Cha Chaan Teng Offers Taste of Home

A giant fluffy pineapple bun that's made on the premises

Hongkongers missing the taste of home can now to go to Ho Yuen Cafe, opened by the second-generation owner. The mural on the wall has Lion Rock in the centre, flanked by Hong Kong on the left and Vancouver on the right.

Over 60 years ago her father opened Ho Yuen, a cha chaan teng in Tsz Wan Shan, but in the 1980s the family immigrated to Vancouver and so he shut Ho Yuen. However, in Vancouver he opened two other Ho Yuen businesses in Richmond and Coquitlam. 

The interior is bright and cheery with Lion Rock

By 1996 her father retired, and the family returned to Hong Kong where she worked in marketing in the fitness industry. She met her husband, a personal trainer and they had a son.

She decided to go back to her cha chaan teng roots and in 2014 she revived the Ho Yuen brand by opening in Wong Tai Sin, and later Ho Yuen Bakery.

When Hong Kong invited tenders for food trucks, Ho Yuen Express was born and it was a baptism by fire, spending HK$1 million on the food truck and modifying it, and then quickly learning how some locations like Disneyland were better than others, like Kwun Tong.

In 2020 she moved back to Vancouver because of her special-needs son. And in the last few years she took her time looking at locations to open Ho Yuen Cafe.

The location is not high traffic at all -- it's in an industrial area near a park where people walk their dogs. Nevertheless, the bright cafe has large windows and a big kitchen where staff make everything in-house from the char siu to cookie-base egg tarts and pineapple buns. 

Satay beef noodles is another signature item here

One of the signature items is the pineapple bun which is really large and fluffy, complete with a giant slab of butter inside, and a cup of hot milk tea to wash it down.

If that's not enough carbs, a bowl of satay beef with instant noodles is delicious. The noodles have slices of tenderised beef and it's not too spicy, and the soup is comforting.

The owner is already thinking of expanding the brand down the west coast to Seattle and California, and it will be interesting to see if she can spread the culture of cha chaan tengs in North America.

Ho Yuen Cafe

113 - 1750 West 75th Avenue

Vancouver

Hong Kong Deluged by Flooding

A bus submerged in the torrential rains that flooded HK

A few hours ago pictures and videos of the epic flooding in Hong Kong were posted all over social media -- the muddy waterfall pouring into Wong Tai Sin MTR station, vehicles plowing through water in the Cross Harbour Tunnel, a woman still holding onto her umbrella as she slid about 50 metres along a street, trying to grab onto the railing.

The city is still under a black rainstorm warning 14 hours after it was posted, with rain falling 158.1mm deep between 11pm and midnight last night, an unprecedented amount since records were kept in 1884. In total over 400mm of rain has fallen.

Needless to say today schools are closed, and most people are working from home as the black rainstorm warning is expected to continue until midnight this evening.

Wong Tai Sin MTR station deluged by water

Chai Wan seems to have received the brunt of the intense rain left over from Typhoon Haikui. The New Territories also suffered with the Shenzhen government giving very little notice to its Hong Kong counterpart that it would discharge water from the reservoir -- that knock-down effect left 15 minutes for residents in the area to prepare to evacuate.

So far there are no reports of fatalities, but residents are not impressed by the government's response, with the Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki holding a press conference right now (2.30pm HK time) to report on what the authorities are doing together with the Security Bureau some 12 hours later.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu didn't make any public statements and instead published two social media posts urging people to stay safe. Hongkongers bombarded the comments section questioning why the government's response was so behind, compared to the preparations made when Typhoon Saola was approaching the city.

One commenter by the name of Veronica Law wrote: "Not everyone was on Facebook. Why wasn't even an SMS sent to residents in this kind of situation?" Another user named Emi An said: "Is the chief executive sleeping? Are you aware of the severe flooding out there?"

A shopping mall in Chai Wan flooded

At the press conference going on now, acting director of drainage services Chui Si-kay said Hong Kong's drainage system could not cope with the torrential rainfall, and denied that Shenzhen releasing water from the reservoir did not cause flooding in the New Territories, that it was all from the rainfall. 

One may never be quite sure what the situation was there, but for sure the city will have a lot of water and sludge to get rid of in the streets, in shopping malls, MTR stations, and people's flats. 

There are still questions on how the city's authorities and the Hong Kong Observatory did not prepare residents with the possibility of a deluge of rain...

CY Leung Says Party's Over for Pro-Beijing Camp

A party was held for 500 guests to send off a district officer

As the Hong Kong police run a campaign of terror, taking in and questioning the relatives of the eight pro-democracy activists who have HK$1 million bounties on their heads, the pro-establishment camp has been indulging in excess.

One party in particular caught the ire of former chief executive Leung Chun-ying as being over-the-top.

It was a party featuring 500 guests in Kowloon Bay to send off Wong Tai Sin District Officer Steve Wong Chi-wah, who will be going to Beijing for a year for further studies.

Was this lavish party really necessary?

The guests included officials, lawmakers and representatives of pro-Beijing district groups and the big event was organised by the Kowloon Federation of Associations.

Following Leung's criticism, Executive Council Convenor Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee and member Ronny Tong Ka-wah also chimed in.

Ip said officers should be more careful in their conduct, as they would be given more authority after the government revamps the district councils later this year. The plan is for them to be "chief executive" of their respective areas.

"District officers will have a lot more influence under the new system. They must be vigilant to guard against a 'flattery culture' because of their increased influence," she said.

"Excessive flattery and personal adulation are disconcerting... administrative officers should work hard, blend in well with the local community, but also stay humble."

These officers will be able to set new meeting rules and assign consultation tasks to councillors.

Leung says pro-Beijing camp needs to be humble

In a Facebook post on Friday, Leung criticised what he called growing "ostentatious and extravagant" practices by the pro-establishment camp had to stop.

"We need to put a brake on this ostentatious and extravagant trend," he said.

"Where did the money come from? What are the benefits? Does it achieve positive social or political outcomes, or rather is there a negative impact?"

Despite the questions, former district councillor Chan Kam-lam, of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong who attended the dinner says it was no big deal.

"It was just a community activity and reflected the overwhelming support [Wong] received from the district's residents," he said.

"It's very common community activity and reflected the overwhelming support [Wong] received from district residents," Chan said. "It's very common for district bodies to bid farewell to district officers."

Many remember Leung's daughter's incidents

OK but is it that common to host 500 guests and spending so much money to do that?

Chan added many district residents wanted to show their appreciation from Wong, as he had done a lot for people during the Covid-19 pandemic.

While that may be a nice gesture, Leung is signalling that the pro-establishment camp needs to smarten-up and not be frivolous... is he fancying himself like the morality police?

It's amusing considering his own children have done self-indulgent things where one daughter has posted on social media about her rows with her parents, the other believing she had privilege to have airport staff bring her her luggage...