On Religion (Christianity mostly)

Never really believed in institutional religions, with it's heavy text and divine guidance making us all sinners before we even know how to pronounce that word and let alone understand it.

I used to be very skeptical about Christianity (be it Protestant, Catholic), Judeism or Islam. Not that I favour Buddhism, Hinduism or Zen, because the level of knowledge I have on all parties is pretty slim, but my skepticism is built around how worshippers of faith can be so blinded by the churches wrong doing in the past.

The crusades, buddhist monks slaughtering nonbelievers, the inquisitions, bishops going to Africa and telling Africans not to wear anti contraceptive devises (which results in the wider spread of aids).

I understand the God's / gods' words, once they touch down on earth, it is interpreted by earthly people who twist the wisdom into its own use and benefit. But again, how can believers be so blind about how corrupted institutions use it to its own benefit in the past. They may have apologised and made people who were real defenders of faith, saints, but that does not make their wrongdoing in the past correct and people should really stop donating their money to churches so they can continue with their elaborate decorations and ride around in nice cars.

But a recent conversation with friends and professors have changed my rushed criticism on institutional religion.

L: "It's basically a good teacher / good friend, I actually can think more rationally and critically of things around me when I attend church services, plus we can never know all the truths and follow our moral principles when tested, so it is nice to have rules in life that governs us."

I agree to a certain extent, as long as its not used on a macro level so that wars will be sparked by religious zealots, I'm fine with it. Easier said than done, like many things in life...

I then asked my history of art lecturer how she reconciles her faith with all the corruption and wrongdoings of the church which is so explicitly placed before her research material.

Dr. B: "We Christians know about the mistakes the church made in the past, but this is like the Nazi and the Germans. The Germans acknowledge that they've made mistakes in the past, but they still live on, being proud to be Germans."

So I guess born a Christianity in a European setting is similar to having filial piety in Chinese families. As Chinese, it is a cultural thing to have close ties with your family and you're meant to take care of them until they die of old age. And as Chinese, we know well that Confucius was adopted simply because one Han emperor decided to embrace it into state 'religion' / ways of living and got rid of all the hundreds of philosophical thinking at the time solely because it would be easier to govern people if we all believed in Confucius thinking. Yet we still appreciate Confucius concepts of governance, family, friendships and work ethics to a certain extent in the contemporary world.

For some sensitive religious humour (my friend's recommendation)

Go for Billy Connelly on religion.

Spoiler alert on swearing about religion.

FOOD in Central Hong Kong (no pictures, it's all in my head)

Well, basically, I was writing this to a friend from Edinburgh who was exchanging in HKU.. and I figured that readers might find this useful and might agree / disagree with me. I didn't tag them as you can easily find them by googling.

Breakfast must go places in Central:
1) Lan Fong Yuen, hidden at the corner to the entrance of a market place, underneath the escalator, it is near Bai Fa Street (Place Flower Street), opposite Pizza Express and 7 Eleven. Order Traditional Hong Kong Milk Tea and Pork Bun. They do one of the best in town and it's cheap and the atmosphere is very authentic.

2) If you feel you want to spoil yourself with breakfast, opt for:
Luk Yu teahouse. One of the earliest tea houses in Hong Kong, they still do dim sum the traditional way, better to bring a Chinese friend with you though, cause the ordering papers are in Chinese. But the food is great and authentic. It is beneath Lan Kwai Fong around the lower corner of Starbucks in a narrow one way road. An Indian door man will open the door for you most probably. The staff might be rude inside, but that's traditional teahouse culture, they become impatient, and that feeling goes way back to 1970-90s. Usually impatient waiters in old hk restaurants means that the food is great because they have many customers so they don't really care if they don't do your business.

Lunch must go places in Central:
1) Tsim Jai Kee. One of the cheapest and most delicious Wonton experiences in Central. Go in rush hour if you want to feel the rush hour of Hong Kong. Order Wonton noodle and Yao Choi (vegetable with oyster sauce). It is located near Bai Fa Street.

2) Gao Kee (Nine Shop), amazing curry Beef tendons and Beef belly meat with noodles, don't be put off by the name, it will probably be the most tender beef you've ever placed in your mouth. This place is a bit tricky to find, but if you make it, you'd probably be it's 1st foreign customer in many years. It is opposite Lin Heung restaurant (ask your Chinese friends)

3) Yellow Door, one of the lesser known places in Central, it is beside 7 eleven and opposite Lan Fong Yuen. It is a private restaurant which serves spicy food. Order the Hong Yao Chao Sao (Red spicy oil and wonton). The wall decoration is painted by Mr. Tsang Cho Tsoi (a deceased local artist who used to draw all over grey electric boxes all over Kowloon district, claiming his is the descendant of the Chinese Emperor, so he himself is the Kowloon Emperor, some say he is crazy, but people who interview him said he talks like a genius who refuses to have the world we live in to turn him into one of the walking zombies of the city). A bit pricey, but worth it.

3) if you want to spoil yourself:
Se Wong Fun (Snake King Fragrance), you can ignore the snake stuff, I never order them. The soup there is the best I've ever had in this entire planet. It costs 68 hk dollars, but it's totally worth it if you are adventurous (not for us Chinese, it's quite common to have Chicken feet).
Order the Chicken feet with seashell soup / Black Chicken soup.. I prefer the chicken feet cause the skin and flesh is very tender in the mouth and the soup is just heaven. You can go for the Lap Mei Farn (Something like black pudding, but it tastes like heaven.. especially the red preserved sausage called Lap Cheung.
It is located along the escalator, between Lan Fong Yuen and Tsim Jai Gay.

Finger food / dessert must go places in Central;
1) Tai Cheung. X-governor Chris Pattern's favourite place (either for political reasons or culinary reasons), get the Dan Tat (Egg pie), Sa Yong (Sugar pastery), Bo Lor Pao (Pineapple bread), and bring some back to your dorm to impress your friends. Food is power in dormitories : ). It is located along Bai Fa Street.

2) Anonymous Tao Fu Fa (sweet beancurd) place in Central.
It is under the escalator, opposite Pizza Express, opposite XTC on ice ice cream shop. The best Tao Fu Fa place in Central. get a hot one, and if you can manage, get Tao Cheung (bean curd shake) to wash down whatever you just had to eat.

3) XTC on ice. Authentic Italian gelato experience. You can sample all fo the tastes before deciding, my personal favourite is watermelon / chocolate. But make your pick.

4) Yeung Kee. On Wellington Street, a bit overrated and overpriced, wasn't as good as before. But it's a nice place to spoil yourself if you have the money. But they serve one thing which is still the best in the whole of Hong Kong:
Thousand year old egg and pickles. Try and buy half a dozen and bring it home and remember to store in fridge if you are not eating it.
How you eat it, take the shell out, cut it in half (don't be put off by the black colour of the egg flesh) and place pickle on top of half egg and eat it. If you can fall in love with that, than you can call yourself a true Hong Konger.

Dinner places in Central:
1) Lin Heung Restaurant. This can either be a dim sum place in the afternoon, beware of rush hour crowds and you really have to be pushy and determined to get your dim sum. For a more laid back experience, go for dinner. You MUST call them in advance and pre-order the Ba Wong Arp (King Duck). Try your luck with other things. But better to go with groups of 4 or more to try out different kinds of stuff. I love the tea there as well. Waiters are usually rude, so the food is good. Call them early and book, don't wait till 4pm, the duck runs out pretty soon.

In conclusion, if you tried all of these, you're probably more a Hong Konger than most Hong Kongers. But these are just my selections. There are a lot of hidden gems in Central waiting to be discovered. I'll give you a list of stuff to be eaten in Causeway Bay next time if you want.

Benefits of Checking Out a Woman (The German Way)

Basically, I was going for the Colour and Line Exhibition: Turner's Experiments Exhibition in Tate Britain the other day. I was on my own, 11 in the morning. One man, in an exhibition about the techniques of etching, water colour and tones. I did not expect t come across something this funny.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, philosopher and scientist, who wrote Farbenlehre (The Theory of Colours). He was active rouhgly after Sir Isaac Newton's death and before Turner's birth.
He was talking abou "After Images" an experience simliar to that of us taking pictures of ourselves with camera flashes, leaving black/blue patches of "after images" when we look at things.

Goethe, being a German, made a very German observation.

'I had entered an inn towards evening, and, as a well-flavoured girl, with a brilliantly fair complexion, black hair, and a scarlet bodice came into the room, I looked attentively at her as she stoof before me at some distance in half shadow. As she presently turned away, I saw on the white wall, which was now before me, a black face surrounded with a bright light, while the dress of the perfectly distinct figure, appeared of a beautiful sea-green.'
-------- J.W. von Goethe, Theory of Colours, 1810.

And you wonder why scientists rarely pick up hot girls...

Wisdom of Hong Kong's musical industry

R&B music sung in Cantonese with Buddhism inspired lyrics.
This would take ages to digest.
And the beauty of it is that we all chew it differently.

Sorry, I prefer the live version without Andy Lau... he should stick to being an actor..

觀世音

曲：方大同
詞：林夕
編：方大同

接吻聲　喝彩聲　派彩聲　拍檯聲
按扭聲　拆樓聲　跳樓聲　聽不聽
唱K 聲　唱票聲　上牌聲　碰牌聲
吃糊聲　算帳聲　訴苦聲　聽不聽

＊湧湧聲浪撞睡蓮　瞬間生滅如一念
　閉起眼觀照　塵世上音波的曲線
　法界看盡眾聲　喧嘩閃似電
　像貪瞋痴交響盛宴＊

攻訐對拆論辯胡言　傾心細訴立誓甜言
爭吵哄騙大鬧謠言　也更可是非點
烽煙抗議怒罵儳言　悲哭控訴道別留言
招呼耳語問候微言　說教勸交吹牛敷衍

雨會乾　鳥會飛　蝶會死　夢會醒
樹會枯　愛會苦　耳會躲　聽不見
疾似風　逝似煙　謝似花　碎似灰
遠似星　淡似水　靜似心　聽不見

REPEAT＊

彼此有壓力未能眠　彼此有怨念夢難甜
彼此有困局問誰憐　世界誰在打點
彼此有抱憾未能言　彼此也有恨問誰填
彼此也有病被人嫌　有劫要等高人指點

(喜歡你　打倒你　未解決等你)
念在你　推舉你　別一味小器
(未表決等你　為何你未忘記　
為何你想死)
大家都等你　你去死　為何你想死

聽飛蟻撲翼伴愁眠　聽喪禮眼淚滴成蓮
聽乞丐缽上撞銅錢　聽眾聲在表演
聽短訊往復渡餘年　聽伊美對罵疾如蟬
聽心跳放下靜如禪　聽法句經釋然

釋迦說法贈下遺言　拈花帶笑靜默無言
超生破障寂滅忘言　你會否靜一點
聽一個印度籍童言　聽他笑說欲渡明年
聽他喝清水彷似箭　你會否不張揚捐錢

道理深　道理淺　放於心解脫
無常道都不可說　靠你解決

Random thought during lecture

I was taking notes with my right hand and realised that I was taking notes with my right hand.

I wonder whether the human brain is more.... shall i say used with more balance now that people type more and write less.
Hence the use of two hands is more than simply focusing on your writing hand.

So in a way, our non-writing hand is being trained more. With the combination of lessons of history and how our culture has evolved, is that why we have a more holistic approaches to everything now that our brain is more balancedly used?

Psychologist are going to grill me for this passage lol.

Hong Kong v.s. Macau - Ming Pao

Hong Kong is promoting the city's diversity of culinary experience.
Government is finally thinking about diversifying Hong Kong's way of promoting tourism. Great news : )
美酒佳肴年

Nothing ahead of its time or extremely hard for the think tanks, but it's a start.

But I found one thing typically Hong Kong in the passage.

去吸引旅客來港消費, in English that would translate as 'to attract tourists to consume and spend more in Hong Kong'. This seems to be the center piece of projects of Hong Kong government, to consume and consume at whatever expense that would have on the community.

The good news is that at least tourism board is not merely satisfied with the figures of tourism numbers as a whole. (Satisfaction with the growing number of spenders from China who generally come to Hong Kong to shop and then site see, while European and Japanese travelers come to Hong Kong generally to do site seeing and then shop.)


Macau on the other hand is heavily promoting their cultural heritage. We shall see how both city fare in the long term.
澳門回歸10年 重點宣傳世遺

One word of advice, when economy collapses, consuming culture collapses, but cultural heritage still stands. But hey, Hong Kong is lassiez faire driven free economy, we have nothing to be sacred off, we understand that economy experience economic cycles and so we are prepared for it.

......right?

Asian Capital of Culture

Yet another dream after reading this BBC news:

City gears up for culture finale

When are we going to have a collaborative effort to celebrate the cultural diversity in Asia with Asian Capital of Culture taking turns in major Asian cities?

I moan to much ><

Why do you study what you study?

I was sitting in the London Tube (train system in London) the other day and saw a black African with a guitar case beside his feet and a CD in his hand. Then I thought about this scene and compared it to the Hong Kong MTR (Mass Transit Railways system in Hong Kong).
How often do we see an adult of race other than the majority Chinese sitting in the mass transit railway system that fits similar profile?

With all the opportunity a city has to offer, why is Hong Kong not a magnet for people of all artistic abilities to come together in a city that has so much freedom in expression?
Are there other ways of expressing one's opinion on society and government beside demonstrations and slogan chanting that disharmonies the society?
Too much creativity is used in the process of criticising the government rather than creating an enduring artwork that is timeless.

You might say Hong Kong adopts the "Quick Eat" culture [熟食文化] (easy come, easy go culture since Hong Kong was a stop over for many in the turn of the last century). Then what do you make of century old brands [老字號].
What is so special about Hang Heung [恆香], Lok Yu [陸羽], Below the Lion Rock Mountain [獅子山下], Beyond music, Gangster movie [古惑仔電影], Martial Arts movie [功夫電影], why have they become timeless? And why was I using Pinyin, a Chinese mainland invention to type Chinese to input Chinese rather than an input system that is developed by Canton speakers that promote the Canton dialect.

Why is Hong Kong not a hub of artistic expression, of cultural expresion. A place where artists deprived of the freedom they would otherwise not have in media suppressed China, in tongue-tied embarrassing Taiwan (or Chinese Taipei in Olympics), in gender biased Japan, obedient Singapore, corrpution filled Phillipines, Thailand and many south asian countries.

The world looks to China for its opening market, the finanical centre will move to Shanghai as China's legal system becomes more transparent and reliable.
Tourists will want thousand year old treasures from Xi'an (if our government continues tearing down colonial buildings which make us so different form other Chinese cities).
New buildings are sprining up in Beijing at alarming rates, making it a cultural hub.

It's time for Hong Kong to treasure its freedom, democracy and historical heritage so that it can proudly adopt the title of Ny-Lon-Kong and be a true international city on the world map.

I hope next time, music being transmitted to my ears from train stations will be real singers performing in MTR rather than some random compliation of notes being played on the piano through speakers.

We have great potentials, because we are all made in Hong Kong.

That is why I study art history and architectural history.
Why do you study what you study?