A couple of weeks ago I interviewed the beautiful and delightful Zein Williams, mother of three and tireless champion for the Nepali people about her life and work – with the earthquake victims especially – →
Oh Cassette! Two weeks ago we went up to Guangzhou to see him live in his stand-up glory at a place called… Panda something? No! Paddyfield, an Irish pub right behind the Garden Hotel. Cassette →
Above: BEFORE. Halcyon days of yore, etc. A part of the interlinked Pui O wetlands in 2012. A lovely, lush vista scattered with grazing water buffalo, egrets, starlings and other creatures, even fish have seen →
IMPORTANT!!! When you click on the link, scroll down to the alphabetical archive and click on C. Then you’ll see both my programmes. This isn’t strictly about Cantonese and it certainly isn’t about me, but →
All good things come to an end, apparently. Even life! Yes, compared to dying, losing a twice-monthly column in an increasingly obscure Asian newspaper is certainly a small thing. But oh! I loved that column. →
It’s up and running on Radio Lantau – CantoNews 2! The sequel! No, just the second programme in Cecilie and Nick’s Cantonese course, the finest course currently available on cassette. http://radiolantau.com/programme-archive/cantonews/C/7-cecilie-gamst-berg/4-cantonews/60-cantonews-2 This time we discuss →
I must write about Lantau again, because yesterday I interviewed Merrin Pearse, the leader of LIM (Living Islands Movement) whose introduction to the government’s “vision” for Lantau’s and therefore the people of Hong Kong’s future →
Saturday night my house was flooded with what at first glance looked like supermodels. 15 young people in their twenties and early thirties stampeded in to have a Sichuan meal, carefully cooked with the finest →
Last Friday I was so happy, because I had a trip to Shenzhen all lined up. Probably only a day trip, but still! Shenzhen is Shenzhen. Sichuan food, having some shirts made and foot massage. →
Last month I was feeling a little down in the dumps; I felt that life was a cruel joke and nothing was going my way. For a while I didn’t even have that old chestnut, →
Last weekend we were in Mui Jau (梅州）which, although it’s in Guangdong province, bears the dubious distinction of being completely Mando speaking. People told me it was because it was a Hakka stronghold, but I don’t know. With the above poster in force, perhaps it was the first poster success child for the Chinese government’s systematic eradication of Cantonese?
It says: Speak Mandarin
Write Standard Characters
Use Civilised Language
Be a Civilised Person
“Civilised”? I think not! How dare they.
Although I may seem like a Luddite with my Nokia and my stubborn insistence of having tangible, physical CDs and DVDs, I actually love technology. The whole internet thing; reaching people all over the world →
This never happens: A former senior town planner with the Hong Kong government has suggested getting rid of a Hong Kong icon! So novel; where do they get these ideas from? This time it’s the →
四會 (Sei Wui – Four Congregations, small but excellent town in western Guangdong province) 白酒 (Bak jau – White wine, which in Hong Kong actually means white wine, but in the mainland a lethal liquid →
This morning I had some people from my village coming over for a dose of Cantonese, and since it was raining dog shit (落狗屎 – lok gau si [raining heavily]) we discussed the weather, well, →
You can’t see it yet but my website is being refurbished. The first thing I want to change is the cover of the Cantonese teaching videos Cantonese – The Movie and Going Native (see above). →
A couple of weekends ago I had the privilege of going to Guangzhou with three fun people: F, J and AW. The following debacle ensued. (See article below) What didn’t make it into the piece →
I just thought I’d get in some product placement before lunchtime! To which you’d probably respond: 你有冇攪錯呀！(Lei yau mou gaau cho ah – you must be joking!) That’s right, there is no ‘have’ or ‘not →
I don’t have time to write anything today! I’ve been overcome by a strange Protestant work ethic and have spent the day tidying up 執嘢 (jap yeh – collect/tidy things) and throwing things away. The →
My daylight hours are starting to fill up with Cant-studs (Cantonese students) coming to my house, and of course I have to offer them something for struggling up all those stairs and paying me. As →
Finally, after almost a year of writing and researching (the research consisted mostly of doing the dishes) I have finished my new book CHILLies! Sichuan Food Made Easy. It looked so alluring with the iBook →
It’s so much fun to have friends visiting Hong Kong, especially when the day they arrive kicks off a week of unprecedented beautiful weather!
I shouldn’t say unprecedented; the weather was probably like this every day in the olden days. Yeah, so it’s hot – so what? I would really really really recommend that you get your arse over to the Ozone Bar on the 118th floor above “Kowloon” (Gau Long) Station for the most magnificent vista currently available from not a plane.
For me the most exciting thing was seeing both sides of Hong Kong Island simultaneously! I didn’t realise it was so narrow.
Only when the bill came did we realise that in that place (with, having the most beautiful view in Hong Kong, also strangely sports some of the worst interior decorating in the city) a pint of beer is $165. But hey! Definitely, definitely worth it.
If your friends are threatening to visit, tell them to come NOW and go straight to Ozone Bar. (The Peak is good too but with too too many people queuing up for the cable car. Taxi is the way to go here.)
山頂 – Saan Deng (The Peak)
一百一十八樓 – Yat baak yat sap baat lau (118th floor)
香港島 – Heung Gong Dou (Hong Kong island)
I started learning Cantonese back in the mid-90s. Every morning I would take the 07:00 ferry to work and play cards with the swearing workers. I realised this was the best and fastest way to →
Splendid China is exactly that – splendid. Only 15 to 20 minutes’ drive from Lo Wu is a world of semi naked guys dancing and dancing, Chinese opera shrieking through your bones and every famous →
Come with, come with on a Cantonese language seminar to Guangdong province! Before it disappears.
A Nog, bored with being from Norway Who wanted to be born in Galway Bought dog collars green From an Aussie colleen And went to the St. Patrick’s ball, wei! What kind of poem is →
Chat chat chat – now you can learn Cantonese without going through the nasty and potentially violent experience of being in the same room as me! Namely through the wonderful medium of SKYPE. Hook up →
What do you do in Bangkok? Look for Chinese food, obviously!
羊年， yeung nin. Year of the sheep, goat, ram, lamb, ewe, sow What? Why not keep it simple? Cantonese is simple and easy. YEUNG! Start taking Cantonese lessons with Happy Jellyfish People’s Democratic Language Bureau →
Saturday February 14: You’ve had chocolate and romantic meals so many times in your life. Why not spend this Valentine’s Day morning on something useful? Like learning Cantonese through the excellent medium of dim sum? →
Had a terrible shock in Shenzhen earlier this year when the food hall in Lo Wu Shopping Centre closed down with little or no warning. Then I remembered a comment from wise shopper Andrew and →
I love you, kung fu! As the famous bluegrass composer Hank Scraggsville always said. What, didn’t I post this only a few days ago? Yes, but this time I have included the sound or transliteration →
