.
It is October again and we have visitors from Scotland. Yes iit is the usual suspects; Mum and Ricky, who has been here at this time for the last three years, so maybe I again can publish Mums Hong Kong diary on this blog, as the days pass and they are out and about exploring.
From the 15th we have a holiday our self, so in that week we will go to Guilin and Yangshou in China to enjoy the special mountains and the two rivers, which makes those places to some thing very special. But to get details about that you need to wait until we get there and maybe even back again.
The pictures today are from Kennedy Town on Hong Kong island. This is one of the oldr parts of Hong Kong and is still known as a purely chinese neighbour hood, with antique markets and streets filled with shops selling dried seafood stuff. It is a nice neighbour hood for a sunday walk through the many narrow passages and it is certainly something different because of the smell from the dried seafood shops, the burning incent from the temples and the fruit stalls selling smelly Durian fruit. In the antique shops who can find old Moa souviniers and load of porcelan and the this funny puppet.

Poetry about cool stuff.

I've just found this page containing poetry and stuff, and because I needed something really useful I found this poem about a Tractor.

The Tractor
by Mike D Raymond
Friday, June 22, 2007
Rated "G" by the Author.

Free Prose

The Tractor ©Michael Raymond 2007

It caught my eye as things do driving by on a dirt road.
And I wondered.
Who put it there and when, that old tractor?
How long has it sat there in the sun?
And I wondered.
How many mouths it fed?
Not just the farmer’s family, but the nation.
And I wondered.
How many farmers had owned it, the old tractor?
How many gallons of fuel did it use up?
How many years did it toil away in the fields?
And I wondered.
Was it lack of funds to repair her then?
Perhaps it was in the depression.
And I wondered.
What would it take to fix it up again?
Ah, but 50 or 60 years of rust would seize things up.
But I wondered.
How it would look, all painted up again in a new suit of color.
Was the original color red or was that just the rust?
Turning onto the highway and away.
I still wondered.

If you want to know, the link to this page you van find here.

BBC E-mail: What's the appeal of St Pauli?

Jorgen Mortensen saw this story on the BBC Sport website and thought you
should see it.

** What's the appeal of St Pauli? **
Football Focus gets a taste of life at the Bundelisga club
< http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/sport2/hi/football/football_focus/9049232.stm >

** BBC Daily E-mail **
Choose the news and sport headlines you want - when you want them, all
in one daily e-mail
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/email >

** Disclaimer **
The BBC is not responsible for the content of this e-mail, and anything written in this e-mail does not necessarily reflect the BBC's views or opinions. Please note that neither the e-mail address nor name of the sender have been verified.

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A Spider

I was using the pool early in the morning at the Pousada. Swimming back and forth I had my view towards the sky and the trees around the pool. I looked up at tone of the trees and found there was something odd up there, as a leaf or whatever it was, but it seemed to just hang by it self in the air, not attached to anything. I swam to the end of the pool and got up and stood underneath the tree and looked up. and there it was taking shape i my eyes; a huge spider sitting waiting for bait in his web, spun between the leafs up there, high above the ground. I'm not considered to be afraid of spiders, but I was happy that he was all the way up there, and not just infront of my face. I estimate that he was the size of my hand.

Happy birthday China.

China has celebrated it's 61. birthday. The 1st of October is the National Day in China and that means a day off from work. This year this national day hit a Friday, so we could enjoy a nice long week end.
We celebrated this in Macau and yet again at the Pousada de Coloane, a nice little "Fawlty Towers" alike Hotel, at the island of Coloane, which is the south island of Macau.
The weather has been warm, like always, and the food and the company good, as always.