MangoVine - New Adventures in East Asia

07 February, 2009
Saturday Ting Kok firecrackers and paper horse burning

At exactly 10pm this evening, the villagers in Ting Kok burn a paper horse and light a massive string of firecrackers. The opera show still continues but the burning happens just outside of the performance space. In 2007, I captured a photo sequence of the firecrackers exploding, but this time, I just took a few shots.

07 February, 2009
Saturday Traditional Poon Choi Basin Meal at Tai Mei Tuk Village

Dinner today was served up at the nearby Tai Mei Tuk in the New Territories. Since it was Chinese New Year, my parents arranged to meet up with a friend's family to have what's called a "basin meal" or "poon choi" at the specialist Chung Shing (Poon Choi) restaurant (located at the furthest end of the row of restaurants).

Poon Choi is a traditional Chinese food mostly served in rural villages during festivals, special occasions and weddings. It consists of many layers of different ingredients cooked and served in one large basin. It is meant to be eaten layer by layer instead of "stirring everything up", but impatient diners may pick around in for their favourite bits using shared chopsticks.

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07 February, 2009
Saturday Unicorn taking offering

The unicorn has been taken out and used this year a few times already when I came across the guys in the village out and about with it again. Its the gongs and cymbals which get my attention in the otherwise peaceful village.

This time, I've caught them taking an offering from one of the houses near the main square and community centre. This video is almost seven minutes long and I think they extended the dance a bit more when changing over but at least you get to see the whole process.

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06 February, 2009
Friday Sham Shui Po Police Camp Passing Out Parade

We had the chance to witness the Annual Camp Passing Out Parade of the Sham Shui Po District Auxiliaries today in Kowloon. The Camp Commander, Mr. Chan, is a friend of my fathers, so we were invited to the event.

I can't really comment on the occasion too much since I've nothing to compare the experience to, but it involved lots of marching from the groups of officers. As they marched past the audience and the inspecting District Councillor, they had to turn their "eyes right" - simultaneously flicking their heads to the right at the command.

02 February, 2009
Monday Chinese New Year Celebrations in the village

We'll be arriving in Hong Kong on the 4th February. The timing is such that this year, we will have missed the actual Chinese New Years day, but not the celebrations, which continue for a couple of weeks after.

We were in Hong Kong for Chinese New Year in 2007, but its still nice to see the celebrations which start on the night we first get to the village and our family home there. Its a nice "welcome", where we'll probably get a chance to catch up with relatives from other parts of the world, who will have returned to the New Territories just for this occasion.

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