Happy Prosperous Sheep Year! I wrote this article about traditional Cantonese foods eaten during Chinese New Year for DEPARTURES online here. (I included an old-school Canto-Singaporean salad, northern Chinese mutton hot pot and a modern Hong Kong lamb tartare for Year of the Sheep as well). Kung Hei Faat Choy to you! The Cantonese do not eat to live, but live to ...
Don’t Feed the Monks
Dear non-Hong Kong person, Please do not give money to the Buddhist monks begging for alms outside bars in Central or Tsim Sha Tsui. REAL Buddhist monks are NOT out on the street begging for alms outside bars in Central or Tsim Sha Tsui. Rack up your karma points by REFUSING to pay these charlatans. “Oh but ...
I’mo Bust your “Cantonese Dialect” Myth
So after I bitchpleased that poor uneducated gweilo in my column “Watch your Language,” I received quite a number of WhatsApps and emails from curious Anglophones, those who actually want to learn Chinese and connect with the local culture. However, they’re very confused with the language issue here in Hong Kong. Should I learn Cantonese ...
Watch Your Language (WARNING: contains expletives)
An edited (but never censored) version was published 6th October 2011 in HK Magazine So while I was at a scintillating dinner party over wine and cheese and generic jazz from a compilation CD, a white American male who’s spent some time in Beijing proceeded to tell us all that there’s really no point in learning ...
A Lady Gaga Weekend
Yeah that's really her beside me. We're sharing an armchair in the basement of the Venetian, Macau. Hi blessed beings, I’m back after my little sabbatical! My first column this year is dedicated to Gaga. You saw this coming a lightyear away! When Hong Kong found out Lady Gaga was bringing the Born This Way Ball to ...