Oh! Oh! Oh! USA! Talk about the exact opposite of Mexico – at least Mexico City and Horn Cow. In those two places, everyone lives behind high walls and sturdy gates. And according to my →
You will forgive me for my thoughts and feelings straying somewhat from Cantonese recently. It’s all about the Spanish now. Now, for example, I’m in Cuernavaca which interestingly means Horn Cow. It’s a beautiful, hilly →
Let me just say, any town where this is the central post office has my vote! Yesterday as we were driving and walking around downtown Mexico City, I shouted out loud with joy several times. →
Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! This is even better than I had envisaged. It feels indescribably good to walk on cobblestoned streets knowing that the same houses were here 200 years ago. I can’t remember the →
Thank you for not being an arse? That was my first reaction. Then I thought: That doesn’t make sense. Why would someone put a sign saying Thank you for not being an arse on their →
Hong Kong’s airport – don’t you just love it? I do. It’s so so airport-y! I had been looking forward to spending a couple of hours there before my flight to Mexico (I’m now in →
How long does it take to make and edit a 10 minute film? The answer is: Two years and eight months. Not bad!
Woo-hooo, after weeks, months and SO much hassle with the company I paid to reformat and spread my book (it’s now just in pdf exactly like the format I sent them and I had to →
I’m so afraid of the dentist, I go every four months. That sounds like a contradiction and a half, but it’s true. Going every four months gives me peace of mind and no cavities. (Also, →
Hainan, Hainan, day and night, edit film, edit film… Film is coming soon! Meanwhile check the trailer. .
People: Bugger me down if I haven’t written a new book! Mind you it’s five years since the last one so I can’t see why not …
Saturday night! What a brilliant night. Above is the table just before the hordes (12 people) started pouring in. I hosted, cooked Sichuan food for and expressed my life through the medium of dance (optional) →
Last weekend a group of three ecstatic revellers hopped on the ferry to Jung Saan (Zhongshan) and got straight in a taxi at the ferry pier and darted into the hinterland. In the lovely, slightly →
Guangdong is the best province in China, and not because of Cantonese! It’s got the friendliest people and the best hovelage. And today I’m off to savour her charms again! I just thought I’d share →
Last night I had a wonderful time in Central with my friend formerly known as J. Yes, I said ‘formerly’! For that was her name in the many South China Morning Post columns she appeared →
What does this photo of an excellent and ridiculously inexpensive haircut have to do with CantoNews? Nothing! I just like it. In this segment, the venerable Cassette and I visit the Garden Cafe in Pui →
I always have a good time in Shenzhen’s famed Lo Wu Shopping Centre, even after several hours of “missy missy looking, you buy sunglass okay.” Still, I could really do with less nagging. My student →
… all the way to the throbbing metropolis of Mui Wo – La Pizzeria to be exact!
Listen to the interview with famous Lantau author Jane Huong who isn’t Vietnamese or Malaysian, but married to a Hong Kong guy who wanted to spell his surname (Hung) differently from the herd. And talking →
Nick (a.k.a. Cassette) and I go to an Italian restaurant in the throbbing metropolis of Mui Wo, centre of the universe and make a programme about lots of interesting things – specifically the idiotic spelling →
Yesterday I had an email from a … person, who said: “I sobbed vehemently when I saw your last Sunday Morning Post entry had come and gone.” Me too, mate, me too. Except I didn’t →
石鼓洲焚化爐 (sek gu chau fan fa lou) – Sek Gu Chau Incinerator – is an expression that strikes terror into the heart of Lantau and Cheung Chau dwellers and should actually do the same to all Hong Kong residents.
If the government thinks: “We have an emergency, it’s extremely urgent, let’s do something that will solve 5% of the problem – in eight years!!!” and that solution is to ruin one of the last pristine coastlines of Hong Kong, think of what they can do to you.
So we have decided to make a film about the incinerator, and we need your help. As you can see in the photos we had a bit of a dress rehearsal yesterday morning, bizarrely one of the few days this year where you’ve actually been able to see the islands strung out like pearls just outside Pui O beach; Sek Gu Chau being the largest.
We need hundreds up people to play incinerator-stricken victims, all hollow-eyed and coughing up ketchup, staggering around the beach and collapsing in clouds of dust and smoke. We also need smoke.
Sunday May 18th is the day, 9 AM, followed by lunch at the excellent Mavericks. Bring your kids, friends, and green and grey makeup. And why not make a day of it; the incinerator has still not been built so you can play and breathe on Pui O Beach. And it won’t be built! Not as long as we keep pummeling government officials with letters and calls, and embarrass them by showing up their feeble arguments – I can’t forget Elvis Au from the Environmental “Protection” Department saying in almost the same sentence: “There will be NO emissions”, “the particles will blow over to Cheung Chau”, “we need to spread the pollution around”.
The film will be in Cantonese but don’t worry, Canto speakers will be on hand to rasp out with their last breath: Fan Fa Lou… killed me…
Please go to Living Islands Movement’s website to find the email addresses of officials that need to hear your voice and fast. And turn up on Sunday May 18th at 9 for a fun day out! No acting experience needed.
Filming a new episode of Cantonese – The Movie in you know where!
