Traditional entertainment in a modern setting

I've often found that having friends who are visiting from overseas or who are only living in your city for a short period is a fantastic way to force you to do more in your own city.  Too often we find ourselves putting off doing things or exploring places because we think we can do it later.  That later never seems to come unless we decide otherwise.

At the moment, Ayuna and I both had a friend who was living in Hong Kong for a few months and she was keen to see lots of different parts of the city.

One thing we all wanted to see was some Cantonese opera.  In particular, we wanted to go to the Xiqu centre in the West Kowloon cultural district.  This area had been under construction for years and it had now finally opened up for the public to enjoy.  It was the perfect time for all of us to visit.  To top it all off, another one of Ayuna's friends wanted to come and our friend Zuzanna's parents were visiting her.  It would be a nice excursion.

The Xiqu centre itself is a beautiful building.  There's been a lot of criticisms of its design, particularly that it looks a bit "toaster" like from the outside.  Some of those criticisms may be well founded, but up close and particularly inside the main atrium, it is a fantastic big and open space.

We had decided to go and watch our show at the "Tea House theatre".  This would give us an introduction to Cantonese opera rather than requiring us to watch a full opera in its entirety.  The layout of the seating was something different as well, with the theatre designed to look more like the traditional Cantonese opera settings where people sit next to tables and are served food and tea throughout the show.  The seats could have been a bit more comfortable, but I liked how they incorporated in the side tables for our food and tea.  It made everything feel a bit closer to the authentic.

I had arrived early (unlike everyone else), so I was able to enjoy the location for a bit before the show started.

As the lights dimmed, none of my friends had arrived.  Slowly, they shuffled into the theatre in the darkness and made their way to their seats.  Our choice of the "introduction" to Cantonese opera was a wise one.  We got to see a variety of different styles and the directors had clearly chosen some "funnier" scenes from various operas to keep us entertained.  None of us had any experience with this form of performance, so any more detailed nuances would have been lost of us.

Watching the performers dance and sing, it was unquestionably beautiful.  The considerations for the form, the movement and various actor interactions were careful thought out and deliberate.  I think I want to come back and watch some more, but next time I might bring my parents.

Depressing movies

I was convince by my friend Ayuna to watch the old Soviet movie "Stalker" by the acclaimed director Andrei Tarkovsky.

This was a movie which she claimed would change the way I think about cinema.  It was a movie that apparently had a reputation of being one of the great masterpieces of global cinema.

It was a struggle.

It was undoubtedly a beautifully shot and directed movie, but the pace was glacial and the dialogue intense.  As a movie to be watched by friends after dinner, it was not something which made us laugh with delight.  It was more a movie to be admired in an art house cinema or to be viewed by a friends from a book club.

We all walked away from the movie like we had completed a marathon (the movie was of course very long).

As one friend said, this was for him akin to going to a funeral, he didn't enjoy himself but he's glad he went.

I like watching movies, but I think I lean towards his thinking.

Cantonese classics

My day to day diet always changes when my parents visit.  Since they live in Australia, they usually want to eat as much Cantonese food as possible when they're in town.  I can't really blame them.  I'm also the type of person that will seek out the food I can't normally get when I travel.  When I see them in Australia, I'll usually have a "no Asian food" policy since I can get more than my fill of that in Hong Kong.

I was getting dinner with them one night and they took me to an old restaurant recommended by their friends.  It was an old school Cantonese restaurant in North Point.  When I walked in, I immediately felt like I was back in my childhood as the decor looked like it hadn't changed since the 90s.  It's one of the shocking things about Hong Kong, there seems to have been a complete lack of any capital investment by a whole host of restaurants since the 90s.  With rents as high as they are, they probably can't afford the investment or the work stoppage to make it happen.  This restaurant was thankfully quite clean and well maintained.  We sat down and my parents quickly ordered.  The food arrived promptly (but not "too" promptly) and I was thrown further back in time.

My parents had ordered snow pea sprouts with a crab sauce.  The sprouts were fresh and the sauce was light.  The sweetness of crab and snow pea sprouts has always been a great combination, and I remember my parents making this for my brother and I when we were young.

Next was the crispy skinned chicken.  It's still so common at the events held by local Hong Kongers, but it doesn't get the love that it deserves.  Hong Kong will always love roast goose, but there's something about the chicken in Hong Kong.  I'm not sure what it is, but it just tastes more "chickeny" than back in Australia.

Lastly we had sang choi bao.  Of all the dishes, this was what I least expected.  It is a truly old school dish that is rarely seen anymore.  It was once a favourite in Australian Chinese restaurants, probably due to the novelty for Australians back in the day of wrapping up their food with a piece of lettuce.  Novelty factor aside, it can be a great dish.  The freshness of the lettuce being the ideal accompaniment to the rich and fatty stir fry of minced duck, mushrooms and bamboo shoots.

For the three of us, it was more than enough food.  All three dishes aren't exactly contemporary, but they were very well cooked.  I probably don't explore enough of the truly local in Hong Kong.  Living in my expat bubble, it's a bit too easy to get caught up with all of the international cuisine available in Hong Kong.  There's plenty of time for that to change though.