MangoVine
Adventures in East Asia

Entries in New Territories

 08 February, 2009
Sunday Post Altar Return Village Meal
Once the altar is returned to the village temple, it seems customary to organise a communal village lunch. A couple of guys are already cooking up some choi (and perhaps some other ingredients underneath) in three large pans, fed by wood burning stoves.

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I've seen photos online of larger pans cooking, but I was still impressed seeing these in real life.

Read more... 08 February, 2009
Sunday The Return of the Altar
The new year festivities in Ting Kok village have almost ended and the altar needs to be returned back up to the village temple at 9am today (three days after being brought down) again, mainly by the men.

The unicorn is brought out and there is a process in performing the custom of returning the altar. I've video-documented what I could, which is shown in the eight clips below. (Note, if a message states that the 'video no longer exists', you may need to just reload the page.)

Read more... 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.

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image 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).

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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.

Read more... 07 February, 2009
Saturday Sugar Cane Cutters
During the Chinese New Year shows in Ting Kok Village, there are always a few stalls set up to sell some light refreshments. They're usually outside the performance theatre, since there is a raised concrete area conveniently close by, that includes seats.

They sell anything from homemade tofu to red bean desserts and a few traditional hawker favourites such as fish balls, squid and hot dogs on sticks. There is usually also sugar cane, which needs its tough, dark skin shaved off first before consuming.

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