window showcase

Photo:  Joselito Briones

just been walking around and taking photos of window displays, mostly of galleries in the area where i live.  this one's in hollywood road.  can't even remember the names of the shops nor the artists, and often think it unwise that they display these artworks exposed in full daylight.  maybe they're just unaware of what it could do to the artwork.


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didier restaurant and cassoulet

© Joselito Briones

the chef of a restaurant i've been to several times made cassoulet especially for me (it's not in the menu).  isn't that nice?  was sooooooo good.  butter beans, duck leg, sausage, and lamb shank in one pot.  supper yummy.

i had lunch there the other day because the weather in hong kong was so gorgeous and i just had to go to a restaurant with outdoor seating and this is very close to where i work and so i had provencal sausages and mash and chef didier came over and told me how he also makes cassoulet with all the goodies including the same sausage so i asked him when he's gonna make cassoulet and he said anytime so i said can he make it the following night and he said sure so i said great so i came back the following night and can you believe it he actually made it and he explained how complicated it is to make it and the diners on the next table were soooo jealous because as i said it wasn't in the menu and finally i ate it and it was EXCELLENT! ha ha!

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wisdom of dick

record early wake up time of 2:30am.  dick once told me that old people always wake up early because they're afraid they might not wake up at all anymore.  i don't know about that, because i know i woke up remembering that i have ice candy (you know, frozen flavored liquid in plastic container - bah, i'll show you photo tomorrow) in the freezer, and i wanted some right at that moment. and anyway he's in his mid-30's, what does he know about being old.

well, one can only have so much ice candy so early, so after a few i decided to run. it was already 4am by the time i got there.  i saw a few old chinese men in their standard gear of white vest, khaki shorts, black shoes and high socks - , doing their tai-chi thing, some carrying radio, walking the path alone - but they kept disappearing.  i mean, like, one would say "good morning" in cantonese to me and i'd say the same as i pass him, but if i look back he's gone.  what's weird about it is that one side of the path is high retaining wall and the other side is a steep fall.  and this happened a few times.  creepy, no?  i decided either they fell and rolled down all the way to causeway bay or, more likely, they can walk through solid concrete retaining walls.

when i reached the end (same as the beginning, it was a return run) and i stopped, i felt very woozy. woops. (uh-oh, the vanishing old men are after me!) feeling dizzy combined with being hot from running and soaked all over is really bad.  i sat down on a park bench, took deep breaths, and it took a while before i felt ok again to stand up.  went to the street (magazine gap road) and waited for a taxi. none came. strange because there's always taxi anywhere in hong kong at anytime. after waiting for sometime i got dizzy again, combined with some rumbling in my belly, so i went to the toilet in the park nearby and let one rip. or two. ok, a few. then i felt REALLY better.  how was i to know that this dizziness thing was just a massive case of fartiness?  i blame the ice candy.  well i can't really because they were good. when i went back to the street there were plenty of taxis but by then i'm pissed at them already for not being there when i needed one, so i walked home.

i usually go back by the central escalator, but this time i thought i'd go a different way.  down to garden road, by hong kong zoo and botanical, between government house and u.s. consulate, ice house street, then queens road. lined along the sidewalk of an entire block in queens road were people manually sorting freshly unloaded newspapers, literally doing inserts. (photo, above). 

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al molo

very nice italian restaurant - the name's "al molo". saw it when i took photos of that yacht the other day and decided to go in.  ended up doing a 4-course meal.  :) (i was very hungry!) not cheap tho.  raw oysters for starters (french -  if anyone tries to make you feel guilty for not consuming locally-sourced food, carbon footprint and all that, take him to this restaurant and feed him french oysters), a glass of sauvignon blanc, hand-made pasta with mushrooms, sea bass fillets, some dessert with a name that i think translates to "granny's cake", and a double espresso, plus tip, amounts to HKD 950.  was yummy tho, and the staff were nice. i'll be back.


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tûranor planet solar in hong kong

not sure what this was but it sure was more interesting than the light show yesterday. i googled it and turns out it's some solar-powered german-built yacht that intends to go around the world, currently in its hong kong stop.  tûranor planet solar. here's their own website.

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hong kong's symphony of lights

i found an unused hong kong ferry token among my coins, probably from when jane visited, so i took the ferry to tsim sha tsui and watched the light show.  it was bleh.


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eta: someone told me that this used to be much better, with a lot more buildings participating.  too bad i never saw that version.  still, i think it would've been much better had don dorsey done it.

the next day

i know, it was photo overdose of this place from yesterday. i just thought i'd put this one up, taken early morning of the next day, because that lone figure in the water may or may not be me bathing in the buff.

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long ke wan, sai kung

i had a great time in long ke wan (photo above - click for full size, a panoramic view taken from the hill as we walked from east dam of high island reservoir).  it was peaceful, weather was cooperative, water was clear, sand was fine, company was most agreeable. perfect weekend getaway. and right here in hong kong!

ok, so let me back track.  after visiting sai kung town, we took a taxi to the east dam roundabout of high island reservoir, passing by west dam (we asked the taxi to stop so i can snap the photo above and below).  in most websites you'll come across, the trip is usually described as a bus ride plus a three-hour hike. but we didn't go for the hike, we went there for the beach.  HK$ 6 for the bus plus a three-hour walk in this heat, or a HK$110 (including tip) taxi ride? was really a no-brainer (although we did see health nuts who did the hike).

photo above is the east dam of the reservoir where the taxi dropped us off.  from there it was another 20-30 minutes of walk (steep climb and descent) to get to the beach.  considering we were carrying our camping stuff and photo stuff and 16ltrs of water between us (ok, we over estimated. we were able to use up just more than half of that), it wasn't exactly easy.  no wonder there were so many boats there - it's still the easiest way to get there.

when we finally saw the place (photo, top) from the hill, and heard the voices of people having fun, the effort was really nothing.  first thing we did was look for a nice place to set up the tent (i bought one instead of sleeping bag - turned out to be a good decision). photo above is also a panoramic view from where we stayed - click image to enlarge.

by late afternoon most of the boats have left and we shared the whole beach with only two other groups of campers.  the water was nice and warm. it was most relaxing and i just couldn't get away from it. it was already very late when i dried off.

by sunset we already had a nice fire going (we brought our own charcoal, huh!) although it was really only for effect, as it was really warm, with only very gentle breeze. we didn't cook anything either.  we had bread and fruits and nuts and german sausages. 

we stayed out most of the night, lying down on the straw mattresses, watching stars and chatting and listening to iTunes.  was surprised how long the battery lasted when the screen was off, even if the speaker is on full volume.  there was no signal from my phone service provider ("3") so i didn't mind just using it as a radio.  the tent on the photo above was the one i bought in mong kok. 

all images taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II  and panoramas stitched with Adobe Photoshop Extended CS5.

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sai kung town, hong kong

following charlie's (ms. p. in disguise) suggestion, i finally got to visit sai kung town.  well i'm sure i've visited 20 or so years ago when i lived in hong kong the first time, but during that time all towns' names sounded the same to me so i can't remember any of it.  this time around, dick, an old friend (in this picture, my nephews, two of whom are now married, were actually watching him do silly things to amuse them), came along.  photo, above, shows a fishing boat selling fresh seafood at the pier.  dick was amused when one of them got indignant when a customer offered her own bag to put her purchased fish in, saying (dick's translation): "oh please, i provide special plastic boxes for these".

the town center has narrow passages and seafood restaurants similar to those in lamma island's fishing villages, but this one, being in the main island, also has the usual chains of groceries and shops as anywhere else in hong kong.  being favored by expats, it also has some of the shops they frequent in central/soho.   

as this was just a stop before going to the beach, we didn't spend much time here.

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mong kok

just about anything can be found cheap here in mong kok. the visit tonight was to get a sleeping bag. been waiting for weather to clear so i can go to sai kung's long ke wan.  i wanted to go for the beach, but it turns out the place is also good for camping, so what the hey, might as well spend the night. hope the weather stays good.


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the box

i know, end of january is still quite far away (that's when i'm supposed to move to california) but i don't know - somehow the ritual has begun.

for one i've started sorting my clothes.  the ones i won't be using anymore goes in the box.  my favorite items go in the box.  things in the apartment that i know i won't be using anymore for the rest of my stay here in hong kong goes in the box. i've also started buying things that are common in hong kong but hard to find in california.  those go in the box.  books i've read go in the box.  i don't think i'll be doing any more photo shoots in hong kong, so my studio lights went in the box.

the box goes to the philippines.  from there the contents will be resorted, and only the "musts" go to california.

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lamma island

am not sure anymore if i bought a new pair of beach shorts so i can have something new to wear when i go to the beach, or if i go just so i can justify buying a new pair of shorts. hmm. anyway. i did the buying and the beach going. this weekend's destination was lamma island in hong kong.  i took the ferry to yung shue wan (photo, above) which is a village full of seafood restaurants and stores selling beach items and knick knacks.

i already had breakfast (the flying pan, they made my breakfast right this time)  so i went directly to the beach (hung shing ye beach) which was small but nice and clean and with beach facilities.  the big let down was the view of the power station looming over the whole scene like in a sci-fi movie. by lunch time the place was getting crowded so i walked back to yung shue wan for seafood lunch.

after lunch i did the family trail (about an hour), scorching heat just after lunch time, so i decided to go through public showers (literally) when i passed by hung shing ye beach again and did the trail while dripping wet.  was very nice that way.

 walked all the way to the second beach, lo so shing beach. the lo so shing village was nice. i bought an ice-cold drink from an old man by the trail and sat there drinking under the shade of a big flowering tree. butterflies and gentle breeze and all.  another old man at the next house was slowly peeling sweet potatoes in his veranda.  i spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach, reading. the water wasn't as clean as on the other side.

i took the ferry back to central from so kwu wan (photo, above), another village full of seafood restaurants.


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bowen road at night

i know, i know, the photo quality is absolute crap, but this was taken with 3g iphone (hey, it still works!). anyhoo. this is what bowen road looks like at night.  scary no? the typhoon warning finally let up.  i was too lazy to do anything but forced myself to run.


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saturday, july 2

i did exactly the same as last week with the running thing, so i thought i'll just add it here.  well except that this time there was this (south asian? middle eastern?) guy who was just there smoking pot at the end of the path, in the dark, with a few bottles of beer.  and walking back to my apartment i passed by this small indian hole-in-the-wall, "indian village", so i tried their chicken briyani, even tho i've had dinner, even tho it was already very late, even tho i was soaked in sweat, and even tho i thought it cancelled the whole running thing.


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king prawns

unlike their much smaller cousins who were jumping all over the place when i passed by the fish market tonight, these king prawns were already swimming in ice water.  i bought them anyway because they were so big (that's a proper sized fork for comparison) and they looked so yummy. i was gonna throw away the heads because of that gooey yellowy heart-attack stuff that's in there but i didn't. between that and the massive earthquakes i felt in my heart after drinking the long black coffee that i got from pacific coffee (i don't know what the hell they put in the coffee - 5 espressos?), i was desperate to run in bowen road again.  only there's a typhoon signal no. 1 hoisted, so i just stayed in and waited to see if i was gonna fall into a coma.

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first beach day this year

the other night i rented "the endless summer" from iTunes, and it made me want to go to the beach. not to learn how to surf, you crazy?  just to go to the beach.  so this weekend i did just that.

woke up mid-morning.  had breakfast at "the flying pan" where for the last three weekends i've ordered the same thing (spanish-style egg white omelette with smoked salmon, wheat toast, fruit bowl, orange juice, long black coffee) and left tip, tho not customary here in hong kong, just so they'd remember me and my order, but they always manage to give me a wrong omelette anyway (once with egg yolks, once plain - without the things that make it "spanish", and once without smoked salmon).  i'll give it one last time next weekend and if they still don't get it right, i'll just make my own omelette breakfast.

i asked rene, benj, and josen to come with me to the beach but they said they'd rather go to a soho bar to drink the afternoon away, so i went by myself. dumped everything in my tote (photo, above): my big-ass towel, pretty floral shorts, sunscreen, sunnies, and most important - a nice book to read (isaac asimov's "the complete robot" compilation).  took the mtr in flipflops, got lost in shaukeiwan, especially after asking locals who pointed me at the wrong direction, then finally got to the minibus (craziest drivers in hong kong) that took me to shek-o beach.  my first time going to this beach - really nice weather, and rather crowded so i just went and stayed in one end.

i had a ticket for "x-men: first class" in the evening so i didn't stay in the beach very late.  movie was great. it wasn't until the movie was over and i was brushing off popcorn from my shirt that i realized i locked myself out from my apartment yet again. (i was in such a hurry from getting home from the beach to going to the moviehouse, while being on the phone with rene and benj who were still drinking in soho and asking me to join them, that i forgot my keys again). so i had to go to emi to borrow her copy again.

when i finally got in i got an email notification from iTunes saying there's a new doctor who episode that i can download. yay! only it turns out it's just a teaser.  new episodes won't be availabe until fall.  sigh.

anyhoo. i love my color today.  next time i'll try a different beach.


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yellow clams

these clams were different from the other batch in that these are prettier - the shell and the meat are yellowish, and the brown lines on the shell make for a pretty pattern.  they're more lively too.  when i bought them they were spitting water at unsuspecting passers by at the market.

things were kind of decided for me:  i had half a day-old baguette that won't be any good at all tomorrow, so i thought i'd make some soup to dunk it in.  i was thinking maybe cold tomato soup, but when i passed by the market i saw these pretty clams so i thought, well, clams in soup, maybe asian spicy style. but the stall where i buy herbs was out of cilantro, so i bought broad-leafed parsley and dill instead, and onion.  when i got home i found out that i ran out of chicken stock, so i just dumped half a bottle of white wine in it.  i really should learn how to cook properly.

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victimless dinner

last night's dinner wasn't as much fun.  the squids (HK$20, am enjoying how cheap and fresh food here is) were already dead when i bought them, so there wasn't any of that splashing thing. no silent screams, either. ah well.  and anyway even if they were still alive in the market they'd have died when i left them outside my door when i left to get emi's (girl who cleans my apartment) copy of my keys because i locked myself out.

this one's a quickie. as soon as the squid was cooked (on a really hot pan, about 3 minutes, probably less) i just tossed it with some rockets (HK$15 for a big bunch). so nice and summer-y.

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jane's visit

photo above is of jane and me, taken at the rooftop of my apartment here in hong kong.  remember her?  she always puts me up at her place whenever i visit new york.  she's the bestest.  she dropped by last week on her way back to new york from the philippines.

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jogging path in bowen road, hong kong

it's gotta be the age.  sometimes i wake up really really early (4am) and there's just no going back to sleep no matter how much i try.  yesterday i tried something new.  instead of trying to sleep i got up and went to bowen road for a run.  i just walked from my apartment (about half an hour), about an hour's worth of jogging and walking (about 8km total, return), then another half an hour's walk back to my place.  

photo above is sunrise in wan chai as seen from numerous lookouts along bowen road.

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my guests tonight: clams

they were just huddled there together, a bunch of big clams, in a bowl, in the fish market, looking bored, a tag of HK$20 (US$2.50 - supah cheap!) dangling on the side, so i thought i'd bring them home and make their lives a bit more interesting.

so yeah, when i saw my pot with stock and mixture of herbs already steaming, i let my freshly washed guests  dive in (ok, i slid them in) and covered the whole thing.  they must have felt very much at ease, because when i removed the cover a few minutes later they all really opened up to me.  we had so much fun. by "we" i meant "i", of course.  they were already food at that point.  

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