Hazy Hong Kong

Sky scrapers seems to be the right word.
March is nearly through and what will be in the rememberance of the 2009 version, is that it was very hazy. The last weeks, we've not really seen the sun, abut as the temperature arise the mist and hazy weather takes over and we again need the dehumidifier running all the time and dehumidifing boxes in all cubbards and drawers.
Normally you should have a look over the Victoria Harbour to the Kowloon side of Hong Kong from the "Talk of the Town" restaurant on the 34th stock of the Excelsior Hotel in Causeway bay, but the only thing that is perfectly clear is Catrionas glass of sparkling wine.
But I can assure you we enjoyed the Saturday's brunch up there anyway.
The reason why we went there -just so you don't get the impression that we live a decadent life- was that we got a visitor from Japan. Our friend Kimiko from Kyoto came to visit us, and yes; we know her from Dresden. Or to be quit honest; Catriona knowes her from there as she worked with her at Dresden International School some years back, but now we both had the pleasure to see her here in Hong Kong.

Photo of the day!

The "Avenue of Stars" is a long promenade along the Victoria harbour on the south side of Kowloon in Tsim Sha Tsui. Here you can find hand and foot prints of famous Hong Kong actors and other film celebraties in the pavement. And of course also a statue of one of the city's most famous sons: Bruce Lee.

Hong Kong Football Club

Space is rare and expensive in Hong Kong, so where can all the amateur football teams go to play some football matches against each other.
Well all over Hong Kong you'll find the public 7 a-side concrete pitches -like the one I play at in Sai Kung- but they are not any good if you want to play 11 a-side or if you play in one of ther many amateur leagues existing in Hong Kong. In Causeway bay you can find Happy Valley and the racecourse. Of corse they've got loads of money as everyone is betting, and need a lot of space for the racecourse. But the space in the middle of the course, what is that good for? It is huge and worth quite a lot I guess, but you can't build houses there as they would ruin the view of the race, so here in the middle of Happy Valley racecourse you find Happy Valley Sports ground with it's big number of soccer, rugby and Hockey pitches and you'll find Hong Kong Football Club.
This club is formed in 1886 and is a sport's and social club, hosting numerous of sports events for it's members. On Sundays they offer a fabulous Brunch, so here you can dine in the nice airconditioned Restaurant on the third floor of the building for hours, and have a look at the action going on down at the Sports ground.Or you can dine for hours, and then go to the indoor "Carpet Bowl" pitch to get a bit of exercise to compensate for the excessive food consumtion at the Brunch buffet.

-12 degrees and Vodka by Ivan the Kozak

The Hong Kong winter is running out. The humidity is coming back and the temperatures is increasing again. Soon the rain will start to poor down and for a couple of months we wont be able to see the peak of our local mountain. Winter is here not really winter, and temperatures like back home we haven't had at all. This winter has been extreme mild. Last year we were freezing in our house at about 7 degrees with the heater running constantly and wraped in three layers of clothes and warm korean bedsocks. But this year we've only had the heater turned on a couple of times.














We got an opportunity to remember the feeling of real winter at Christmas time when we were back in Scotland on holiday, and also last weekend where we went to an Ukrainian restaurant for dinner, "Ivan the Kozak", and like other Russian restaurants here in Hongkers, they also had a frost room for serving vodka. -12 degrees it is in there and you get dressed up in big fury coats and then you can try different vodka's by arctic temperatures, and of course get your photo taken in front of a large photo wall and with fake fir trees and icicles hanging down from the ceiling.
So if you think we look cool, then you're right, it was cool in there.
The food and the atmosphere is good and authentic at the "Kozak", so if you read these post as preparation for a Hong Kong trip and like Ukrainian or Russian food, then I can recommend this little restaurant for an evening out.
Ivan the Kozak, LG/F 46 - 48 Cochrane Street, Central, Hong Kong.

Photo of the day!

The house on top of the Victoria Peak from which platform daily thousands of photos are shot down onto the midlevels and Victoria harbour.

It's a long way to the top...

...if you wanna rock'n roll.
I was still in primary school when this album was released. I think I heard it the first time in 1979 or so when I bought it, and I liked the sounds of the bagpipes in this groove. Maybe that's why I got married to a Scottish woman.
Amazing though; 34 years old and it still rocks and sounds great, and the low budget video from the late 7oties, is kind of a relief to the super artificial music videos of today.


In 1977 they were back with another amazing groove and another wonderfull low budget video.
I like how the halo on the guitar player moves up and down, as it could be the birth of the head banging.

Since the singer Bon Scott died in 1980, I stopped buying there records, as there was something missing in there music and lyrics, and seeing these two clips, I think this missing ingredient in AC DC version 2.0 -as you could call it-, could be humor and the ability to laugh about yourself.

How to move house in Peel Street!

Imagine to live in the old and narrow part of Central district in Hong Kong with it's steep and busy streets like for instante Peel Street.
You'll do it on a Sunday afternoon where it is a bit less busy than normal. First of all, it isn't easy to get a moving truck in there, second to find a parking space close to your house, which is rather impossible.
So you'll have to find a space where to put your belongings, and then get them there one by one, and when everything is gathered, call the truck to come and pick it up quickly. And then of corse, you have to hope that the owner of the shop or Bar, where you've put your things in front, doesn't show up and want to open for business, because free space is mostly on the streets and here you have shops, bars and restaurants everywhere.




The things being gathered from the house further down the narrow sttep street and junior is set to watch out. Thank godd it is early and the Soho Junction is closed...
...but for how long? Suddenly there is a lot of activity, and things are being moved back and fort, the owner showed up and he wants to open up the Junction.Sound of an engine, and the truck arrives minutes later and coveres our sight of the event.Not even 7 minutes later. Not a single trace of the sudden drama and the doors th the Soho Junction is open and the thirsty can access the premisies, after the sidewalk is being washed.

Fläskkvartetten!

I found something for you.
Fläskkvartetten; One of my absolute favorite bands from Gøteborg in Sweden, featuring Freddie Wadling, an absolute fabulous singer, but he is worthwhile a complete post of his own.
Here you have 3 different tracks.




Later I'll give you some stuff from Freddies other projects.

In 2006 nobody buy's CD's anymore!

Mario, a young German friend now living in my old Danish hometown of Århus, gave me this to think about a couple of years ago when I visit him there. I was still living in Dresden at that time -his old hometown- and we were out for a walk and we past a record shop.
"Wait I want to see in I can find a CD I need from one of my favorite Bands from Sweden; "the FLeshquartet", as they were not so common in Germany.
He just looked at me and said:
" In 2006 nobody buy's CD's anymore".

In 2009 either, they watch youtube and arrange their Itunes library.
Me too, and here is another one for you.


I'll see if I can find some Fleshquartet for you later.

New band in my playlist.

My friend Craig mentioned this band for me, and I'm quite happy he did.

Dear diary! Mirrors of the world

Because of some long working hours last week, I had a day of today. It is amazing how much you can appreciate a day of, when you know that you have it. Yesterday evening I was filled with ideas how to spend this day and what to do.
Now the day is nearly gone, and what have I in fact done?
Nada!
Yesterdy i went early to bed to be well rested for this day and I got up at 6 AM like usual to have breakfast with Catriona -poor her, she had to go to work- and then as she left and I could start the long lovely day on my own, I felt I needed a little rest on the coach, well I still had an ocean of time to do all the stuff I'd planned.
Oh, I could watch the news on the telly for a while, and then get going!
It turned out to be a long while, because of all the options this long free day gave me, I wasn't able to make a choice rather than flick around between old outworn movies and (bad) News Channels from four continents.
Honestly that is quite interesting, I mean the thing with the News Channels from four continents. It's like a mirror or a window you can look through and get a little view of the society and culture
On our telly here in Tai Wan Village, we can see the following News Channels: Deutsche Welle (German) Sky News (British or English rather) and their sister channel from the US which is CBS -I think- then there is Fox News(US), Al Jazeera English (UAE and all over the world), Australian Network, CCTV International (China) and then a South Korean or Japanese one, which I not quite certain of.
It is interesting to see the breaking news and major issues being told from the different perspectives or view points from around the globe, and some times you really can't tell if it is the same event they are talking about, and some of the things they focus on on Sky News for instance, often seems to be so local, regional and out of proportions, compared with events that has an effect on the whole wide world. But then again, of corse they are (regional) because News is rather of a local character to be interesting for the people living in the region (country), they are made for. And yhen again, telly is only a mirror of something that could be real, and looking at to much and to many, may just disguise the real world out side the window and make it blurred.
So I was thinking about all that -again- for a couple of hours, and then it was noon and the most of my precious time was wasted, and I started to go in panic, because how on earth should I manage also to do the dishes and go shopping and prepare dinner, which was the least I could do when I got a day of.
So and now it is late in the evening and finally I've got time to sit here and reflect over my day of and how much I enjoyed it.

Pop Art live!

Silent Sunday in Central.

This will be more a photo post than something with lot's of words. We spent our first March Sunday in Central district on Hong Kong Island. Visiting Art galleries and watching the world go by. When you look to Hong Kong Island from Tsim Sha Tsui, you'll see the Central district behind the highest of the skyscrapers; "the IFC tower". Central is one of the most inhabited and famous areas in Hong Kong, and at night it is frequented by ten-thousands of people -mostly tourists-, visiting the thousands of bars and restaurants in the area, among them the famous night life area; "Lan Kwai Fong". Central district reaches from victoria harbour and half up the mountain to the Victoria Peak. Half way up the hill, you'll find the "Midlevels" and the Hong Kong pendant to "SoHo", which means; "South of Hollywood Road". The midlevels and SoHo is probebly the most mixed and multiculturel you can find in Hong Kong, with streets and neighbourhoods -European and Chinese- just next to each other.
On a Sunday afternoon is it relatively quiet and walking around there is lot's of small stories to watch, and lot of history to witness as well, as here old and new architecture is mixed together, and leaving people stunned by the contrasts. And if you want to see this district the way it is today, you better hurry up, as there plans and major investments interests, who are closing in on the last older scruffy houses and streets, wanting to tear it all down to get space to more big and fancy glass and concrete towers.

My playlist!

They are called: "Under byen" and they are from what I call my hometown in Denmark called "Århus".No, I don't know any of them personally because when I left Århus and Denmark 10 years ago, they probably still were teenagers, and even that I worked for a time in a Youth club in the evening hours, hosting young ambitious musicians, none of the members of this band frequented that club, at least I think.

Another funny thing; first time I heard about them was in 2003, I was living in Dresden in Germany, and we organized an international film workshop in a place called Grosshennersdorf, and had participants from 8 different European countries -among them Denmark- and one of the danish participants brought a CD with this band. One year later I actually saw them "Live" in a club in Dresden.
"Under byen" means something like: "beneath the city".

Dear diary...

...it is mainly all work at the moment. But I should not complain about that, just a little over one year ago I was complaining that I didn't work.
The ReD Door......is the place called where I work now, and it is kind of a digital workshop in an international school in Hong Kong. We are three "experts" working there and we have to support -and educate- students and teachers in using soft- and hardware, in the curriculum, and as you can see is it a room filled with lots of digital stuff. We even have a meeting table to plan the work. Normally it looks a bit empty and I was wondering what the silly plant did alone in the middle, until one day where we had one of our meetings and everyone turned up with their modern life "Diary's", then I realized; the plant got it own kind of "pot", and suddenly it also looked quite nice with the plant as center for all the open laptop lids.
I'm a TV and film guy, so I do the videoing stuff, and mainly in the last couple of months I've been producing film for and about the school, and I'm just about to finish a duple DVD set, containing the theater performance the school did in corporation with an Australian theater company.
The performance was "War of the worlds" and we filmed each performance with 3 cameras, so now we're going to release the DVD with all three shows and a 20 minutes "Making of".It's nice work doing this, although doing all the editing alone can make you feel a bit lonely. Sometimes there is students who dare enter the red door and start doing their own film stuff, but in fact it has been a bit less than I'd expected. But the reason is obvious; film work takes time and a lot of work. Some students have found their way to this digital playground called the "ReD Door".

Dai Pai Dong

The most visitors in Hong Kong knows these small open air kitchens or food stalls you meet on the journey through the streets of Hong Kong. Known as the Dai Pai Dongs are they the equivalent of the German "Schnell imbiss", the Danish "Pølse vogn" or "Grill bar", the English "Borger wan" or "Fish and chips".
These kitchens offers their cheap daily food to pedestrians and the variaty in their sortiment is quite big. Some of them has even foldable tables and chairs, but the mojority is just charaterized by the untidy atmosphere and then the distinctiv smell of fish sauce, and those who knows that, will know what I'm talking about, as you can smell it from a far distance, and once smelled, never forgotten as it smells like something you don't bring in connection with something to eat, but this sauce in fact add a delicious taste to the dishes. At the dai pai dongs you get offered nearly everything the Chinese people eats, and that is quite a lot and many visitors walk away with a certain look in their face.
Some of the eating places in the street has more a similarity with a restaurants, as they have windows and the food you buy is handed out to you in small plastic bowls and styrofoam containers.
Some of the very famous Hong Kong dishes from street vendors is the honey roasted Duck and pork, or the very delicious tasting BBQ pork. And you wont believed it, but these two cantonese specialities is being eaten cold, with boiled white rice and in garlic steamed Pak Choi (green vegestables). Enjoy your lunch>

Bands in my Itunes playlist.

I still haven't got an answer to the question if the band; The white stripes" in fact got the idea for their name from drinking draught beer, and watching the white stripes appearing at the side of the glass, from every sip they took, as I mentioned in my post from the 6th of January.

I especially like their relaxed approach to music, as it seems so natural for them to create great music with very simple effect means.