Little emperors

The Chinese New Year holidays are nearly over. Time to put away the party clothes ... until next year!

More fancy dress.
All content © Emilie Pavey

通渠佬

通渠佬: tong keui lou = plumber (specifically, the bloke who comes to unblock your drains)

In the autumn, prior to the onslaught of Christmas and Chinese New Year music in the supermarket, Wellcome was regularly running one particular ad over its sound system. The product in question is a liquid drain-unblocker, and the brand name is 'tong keui lou' (i.e. same idea as the name 'Mr Muscle' for cleaning products). It went  like this:

A woman, finding her drain blocked, calls a plumber (tong keui lou). When said tong keui lou rings the doorbell and gets out his bag o' tools, the woman exclaims, 'tong keui lou dou yung tong keui lou!' (= the plumber also uses 'tong keui lou!'). 

My Cantonese still leaves much to be desired, so the fact that I came to understand what this ad was about says something about how often it was played! It seems that at least one real tong keui lou is using an equally aggressive marketing strategy. He calls himself  渠王 (keui wong; plumber king) and his characteristic lettering can be seen in back alleys across HK.

So, if you want to find out whether tong keui lou really uses tong keui lou... you know who to call!

Or, you could just read about the man himself in this article by Christopher DeWolf.

All content © Emilie Pavey

Off my food

Much as I enjoy Chinese cuisine, I sometimes crave European food (especially cheese!). Whenever a full-on craving sets in, most Chinese restaurants fail to look appetizing to me:

Don't ask me why; I can't help it!
All content © Emilie Pavey

Cardboard city

Chinese New Year is the only time in the whole year that some shops in Hong Kong close. It's strange to see the back streets so quiet. In this Mong Kok street, traders have put up make-shift cardboard letterboxes. The rest of the year, they don't need one!

More shut-up shops.
If you read this blog, you'll know I am fond of Hong Kong's letterboxes.
All content © Emilie Pavey

Holy smoke

'Tis the season to make wishes. Temples are getting crowded! To make it through the incense-brandishing throng, two strategies can be used:

一. Hold your breath:

二. Wear a facemask:

Gung Hei Fat Choi! May the year of the dragon waft fragrantly in!
More Chinese-New-Yearyness.
Another festival for pyromaniacs.

All content © Emilie Pavey

休憩處

休憩處 = yau hei tsu: sitting out area (literally, resting place)



Hong Kong is not short of public resting spots. They come in two varieties: large, municipal parks, with sports facilities, public toilets etc, and small 'sitting out areas', which tend to occur in spaces which are too small or inconvenient to profit from in any other way. As a result, some urban sitting-out areas are entirely devoid of charm. Here are the winners and runners up in my most-depressing-park-facilities-contest.

Honorable mention (due to miniature size): No-name sitting-out area, Sands Street, Kennedy Town

While this one is not technically an LCSD-designated 'sitting out area', it has all the hallmarks. More than just a bench, less than a park, fills a space that's otherwise useless, without really adding much. Features include: three seats.

Third place: Lok Sin Road / Choi Hung Road sitting-out area, San Po Kong

Features include: ornamental shrubs, mahogany-painted bench-cum-pagoda, sewage pumping station.

Second place: Finnie Street sitting-out area, Quarry Bay

Features include: moulded plastic pebble path, some mother-in-law's tongues, MTR bridge, busy road, ventilation outlets of nearby restaurants.

Winner: Yan Oi Court 'Garden', Kwun Tong

Features include: some benches, two shrubs, green mesh cage, and full sunlight.Three cheers for Kwun Tong!

EXTRA, EXTRA:Hidden Hong Kong in Time Out HK this fortnight: wartime ruins, Jesus, Buddha, and a fortune-teller (Click to enlarge).

All content © Emilie Pavey

質地

質地 = zat deih: texture

More details of village houses.
All content © Emilie Pavey

In-formation

Or how to deploy your students.


The line (ready to march):

The circle (unbreakable ring):

The wedge (impenetrable block):

More overhead candids here.
EXTRA, EXTRA:My photos on the current issue of Time Out Hong Kong's Hidden Hong Kong page. Walk-ups, snakes and ladders, and a waterfall (click to enlarge):

All content © Emilie Pavey

Alternative perforations

The classic Chinese letterbox design is decorated with a perforated coin pattern, as you can see here.

However, hippies and Wiccans do it differently.
Flower power in Macau:

A fiery pamphlet from the Horned God (possibly) in Pok Fu Lam:

Another letterbox with a difference.
All content © Emilie Pavey

Press me

All content © Emilie Pavey

梳化

梳化 = so faa: sofa


All by myself...

Don't wanna be...

All by myself...

Anymore...

Let's hope people and sofas alike make new friends this year. Happy 2012!
More abandoned things here, here and here.
Photographs © Emilie Pavey

Offally good

Snip snip man*, Sai Wan Ho:

Snip snip lady, Wong Tai Sin:

*The Sai Wan Ho snip snip man (legendary scissor-wielding streetside offal vendor) was in the local tabloids earlier this year when it was discovered that he kept his ingredients in a public toilet store cupboard! He has apparently repented and found a new location for his stuff, and as far as I can tell has not suffered a drop in custom (he's still there!). My question is, is the new storage solution refrigerated?
All content © Emilie Pavey

Going to the chapel

Sai Kung district boasts two tiny Catholic chapels with stories to tell.

 St Joseph's Chapel, Yim Tin Tsai


A chapel was set up in this small community off the coast of Sai Kung by a Catholic missionary in 1879, the recently canonised Joseph Freinademetz. The good father proceeded to baptise all the Hakka inhabitants of the village. The current building was built in 1890. To visit the church now and see the simple red and white decor inside, you need to keep your ferry ticket.

(Do not confuse Yim Tin Tsai Island in Sai Kung with the other island near Tai Po of the same name! Both are worth a visit though.)

Rosary Chapel, Wong Mo Ying


This tiny church in the heart of Sai Kung country park is of more recent historical significance. It is the place where an anti-Japanese resistance force formed in 1942 to resist the occupation of Hong Kong. The daughter of a former village resident tells me her father remembers pissing on Japanese soldiers from one of the chapel's upper windows! It is now apparently a Catholic Scout centre. I couldn't go inside as the door was locked. 
If you know of any other quirky churches tucked away in the New Territories, please tell me!
All content © Emilie Pavey

The Hong Kong twelve days of Christmas... again!

傻豬= sòh jyū: term of endearment, e.g. sweetie, darling (literally, silly pig)

On the first day of Christmas, my sòh jyū gave to me:

A spoonful of sugar in my tea.

On the second day of Christmas, my sòh jyū gave to me:

Two little dogs

And a spoonful of sugar in my tea.

On the third day of Christmas, my sòh jyū gave to me:

Three fat crabs

Two little dogs

And a spoonful of sugar in my tea.

On the fourth day of Christmas, my sòh jyū gave to me:

Four skimpy shorts

Three fat crabs

Two little dogs

And a spoonful of sugar in my tea.

On the fifth day of Christmas, my sòh jyū gave to me:

Five chicken wings!

Four skimpy shorts

Three fat crabs

Two little dogs

And a spoonful of sugar in my tea.

On the sixth day of Christmas, my sòh jyū gave to me:

Six teens a-posing

Five chicken wings!

Four skimpy shorts

Three fat crabs

Two little dogs

And a spoonful of sugar in my tea.

On the seventh day of Christmas, my sòh jyū gave to me:

Seven monks exhorting

Six teens a-posing

Five chicken wings!

Four skimpy shorts

Three fat crabs

Two little dogs

And a spoonful of sugar in my tea.

On the eighth day of Christmas, my sòh jyū gave to me:

Eight dragons floating

Seven monks exhorting

Six teens a-posing

Five chicken wings!

Four skimpy shorts

Three fat crabs

Two little dogs

And a spoonful of sugar in my tea.

On the ninth day of Christmas, my sòh jyū gave to me:

Nine lamps a-glowing

Eight dragons floating

Seven monks exhorting

Six teens a-posing

Five chicken wings!

Four skimpy shorts

Three fat crabs

Two little dogs

And a spoonful of sugar in my tea.

On the tenth day of Christmas, my sòh jyū gave to me:

Ten cans a-stacking

Nine lamps a-glowing

Eight dragons floating

Seven monks exhorting

Six teens a-posing

Five chicken wings!

Four skimpy shorts

Three fat crabs

Two little dogs

And a spoonful of sugar in my tea.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my sòh jyū gave to me:

Eleven kids a-playing

Ten cans a-stacking

Nine lamps a-glowing

Eight dragons floating

Seven monks exhorting

Six teens a-posing

Five chicken wings!

Four skimpy shorts

Three fat crabs

Two little dogs

And a spoonful of sugar in my tea.

On the twelth day of Christmas, my sòh jyū gave to me:

Twelve bottles waiting

Eleven kids a-playing

Ten cans a-stacking

Nine lamps a-glowing

Eight dragons floating

Seven monks exhorting

Six teens a-posing

Five chicken wings!

Four skimpy shorts

Three fat crabs

Two little dogs...

And a spoonful of sugar in my tea.

EXTRA, EXTRA:The Hong Kong Twelve Days of Christmas (2011) appears in this month's special Christmas issue of Time Out Hong Kong, and it looks like this:

Some readers of this blog may remember this from last Christmas - one of the gifts remains the same (soh jyu clearly lacks imagination). Click here to see the 2010 version!


Finally, I would like to wish all my readers a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year! Thank you very much for following Land of no Cheese and for your comments and feedback. I'll be back soon for more cheeselessness!

All content © Emilie Pavey