Tempting Chinese Delicacy

Very large abalone and fish maw surrounding sea cucumbers

The first time I ate the classic dish Buddha jumps over the wall was back in the late 1990s in Hong Kong in Shang Palace in the Kowloon Shangri-la.

Still relatively new in journalism but keen to try new things, I did a story about Buddha jumps over the wall, interviewing the chef at the restaurant about the ingredients and how the soup got its name.

The broth (top left), with shark's fin (top right)

As the story goes, the smells from kitchen near a Buddhist monastery tempted a monk to "jump over the wall" to eat the dish, which contains meat.

And it's understandable why someone would find it hard to resist with such premium ingredients as sea cucumber, shark's fin, abalone, conpoy, fish maw, chicken, Jinhua ham, ginseng and mushrooms. Some varieties include taro and quail eggs.

The version I tried had thin slices of deer penis in it, geared towards boosting mens' testosterone... The hotel public relations woman and I giggled at the thought of having this ingredient in our soup and we thoroughly enjoyed the dish.

However that evening I find it practically impossible to sleep. I was tossing and turning for hours and by morning was a sleep-deprived wreck.

I called the public relations woman to tell her about my sleepless night and she immediately exclaimed, "Me too!" We had a good laugh.

Conpoy with slices of Jinhua ham

We still have fond memories of this experience decades later.

Fast forward to a few days ago and I got a chance to eat the same dish again in Vancouver, well Burnaby. At Grand Crystal Seafood Restaurant in Crystal Mall, the chef there makes Buddha jumps over the wall that is not presented in individual pots, but in a giant soup tureen and the ingredients carefully arranged and presented on platters.

There were large abalone and fish maw too, but thin sea cucumber, and tiny scraps of shark's fin -- I was surprised to even see that there. We were given two rounds of the soup, one with conpoy and Jinhua ham, the other with a very large, meaty mushroom.

Next came the abalone, fish maw and sea cucumber presented with abalone sauce. 

Needless to say after two bowls of soup and this dish, we were half full already.

Sea cucumber, fish maw and abalone

As Coca-Cola was available I got a glass and was glad I did -- there was quite a bit of MSG in the dishes, and the Coke helped counteract feeling thirsty.

I can say despite the caffeinated Coke I slept quite well that night...

Terry Fox to be Commemorated on $5 Bill

The government says Fox will have his likeness on the $5 bill

On the same day yesterday that a big political earthquake had erupted in Ottawa, a good news story was completely missed.

In the release of the Fall Economic Statement, the federal government will put Canadian hero Terry Fox on the new $5 bill to honour his Marathon of Hope and dedication to raising money for cancer research. 

Fox wanted to run across Canada to fundraise

Fox had one leg amputated in 1977 because of cancer and he had the big ambition of running across Canada to raise awareness for his cause, the Marathon of Hope. He began his run in 1980 in St John's Newfoundland and Labrador.

The 21-year-old basically ran a marathon a day. He didn't get much notice at first, but by the time he reached Ontario he was declared a hero. However, when he reached Thunder Bay, Ontario, Fox was forced to stop due to intense pains in his chest.

"By February 1981, the Marathon of Hope had raised C$24.7 million or $1 for every Canadian," the FES says. "His run was interrupted just past the half-way point when the cancer reached his lungs and ultimately took his life.

"Through his efforts, the 22-year-old showed Canadians the difference that an ordinary person could make through sheer willpower and determination."

Designs for new $5 bill with Marathon of Hope

It's so appropriate that Fox be commemorated on a piece of legal tender. Every year mostly children participate in the Terry Fox run, and millions continue to be raised for cancer research. Every time people see the $5 bill they will see Fox and remind them of his determination, passion and strength.

Fox will replace former Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier, who will move onto the next $50 bill.

 

Trudeau's Days are Numbered

Trudeau doesn't have much time to ponder his future

The federal Liberals are in complete disarray after the shock resignation of finance minster and deputy leader Chrystia Freeland this morning.

This evening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a caucus meeting in Ottawa where 15 MPs spoke up and many of them advised him to resign.

He said he would consider their concerns and reflect on them in the next few days.

Freeland quit before the economic statement

But Trudeau may not have days as the calls for him to step down are getting louder and louder.

Freeland announced she was quitting this morning in a public letter to Trudeau that she posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

At that time reporters were about to go into a lock-up to read over her much anticipated economic statement when they found out she had resigned.

No one in the party knew who was the next finance minister and for hours radio and TV shows were scrambling to find any information they could about this political bombshell that exploded in Trudeau's face.

He did this to himself -- according to Freeland's letter, Trudeau had told her she would be shuffled out of the finance minister position, but could you present the economic statement anyway?

She also claimed that she disagreed with his "political gimmicks", such as scrapping the GST for two months on certain items, and C$250 rebate cheques for specific income groups. 

Trudeau in the closed caucus meeting tonight

There's also the fact that the economic statement revealed Canada is C$61.9 billion in the hole, not the C$40 billion she had promised before.

Nevertheless, Freeland has still left the door open to jump into a leadership race because she is still sitting as an MP.

Political pundits think that while Freeland is trying to distance herself from Trudeau, she has been in his cabinet for so long that she will still have to take the blame for what happened, and she doesn't have much integrity left.

Some felt she didn't communicate policies well, while others thought she was very hard working and personable.

Regardless, the main question now is when Trudeau is going to step down and let the Liberal Party choose its next leader. He thinks he performs better when his back is against the wall, but voters are tired of having a prime minister who is out of touch with people and want someone else to take the reins.

However, the alternatives aren't that appealing either, though the Conservatives under Pierre Poilieve are poised to win the next election which could be called soon.

Already President-elect Donald Trump has weighed in on today's flurry of events.

On his social media platform he wrote: "The Great State of Canada is stunned as the Finance Minister resigns, or was fired, from her position by Governor Justin Trudeau. Her behavior was totally toxic, and not at all conducive to making deals which are good for the very unhappy citizens of Canada. She will not be missed!!!"

Chinese Money Flows into Hong Kong Again

Hong Kong is again attracting mainlanders with deep pockets

In April this year a huge money-laundering scandal rocked Singapore -- where 10 Chinese nationals were charged with laundering US$2.2 billion involving real estate, watches, luxury handbags, jewellery, and lots of bottles of alcohol.

It was revealed in court that these men, with passports from Vietnam, Vanuatu, Cyprus and Dominica managed to live a crazy rich Asian lifestyle in the Lion City, paid for by money made from scams and online gambling.

The fact that they were able to live in Singapore without any scrutiny for years shocked residents and resulted in a massive review in policies, particularly banks tightening rules, particularly around clients with multiple passports.  

As a result, the Chinese are moving their money by the truckloads back to Hong Kong, where there is less scrutiny of the source of wealth.

How much is coming in? US$44 billion, three times the amount last year. 

With lots of money, come the wealth managers and banks in Hong Kong are on a massive hiring spree these days.

Swiss private banker Julius Baer has expanded its office space by 40 percent to house all the staff they are adding, while Bank of Singapore in Hong Kong is boosting its number of staff by 30 percent. Standard Chartered wants to double its staff in wealth management, and same with Citigroup.

It's also not just the uber wealthy looking to move their money to Hong Kong, but even those with assets ranging from US$5 million to US$10 million.

The Hong Kong government is also enticing the rich to come over -- those who invest HK$30 million in the city can get residency -- and 500 have applied.

However the tricky part is for banks to verify the applicants' assets over the past 24 months, which won't be easy.

Nevertheless, it seems that the wealth management sector in Hong Kong is seeing lots of dollar signs in the long run.

"I'm getting three to four calls daily from clients regarding immigration-related matters including the capital investment entrant scheme," said Patrick Yip, vice-chair for Deloitte China. "Many of the wealthy Chinese are looking for options. They want to be able to travel with a 'user-friendly' passport and get education overseas for their kids."

Picture of the Day: King Charles III is Coined

King Charles is now on the toonie

Earlier this week we happened to get our hands on the new C$2 coins nicknamed toonies with King Charles III side portrait.

It is the first time in 70 years that Canadian currency has a new monarch since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.

Montreal-based portrait artist Steven Rosati was chosen from submissions by 350 artists. He is only the third Canadian artist to design the royal effigy for Canada's coinage since 1990.

The design was sent to Buckingham Palace for approval. 

Meanwhile new notes with King Charles' effigy have yet to be unveiled let alone circulated.

So in the meantime we'll just have have him as small change!

Review: The Last Dance

Wong (left) and Hui (right) in the smash hit The Last Dance

The Last Dance is a film that has been a smash hit in the Hong Kong box office making a record HK$122 million in a month since its release. It released last week in Vancouver and we saw it at Cineplex Cinemas Marine Gateway this afternoon.

Not only does the film have a stellar cast, but also a great script written and directed by Anselm Chan Mou-yin which he wrote during the pandemic.

The story is set in Hung Hom post pandemic, when a wedding planner, named Dominic, played by Dayo Wong Tse-wah, is struggling financially and starts working with a traditional Taoist priest, Master Man, played by Michael Hui Koon-man.

Wai (right) plays a paramedic in the film

The priest's role is to perform the traditional funeral ritual, "Break Hell's Gate" to help the dead go to the afterlife.

At first Dominic thinks it's not too hard to parlay his skills in organising weddings to funerals, but realises he needs to put more care into dealing with both the living and the dead.

Meanwhile Master Man's family dynamics are soon revealed, as his son is his apprentice, while his daughter Yuet is a paramedic; she thinks her brother is her father's favourite, as traditionally women are not allowed to perform Taoist rites because they menstruate. These tensions come to a head, and many women in particular can relate to sexist attitudes, older generation versus the younger one, and how fathers treat their children in The Last Dance.

As this film is about the death industry, there are many death scenes, and discussions about last wishes, how bodies are prepared for funerals, and so on. Death is an unusual topic for Chinese people to talk about openly, but in general society is becoming more accepting of discussing something we all face eventually.

Yuet is concerned about a shopkeeper's health

There is a scene of a woman mourning her same-sex lover, while a mother has an unusual request of how to prepare her young son's body.

Chan apparently did a lot of research for this film, interviewing many people who work in the deathcare industry, and the story was inspired by seeing a lot of death around him during the pandemic. The film is not hilarious, but has a few humorous lines to lighten the mood. 

As Dominic, Wong is empathetic; if the character was portrayed as a younger man, he may not be credible enough to stand up to Master Man. Michelle Wai as Yuet is strong-willed, yet traditional in terms of her loyalty to her family, and so she is disappointed when her brother does whatever he can to help his son have a better life.

Hopefully The Last Dance will prompt more discussions about death, and encourage aging parents to discuss their last wishes to their children to ensure all that needs to be said to loved ones while they are alive, not dead.

HK$700K on Panda Naming Competition

An An and Ke Ke are the newest attractions at Ocean Park

The pair of pandas that have created panda-monium at Ocean Park are keeping their original names despite the government spending HK$700,000 for a naming competition.

On July 1, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced Beijing would gift Hong Kong a pair of giant pandas to Ocean Park. They were named An An and Ke Ke.

But the authorities decided to get the public to "exercise creativity and suggest meaningful new names for the giant pandas that highlight their characteristics." 

The Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau (up until recently under Kevin Yeung Yun-hung) spent the HK$700,000 on building a website for the competition, have advertisements posted in MTR stations and on the internet, and procure prizes for the winners.

Hong Kong residents submitted 22,600 names, but in the end the judges (who did this job on a voluntary basis), chose the winner, a man who suggested the pandas keep their original names.

Groan.

He told reporters that he was a "panda lover" and had read that it was difficult for pandas to get used to new names after the age of five. An An and Ke Ke are both five-years old.

The winner received prizes worth HK$47,320, including a tourbillon watch valued at HK$36,800, and membership and vouchers for Ocean Park.

Merit prizes were handed out to eight rejected names.

The newly appointed culture minister Rosanna Law Shuk-pui defended the naming contest when a reporter asked if it had been a waste of taxpayer money if the pandas were not renamed.

"When [the results] were announced... there was a round of applause," she said. "I think if we did not have this competition, we would not know that majority of the participants felt it was better to keep the names An An and Ke Ke."

Wait -- so does that mean the majority of the suggestions were to keep the original names? Then why did that man win a watch? Was this a vote or a naming competition? 

"An An" means a peaceful and stable future for Hong Kong, while "Ke Ke" suggests unlimited possibilities for the city.

Picture of the Day: Sunset in the Skies

Watching the sun set over the clouds during our flight

When an airplane ride is about three hours I don't mind sitting in the window seat and admire the view outside.

Our Air Canada flight back to Vancouver was delayed by about half an hour so we didn't land until 4.20pm. 

While we were in the air above the clouds, the clouds, the sun began to set at the horizon we were at and there was a warm glow that gradually faded as we flew further north and became more pink and mauve.

Just magical.

Palm Springs' Meal Deals

Olive Garden: Americanised Italian cuisine

Palm Springs used to be a fun place for seniors to eat, taking advantage of the early bird specials at various restaurants. But post-Covid those days are long gone... unless you are interested in eating dinner at 3pm and finish by 5pm at Pacifica in El Paseo, one of the glitziest shopping areas.

Nevertheless, we managed to find a few delicious deals. One was lunch at Olive Garden, where on weekdays they have the soup and salad and breadsticks deal for US$11.49 where you get unlimited servings of each. 

Fresh salads were the highlight at Olive Garden

My first bowl of soup was the pasta e fagioli, white and red beans, ground beef, fresh tomatoes and tubetti pasta. But then I made the rookie mistake of ordering the chicken and gnocchi, a creamy soup that filled me up quite quickly. I managed to squeeze in a third bowl of minestrone but was extremely full afterwards.

The unlimited salad is simple but very fresh, featuring chopped cabbage, slices of tomatoes, shredded carrots, black olives, pickled peppers, and chopped red onions in Italian dressing, while the breadsticks are more like pillowy soft wide sticks that are oily and sprinkled with salt.

Another weekday lunch deal is unlimited soup or salad with certain pasta dishes like shrimp scampi, chicken parmigiana, spaghetti or cheese ravioli for between US$12.49 or US$13.49, and the portions are just right.

Minestrone soup was choc full of vegetables

We also went to IHop for breakfast before heading to the airport. The menu looks like it offers a lot of dishes, but many are all combinations of eggs with either bacon or sausage, toast or pancakes. There's a section offering deals for 55+ diners, such as the 1x1x1 -- one egg, one sausage, one bacon and toast or pancakes. 

I had the 2 quick eggs -- two eggs, either sausage or bacon, hash browns and toast for about US$13. The eggs came perfectly cooked over easy, and a rectangular slab of hash browns that was decorated with two skinny (and fatty) slices of bacon, and two slices of wholewheat toast that were further sliced in half and buttered.

While IHop was good value, it was kind of sad to see the sign on the door explaining the hours had changed to Monday to Sunday, 6.30am until 3pm. When we went on a Sunday morning, the place was just over half full; it used to be bustling with customers, and sometimes we had to wait for a table.

IHop's 2 Quick Eggs breakfast

It seems Covid hit Palm Springs hard, and tourism is its biggest industry, other than healthcare services. Fewer tourists are coming, resulting in restaurants closing or downsizing, and the same with shops. Golf courses have noticeably fewer visiting golfers, which has resulted in fewer staff catering to them at the reception desk. Tee times need to be booked online instead of on the phone or in person.

Hard to say if the city will be bustling again... the people are still friendly, but out-of-town visitors are few and far between.

Swift's Mega Eras Tour Ends in Vancouver

Swift wowed fans in Vancouver for her last three concerts

Yesterday when we were waiting at Palm Springs International Airport for our flight back to Vancouver, we spotted some Swifties in their nifty blue sweatshirts that said "Taylor Swift The Eras Tour".

They were probably from Palm Springs and scored tickets to the last three concerts of the Eras Tour and flew to Vancouver this past weekend.

Flurry of friendship bracelet trading

We spotted at least 10 Swifties in their blue sweatshirts and one with a beige hoodie, so there were probably even more on the flight.

Swift ended her 150 concerts spread over five continents to more than 10 million fans on Sunday night at BC Place stadium. 

This morning fans were gushing to the media about how genuine Swift is, how amazing concert the concert was, as the artist performed practically non-stop for three and a half hours. 

Earlier one fan had shelled out C$1,500 in tickets only to discover that she had been scammed. After she was interviewed on the radio, an anonymous donor gifted her two tickets and she was crying in gratitude. 

A friend tried desperately to get tickets for her and her 13-year-old daughter to go, but couldn't; the went downtown anyway to soak up the vibes with thousands of others and still had a good time.

Fans decked out in Taylor Swift outfits

Destination Vancouver had projected the city would get a boost of some C$157 million from Swift's concerts and it probably happened thanks to jacked up prices for hotels, parking spaces, Uber, food and drinks. 

But Swifties were pretty much prepared to shell out to see their idol who they have grown up with for over 10 years. There were lots of mothers and daughters in the audience, fathers with daughters, all buoyed by Swift's magnetism and energy. 

For many of them her vibe is that of positivity, girl power, friendship (the friendship bracelets), and kindness. She is known to donate to food banks in every city she performed in, the amount is unknown. That inspired one fan to try to raise 1.3 million for food banks in Canada. 

Although Swift's Eras Tour is over, fans are still basking in their memories of the concerts, and by the looks of it, for some time to come, while Swift probably made over US$2 billion in the past two years. With her 35th birthday just days away, she has a lot to celebrate.

A Retrospective of Hockney's Whimsical Approach to Art

Hockney's interpretation of Yosemite

We paid a visit to the Palm Springs Art Museum again, after our first visit two years ago. This time the exhibition is on English artist David Hockney and it demonstrates a range of his work not only chronologically, but also in terms of the various mediums he uses.

A photo and painting of sunflowers

Entitled David Hockney: Perspective Should be Reversed: Prints from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and his Family Foundation, the show includes almost 200 of the artist's works in prints, collages, photographs and iPad drawings.

I don't know much about Hockney, save for his colourful, whimsical works, like his swimming pool paintings, and he designed a print for the 1972 Munich Olympic Games of a man diving into the water.

His curiosity in experimenting with new technology, in particular iPads is really interesting, as someone in his late 80s is open to trying new things and seeing if it works for him and his art. For example he did a sketch of Yosemite in his iPad and it could easily be a lithograph, with vibrant green trees in the foreground, and the mountain in the back. He uses various circles, dots, squiggles and scratches to create texture and depth. 

His collage portrait of his mother

Hockey also tries to make art fun and pokes fun at how people think it has to be high brow. In "Photography is Dead. Long Live Painting", he has a photo of a vase of sunflowers in an homage to van Gogh, but next to it is a painted version of the same flowers. 

There's also a portrait of his mother that he made by taking numerous pictures of her at one sitting and assembling the pictures together to create one image. The same goes for a massive collage of the Grand Canyon.

What I liked the most was a giant painting of two of him! Both sitting in chairs with their backs to the viewer, one smoking, the other not at a wall full of his paintings of flowers in vases on checkered tablecloths.

The museum got cheeky and replicated the painting with the same flower paintings framed on the wall, and the included two chairs similar to the ones in the painting complete with a side table and silk rose, and invited viewers to be in their own Hockney work. Quite amusing!

Two Hockneys looking at his flower paintings

David Hockney: Perspective Should be Reversed

Until March 31, 2025

Palm Springs Art Museum

101 Museum Drive

Palm Springs, CA 92262

Beautiful Gardens at Sunnylands

Gorgeous reflecting pool at Sunnylands Garden

We finally made it to the Sunnylands Center and Gardens, and glad we did. It was the winter home of Walter and his second wife Lenore Annenberg who bought more than 900 acres at Rancho Mirage and started developing it in 1963. 

The home includes a golf course and the gardens have 13 lakes, 6,000 trees, and 180 acres of turf -- in a desert.

Carefully arranged cacti and succulents

At Sunnylands he entertained royalty, celebrities and presidents. The garden which was opened to the public in 2012, features carefully planted cacti and succulents which match the arid environment. When we arrived around lunchtime today, dancers from the Nickerson Rossi Dance Company performed contemporary dances within the grassy areas of the gardens. 

In the gardens is a labyrinth made from low hedges and there's a replica of a bench gifted to Chinese leader Xi Jinping from then US President Barack Obama.

They two met in June 2013 in Sunnylands and there's a picture of the two of them, Obama with his easy smile on the left, and Xi kind of looking awkwardly at him on the right. The redwood bench says: "Presented to His Excellency Xi Jinping President of the People's Republic of China By Barack Obama President of the United States, Sunnylands Annenberg Estate, June 7-8, 2013.

The garden was opened in 2012 to the public

Near the bench is a reflecting pool and my cousin who is an architect marvelled at how beautifully constructed it was. He explained that to make it so that the water looked completely still, the whole thing had to be completely level and flat. Also it is designed such that viewers can't even see the water falling down the sides -- you can only hear the sound of the water running.

Annenberg came from money -- his father Moses was a newspaper publisher, who published the Daily Racing Form and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

When Moses Annenberg died, Walter took over the family business and bought other print media along with radio and TV stations. He made his money from publishing TV Guide which he started in 1952, and made some US$600,000 to US$1 million a week.

He also started Seventeen magazine, a publication for teenager girls.

Replica bench for Xi from Obama

In 1988 Annenberg sold his print publications to Rupert Murdoch for a record US$3 billion -- soon afterwards print would disappear with the advent of the internet...

Apparently getting tickets to visit the Sunnylands House are hard to get -- will try to do that next year.

A Scenic Visit to Joshua Tree National Park

We saw lots of Joshua trees around the north part of the park

Two years after I first visited Joshua Tree National Park to do some stargazing, I came back again, this time during the day and to a different part of the park.

We drove along 123 to Highway 10 west then 62 north to get to the west entrance of the park. Along the way we were very surprised to see some towns with large shopping malls, while others were very sparsely populated. 

At the Visitor's Centre we paid our entrance fee (US$30 per car, good for seven days) and drove to the main entrance. There was a queue of cars waiting to go in, as some people don't pay the entrance fee at the visitor's centre, or have questions... 

Curious rock formations are all over the park

Keep the ticket with you, and don't leave it on your dashboard, because it can get very windy there and the ticket could fly away -- and you need to show the ticket to the park ranger upon leaving the park.

The northern part of the park has a lot of Joshua trees, which can conserve a lot of moisture and yet still grow 2.5cm per year, up to 12m in total. Interesting fact -- the Joshua tree can typically live 150 years.

They are related to the yucca, which looks like a large shrub with long narrow leaves. The trunks of Joshua trees don't have rings like most trees because Joshua trees are actually made from fibres, as it is from the Agave family. 

What's also intriguing is that it is believed in the last ice age, giant ground sloths ate Joshua tree fruits, and spread the seeds, thus helping the trees cover a greater area and survive the change in climate. Since the ground sloth is extinct, Joshua tree seeds don't fall far from the parent tree now.

And with climate change there is a concern that Joshua trees may not be able to adapt to the warmer temperatures and could die at lower elevations! A good reason to see Joshua trees!

The park ranger gave us a suggested route on the map and we pretty much followed it. We went south along Park Boulevard until we reached Quail Springs. 

An amazing view of the area from Keys View

We were immediately struck by the fascinating rock formations, giant smooth boulders bunched together. They were formed from volcanic activity, where magma rose up and flowed over the rock and then the granite cooled and crystalised, forming horizontal and vertical cracks. 

Afterwards chemical weathering caused wide cracks and rounding edges and erosion resulted in the giant rocks looking like toy blocks.

We saw some people practicing mountain climbing with ropes and pulleys, while others brought food to eat on picnic tables, and some antelope ground squirrels nearby to pick up crumbs! There are some charcoal grills at many of the sites if someone wants to barbecue...

Hidden Valley is another place where people can do a relatively easy hike for an hour, but we took some pictures and moved onto Cap Rock. and then Keys View, a definitely good place to stop.

There you are in the middle of the park at a much higher elevation, several degrees cooler (and windier) where you can look down on Palm Springs in the distance, and Coachella closer in front. It' was quite windy there, but amazing views! 

People scrambling up Skull Rock

From there we went back up north to Cap Rock where we went east and passed by Skull Rock that people were climbing before going north again to the north entrance of the park. We showed the park ranger our entrance ticket before exiting the park and ended up on Twentynine Palms highway.

By this point we hadn't had lunch and stopped at a Starbucks for a quick sandwich before heading back to Palm Springs. A pretty good day visit and hopefully not the last! 

Last time I was at Joshua Tree, I went to Cholla Cactus Garden, but it is closed at the moment to improve conditions on the trail there. 

Picture of the Day: Bob Ross Ornament

Bob Ross Christmas ornaments!

Yesterday I checked out a T.J. Maxx outlet and Christmas is in full swing in the discount department store in Palm Springs. There's an array of ugly Christmas sweaters (flamingos wearing sunglasses, the Grinch, and Scooby Doo), Christmas-themed pyjamas, gift tags, wrapping paper and even Christmas toys for dogs.

And then there are Christmas ornaments. 

One that caught my eye was a figurine in the likeness of Bob Ross!

I remember as a kid watching his TV shows where this hippy-looking guy with big hair would paint scenery from his imagination and they would always involve trees.

He was known for repeating the phrase, "let's adds some happy little trees" and using a thick brush would add dabs of wet oil paint on a relatively dark background and then bit by bit the blobs in different shades of green would become trees.

Watching his show was like witnessing magical paint suddenly become a painting. And it was his soothing voice that people today remember about him too. And that big round curly hair on his head.

While Ross has made a resurgence in popular culture thanks to him being spoofed in TV programs, films and even video games, it's was quite the surprise to see him as a Christmas ornament, holding a big brush in his right hand, and hugging three Christmas trees.

I wonder -- who has bought and put him on their Christmas tree?

John Lee Sacks 2 Ministers in Surprise Announcement

Chan (left) and Law (right) are Lee's new ministers

Looks like Hong Kong officials who don't perform actually get sacked.

This morning in a surprise move, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced that "after a period of observation" he had removed his tourism and transport ministers, Kevin Yeung Yun-hung and Lam Sai-hung respectively.

However, he repeatedly evaded questions from the media as to why the two were given the sack.

Yeung could not lure big acts to Hong Kong

Director of housing Rosanna Law Shuk-pui replaces Yeung, while Mable Chan takes over the transport portfolio from her boss, Lam.

Lee said Law and Chan would deliver better results with their ability to communicate their policies, and that both had shown they were proactive as senior civil servants.

"I see the strengths of the two new appointed secretaries," Lee said in a press conference on Thursday.

"They will be assisting me more to realise my goal of ensuring results and also doing as much work as possible in the coming years."

He said he needed a team to help Hong Kong catch up after the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2019 protests, and believed both Chan and Law supported his policy direction and could take up more responsibilities.

Sounds like Lee is getting pressure from above to belatedly kick-start Hong Kong's economy and so far it's been quite the struggle. It's been really hard to lure tourists to the city when their governments are warning them not to go because of the national security law.

Lam failed to improve taxi services, regulate Uber

There's also the logistics of planning remote night markets in public spaces didn't go so well, superstar footballer Lionel Messi dissing the crowd and refusing to play in a friendly match, and the Hong Kong Tourism Board hasn't been able to lure big acts to the city, except for Coldplay, which will perform four nights at the new Kai Tak stadium.

The HKTB's goal of having 46 million visitors in 2024 is far from achievable with less than a month to go. Someone on Bluesky calculated they would need an average of 189,000 visitors per day to meet that number.

Meanwhile Lam was unable to rein in the taxi industry, and the idea of encouraging taxi drivers to learn Arabic to cater to passengers from the Middle East was far-fetched, and he still hadn't come up with a way to regular ride-hailing apps like Uber.

Now that Lee has actually sacked two ministers for poor performance, who's next? Some are speculating it could be Secretary for Environment Tse Chin-wan for his failure to implement the waste tax that was so convoluted that it was axed at the last minute.

Vancouver Art Gallery Plans Scrapped, Back to Drawing Board

The Herzog & de Meuron design for the VAG

Will Vancouver ever get a new art gallery?

The latest plot twist? The Herzog & de Meuron-designed flashy building has been scrapped because the city can't afford the C$600 million bill.

Now gallery officials are going to start from scratch, after having started construction in March, but was suspended in August because of the 50 percent increase in construction costs.

Construction was suspended in August

Chair of the gallery board of trustees Jon Stovell confirmed the gallery had suspended its contract with the architects and is now "looking forward to a new approach."

He adds the "new approach" will be more realistic and practical.

Developer Michael Audain, who kicked in C$100 million to build the gallery was not surprised by this latest turn of events, though disappointed by how slow the progress has been, since Herzog & de Meuron released their plan for the gallery back in 2015 and only last September broke ground.

"I'm kind of delighted that they're going to a new architect, but I'll be delighted only if it's a Canadian architect. We have over 40 million people in this country, and surely we can find someone to design us an art museum," Audain said. "This is a position I've been taking for over 10 years... From Day 1, I thought it should be a Canadian architect."

Stovell says the new plan will be practical

Meanwhile Bob Rennie, a prominent art collector and local businessman has been critical of the art gallery's plans for years, saying it is a waste of taxpayer money and philanthropy, and that "starchitecture" focused more on the building than the art inside.

"It's disappointing to see anything in my city fail. I think it looks very bad for the city, but since 2012, there's never been a concrete plan. It's always been imaginary," Rennie said.

He says it's time for the gallery to look at all options to come up with a more practical plan.

In the meantime which Canadian architect wants to revamp the Vancouver Art Gallery on a tight budget?

HK Golf Course Won't be Turned into Housing

High Court ruled the golf course not be turned into housing

When there was a consultation that recommended the government to take over the Hong Kong Golf Club at Fanling and build housing on the land in 2018, it immediately sparked a debate between the haves and have nots, as members, who are part of the elite class wanted to keep their prestigious club along with the green space, while those who waited for a roof over their heads are still waiting with no end in sight.

But it was finally decided when the High Court ruled against developing the city's oldest golf course into public housing. One could probably audibly hear the sighs of relief of Fanling golf club members.

That means 9.5 less hectares of land for flats

That means the government will have 9.5 less hectares to build housing, though Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu believes this setback won't have a significant effect on the overall housing supply, even though that means 12,000 fewer flats that were planned to be built on the golf course.

He spun it as a proposal by the previous administration.

"Now that the environmental assessment report is overturned, the government must do a comprehensive assessment and public consultation again," Lee said before meeting with the Executive Council.

"This will greatly affect the number of flats, the density and the completion date of the project."

But Lee believed the government was still on track to build 300,800 homes over the next decade.

Lee says the govt has enough land for housing

"The government has sourced enough land to construct more than 308,000 flats," he said. "The single change in the site's development will not have a huge impact on Hong Kong's overall housing supply."

So where else is Lee going to find more land to develop flats? It's an ongoing refrain that the city has numerous brown sites, land that has buildings that were for previous uses like schools or warehouses, and yet the government has not considered these, perhaps because they are too small.

But Hong Kong is not a place where it should neglect any possible sites -- land is scarce and any that is left vacant should be considered. Beijing is putting pressure on the Hong Kong government to house its citizens and in this case should comply with some creative solutions.

Palm Springs: Supersize Me

Super thick corned beef sandwiches at Sherman's

We're in Palm Springs and we still can't get over how huge the portions are at restaurants.

This evening we went to Sherman's Deli & Bakery and it's quite shocking how much food they serve people. Salads are a large platter plate with a giant heap of greens enough for four people to share.

Part of the meatloaf dinner meal at Sherman's

A dinner portion of meatloaf includes a large plate of salad and two thick slices of meatloaf, gravy, cooked vegetables, and a baked potato. It was enough for two hungry people to share.

I had a hot corned beef sandwich and there was so much meat layered in between two slices of rye bread that it was impossible to fully bite into it. Needless to say I only had half of it and took the rest home.

Even though she saw us unable to finish our food, the waitress asked if we wanted to order dessert!

The same goes for Billy Reed's, a large restaurant that feels like being in a family home, with old wooden furniture, painted plates on the walls, and large tables.

A dinner entree includes a soup or salad, a choice of mini loaf of corn bread, date nut, banana nut, or garlic toast, and choose between French fries, mashed potatoes, sweet potato, baked potato or rice pilaf.

And did you want dessert with that? 

Roast turkey with sweet potato at Billy Reed's

Is it any wonder why so many Americans are overweight and obese?

We wondered why the restaurants didn't make their portions smaller so there would be less food wastage? But it seemed like most customers did take home leftovers.

Perhaps the restaurants want to give the impression they are giving people value for money? Or they think shrinkflation would be bad for business so they need to keep serving the same amount of food?

Meanwhile a well known restaurant that we have visited called Babe's Bar-B-Que & Brewery, which was known for its barbecue ribs, beef brisket, pulled pork and corn bread, closed in August because of rising costs.

Even though the restaurant has been around for 22 years, it could not keep the 12,000 sq ft space packed with diners all the time, and the increased costs for ingredients and labour made it challenging to keep going. 

Dessert anyone? Strawberry pie at Billy Reed's

It plans to open in a new location in January, about one-quarter the size to keep costs down.

"When Babe's opened 20 years ago, everything was so much cheaper: utilities were cheaper, payroll was cheaper. Everything was just you know,... it was able to work," said Lucky Callender, the owner of Babe's was quoted as saying in August.

"Our revenues were strong at The River, you know, we did good business. It's just -- if you do high revenues, you should see the profit. And the problem was, we weren't seeing enough profit to make sense. And, how can we retain that profit? Obviously it's going to a smaller space."

Meanwhile we noticed at least two multiplex theatres have shut down in Palm Springs, one inside a shopping mall. It's a sad sign of the times here, that the economy is struggling, which is perhaps why people feel good having big portions?

Adrian Cheng's Successor Quits After Two Months

Hopes are riding on Huang to revive NWD

After scion Adrian Cheng Chi-kong's embarrassing exit as CEO of New World Development in late September, his successor has quit after two months on the job.

Eric Ma Siu-cheung who was formerly Hong Kong development minister resigned on Friday to "pursue his other personal commitments" and was promptly replaced with Echo Huang Shaomei on a three-year contract earning HK$984,880 (US$126,540) per month including a discretionary bonus and other benefits.

Ma quit after two months as CEO

"Having reviewed the development direction of the group, I understand that timely phased changes need to be made, and the role of the CEO also [needs] to be adjusted," chairman Henry Cheng Kar-shun said in a statement. "I'm very pleased to have found a more suitable candidate."

Will Huang be able to turn around New World's fortunes after Adrian plunged the company to have HK$19.7 billion in losses, the worst performance since the company's inception in 1970? And he was making HK$1.51 million per month...

Huang will have the difficult task of continuing to off-load assets to lighten the company's debt load, and then figure out a way to help New World generate more revenues in the property sector, probably from the mainland.

She has worked for New World China since 2015, and became the CEO just as the pandemic hit in February 2020, leading many major commercial projects. Huang is also a member of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Consultative Conference and its standing committee.

Cheng was booted out in September

Good luck to Huang as she's got a tall order ahead of her. It's always the women who have to clean up messes that men make...