First Love (on Netflix)

The cinematography of ”First Love” on Netflix is really beautiful.

The light, filter, composition, focus, and detail … Everything feels just in the right temperature and pace.

The scenes feel so warm and close. As a big fan of photography and an amateur photographer myself, I admire the way how the drama was shot, and you may say it feels like very “Japanese”. I guess many of us may not be able to well define what being “Japanese” really means.

We often focus on the director and actor/actress of a show. The cinematographer plays an equally important role in a show. A picture is worth a thousand words. To this day you can still see and feel the power of a good picture (or a good movie).

Merci, Paris!

My recent trip to Paris has already made me think of another trip to Paris soon again. Apparently there are so many places to visit, museums, cafes, and even bookstores…

I don’t really speak French. All I know are just Bonjour and Merci. My friends in France told me just say “Bonjour” whenever you enter a new place, a restaurant or convenience store, and that will make your life much easier. I guess that is the magic, or we may be lucky?

We met many nice waiters/waitresses, especially at those local cafes in your hotel neighbourhood. My favorite during the last trip is the one near Le Bon Marche, the famous department store in Paris, and the cafe is already a three-generations family business, which is not unusual in Paris.

The waitress of Au Sauvignon (est. 1954) in the 6th district was in my grandma age but she remained very elegant. We took her advice for the home-made croissant and omelette and they were just très bien!

As my friend Shavkat Toshev, a Uzbek diplomat based in Paris, reminded me that the whole city of Paris itself is like a huge gallery. Every corner is so beautiful that you have to walk every street to see the whole and different beauties and charms of Paris on your own.

And yes, the best way to explore Paris is by foot and it will be also such a good exercise especially after you eat many delicious croissants.

Oh, if you go for brunch or coffee at Au Sauvignon, try its omelette, one of the best I’ve ever had. Miss it already.

Paris, till the next time!

Shanghai Xiao Nan Guo

Founded in 1987, Xiao Nan Guo (小南國) is one of the largest Chinese chain restaurant operators with branches all over the vast nation, from its home and origin in Shanghai, to Beijing, Dalian, and to Hong Kong and so on.

When Xiao Nan Guo started about 35 years ago, the first few namesake restaurants focused on Shanghaiese cuisine and later they all expanded to Sichuan, Canton (aka “Yue”), and more northern Chinese cuisines.

Some of my favorite dishes we ordered tonight for a team dinner are:

1. Steamed “white cut” chicken 白斬雞
2. Pan-fried belt fish 乾煎帶魚
3. Stir-fried shredded river eels 炒鱔糊
4. Pan-fried meat bun 生煎包

Very content and full now.

全世界都可以打邊爐

香港人喜歡「打邊爐」，也就是吃火鍋。套用一段很多年前香港某商場流行過的廣告語，開心的時候可以打邊爐，不開心的時候也想要打邊爐，全世界只有一個香港，香港人就是喜歡打邊爐。是的，香港人對火鍋這件事就是這樣的執著。

我也喜歡吃火鍋，而且我喜歡全世界找火鍋店吃。去年去愛爾蘭首都都柏林出差，忍不住問當地的同事，哪裏有火鍋，然後硬是拖着幾個同事（包括幾位在都柏林工作的香港同事在內）跑到都柏林的「中國城」一條街上的一間火鍋店吃火鍋。其實我已經忘記那天晚上吃了什麼，只記得那晚好像是我在都柏林吃的最開心的一餐。

要說火鍋的發源，我的一位蒙古朋友一定會和你滔滔不絕講起「一代天驕」成吉思汗的威猛歷史。火鍋的起源其實很難考證，坊間一直流傳很多不同版本，其中一個版本是說成吉思汗可能是火鍋發明者之一，眾所周知，蒙古自古以來盛產肥羊，作為遊牧民族，成吉思汗及部下為圖方便，走到哪裏，吃到哪裏，哪裏有羊，就馬上殺了羊並趁新鮮直接放入滾燙的熱水中，成吉思汗等人意外發現，如此一來他們就有了非常鮮美的羊肉湯喝，再後來又加入蔬菜等不同食材，火鍋的飲食習慣就此開始逐漸形成。在中國北方，吃火鍋是一定要有羊肉的，所以在北方吃火鍋其實也叫「涮羊肉」，最出名的「涮羊肉」包括如今在北京還有不少連鎖店經營的「東來順」。

我在蒙古首都烏蘭巴托吃過幾次火鍋，和當年成吉思汗一群人共享一鍋不同，蒙古人如今吃火鍋都是每人一小鍋。我覺得很好，非常衞生，而且自己想吃什麼湯底自己選，也不用考慮別人的口味。在蒙古吃火鍋，自然也少不了羊肉，而且這裏不僅僅是一種羊肉，基本上羊的不同部位都會用來吃火鍋。蒙古草原羊用來涮羊肉非常鮮美，我和當地朋友笑言，我在蒙古吃過涮羊肉，恐怕再去別的地方吃羊肉火鍋，我會變得非常挑剔。

還有一次我去中亞國家哈薩克斯坦出差，忍不住問當地的朋友，哪裏有火鍋，我說英文「hot pot」，對方是哈薩克本地人，居然一開始沒聽懂，然後拿出手機用Google搜索了一番，終於搞明白我說的「hot pot」是什麼，於是便開車帶我去了一間所謂的「火鍋店」，入店一看，感覺更像是串串燒專門店。原來哈薩克斯坦的火鍋店都是這樣的，肉和菜都是一件一串事先串好的，肉菜也都是同一個價格，結賬時候老闆看你拿了幾串，這樣就知道總共多少錢了。

新加坡人也喜歡吃火鍋，海底撈的創始人張勇早年發達後移民新加坡，也把海底撈成功帶入新加坡，有一段時間，海底撈在新加坡幾乎成為火鍋代名詞。當然，新加坡也有自己原創的膠原蛋白「美滋鍋」，據說喝富含膠原蛋白的湯對皮膚好，很多新加坡女孩子都喜歡結伴去吃「美滋鍋」。後來新加坡的「美滋鍋」還在台北開分店，開業初還引發大家連日來排隊等吃火鍋的盛況。

台北本地的火鍋店也絕對不是「吃素的」，競爭程度非常激烈。我在台北的朋友知道我喜歡吃火鍋，喜歡到幾乎要把全台北的大小火鍋店吃遍，從劉德華、郭富城當年都愛光顧的「太和殿」，到豆腐和鴨血可以一直免費加的「無老鍋」、已經在香港開設分店的「鼎王」、打着「吃到飽」旗號（包括吃完火鍋還有無限量哈根達斯雪糕供應）的馬辣火鍋，還有號稱火鍋界愛馬仕的「橘色」⋯⋯

喜歡吃辣的朋友，一定不會錯過只有在台北才能吃到的「老四川」。總之我每次去台北，一個星期就算每晚都吃火鍋，我也不會有絲毫不滿。

其實我最喜歡的台北火鍋店並非那幾家連鎖店，真正的心頭好都是朋友帶我去的那種本地小店，那種一進門只有四五張桌子的小店，然後老闆一邊幫你準備食材，一邊有空就過來和你乾一杯。最近一次去台北，和幾個好朋友找了一家他們喜歡的小店吃火鍋，要了幾瓶台灣啤酒，配火鍋最佳。臨走時，火鍋店老闆忽然跑來找我，然後送我一個小盒子，原來盒內裝着六個印有台啤logo的玻璃杯。老闆說，玻璃杯是商家促銷送的，雖不值錢，但今天我們有緣一起吃火鍋，這才是人生價值所在。送你杯子，希望你記住你在台北的一切美好。

老闆短短幾句話，情真意切，溫暖我心。原來我們有時候吃的不僅僅是火鍋，而是一種情懷。和誰吃，在哪裏吃，這和火鍋的用料一樣重要。

為什麼我喜歡吃火鍋？我覺得有打邊爐這件事確實不僅僅在於吃那麼簡單，吃火鍋有這幾個優勢。

第一，火鍋食材很豐富，牛羊雞豬肉任選，牛肉還分澳洲的還是日本的和牛，不同牛肉下鍋時間不同，可見吃火鍋也有大學問。香港人打邊爐還喜歡選很多海鮮，魚和蝦是基本款，有錢就再買幾個鮑魚下鍋，朋友面前也很有面子，也可以表示自己日子過得還算不錯。

其次，一頓火鍋可以吃好長時間，大家一邊吃，一邊聊，聊吃的，聊穿的，聊開心的、不開心的，聊工作，聊社會，聊人生。忽然之間，火鍋拉近了你我的距離感。一頓火鍋下來，新朋友變老朋友，老朋友變知心朋友。

當然，以我自己為例，不是隨便拉幾個人一起就會去吃火鍋，能夠一起坐下來吃火鍋的朋友應該至少都算是說得上話的。正所謂道不同而不相為謀，如果只是為了商業應酬，我們大可以去吃西餐，你點一份牛排，我點一份牛排，各吃各的，禮尚往來，冠冕堂皇。吃火鍋，那才真的算是把你當朋友。大家吃的是火鍋，見的是人心。

以前許多港產片都會有這樣的故事情節，某個大佬收工，然後叫了一幫小弟跑到一個自己熟悉的路邊排檔吃火鍋，大佬坐主桌，身邊坐的都是最賣命的兄弟，然後其他小弟圍着坐其他幾桌，場景很是氣派。我想可能也只有吃火鍋才有這樣的氣場。

記得下次再有香港的朋友找你打邊爐，那也可能是人家把你當真朋友的一種表現。香港人鍾意打邊爐，其實也是因為香港人愛交朋友，愛談天說地，有口福，有人生。

（原文首發於香港《大公報》副刊，2023年2月22日。）

Shot on Leica MP: Tiergarten, Berlin

New York City has the worldwide famous Central Park (335 hectares). London is the home for the classic Hyde Park (125 hectares). In comparison, Berlin’s Tiergarten (210 hectares) may be less high profile but the huge park does serve as the heart of Berlin.

I guess it is very proper to bring a Made-in-Germany Leica film camera (in my case, it’s Leica MP) to Berlin and take some shots of the Tiergarten. I chose #ilfordhp5plus400, which I also thought may be proper for photography in Europe.

It is all about light, especially when it comes to the black-and-white photography. A morning walk in the park can certainly refresh my mind, which helped me to catch some nice peaceful moments on my camera too.

Every city, big or small, deserves to have its own park, a park for Mother Nature, for our life, and for memory. Tiergarten is the one for Berlin.

View more photos shot on my Leica here.