Cold is Relative

Hongkongers are experiencing cold weather today

Hong Kong logged its coldest temperature this winter at a chilly 9.8 degrees Celsius today and people on social media were complaining about the cold, and having to bundle up.

Tai Mo Shan, the city's tallest mountain at 957 metres, logged 0.3 degrees -- might as well say it was zero. Back in January 2016, temperatures plunged to be low zero on the peak, and if you remember, people got stuck up there, unfamiliar with the icy conditions and firefighters had to go and rescue them. Why did people go up there? To see frost...

Cypress Mountain barely has enough snow

Meanwhile, across the Pacific Ocean, Vancouver is experiencing its third-warmest winter on record at 9 degrees. We are definitely not going to have a white Christmas compared to last year when we were inundated with snow starting in late November.

It was so bad for skiers yesterday that Mount Seymour closed early yesterday afternoon because of the lack of snow, and Cypress and Grouse each only have one downhill run open... 

Picture of the Day: Chicken Pot Pie

The chicken pie is choc full of ingredients

The deal of the week from Costco! 

We go to the giant warehouse membership store around once a month to stock up and try some of the pre-packaged meals. The lasagna is good (though rich), and shepherd's pie is good too, but after eating those a few times you want to try something else.

For C$10.99 I found a large chicken pot pie and it was delicious!

You have to heat it up in the oven for an hour and it's more than enough for three people. 

The crust is flaky and for the most part holds up the filling inside -- large chunks of chicken, along with carrots, potatoes and peas. 

Nice comfort food at a very good price.

Review: Princess Kaguya

A delightful hand-drawn animated film based on a folktale

On the weekend I watched my final Studio Ghibli movie of the year, Princess Kaguya, recommended by my friend YTSL, who prefers it over The Wind Rises.

Princess Kaguya was co-written and directed by Isao Takahata, based on The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, a Japanese folktale.

It's about an elderly bamboo cutter who is in the forest and finds a glowing bamboo shoot. Intrigued he comes closer and discovers a miniature girl and scoops her up, believing she is a sign from heaven. He excitedly shows his wife and suddenly the girl is the size of a newborn baby. The childless couple believe she is a princess and calls her that, and in months she quickly grows into a toddler, child and then teenager.

An elderly man discovers a princess in the forest

While the girl loves being in the rural area hanging out with boys, her elderly father has other plans. He has managed to collect a lot of gold that he found in bamboo he has cut in the forest and decides to build a home for her in the city where she can be trained to be a proper lady, now known as Princess Kaguya.

Word of her beauty perks the ears of five suitors who try to woo her through a screen by professing their love to her with metaphors of exotic things that don't exist, to which she cleverly demands they must bring these items to her.

The characters in Princess Kaguya are drawn with quality of a drawing, as if pencil or charcoal strokes, and yet viewers are gently enticed into the story, which has numerous touches of humour which keep things light and fun to watch, in particular the training she goes through, and the suitors who try to win her love.

Even more interesting is the feminist quality of Princess Kaguya -- she has an independent streak and thinks for herself, but this clashes against what Japanese society and tradition expects of her -- to be demure, accept her fate and follow the life cycle of a woman. It is ironic she has the power to decide who can marry her but she cannot choose to return to her simple life.

Five suitors try to win the princess' love

Her father seems obsessed with having his daughter married off to one of these suitors, and neglects what she really wants, whereas her mother only towards the end has clued into the young woman's desire to return to their home.

At times throughout the film, there are scenes that play out that later turn out to be dreams, and so viewers may wonder what is real and what is imagined. 

In the end, is there a lesson in the end? Men should be more attentive to women's needs? Fathers should listen to their daughters? Or is it just a folktale to enjoy?

It's an interesting insight into Japanese culture, though sadly its society has not progressed fast enough to value women today. Princess Kaguya was definitely ahead of her time.

Princess Kaguya

Directed by Isao Takahata

Written by Isao Takahata and Riko Sakaguchi

137 minutes

 

Jimmy Lai's Trial Finally Begins

Lai has been remanded in custody for more than 1,100 days

All eyes are on West Kowloon Law Courts today as media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying's national security law case is finally underway after numerous postponements.

Many people came out to witness the court case, Lai's wife Teresa arrived along with one of their sons; retired Catholic leader Joseph Zen, and pro-democracy politician Emily Lau Wai-hing. 

Grandma Wong being escorted by police

Members of the public were also keen to watch the proceedings first hand. A 29-year-old who gave her name as JC was first in line, having braved the chilly weather in front of the court since 10pm the night before, while the second person in line, a man surnamed Sung arrived at 4am.

Staff from the consulates of New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, Canada and the United Kingdom were on hand to observe the proceedings as well.

Some people were shocked to see Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung had 1,000 police officers around the court house to prevent any disruption. But the case has been so heavily advertised that the government wants to have a massive show of force for such a high-profile case. 

Grandma Wong was in front of the court house with her UK flag screaming, "Support Jimmy Lai! Support Apple Daily!" The police tried to move her across the street in a bid to remove her as a distraction, but the media followed.

Already the defense has launched the argument that the sedition charge against Lai should be dismissed as it was laid after the permitted prosecution time frame. Senior Counsel Robert Pang Yiu-hung argued the sedition charge was under a colonial-era law, and not the national security law. 

Members of the public were keen to watch trial

Pang said the prosecution had passed the time limit for charging Lai, as the colonial-era sedition law states charges must be laid within six months of the alleged offense, which in this case would be from April 1, 2019 to June 24, 2021.

As a result this issue must be resolved before the case can continue. Three judges appointed by the chief executive are presiding over the case: Madam Justices Esther Toh Lye-ping, Susana D'Alamada Remedios, and Mr Justice Alex Lee Wan-tung.

Meanwhile in the last few weeks, Lai's son Sebastien has been rallying politicians, in particular Foreign Secretary David Cameron, lobbying them to push for his father's release, as he is a British citizen.

Trying to Revive the Restaurant Industry

The revamped Temple Street market attracted massive crowds

The Hong Kong government is doing its part to save the restaurant industry by giving away HK$20 million (US$2.6 million) in HK$100 vouchers to the public, but one industry leader says this is but a "small Christmas gift" for the sector.

The first batch of coupons will roll out on Wednesday, with the second batch on January 10. 

But Simon Wong Kit-lung, a lawmaker and chairman of the Quality Tourism Services Association says the vouchers are hardly useful for both the diner and the restaurant.

Anyone want a HK$100 dining voucher?

"I do not think residents would make special arrangements to go out and dine solely because they want to use the vouchers, or change their travel plans and stay in Hong Kong for Christmas," he said.

A HK$100 voucher ain't much, considering how much it costs to eat out these days, it really isn't much of a motivation.

Instead, Wong said the government should do more to attract more residents from Shenzhen and the Greater Bay Area to visit Hong Kong as the city has become more "quiet".

He suggested reviving the multiple-entry permit, but it was suspended in 2015 when Hongkongers complained about parallel traders taking advantage of this permit and making numerous crossings daily to buy goods in Hong Kong to sell across the border.

Fish balls to Turkish coffee at Temple Street

Meanwhile nowadays Hongkongers are going up north to Shenzhen to spend their money to eat because it is much cheaper, there's more variety and lots to do and see.

Or maybe the government should take a page out of the recent Temple Street revamp which saw a massive crowd of people on the first night on Friday.

There are 32 food stalls, selling items from fish balls to imitation shark fin soup, and even French-style rack of lamb. 

People will check it out for the first few weeks, but if there aren't other new things to try, then it won't be sustainable for long...

Housing Funding Doesn't Add Up

Trudeau in Vancouver with Sim and Fraser on housing

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim had a show of force with him today -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser, and BC Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon standing at a construction site in the city.

They proudly announced that the federal government would kick in C$115 million to help build 40,000 homes in a decade.

Critics on social media quickly pointed that $115 million divided into 40,000 homes means $2,875 per home and made comments suggesting that would only pay for windows, or perhaps MEC [Mountain Equipment Co-Op] will have a sale on tents...

Vancouverites are disillusioned with Sim these days after he announced he would do away with the Parks Board, and just a few days ago, after over 150 people spoke at City Hall, mostly against, the motion passed on party lines, as Sim's ABC Vancouver party has a majority.

Many are shocked that he fired three of his ABC Parks Board commissioners who were elected into these positions last November. No one saw this coming.

The motion passed meant the political hot potato of disbanding the Parks Board fell on Premier David Eby, who promptly threw it back to Sims to come up with a detailed transition plan... perhaps Eby doesn't want anything to do with this hot mess.

Meanwhile Vancouver residents are also terrified of the prospect of parks that are deemed "temporary" will be developed with condo towers as the Mayor has said the city needs to densify asap, and getting rid of the Parks Board is the quickest way to do this.

Those against the move say the Parks Board is the only grassroots political layer that is directly in touch with residents, as the body looks after not only parks but also community centres and public pools that are sadly crumbling due to not enough funding.

As one has remarked, "You can never have too many parks." 

This is the terrible tussle Vancouver is in -- there is not enough (affordable) housing, but residents aren't ready to give up their single-family homes yet. Sim seems determined to drag the city into densification whether it is ready or not...

Five More Activists Have HK$1M Bounties

Five more people have HK$1M bounties on their heads

The Hong Kong government continues its fear campaign by putting HK$1 million (US$128,000) bounties on another five people living abroad for violating the national security law.  

There are arrest warrants for Johnny Fok and Tony Choi, who host a YouTube channel on current affairs, and pro-democracy activists Simon Cheng Man-kit, Frances Hui Wing-ting, and Joey Siu. They are either in the United States or Britain.

Siu, an American citizen, wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter that she woke up to the news about the bounty on her head "for exercising my freedoms in my own country", adding, "I will never be silenced, I will never back down."

Li says the five have betrayed Hong Kong

These five people join the eight other activists also abroad, where the Hong Kong authorities claim they will pursue them for life with these bounties. This declaration has drawn criticism from western governments.

Steve Li Kwai-wah is the chief superintendent of the police national security department and said they have received some 500 pieces of information since the first round of bounties were announced, but this has not led to any arrests -- yet.

The five activists added to the list have allegedly committed various offenses, including colluding with foreign forces and incitement to secession.

"They all betrayed their own country and betrayed Hong Kong," he said in a press conference. "After they fled overseas, they continued to engage in activities endangering national security."

To add further fears, police arrested four other people on Wednesday on suspicion of funding former pro-democracy lawmakers, Nathan Law Kwun-chung and Ted Hui Chi-fung through an "online subscription and crowdfunding platform." The four were alleged to have provided financial support to the pair. The amounts ranged from HK$10,000 to HK$120,000 (US$1,280-US$15,400). 

Cheng is "honoured" to be hunted by HK police

It is believed the online platform the police are alluding to is Patreon.

Cheng, who some may remember, worked for the British Consulate in Hong Kong and was detained on a business trip to Shenzhen. He was arrested by Chinese authorities for allegedly "soliciting prostitutes" and after he was released told of how he was physically tortured in a bid to make him confess he was a spy for Britain. He eventually fled to the UK and has been there since.

On X he wrote of his reaction to having a bounty on his head: "Being hunted by China (Hong Kong)'s secret police, under a one-million-dollar bounty, is a lifelong honor."

Even though these activists say it's an honour to have a bounty on their heads, surely this is counterproductive to the Hong Kong government's efforts to try to lure people to visit the city? By creating an atmosphere of fear, how can they entice people to a "Happy Hong Kong"?

Hong Kong's Too Expensive for Residents

A very fancy (and expensive) hot chocolate

A friend in Hong Kong posted a video of a fancy hot chocolate made in front of him for Christmas at a five-star hotel in Central. The milk was heated in a copper pot, and then chocolate chips were added, and whisked together. The mixture was then poured into a cup, where a dollop of whipped cream was added, a spoonful of chocolate pearls, a homemade marshmallow and a cinnamon stick for good measure.

How much was it? HK$90 (US$11.50)!!!

Shenzhen is a weekend hotspot for HKers

I remarked that it cost more than the most expensive coffee in Hong Kong at a place called Fuel at HK$50, but he said it had already jumped to HK$62 and was not a good cup of coffee to start with.

Is it no wonder that Hongkongers find the city too expensive and escape across the border to Shenzhen to have cheap meals and fun for the weekend?

A friend who visits Hong Kong periodically told me a few months ago he and his family went to Shenzhen to see what all the fuss was about.

They were impressed by the inexpensive and delicious food they ate, while the kids enjoyed the games, in particular virtual reality ones where they were immersed in another world. 

So many websites blocked in China

But when they went back to their hotel rooms and couldn't go onto their favourite websites because they were blocked by the Great Firewall, the kids were highly disappointed!

Review: Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

Ginger and Rocky are back... with a daughter called Molly

The other day I watched the sequel to Chicken Run -- Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget. Hard to believe the original was made 23 years ago! Aardman Animations is famous for making claymation stop-motion animation that's painstaking to make, but as a viewer, so much fun to watch. 

If you remember Chicken Run, the chickens bust out of the hen house when they realise chickens are being killed by Mrs Tweedy to make chicken pies. The chickens then settle in a place far away from farms and people.

Stop-motion animation is painstaking to make

In the sequel, the leader of the flock, Ginger, gets together with Rocky the Rooster and they have a baby chick called Molly, and becomes much like her mother.

But the chickens soon discover some development is afoot near where they live and Molly sees trucks going to a special place she wants to check out, but her mother doesn't want her to leave...

Dawn of the Nugget starts with a quick refresher for viewers who may not have remembered Chicken Run, and then fast-forwards to the present. All the old characters are still there, like Babs the bird who is sweet but clueless, Mac a Scottish chicken with some smarts, Fowler, the elderly rooster who constantly talks about his Royal Air Force days, and the two rats, Nick and Fetcher who help the chickens.

Part of the storyline involves some other chickens living in a utopia, which immediately reminded me of Barbie! What a strange coincidence, which in a way made it more amusing. 

This utopia scene looked familiar to Barbie

Nevertheless the action scenes were quite clever and unexpected, while the humour was a bit muted, but funny towards the end.

Mel Gibson wasn't called back to reprise his role, and was replaced by Rocky, while Julia Sawalha didn't return as Ginger either and instead Thandiwe Newton took on the role. 

People who watch Netflix will be able to see Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget on December 15 onwards. Good family fun for 98 minutes.

 

Review: The Wind Rises

The Wind Rises is a fictional story of Jiro Horikoshi

Since spring, VIFF has held a Studio Ghibli film festival, showing some of the best animated films during spring break, the summer and now a few more to wrap up the year. This past weekend I watched The Wind Rises for the first time and really enjoyed its message and how the story unfolded.

Just before the film began, a guest speaker gave a short introduction to explain the meaning of the title. The Wind Rises is from a line from a poem by Paul Valery called Le Cimetiere Marin, or The Graveyard by the Sea.

The romance between Jiro and Nahoko is sweet

The last stanza starts with: "The wind is rising!... We must try to live!", which is the theme of Hayao Miyazaki's 2013 swan song film (since then it's become The Boy and the Heron). Basically, it is about living life to the fullest and feeling alive.

The Wind Rises is a semi-autobiography or Jiro Horikoshi, who was the chief engineer of many Japanese fighter planes used in World War II. Originally Miyazaki published a manga series about Horikoshi from 2009-2010, and was later persuaded by his staff to make it into an animated film three years later.

His personal interest in planes comes from his father being a director of his brother's company that manufactured rudders for fighter planes in World War II. As a result planes feature in many of his films.

In The Wind Rises, the animated film follows Horikoshi's life from when he was a boy fascinated with planes and later went on to study aeronautical engineering, and later worked on designing planes for the military. However, Miyazaki added some fictional characters, including Jiro's love interest Nahoko Satomi, and fictional encounters with Italian aeronautical engineer Giovanni Battista Caproni. It's funny that he starts speaking Italian and then suddenly switches to Japanese.

Horikoshi was an engineer

The pace of the 126-minute film is never rushed, giving time for each scene to unfold and breathe before moving onto the next one. The dialogue is thoughtful and at times sprinkled with wry humour.

Many sarcastic lines come from Jiro's boss, a short man with spectacles and is basically a slave driver, but Jiro is so passionate about planes he is willing to work overtime and calmly takes on assignments even though his boss is anxious about meeting deadlines and pleasing clients. 

The romance between Jiro and Nahoko is very sweet and the storyline shows how fate -- or rather wind -- brings them together many times.

However, the plot has a strange detour when the Japanese secret police are after Jiro, so he hides in his boss's home; this storyline doesn't seem to be resolved at all in the end.

Nevertheless, The Wind Rises is a good reminder that we should not take anything for granted and appreciate what we have. Life is too short for regrets and to always move forward enjoying what we love to do.

The Wind Rises

Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki

126 minutes

Record Low Turnout for "Patriots-Only" District Council Election

Voter turnout at 27.5 percent, with a computer glitch near end

The day after the District Council elections, the government and the liaison office insisted the "patriots-only" election was "a success in improving governance structure", and that it was a "real, functioning democracy", even though there was a record low turnout.

Of the 4.33 million registered voters, only 1,193,193 or 27.5 percent came out. However, of those who voted, 22,045 residents cast blank votes which were invalid, representing 1.85 percent of the overall figure. This compares to 0.56 percent invalid votes four years ago, when 71. 2 percent of voters came out during the height of the 2019 protests.

Most of the voters this year were the elderly who were bussed in, as well as public servants who had to cast ballots.

Ip says "extending hours was completely useless"

Despite the low participating figures, Beijing claimed the election implemented the principle of "patriots governing Hong Kong".

"The district councils have restored their proper nature and functions, freeing the election from politicisation, populism, and pragmatically focusing on solving real problems in the community," the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said in a statement.

"Residents can deeply feel that the elections are related to their interests and that this is real, functioning democracy."

How about a "functioning democracy" with Chinese characteristics? Pro-democracy candidates were barred from running, even centrist pro-establishment parties could not get enough nominations.

Nevertheless, some pro-Beijng lawmakers were not pleased with the turnout, like Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, founder and chairperson of the New People's Party.

There was a computer system glitch two hours before voting was supposed to finish, so in a bid to get more voters in, the time was extended by another 90 minutes past midnight.

Ip said afterwards "extending hours was completely useless", the extra one and a half did not yield a significant uptick in voters.

But Tam Yiu-chung, vice president of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau said the election turnout was in line with expectations.

He claimed residents cared more about the Legislative Council elections than District Council ones, and that people were out of town so they couldn't cast ballots.

However, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu hailed it as a "high-quality" election, but surely there are questions as to why so much money was spent on getting people to vote but the end result was so few.

Was the turnout really in line with expectations? The spinning will continue for days to come...

Hong Kong's First "Patriots-Only" Election

As of 4.30pm the red line shows this year's vote versus 2019

In case you didn't know, Hong Kong is having its District Council elections in today. 

Everywhere there are constant reminders for people to vote, from posters and billboards to advertisements on radio, television and online. 

However, the Hong Kong government might have to conduct a post mortem to find out what happened because so far the turnout is significantly lower than in 2019.

As of 2.30pm, 15.47 percent of the 4.33 million registered voters have cast their ballots in the "patriots-only" race. Meanwhile at the same time four years ago,  71.2 percent of voters turned out, giving the pro-democratic camp a massive landslide victory.

But this year only those candidates who passed background checks and received nominations from pro-government committees were allowed to run this time.

Nevertheless, how to explain to Beijing the projected low voter turnout?

Was it because Hongkongers went across the border to Shenzhen for some rest and relaxation? Too busy stimulating the city's economy with Christmas shopping? Or got too caught up taking free public transit all over Hong Kong?

Oh update -- as of 4.30pm, 19.19 percent of registered voters have done their civic duty, compared to 71.23 percent in 2019. There are projections there could be a 26 percent turnout...

Picture of the Day: Starting a Chippy New Tradition

Santa's open letter for chips instead of cookies

Saw this funny advertisement right next to the comics -- a ploy by chip company Frito Lay to get kids to buy more chips for Christmas instead of cookies. It even includes giant finger prints of a man who has eaten a bag of orange-flavoured chips.

It starts off saying it's "an open letter from Santa Claus 2023".

Santa has something to say to the world.

Santa is tired of cookies.

Just think of how many cookies Santa eats

on Christmas Eve, all across the world.

Wouldn't you be a little tired of them too

if you were in Santa's boots?

This year, Santa's wishing for chips.

And not chocolate chips.

Put out a bowl of something crunchy.

It's time to start a new tradition.

Speaking of traditions, how about some

Lay's Classic? Sometimes you just want something

simple. Or Cheetos Crunchy. Or Doritos Nacho Cheese.

Or put out a bowl of those wish chips you find

in bags of Miss Vickie's (my favourite).

Santa is writing this letter to ask you

to make a wish come true:

Give Santa a break from cookies.

There's a spot at the top of the

Nice List in it for you.

Then there's a signature that says "Santa Claus".

It's quite revolutionary to suggest that kids the world over should ditch the cookies for Santa and instead give him some potato chips. But perhaps the jolly man in the red suit really does want to eat something savoury instead. And maybe he doesn't want milk but strong coffee to stay awake the rest of Christmas Eve?

There goes the homemade cookies! 

We'll have to see if Frito Lay reports a bump in sales in January...

Palm Springs: Agua Caliente Cultural Museum

Entrance to the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum

Palm Springs has casinos in three locations called Agua Caliente, run by the indigenous people known as the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians.  

Next door to the one in Palm Springs is the recently opened Agua Caliente Cultural Museum, giving visitors more insight in to this Indian band and how this land in Palm Springs is so important to them.

They occupied the land in the valley because there was a large lake there called Lake Cahuilla and they flourished there. But an earthquake caused this body of water to disappear.

Impressive 3-D video of the history of the area

Around the time of the gold rush in the late 1840s was when the Cahuilla Indians first encountered white people, who pushed the indigenous people into smaller and smaller tracts of land as the area became developed. 

Fast forward to today, the Agua Caliente band not only has casinos, but also hotels, land, businesses and banks.

A video of the faces of today show the Cahuilla have intermarried with non-Cahuilla, and they are all proud of their identity, wearing traditional garb and practicing their traditions.

In one of the earlier sections of the museum, an excavation of the land the museum sits on revealed numerous objects, some of which are on display, from shells to tools, and there are beautifully woven baskets too.

Another exhibition space showed the work of indigenous photographer Horace Poolaw (1906-1984), who was one of the first American-Indians to visually document his community in Oklahoma in black and white photographs.

Poolaw's portrait of his brother and buffalo head

"I do not want to be remembered for my pictures, but through my pictures I want my people to remember themselves," he once said.

Some feature his children in western or Indian clothing, others cultural events or striking contrasts -- one shows Horace's brother wearing his feather headdress and in front of him the head of a buffalo that he had killed. Another shows an American TV host posing with an Indian in full traditional garb.

Most impressive was a video projection of the history of the Indian band on a relief map that created animation, lots of information and clips that made the story much more rich and interesting as it moved over the three-dimensional map of the valley. Telling stories using the latest technology is impressive and memorable.

Agua Caliente Cultural Museum

140 North Indian Canyon Drive

Palm Springs

760 778 1079

Palm Springs: Going Asian at Rooster and the Pig

Really yummy congee to start the meal

Before I left for Palm Springs, another friend recommended Rooster and the Pig, a Vietnamese restaurant. It has a no-reservations policy with doors open at 5pm. We decided to try our luck on Friday around 7pm.

It's located in a mini strip mall with apartments in the back and a parking lot that's not really paved. I rushed to the restaurant and lo and behold there was a table big enough for five of us right by the entrance.

"When is the rest of your party coming?" inquired the waiter.

Pork belly fried rice with Chinese sausage

"They're right over there," I replied, pointing to them approaching the restaurant just steps away.

They added another seat to the table and we sat down in minutes. 

It's a minimalist kind of look in there, with Vietnamese posters, cookbooks on Asian cuisine, a colourful tiffin, and plants on shelves above diners' heads.

The menu is pretty straight forward, with some appetisers to start, some rolls and then mains, all meant to be shared. For the five of us, I chose six dishes and it worked out quite well in the end.

We were even given a small bowl of congee to start and boy was it good! It had been simmering for hours, the rice broken down and thick but not too gloopy either, garnished with deep-fried garlic and scallions. 

Next up were two rice rolls, one with pork and shrimp with mint with a peanut sauce, the other butternut squash with lettuce with fish sauce. They were a prelude to the mains that came quickly.

Crispy turmeric cod with rice noodles

Our vegetable dish was braised daikon with a few stalks of Chinese water spinach or tung choi, seasoned with star anise and cardamom, though these flavours were barely detectable. 

Pork belly fried rice was a favourite -- it included Chinese sausage of lap cheong, pork belly, mushrooms, onions, and shallots. The rice wasn't sticky, but day-old rice and so the dish was not too heavy.

Another star of the evening was the crispy beef with a generous portion of egg noodles. The beef was fried then deep-fried for crispiness, contrasting with the noodles that had a bit of a bite to them. 

The crispy turmeric cod was delicious, lightly fried and perfectly cooked, though they were accompanied with lukewarm rice noodles, which was probably the style, but we would have preferred the noodles hotter. 

The portion was just right for the five of us and we finished everything. When we asked if they had dessert, we were sad to hear they didn't serve any! And we didn't see any Asian staff -- even one of the cooks who took a breather outside was African-American. We were impressed.

Crispy beef egg noodles was hearty

Our meal was so good that we wanted to eat it again the next day, but when we drove by Saturday evening, there were several people standing around outside and the restaurant looked full. We gave up and went back to Manhattan in the Desert for dinner instead.

Rooster and the Pig

356 South Indian Canyon Drive

Palm Springs

760 832 6691

Palm Springs: Deli Deliciousness

New York-style pastrami piled high at Sherman's Deli

This trip to Palm Springs I ate quite a bit of deli food, but not at all regretting it as I don't eat much of it in Vancouver. I really like sandwiches and the thinly sliced deli meats remind me of my high school days making and eating these sandwiches for lunch.

In Palm Springs we went to two delis, Sherman's Deli and Bakery, and Manhattan in the Desert. Both have extensive menus, while Sherman's serves unapologetically huge portions, while Manhattan is a touch more refined.

The half tongue sandwich at Manhattan

Case in point -- Sherman's New York-style pastrami sandwich was piled so high I couldn't even begin to fit it in my mouth! Nevertheless, the temperature hot pastrami was delicious, and I could only manage to eat half of it -- the other half was my lunch the next day.

Meanwhile Manhattan offers a decent-sized meal in the form of soup and sandwich. You get a cup of soup, half a sandwich and a choice of salad. I love their coleslaw, which is nicely balanced with vinegar and mayonnaise, with a slightly tart taste, and the cabbage and carrots chopped finely.

I had three versions of the soup and sandwich -- hot corned beef, beef tongue and pastrami. The beef tongue was recommended by a friend and the texture was soft, but a bit on the bland side and I kept adding mustard to it as I took bites of it.

I've also had matzo ball soup and what's called mish mash -- matzo ball and kerplach in chicken noodle soup. The latter, which was also recommended by my friend, is actually served in a large bowl because it needs to fit the matzo ball and kerplach, a boiled dumpling filled with ground beef, as well as chicken noodle soup.

Matzo ball and kerplach in chicken noodle soup

The cabbage rolls at Sherman's are huge, while at Manhattan they are served in a bowl with a tomato-based soup.

Sherman's has a corned beef plate that includes a giant wedge of boiled cabbage and a potato of your choice. It really can't be finished in one sitting.

And so it's a pity that I can't describe any of the desserts, because we were too full to order any! The ones at Sherman's are very tall with several layers and look very tempting, but try as we might to save room for a sweet finish, it never happens. I overheard a waiter tell a customer that the carrot cake is the most popular, but we have our eye on Black Forest, lemon dome and strawberry shortcake.

Maybe next year?

Agnes Chow now Studying in Canada

Chow says she is now in Toronto studying a Masters

Former activist Agnes Chow Ting, 27, has revealed she is now in Toronto, but will not be returning to Hong Kong anytime soon for the sake of her mental health.

In social media posts on Sunday, Chow said she moved to Canada's largest city to study a Masters, but was suffering mental health issues after being under pressure awaiting trial on national security charges.

She had been released from jail over two and a half years ago after serving a seven-month sentence for a protest outside the Hong Kong Police headquarters in 2019. Chow was also among a group of nine who were charged with colluding with foreign forces under the national security law.

After being released she still met strict bail conditions that included reporting to police regularly and surrendering her passport. However, she was able to get her travel document back if she agreed to take part in what she described as a propaganda tour accompanied by national security police officers and sign a letter of "repentance".

"I did no public activities, had no political involvement, no contact with my former friends, I just waited in silence," she wrote on social media. "Regular check-ins for national security, partial disenfranchisement, emotional instability and the restrictions on my life as a (former) democratic politician, combined with endless waiting, my mental condition was getting worse."

She applied to a Masters program in Toronto, was accepted, though the national security police demanded a lot of information, from the course details, timetable, to accommodation, and also that she write a "repentance letter", stating she regretted her political activism and that she would never contact people in that field again.

But then in July the national security police said she needed to go on a tour to Shenzhen, which she apprehensively did in mid-August. During the five-day trip she was accompanied by national security police officers who took her to political exhibitions and the company headquarters of Tencent. All throughout the trip pictures were taken of her, perhaps as proof of her patriotism. 

While Chinese state security officers didn't question her, Chow said she felt she was being under surveillance the whole time. After the trip she was asked to write a thank you letter to the police for arranging it.

For this she finally received her passport the day before she left Hong Kong. Chow is supposed to return during school holidays, but has now decided against it, fearing she may not be able to leave the city again or more conditions would be placed on her.

"After careful consideration, including considering the situation in Hong Kong, my own safety, my physical and mental health, I decided not to go back, and will probably never go back for the rest of my life," she wrote. "I didn't have this intention in the beginning.

"I have felt for years how precious freedom from fear is. There are still a lot of unknowns in the future, but what can be known is that I finally don't have to worry about being arrested anymore and can say what I want to do."

One can imagine the Hong Kong national security police were not pleased to find out Chow wasn't coming back and released a statement without mentioning her by name.

"The police strongly condemn these irresponsible behaviours that blatantly challenge law and order," it said. "The police appeal to the person involved to step back from the cliff and not choose to take a path of no return and bear the name of 'fugitive' for the rest of her life."

Interesting to note the department did not refute her account of being forced to go on a propaganda trip to Shenzhen and write the letters of repentance and thanks. It did confirm she was granted travel documents to travel abroad and that she had been "cooperative" with the police's reporting requirements.

Guess this means no more studying abroad for others wishing to find a way to jump bail conditions...

Palm Springs: A Morning at the Fair in the Desert

Metal art like these sculptures were for sale at the market

Every weekend from October to May is the Street and Art Fair at College of the Desert. It's an actual college and the parking lot is turned into a temporary open market where locals and visitors can buy all kinds of things from fruits to jewellery, clothing and even shoe horns.

We drove there around 11am and it's a good set up. Across from where the temporary fair is the parking lot for cars and even better is mini transportation in the form of golf carts to ferry people to the open-air market and back. If you have too many things to carry, or your legs are tired, it's the best.

Wine glasses for diehard golfers...

Even better is the happy-go-lucky driver we had both ways, who was greeting many people by name and waving to those he didn't know. He was very happy to be driving the cart and chatting with people. Maybe it's also because he gets tips in a plastic cup taped to the cart.

Nevertheless, we were dropped off at the middle of the market where a guy dressed as Santa Claus was selling Kris Kringle coffee in paper bags. I didn't see him make a sale but he waved to people and said, "Ho ho ho!"

Feel sorry he had to stand around in 21 degree heat... he couldn't even get an umbrella sorted to give him some shade...

In any event people can buy all kinds of items at this market. The first one we saw sold all kinds of things one would find in a dollar store, like shammies, kitchen gadgets like graters, and foldable laundry baskets.

Heck you could even buy a car if you wanted -- they claimed they ship everywhere!

Colourful folk art pieces to decorates homes

There were also steering wheel covers for sale, reading glasses, watches, jewellery, hats, and a purse organiser (a pouch with many compartments in it to put in your purse).

For those who love a good salesman pitch could watch a guy talk nonstop as he demonstrated how to use a ginger grater, and there was a small group of people watching intently. He was even throwing in a recipe book if you bought a grater...

One stall sold women's golf wear which was quite popular -- with changing rooms too, while another sold golf clubs, US$20 for a sand wedge! Serious golfers were amused.

A food section where there were picnic tables had stalls selling coffee, popcorn, hotdogs, and iced drinks. There were also fruits for sale, like strawberries, papayas, pomegrantes and apples, as well as vegetables and dried dates that were stuffed with walnuts, coconuts, or plain. 

The market seemed like the community centre where people hung out on the weekends to say hi or something to do with friends. We didn't buy anything, but was fun to look!

Giant pomegranates up for grabs

Street & Art Fair at College of the Desert

October to May, 8am-2pm

Corner of Monterey Avenue and Magnesia Falls, Palm Desert

Palm Springs: Retail Woes a Harbinger of the 2024 Economy

Santa had no visitors yesterday late afternoon

Yesterday afternoon we went to a shopping mall called Westfield Palm Desert that we went to around the same time last year. It has a few anchor stores, JC Penny at one end, Macy's the other, and Barnes & Noble bookstore in the middle.

Last year it was pretty busy, lots of people starting their Christmas shopping with Black Friday sales after Thanksgiving. This year? Quite the opposite and perhaps a sign of what the US economy will be like in the coming months and year.

JC Penny was looking very dim and uninviting

We first hit Macy's and I remembered it being very busy last year, with long lines for the fitting room and cashier. This year there were only a handful of shoppers looking at the racks. I scored a dress that was originally US$79.50, and was knocked down 25 percent to US$59.62. 

Because it was on a rack with 30 percent off, the dress was further discounted to US$41.73, plus tax was US$44.96.

And if I don't like it, I can return it by January 31, 2024 as long as the tag is attached and nothing altered.

How to department stores even make money these days?

Maybe they made money from the woman in line behind me who was carrying a heap of clothing ready to buy.

The situation at JC Penny was even more dire -- the lighting was quite dim by around 5pm. It was also even emptier than Macy's. The atmosphere was just really sad, with hardly any staff around and people wandering around the aisles of bland-looking merchandise.

Hardly any shoppers around to snap up discounts

Even Santa Claus was having a slow day. The jolly man in the red suit was sitting on his throne waiting for kids to come take pictures so that their parents could send them to grandparents and relatives, but alas not one child came to tell Santa what he or she wanted for Christmas.

Granted it was November 30 and a weekday, but still!

If Westfield Palm Desert is a harbinger of what's to come, it's not looking good for the retail sector next year...

Palm Springs: La Qinta Art Saturday

Strolling down the main street to check out the art fair

On Saturday we visited La Qinta, a city in Palm Springs, in between Indian Wells and Indio.

It was originally an agricultural town in the late 19th century, and is home to some 40,000 residents. It is best known for its golf course, La Qinta Resort and Club which dates back to 1926, and was where director Frank Capra wrote the screenplay for Lost Horizon.

Colourful glass sculptures for sale

As it was the weekend, it just so happened there was an outdoor art fair there so we parked the car and took a stroll along Main Street that was closed off for pedestrians.

Many people brought their dogs on leashes as they walked from stall to stall. Vendors were selling jewellery, ceramics, glass pieces, and large canvas paintings. We snagged a beautiful silver chain bracelet that would have cost more in a jewellery store.

The atmosphere was very laid-back and there was a musician busking and selling his CDs too. One stall sold miniatures of well-known landmarks like the giant pink elephant sign "Rancho Super Car Wash", and "Bombay Drive-In" complete with retro-looking cars.

Meanwhile many of the colourful paintings were inspired by the mountains and the dessert landscapes. One would need a very large wall to hang them on!

Iron bark eucalyptus with inlaid turqoise, malachite

One of the most beautiful things we saw was wood carved into large bowls and polished. Picking them up they are not heavy, and make for a stunning highlight piece on a coffee table or dining table. They only start at US$300...!