A weekend in Cheung Chau Island

Yesterday, I visited one of the many small islands in HK called Cheung Chau. Apparently, it is a place for HK couples to visit, to get away from the busy city and parents. While the seafood dining area is somewhat chaotic and extremely hot (seafood was very decent and reasonable), once you walk towards the coast on the east side of the island, you get a splendid breeze and suddenly feel like maybe you are in the Mediterranean (at least for 10 seconds).

I very much enjoyed walking through the residences, which looked more like Macau and European. I have also never seen Chinese people bathing in the sun on the beach, so that was a refreshing sight!

Evgeny Kissin's Tchaikovsky piano concerto (first movement)

Brazilian classical music

Last night I went to a Brazilian music piano recital. The pianist Ernest So is a HK national who graduated from Julliard and has played as a concert pianist around the world. In HK, he plays at this Russian gallery called the Red Square Gallery, which was an excellent venue to feel very close to the pianist and his music. It was a very special night joining the pianist for dinner and drinking afterwards. Only in HK...

Ernest played pieces by the Brazilian composers Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959), Radames Gnattali (1906-1988), and and Francisco Mignone (1897-1986). I especially liked Mignone's valse. Very interestingly, Brazilian classical music went its own way around the turn of the century from being so far away from Europe. Mignone in particular carries a very lyrical style, that some had criticized as mass population music. But when you hear it today, it's a very nice and soothing balance between being very modern and having the rigor of classical music.

Many of the pieces were something that I would like to hear more regularly. Please do try the below (valse no. 2 by Mignone). Ernest's next concert in HK (Music of Mexico and other countries) is on September 6-8 at the same venue.

Reminiscing the old HK airport

The other day, my colleagues and I went to buy a large photo of the old HK airport for one of the bosses leaving HK. People always talk about the airplanes having flown so closely to the apartments that it took away their laundries. Nice old HK style.

Recently, I feel there are a lot of people reminiscing the old HK and the good old days. HK still looks to have very ancient looking (worn out) buildings in the city, with grandmas and grandpas like from centuries ago. But more and more, it looks like it's getting difficult to live the old ways in the city with people coming from outside and local people being squeezed out, particularly with regards to the scarcity of real estate and public education for kids.



Photo credit: BenZ-fotos

Summer vacay shoes

I have been looking for cheap summer sandals that I can wear during my vacation. Happy to find these.

New cats eye shades

It's not 3D glasses. Thank you Lane Crawford!