For Our Friend L

I woke up on a quiet Friday morning and learned the sad news from friends that a very elegant, intelligent, kind, and well-respected PR and Communications leader passed away in Hong Kong due to cancer. It was a long battle but still…

I haven’t seen her in person for quite some years and now all the old memories just pop up in my mind. I first met her when I was a junior reporter. I barely just started my career at that time while she was already very senior in a bank.

We have been in touch since then as I grew up in my career and she moved to other banks and international firms. She certainly made herself a very good personal brand in the industry. I remember I told some friends that she can be the role model for those who work in the PR and Comms business in Hong Kong.

I sent my condolence to her spouse, who told me L always spoke highly of me, and I shared some good memories I have about L with her spouse. Now I regret that we didn’t get chance to see each other more in person.

I vaguely remember last time when we had lunch in a restaurant in Central, we talked for long hours, and she was keen to learn new things like social media. I jokingly said something to her that she was senior enough to ask others to do the work rather than she needed to learn everything, but she replied very kindly that she wanted to learn and lead by example first.

The PR and Comms industry in Hong Kong is never short of smart people, but true leaders are rare, not to mention someone who can always stay so elegant, humble, kind, and have the heart to make real friends.

I’m blessed to have met you, L, and I will keep all our good moments in my memory.

The World's Most Expensive Property Market

This is one of my favorite black-and-white photos I shot recently on my Nikon FM2/T. It was a weekend afternoon and I wandered around Wan Chai, a traditional district on Hong Kong Island. I just bumped into this matchbox-like small shop, which is a very typical real estate broker office in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has been known as the world’s most expensive property market for decades. You think property prices are expensive in New York, London, Tokyo, or Singapore? Hmm… Come to Hong Kong and check out.

Property is not just a business. Property also means politics in Hong Kong. Some analysts say HK property prices were already contributing factor to the social unrests in recent years.

Even if you get 1 million US dollar, what you can get in Hong Kong is most likely a matchbox-like flat. There are tens of thousands property brokers in Hong Kong. Some can become very rich almost overnight if they can sell ultra-expensive houses on the Peak quickly. Those buyers usually pay all in cash.

Nothing can really stop the rise of property prices in Hong Kong, from the 1997 handover, Asian financial crisis, 2003 SARS, 2008 global financial crisis, 2014 Umbrella Movement, 2019 Anti-extradition law protests, and now the ongoing Covid pandemic…

People say sky is the limit for HK properties.

If you want to understand Hong Kong, understand HK property business first.

跑馬地的玫瑰花

香港現在是Easter復活節假期，所以大家都有一個long weekend，雖然不能說閑來無事，因為我的工作本來就是不可能沒事的，只要手機在，就肯定有事，而且通常找我的都未必是好事 ，但也無奈悶得慌，於是吃過午飯後還是決定出去走走，在家附近散步。

走著走著，正好見到跑馬地的花店新到一批貨，還是香港本地種植的玫瑰花，粉色系，感覺不錯。疫情期間，有很多大小領悟，也發現家里如果有點花花草草，自然會生機盎然許多。

想起來我已經兩年多沒travel了，但是現在看看上海的情況，又覺得其實香港還算是不錯的。香港目前還沒有完全封城過，就算是三月疫情高峰，大家還是靠自己，盡量不出門，但是有必要還是可以出去走走的，比如買日常生活用品和食物。現在想起來，依然記憶猶新，三月的時候，香港許多超市都斷貨，一眼望去，都是空蕩蕩的。

好在香港的電商物流還算是暢通，正如港人比較多用的HKTVmall，疫情期間從未斷貨，我也確實網上買了很多，幫助我度過那些混沌的日子，說起來要謝謝HKTVmall的老闆Ricky，有他在，保持HKTVmall運作，對香港的貢獻大過特首！

不說了，說多了生氣，血壓高。希望上海平安，香港快點恢覆國際旅行。

一切都會好起來，一切也都會被記住，因為人民不會忘記。

花很好看，買了一打，500港幣有找。錢啊，真是好花，不是嗎？

From Osaka, Liked in Hong Kong

Japanese ramen is typically made of pork or sometimes seafood-based broth. But I’m actually a fan of ramen in chicken-based broth, and this is how Zagin Soba (座銀) in Happy Valley (note: it also has a branch in Central) makes a difference for all chicken fans.

Known as “the must-go ramen place in Happy Valley” for many years, Zagin Soba gives you nothing but the most authentic Japanese ramen experience you can probably find in town, from its extremely polite and considerate (yes, that is so Japanese!) service to the full set of tablewares especially for ramen eaters, including one-time paper apron just for you.

Originally from Osaka, the restaurant has a small and refined menu at its Happy Valley branch: you only have three choices including two in soup (chicken or seafood) or just the dry ramen. What you cannot miss apart from the ramen of course is its fried chicken, which taste very juicy and soft.

Let me also say something about its chicken broth, especially speaking as someone whose favorite type of meat is chicken. It’s just so good — not too heavy or creamy, and not too light either. The soup reminds you of what the right balance for broth is all about. After I ate all the noodles, I drank the rest of broth and emptied the bowl. And then I felt very content.

I used to visit Osaka and Kyoto every year in the pre-Covid era. A good bowl of ramen in the winter time can easily make you so happy. It is said every Japanese must know his or her favorite ramen place. I like a little-known ramen place in Kyoto near my regular residence in the ancient capital city. My last trip to Kyoto was late 2019 and I remember somehow on the last day during my stay in Kyoto, I went to the restaurant — I ordered and ate two bowls of chicken ramen.

Who can have ever imagined I haven’t been able to return to Kyoto for holiday since then. But now I know I will go to Zagin Soba more often for the best chicken ramen I can get in Hong Kong.

Address: Zagin Soba, G/F, 13A King Kwong Street, Happy Valley, Hong Kong

(Special thanks go to Alfred Hui for recommendation)

To live, longer

This seafood restaurant that has been around in Happy Valley for decades is coming to its end now due to the pandemic. This restaurant survived in the SARS, bird flu, swine flu, financial crisis (twice!), social unrests and on and on. But Covid-19? It finally means game over.

And this is not about one restaurant. Everyday, dozens of cafes and restaurants are closing in Hong Kong, and now we see even theatres, stores, galleries, and perhaps soon some local schools are facing the same destiny.

Since 2020 we have kept saying next year would get better. No, it didn’t, and I doubt things will get fully normal even in two or three more years. The world has been completely changed and to this day we are not even 100% sure how this all started, really.

I guess my generation is OK; we have already experienced (enjoyed?) a lot, for better or for worse. But imagine if you were a college student who started your college life in 2020, that would be really a sad story.

The best age of their lives has to be through isolation, quarantine, “study from home”, very few friends and connections in the society, and just staying puzzled about a lot of things that may be justified by the laws and the government but can’t be reasoned in common sense sometimes.

I guess it is all about destiny. We, human beings, have to share this same destiny of the planet.

I remember once I saw a T-shirt, which says “If you can’t fight against the future, then just try to live longer, and longer.”

全世界，一齊鬥長命。