The Cross Harbour Tunnel at Hung Hom is one of the busiest spots in Hong Kong.Over the past 2 days, I had a chance to observe the traffic at the Kowloon end of the tunnel at different times.
At 4 PM, traffic was moving very slowly.
At 5:30 PM, it was basically standstill. Practically nobody was getting in or out of the tunnel.
Even at midnight, there was still a long line waiting to get to the Hong Kong Island side, even though few are coming out of the tunnel from the Hong Kong side. Amazing.
By 3:30 am, the traffic had finally cleared. Hong Kong was sleeping.
But by 6:30 am, some were back already.
By 7:30 am, they were back in full force. Everything at standstill again.
On a positive spin, one can say Hong Kong is a very dynamic place. People are always on the go, taking every opportunity to work hard. From the other, more negative perspective, Hong Kong people are working themselves so hard, you wonder why we get to live such a long life - we have one of the highest life expectancies in the world.
I wish I can say I made this set of miniature models of dim sum on a folding table, …
a common scene at side walk restaurants, which you can still find in some older districts if you know where to look.
The reality, of course, is that we bought it from a wonderful shop in Tsim She Tsui. A while ago my wife and I went to a number of exhibitions of miniature models of old, and disappearing, Hong Kong. Now we are so glad that there are shops selling them.
You can buy a kit and assemble them, decorating them in your own way as you go along.
Or you can admire them in the shop. You can even take photographs of them.
It is rather unusual that shops like these allow you to take photographs. This one, apparently, considers that the benefits, such as publicity through your photographs ,outweigh the risk that you might steal their design concepts.
They are probably confident enough of their ability to keep innovating and creating new designs. I love that confidence and spirit of positiveness.
We wish them success and continued innovation. We will be back.
We often heard “Good morning!” “Good Day!” “Have a nice day!” …What exactly is a good day?
Late last evening, I put my feet up on a chair because they were sore. My mobile phone told me that I had run and walked 30,000 steps, equivalent to 22.8 kilometres. I suddenly realised that I have had a very good day.
In the morning, I went running with my wife. She went home after 4 kilometers, but I pushed on and did 19. Along the way, I passed by Tsim Sha Tsui, where the swimmers had just finished the Cross Harbour Race. I recalled that on the previous Sunday there was a Bicycle Race in the same area. It is a good thing that Hong Kong people seem to be getting more active. I continued to run through the heart of Kowloon. I passed the tourists with their rolling suitcases, the crowded posh shops, the wet markets that stretch from Jordan to Mongkok through Yaumatei, the Tin Hau Temple amid the big Banyan trees in Yaumatei, the bustling shops and street food of Mongkok, the old shops in Shumshuipo, the public housing of Shekkipmei and Wongtaisin. My feet were hurting but it was a good kind of hurt. And I feel connected to the real Hong Kong.
Afterwards my wife and I went out to have Korean food. It was good food.
We then went to a Christian book fair. I bought a book by a writer, who went through a lot himself for sticking to his beliefs, to the young people who were sent to jail for protesting against the land use in northern Territories. The hardening of the attitude of the government in Hong Kong, the dominance of land owners and the real estate developers, and the suffocating political situation is depressing. Yet it is heartening to know that there are still people who care and there are some who are thoughtful. It makes me more hopeful.
In a mall next door to the book fair, we found a wonderful shop full of miniatures for sale. We have seen several exhibitions of miniature models of iconic Hong Kong buildings and sights. Now some enterprising people have turned them into products that we can buy. They even allow you to take pictures in the shop. Evidently they are not afraid that some may steal their design ideas. Perhaps they feel the publicity generated is worthy of the risk. Perhaps they are confident they they will continue to be creative and remain a step ahead of the competition. This is the same kind of open, confident and creative spirit that we are trying to cultivate for our own service-learning initiatives. Shops like this is the perfect place to buy uniquely Hong Kong souvenirs.
Then we had beef hotpot for dinner, my favourite combination of meat and vegetables.
When we went home, we watched a TV program about the keeper of a bookshop that went foul with the authorities for selling banned books. The bookshop was closed down, the keeper was taken into mainland China, and he was compelled to give up a list of his customers. The case is really depressing. But the fact that he remains standing, that some people care enough to make a movie of it, and that the movie can still be broadcasted give us some hope.
My good day involves strenuous exercise, good food, local creativity and glimmers of hope.
Because a scheduled meeting with a representative of An Giang University was brought forward, I had an opportunity to visit a couple of museums in Hu Chi Min City (Saigon) to better understand Vietnam.
At the Museum of Art, I was somewhat surprised to find quite a lot of pieces that are obviously Khmer (Cambodian).
There are some that look Hindu, such as a statue of the elephant-headed deity of good fortune - Ganesha. Apparently, these were found in the south of Vietnam.
I recalled that I had seen earlier, in the Mekong Delta, temples with distinctive Khmer features. I was told that there are still some Khmer people living in the delta. In fact, many Cambodians claim that they once owned the Mekong Delta. Khmer culture was heavily influenced by the Hindus - Ankor Wat was mostly a vast group of Hindu Temples.
On the other hand, at the Museum of Medicine, I found a lot of Chinese influence. Many of the older books on medicine were written in a form of Chinese characters.
The graphical illustrations of the human body, the names of the herbal ingredients, etc., were in Chinese characters.
The prescriptions, the tools, etc., were also very similar to those in China. I understand that throughout history, China had occupied part of northern Vietnam at different points in time.
I also heard that Vietnam has many different ethnic minorities.
Despite the Khmer/Hindu and Chinese influence, Vietnam has obviously develop a clear national identity, particularly through the war of independence in the 1940s and 50s against the French, and the war in the 1960s and 70s against the Americans. In recent years, the Vietnamese economy is growing very fast, the society seems full of energy and the people are hopeful for the future.
In the larger context,Vietnam is part of Indochina - literally the land between India and China, or the land under the influence of India and China.Hence all these should not come as a surprise.Nowadays, this peninsular - comprising of Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, is just as likely, and increasingly, referred to as Continental South East Asia, or Mainland South East Asia.
In its history, the idea of Vietnam as a nation has evolved. Its boundary has also changed. So have most other countries. Has the world reached a stage where the countries of countries are more or less settled? There remain uncertainties, such as Crimea between Ukraine and Russia, Kashmir between Pakistan and India, etc. Hopefully these remain constrained. Historically, territorial conflicts have a way of flaring up into serious conflagrations with much suffering.
I came to Vietnam for service-learning and I was not disappointed.I met a lot of people in the universities and the NGOs and I learned a lot from them.I shared our experience and explore opportunities for collaboration.
In the mean time, I have also had a lot of good and interesting food. Many of my friends and colleagues like Vietnamese food - a lot. Perhaps it is because Vietnamese food and Chinese food share a lot of similarities in terms of both ingredients and cooking methods; yet there are also significant differences. There seems to be just enough novelty set amidst strong security through familiarity.
On a morning, en-route to a community centre in the Mekong Delta from Saigon, we stopped at a roadside restaurant for pho - the famous Vietnamese noodle soup. I thought the bundles of greens on the table were decoration, like the flowers in some restaurants. They turned out to be spices/condiments for the noodle soup. That reminded me that I have much to learn.
For lunch, we stopped at a rustic restaurant on the banks of one of the major branches of the Mekong River. They serves big-head prawns that are longer than my hand. Some are roasted and the others boiled in congee. Both are delicious. If I were to choose, however, I would prefer them boiled.
As a parting gift, our friend introduced us to a special coconut. Usually the inside of a coconut started as a clear liquid. Gradually a layer of soft translucent flesh form on the inside of the shell. In time, the flesh thicken, whiten and harden. The flesh of a mature coconut is white, opaque and hard. This special coconut is white, opaque and kind of soft - such that you can scoop it out with a spoon. It is said that only one in ten coconuts turns out this way. They normally eat it with crushed peanuts, syrup and ice.
At the conference, they served us a soup made with meat - pork ribs, I believe - and many vegetables. Among the vegetables are shreds of banana flowers. It is very good.
In the evening, on the street near the big market in the centre of the city, hawkers were selling colourful, sweet, sticky rice. I was told they taste the same, despite the different colours. I haven’t tested it myself, even though I have seen them quite a few times.
At the Museum of Medicine, they were big jars of liquor with all kinds of herbs in them. Some of which contain sizeable cobras. I suppose these are not exactly food, yet they are edible. I have not tried those either.
It is a joy to be in Vietnam, partly because of the food. And these is so much to discover.
PolyU has been sending students to Vietnam for service-learning projects for 6 years.During this time, we have made quite a number of friends.One of these friends is now working at the University of Economics and Finance, a new private university.When UEF decided to get serious with service-learning, they invited us to make a presentation on our experiences at a conference on service-learning, for their staff and many from other interested universities.I am very glad to have another opportunity to promote service-learning, and explore opportunities for collaboration.
The existence of UEF and many others like it is an indicator of the vibrant higher education community in Vietnam. When I looked out from the conference site at the top level of the building, I could see the wide streets and new developments - an indicator of the rapid development of the Vietnamese economy. The proliferation of Western-style coffee shops testify to the growth of a youthful middle class.
The audience at the conference was very enthusiastic. There were so many questions that the organiser made us return after lunch to answer more questions. Mostly familiar questions that we have faced, or are still facing ourselves. I am so glad that our experiences can be of use to this community.
I was particularly struck by the fluent English of my interpreter, a young Vietnamese lady who grew up and went to university in Vietnam. It turned out she picked up her American accent from her colleagues in a company involved in arranging internship opportunities in Vietnam for American students.
In Vietnam, I see a youthful country working hard to modernise its education system. I am glad service-learning brought me here, and I would love to come back.
If jackfruit is 大樹菠蘿, than is mini-jackfruit 小樹菠蘿? or 小大樹菠蘿? I haven’t found out yet. But I did bring one back from Vietnam in my suitcase, and it did not disappoint.
It is slightly bigger than my palm, and really does look like a small jackfruit. The internal structure is very much like that of a jack fruit.
Underneath the spiky skin is a layer of pale white pith.
Embedded in the pith are pieces of pale yellow edible flesh, each about 2 cm long. The flesh is sweeter than jackfruit, and soft, more like durian than jackfruit.
Wrapped inside the flesh is a seed roughly 1.5 cm long, 1/3 the size of a seed of a normal jackfruit.
I like it. I don’t think I have have seen it in Hong Kong. Next time, perhaps I will bring back some more.
