Jane Austen was a Goat. Or a Sheep.

18 February 2015

Just in case you weren't confused enough about the date, we present three different years.  Some places or organizations are calling this the Year of the Goat.  Others are calling it the Year of the Ram.  And a third option is the Year of the Sheep.  (No one is calling it the Year of the Ewe, or the Year of the Lamb.  Yet.)

From today's newspaper, the South China Morning Post:

"According to Chinese legend, when the Jade Emperor was developing a calendar, he summoned all the creatures on Earth to participate in a race.  The first twelve species to cross the finish line were awarded signs in the zodiac.  The Rat won first place through cunning and strategy, having hitched a ride on the back of the Ox, while the Pig came in last because he was continually distracted."

Regarding the confusion over the name of the year:  
"For one Chinese linguist, the confusion stems from ancient times, when the Chinese zodiac, based on a 12-year cycle, was first introduced during the Han dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE).  The Chinese word yang in oracle-bone script - the ancient characters found on bones used for divination in the Bronze Age - looked like an animals with two horns and a pointy face, said Professor Ho Che-wah, head of the department of Chinese Literature at Chinese University.  But the character could be translated to goat, sheep, or ram in English.  Ho said that while sheep had a long history in Chinese society, the country's culinary past suggested the goat as the most likely animal to have been included in the zodiac.........Goats had a higher status among the animals in Chinese society, as in the past only rich people and the aristocracy could afford to eat them.  The Chinese word for "envy" originally referred to a person salivating over a goat, Ho added."

It's an unlucky year for you during the year of your sign - for example, I was born during the Year of the Horse, so the past year would have been problematic for me.  Since there are twelve zodiac signs, everyone will have unlucky years at ages 12, 24, 48, 60, 72, 84, etc.  (And maybe during the year they were born?)  According to ancient Chinese superstition, your birth sign year actually offends the God of Age, and so the sign brings you bad luck for the year.  You can counter the bad luck by wearing something red, especially if it was given to you by an elder.  (The newspaper recommends socks, undies, a neck cord, or a bracelet or anklet.  Is this why grandparents always give socks and undies as gifts???)

Goats are compassionate and artistic, they think before acting, and they try not to hurt other people's feelings.  they also require a lot of attention and are demanding of those they are close to.

Famous Goats (or Sheep) include my favorite, Jane Austen!  John Denver, George Harrison, Buster Keaton, Mick Jagger, Sir Laurence Olivier, and Bruce Willis are also Goats.   

There are signs all over with some emperor, or someone looking important and ancient, saying, well, who knows what.  I just like the signs.  I suspect they're saying "Closed for the New Year" or something mundane.  But cool signs.

And lion dancer figures everywhere!  Tomorrow night is the big parade, over in Kowloon, so we expect to see lion dancing at that event.  There's also a huge horse race on Saturday, and the entertainment (sort of like the half-time show) is lion dancing.  I may brave the horse dander, wear a mask, and go to the races just for the lion dancing!  (We do love our lion dancers, ever since seeing the International Lion Dancing on Stilts Competition in Penang, Malaysia!)

There are pop up markets everywhere - our neighborhood, Wan Chai, seems to be known for the shopping and little markets on side streets.  One street might have mostly flowers, or specializing in orchids (which are always gorgeous).  Another little street might be full of stalls with charms and decorations and little jade figures, all on red silk cords, presumably to ward of bad luck and bring good fortune.  Then there are streets full of clothing, or produce, or shoes - the list goes on and on.  We could spend hours wandering and looking at the items for sale as well as the shoppers.  It's all fascinating, and of course we don't know what half the items are so that makes it even more interesting.

We stopped in a mall today for a quick lunch.  In the lobby there was a man doing calligraphy in Chinese, on red paper.  People would go to the concierge desk, tell them what they wanted written (maybe to X from Y?  Love and kisses from Granny?), the concierge would write it down and put it in a stack, the man would do his calligraphic best, and the people would stand around fanning their paper until it was dry.  Some people then picked out lucky cats, and added the paper.  We aren't sure what the others did with their papers.  It was confusing, interesting, and there was no one who could fully explain what was going on.  Not to mention that since we were only looking, we were sort of jostled out of the way.  Because we were seen as being IN the way.  (Countries that are as densely populated as Hong Kong definitely don't have the sense of personal space that more spacious countries have.  Here, everyone tends to bump into each other - I'm constantly being smacked accidentally by bags and packages.  And don't try to carry a bag with pastry, it gets mashed up on the way home!)

In general, the mood is like shopping on Christmas Eve.  The Lunar New Year begins tomorrow, or maybe tonight at midnight.  (I'm hoping for small fireworks!)  So people are frantically finalizing their preparations, buying last minutes gifts and decorations, looking for one last present for someone they'll visit over the fifteen days of the New Year.  And of course shopping for food, because everyone visits family and friends - they bring flowers and gifts, you feed them - this is one of those universals, food is part of any celebration.

I found these panda statues in a little park.  There are pocket parks around the city, and this was just outside the Office of Social Services, or something.  There were a few people on the phone, or reading, or smoking - not sure if they were workers taking a break, or clients, or people waiting - but I thought it was nice that there was this friendly waiting area full of pandas being their cute and silly selves.

That's the New Year update, until the parade tomorrow night!

From Valentines to the New Year

17 February 2015

There's a temple near our apartment in Wan Chai, the central (and old) part of Hong Kong city.  And there's wonderful information on a sign across the street from the temple:  

"The worship of Hung Shing originates from the worship of stone, a phallic symbol.  The Hung Shing Temple in Wan Chai was built around a huge stone, with the statue of Hung Shing beneath it.  The exact year of construction is hard to be traced, but reading from the couplet on the column, the Temple was renovated in 1860.  Next to the Hung Shing Temple is a Sea-Guarding Guan Yin Temple, for the two temples were fronting the sea at the time they were built.  The road in front of them marked Wan Chai's original coastline before the British came to start the first reclamation project in Hong Kong in the mid-19th century.  The reclamation widened the path in front of the temples which became the majestic Queen's Road East, and the coastline of Wan Chai was also extended to Praya East (now Johnston Road).

"Today, the Hung Sing Temple is still frequented by worshippers who come to seek advice from the fortune tellers stationing at the temple."

You can see the large rock to the left of the temple.  Hard to imagine that this street was once the coast, since we're now four or five city blocks from the harbor - all that land was reclaimed, and is now covered with skyscrapers!

One Chinese bank has lovely artwork on the outside, so that passers-by know that it's a Chinese bank.  Not to be confused with Japanese or Korean banks, nor English banks which don't have pretty peach blossom pictures.

We have no idea what the building is featuring fans on the front doors, and a fan with peach blossoms inside the lobby.  Possibly an office building, or maybe a residence.  But it was just a pretty way of decorating the building.  And the pink flowering branches and trees are ornamental peach, the same flowers we saw all over Vietnam.  Not cherry.  

Of course, I had to pose with the fans.  I think they make delightful wings.  No, my eyes aren't closed as I imagine flying.  I think I just blinked.

While Valentine's Day isn't a huge holiday here, the way it is in some places, this is a major international city, with residents who come from all over the world.  So some bakeries had heart-shaped cookies and scones, a few restaurants offered special meals, and of course the flower prices went up for the one day.  But there are flower markets all over the city right now, because finding and giving the perfect flower seems to be part of the Lunar New Year celebration.  Even supermarkets carry lucky charms and stuffed animals to hang on the orange trees and peach blossoms, bringing good fortune and happiness to the family or business.

I've always maintained that there are two main things to do in Hong Kong - shop, and eat.  Really, the city has specialized markets, shops, stores, malls everywhere.  And more eating places than there are stores.  Yes, there are sights to see and things to do.  But shopping and eating are right there with those things to do.

My computer, now about five years old, was starting to have problems.  I debated getting it repaired, but salespeople at two different places (and two different countries) told me that hard drives have about a life expectancy of five years, so I was pretty lucky the computer hadn't crashed.  Well, so I succumbed to the shopping and ended up buying the new version of my computer.  Yup, a new MacBook Air, which was much lower priced here than in the US.  So I'm happy with it.

And eating.  Yes, we're eating, and enjoying all the choices available here.  We have a few favorites, though, worth a mention:

Pausa, a lovely little pizza, pasta, coffee, gelato, and dessert spot - 60 Johnston Road (entrance on Ship Street) in Wan Chai, just down the road from our apartment.  Thick crust pizza, fresh pasta cooked to order, home made gelato, fabulous crostata (co-owner Francesco said it's his mother's recipe), and Richard vouches for the brownies - this is our neighborhood hangout, where we have a brownie or sample the gelato or have a slice, and chat with Francesco and his friendly staff.  Absolutely the place to pause in this busy city!  www.pausa.com

My other favorite, Passion (by Gerard duBois), is French - the salads, sandwiches, and evening meals are straight out of a little bistro on a side street, but the pastries equal any patisserie on the Champs Elysée.  Seriously, I didn't want to post photos of the food, people would be drooling all over their computers.  The salad plates are wonderful (though don't do the salads for takeaway, the boxes are much smaller than the plates and you get more food if you eat in).  The coq au vin was a huge portion of rich fragrant chicken and vegs in a mouth-watering sauce full of wine flavor, with slices of country bread for dunking or just eating.  Go there.  Really.  We go to the place on Johnston in Wan Chai, but they also have a new place in Central.  http://www.passionbygd.com/

Richard is checking out the burger spots, and when he finds a place worthy of his recommendation, he'll let everyone know.

The New Year celebrations begin tomorrow or Thursday, so we're figuring out what is happening where, and we'll make sure we're in the right place at the right time!  And of course, we'll report back.

 

That is a REALLY BIG Buddha!!!

14 February 2015

The preparation for the Lunar New Year, or Chinese New Year, or Tet (in Vietnam) is in full swing in Hong Kong - a good thing, since the New Year celebrations begin at midnight on February 19!

An interesting note - we've seen images of goats and also sheep, and some of the local advertising refers to this as the Year of the Goat - but occasionally the Year of the Sheep.  We asked one of our flatmates about this, since he's lived here a while, and has family in Hong Kong.  (His father is from Hong Kong, while his mother is Irish, and he grew up in Ireland.)  Anyway, in Chinese the word used in the zodiac means both (or either) sheep and/or goat.  So the two are used interchangeably.  Interesting, isn't it?  We think of them as two totally different kinds of animals, with different fur or wool, different milk (which produces very different cheese), and having very different personalities.  But in Chinese, the same word includes both animals.  Just, interesting.

 
And of course there are more and more orange trees showing up all over the place.  I've asked if people eat the oranges (which look more like tangerines to me), but everyone says no.  Maybe you lose the good fortune if you eat them?  No one says why the oranges aren't eaten, just that they aren't.  

The rest are random photos of signs I liked:  the lion dancer on a pillar near a tram stop; the mosaic indoor scene for an interior design store; the adorable pets waiting at the veterinary clinic; and scenes like the crazy city center building that looks something like a futuristic castle of chrome and glass.  Or flowers that someone planted around a tree on the sidewalk.  The little shrine at the entrance to a shop.  The little things that make each place we visit unique and interesting, the sights we find as we explore each new neighborhood where we reside, however temporarily.

In search of interesting sights and things to do, we took the trip out to Lantau Island.  Looking at the map, you can see that Lantau is right by the little island with the airport, off to the west of Hong Kong island.  Hong Kong is the big island in the middle, the name of the major city (mostly on the north side of Hong Kong Island), and also the name of the entire territory, which includes Kowloon and the New Territories - Kowloon and the New Territories are on a large peninsula attached to China, on the mainland.  I realize it's a little confusing, especially since Hong Kong isn't an independent nation in the usual sense.  It's more like a semi-autonomous region of China, with a government that has limited powers since they answer to China.  Maybe think of Hong Kong as almost a colony or territory owned by China, but given extra freedoms since it isn't really part of the main country.

Anyway, we went to Lantau.  The easiest way was to just take the MTR, the metro system.  The Wan Chai station is just a short walk from here, transfer to the Tung Cheung line at Central, and it goes straight out to Lantau.  (The MTR actually has more lines off the island of Hong Kong than on!)  It was a very easy trip, part underground, part underwater in a tunnel, and part above ground so we could see the beaches and the scenery of Lantau.

Arriving at the Tung Cheung station, we found that the most common way of getting to the Big Buddha, as he is known, is to take the cable cars.  As in a gondola.  Hanging from a wire.  For who knows how far, and way way way high up.  Too high for anyone with vertigo.  Or anyone with acrophobia.  Torture to the two of us.

We found the bus that winds around the hills and mountains of Lantau, and hopped on.  For a measly $11 HKD (about $1.50 USD), we had a half hour or so ride around Lantau and arrived at the Big Buddha.  His official name is the Tian Tan Buddha, and he resides at the Po Lin Monastery.  And he truly dominates the skyline, sitting on the top of a hill.

We walked around the flat area, admiring views up the Buddha towering over the hills.  There were a few lovely gates in white, with curly designs on the top, looking delicate and lacy against the rugged hills in the distance.

Then maybe a prayer wheel?  It was a three-level round structure, just low walls and short posts, sort of like the lower half of a gazebo shaped like a wheel, with flags all over, fluttering in the breeze.  There were four paths into the center of this wheel, and people would go to the center, face the Buddha, and pray for a bit before climbing the stairs to the Buddha statue.

Here's the information about the Buddha from the signage:  "Located at the southwest of Po Lin Monastery, Giant Buddha covers an area of 6,547 square metres.  It is the world's largest seated outdoor bronze Buddha statue.  The 26 metres high statue is made of 202 separate bronze pieces and weighs 250 tonnes.  It sits on a lotus throne on top of a three-platform altar inside which is an exhibition hall presenting invaluable Buddhist relics including Buddha's sarira.  The Giant Buddha was honoured as one of the "Ten Engineering Wonders in Hong Kong" and was awarded the "Merit of Unique Artistic Features" by the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers in 2000."

The height of the Buddha with the lotus pedestal is 34 meters tall.  That's 115 feet tall, or so.  Almost 38.5 yards.  It's a BIG Buddha!  It opened to the public in 1993, which explains why I didn't see it when I first visited Hong Kong in 1984.

This is also one of the few modern large Buddha statues.  According to the Po Lin Monastery website, Buddhist sculptural art has been on the decline since the Ming and Qing dynasties.  So this Buddha statue represents an attempt at resurrecting the tradition of large and outdoor Buddha monuments.  You can find more information at their website:  http://www.plm.org.hk/eng/buddha.php?mainnav=1/

I realize these are a lot of photos of the same statue, over and over again - but I want to give you the sense of climbing up all the stairs, all 268 steps.  I think it was 13 flights of stairs, 13 having mystical attributes in Buddhism.

And I was there in mid afternoon, so the sun was somewhat overhead and in back of Buddha, so he's kind of backlit.  Made for some interesting (if dark) photos.

So I climbed, and climbed, and periodically paused and caught my breath.  Finally reached the top, and felt tiny and insignificant, the way hugely gigantic oversized statues tend to make one feel.  Awestruck, amazed, and overpowered by the sheer size of this sculpture, and the ability of humans to create such works.

There were six Bodhisattvas around the base, not as big as Buddha but still larger than life.  They were offering flowers, lamps, musical instruments, etc., symbols of attributes needed to enter into Nirvana.

I walked around the base, admiring the views of Buddha from different angles, with the play of sunlight on the metal and the gorgeous blue of the sky finally visible when not looking straight into the sun.  The views from the top of the hill were wonderful as well, and I could see down to the ocean and the other outlying islands beyond Lantau.

And of course, when one starts back down the stairs, and looks back, it's almost as if Buddha is waving goodbye, farewell, have a good journey through life, and we'll see you next time you come through this way.  Or next time around.  Maybe in your next lifetime.

I'll admit, I arrived back on level ground with slightly wobbly legs - that was quite a walk up and then down again!  Richard and I walked over to Ngong Ping Village, the little shopping and eating area near the Big Buddha.  (There's also a hostel there, if you want to stay right by the Buddha.)  There were cute little shops, places for hot and cold drinks, and spots to sit and rest those wobbly legs.  (Yes, we had a nosh at Starbucks.  How many times do you find a Starbucks by a monastery or temple?  Okay, there was one in Kyoto, and it was lovely.  This one was nice too.)

And since this was the place for the giant Big Buddha, we found the giant Lucky Cat.  So of course I had to pose with him.  Because he was just too cute, and it must be lucky, right?  (You can tell it was lucky because both the cat and I look decent in the photo.)

We tried waiting for sunset, but left before.  We weren't sure when the last bus went by, and we really didn't want to be stuck taking that hanging gondola down the mountain.

So while this might be one of those touristy spots, it really was worth visiting.  We tend to stay away from places like this, preferring to find less well known, less popular spots.  But the Big Buddha really is worth a visit.

Oh, a tip when visiting Hong Kong - buy an Octopus card at the MTR station.  This is a pre-paid card that you use for the trains, ferries, even buses.  If you're a senior, the cost of the card is reduced, and you pay less for the trains than if you buy a single senior ticket each time you travel.  Just as an example, the one-way train to Lantau would have been $24 for an adult or $12 for a senior ticket; using our senior Octopus card, it was $2 to get there and $1.80 for the return trip.  (These are Hong Kong dollars, so the $2 price is just over a quarter.  Really!)  We definitely recommend the Octopus cards!