約 會 大 律 師 Recently, I sent emails to two potential networking contacts in HK. One of them is an attorney with a major law firm who works in the same legal specialty that I do. When I didn't receive a quick reply from him, I wondered whether he was too busy or whether my planned arrival in May next year was too far off to catch his attention. Fortunately, it wasn't either of those reasons. Today, my consultant friend S forwarded an email from the attorney in HK. The attorney had tried to reply several times, but for some reason, his emails didn't go through. Anyway, the attorney confirmed that he would like to meet me next May and commented that there are a number of excellent opportunities for someone with my background and language skills. That sounds pretty good to me! I am looking forward to meeting him and to exploring those opportunities.

Last year, when I was in Macau, I noticed a lot of casino construction activity along the waterfront not far from the hydrofoil terminal. According to the attorney, a good part of the HK construction industry is involved in the Macau casino construction work, and many people are spending time there. With my love of Macau, that's an assignment that I would be happy to take.  ¶ 9:00 PM 0 comments

  More Shunde Cuisine I continue to be impressed with 順 峰 漁 村 (seun6 fung1 yu4 chun1) Asian Pearl, the newly-opened restaurant in Pacific East Mall in Richmond. Friday night, I go there again to try some more 順 德 (seun6 dak1) Shunde cuisine. I order three dishes, two of which I had noticed last time. One is 大 良 鮮 奶 炒 魚 滑 (daai6 leung4 sin1 laai5 chaau2 yu4 waat6), an interesting Shunde dish made with stir-fried fresh milk and fish balls. As you might guess, it has a mild taste and a white color from the fresh milk. The second one is a Hangzhou dish called 杭 州 鹹 魚 白 切 鴨 (hong4 jau1 haam4 yu2 baak6 chit3 ngaap3), which consists of steamed duck pieces served with slices of salted fish. When I first noticed this dish last week, I thought it was 白 切 雞 steamed chicken, which is much more common. My mistake. According to the waitress, who is from 廣 州 (gong2 jau1) Guangzhou, this dish has enough flavor to go well with rice (好 送 得 飯). She is right. The salted fish has an intense, salty flavor, which also adds flavor to the duck. To balance the duck and fish, I order a vegetable dish--鮑 汁 菜 膽 扒 鮑 菇 (baau1 jap1 choi3 daam2 pa4 baau1 gu1). It consists of 清 江 菜 (ching1 gong1 choi3) Shanghai bok choi served in an abalone or oyster sauce with sliced abalone mushrooms. I have never even heard of abalone mushrooms before. They look like abalone slices and have a similar texture (口 感), but not quite as firm or rubbery as real abalone.

There still are lots of dishes on the menu that interest me, so I plan to go back again soon. As I leave the restaurant, I pick up a card that lists the company that owns Asian Pearl--美 食 天 地 雜 團 Culinary Wonderland Inc. They also have three restaurants in Sacramento--順 風 海 鮮 茶 寮 New Canton, 順 峰 美 食 Hong Kong Wok, and 澳 門 街 Macau Cafe.

After dinner, I finish up the evening with a concert at the Freight & Salvage Coffee House in Berkeley. Tonight's show is Perfect Strangers, a traditional bluegrass band with five members (violin, mandolin, banjo, flatpick guitar, and string bass). I try to catch their show whenever they're in the Bay Area. Tonight is the fourth year in a row that I have seen them at the Freight. Toward the end of the show, they play a song that I requested--Mason's Lament. It's a soulful, peaceful song with a gospel sound.  ¶ 8:00 PM 0 comments

  個 波 士 話 "得" 好 消 息!! 真 係 好 消 息 啦!!! 個 波 士 話 准 我 出 年 去 香 港 學 廣 東 話. 我 勁 開 心 呀! 好 似 美 夢 成 真. When I left the boss' office on Thursday, I felt cautiously optimistic about my time off request and thought that I probably would hear his answer in a few days. Friday afternoon, right after lunch, my phone rang. It was the assistant boss calling me up to her office. As I entered her office, she motioned for me to close the door and then said, "We have decided to approve your request for time off."

It happened just like that--without much drama or fanfare. I didn't expect to receive an answer that quick. As it sunk in, it seemed comical that I had been putting off submitting my request, fearing rejection or problems. The only condition is that, between now and next May, I have to make an extra effort to mentor my colleague K so that she is up to speed on all of the cases and other legal matters that I am working on. That way, K will be able to handle everything in my absence and will learn more of my "tricks of the trade."

Now that I have a green light at work, I can concentrate on applying to school, applying for a visa, and all the other arrangements that I have to make. The next 7 months should be an exciting time for me as the pieces fall into place.  ¶ 8:00 PM 0 comments

  It's in the Boss' Hands 全 靠 波 士 0既 批 准 Every once in awhile an important day comes along in my life--one that can have a major impact on my life's path. Today was one such day. Not long after submitting my application for a Canadian citizenship certificate, I took another big step. This time, I submitted a request for time off work to study Cantonese next May at 香 港 中 文 大 學 The Chinese University of Hong Kong (新 亞 中 國 語 文 研 習 所 New Asia--Yale-in-China Chinese Language Center). For months, I had been thinking about submitting my time off request but had been looking for the right moment. Pressure had been building on me, especially with May not that far away. Finally, I decided that I could wait no longer.

Ever since visiting CUHK in 2001, I have wanted to study their Cantonese program and have been saving up my vacation time for that purpose. So far, I have accumulated about 400 hours (10 weeks). But before my dream can become reality, the boss has to OK my time off request. I am asking for 3 months off, which is longer than anyone at my office has ever taken off except for childbirth. It may be difficult for them to cover my job for 3 months, because I am really the only one in the office who knows construction and drainage law. And there are a couple of trials or mediations that could be scheduled during the time that I am gone.

Rather than just drop the form off on the boss' desk, I typed up a special memo and went into his office to talk personally with him. I didn't know what kind of a reaction I would get. But as I explained about my plans and watched the boss' face, I was relieved and somewhat surprised to see that his initial reaction was not negative.

Well, my time off request is in the boss' hands. I don't yet know what his answer will be, but I will share it here on my blog. It has been a long time since I have wanted something this much, and I hope that the boss will cooperate with my dream. Keep your fingers crossed for me!  ¶ 6:26 PM 0 comments

  O Canada! As a boy growing up in Canada, I remember singing the national anthem--O Canada!:

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

My parents were Americans living in Canada when I was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. That's where I spent the first ten years of my life, until my parents brought me back with them to the U.S. Although it has been decades since I left Canada, I still remember the exact location of our old house in Vancouver and still keep in touch with a couple of my childhood friends.

Except for the constant rain, I have happy memories of my life in Canada and have always been proud of my Canadian birth. I remember Dad telling me that I should take steps to preserve my Canadian citizenship. Well, I finally took the plunge a couple of weeks ago by filing an application for citizenship certificate with the local Canadian consulate. That's something that I had wanted to do for a long time.

Today, I got a phone call from someone at the consulate asking a question about my documents. I don't know how long the application process will take, but I hope and expect that Canada will recognize me as her native son. Wish me luck in this. I will share my progress here in my blog.

My last visit to Canada was in July 2005, when I went up to Vancouver and Gibsons for Canada Day. Whenever I go to the Vancouver area, I instantly feel at home, even though I have not lived there for many years. For some reason, the place names, customs, and food just seem like second nature to me. This last visit, I really enjoyed the Chinese restaurants and stores in Richmond, a Vancouver suburb with many immigrants from Hong Kong. My present focus is on studying and living in Hong Kong. But depending on how things work out, I also could see myself returning to Vancouver--my old hometown.  ¶ 8:59 PM 0 comments

  順 德 菜 Shunde Cuisine 好 消 息 (hou2 siu1 sik1) good news (at least for me)!! Readers of this blog may remember that I have mentioned a good Chinese restaurant in Sacramento--順 風 海 鮮 酒 家 New Canton Restaurant. Well, I no longer have to go up to Sacramento (about 80 miles away) for their food. They now have opened a new restaurant called 順 峰 漁 村 Asian Pearl at 東 太 市 場 Pacific East Mall, about a half-hour drive from my home. Last night, I went there for dinner. When the new restaurant first opened, I noticed that they had 順 德 菜 (seun6 dak1 choi3) Shunde cuisine and I had been wanting to try it. The 順 德 dish I ordered last night was 南 乳 藕 片 燜 花 肉 (laam4 yu5 ngau5 pin3 man1 fa1 yuk6), an intriguing dish consisting of stir-fried lotus root and pork belly slices. The other dish I ordered was 山 東 羊, a clay pot consisting of lamb or goat pieces stewed with peppers. Both dishes tasted excellent and showed special culinary skill (有 廚 藝)--not the typical dishes that one normally sees in Chinese restaurants. In fact, the food was so good that I already have decided to go back there next week. Looking through the menu, I noticed two dishes that I am thinking of ordering next time. One is a 順 德 dish called 大 良 鮮 奶 炒 魚 滑 (daai6 leung4 sin1 laai5 chaau2 yu4 waat6), an unusual fish dish made with fresh milk. The table next to me ordered it, and it looked tasty. The other dish that caught my eye was 杭 州 鹹 魚 白 切 雞 (hong4 jau1 haam4 yu2 baak6 chit3 gai1), a odd-sounding dish that I have never seen before. Evidently, it is a Hangzhou dish and consists of steamed chicken with a salted fish sauce. I can't wait till next weekend!

Not only does 順 德 have great food, but it also is one of three former 縣 (yun6) counties or prefectures near Guangzhou where people speak Cantonese that is identical or similar to that spoken in Guangzhou and Hong Kong. The other two are 南 海 (laam4 hoi2) Nanhai and 番 寓 (pun1 yu6) Panyu. One interesting thing about 順 德 women in HK is that they traditionally avoided marriage, living alone and sending money back to their families in 順 德. It would be interesting to know whether this custom still exists in HK. Last year, when I was in Macau, my waitress at 內 港 餐 廳 O Porto Interior Restaurant was a friendly, knowledgeable woman named Kitty from 順 德. She spoke beautiful, classic Cantonese and recommended some fabulous dishes to me.  ¶ 7:58 PM 0 comments

  Rock Duck 石 鴨
石 鴨 係 乜 0野 嚟 0架? What's a rock duck? When I first started hiking, I noticed that the trail guides mentioned "rock ducks" and said that hikers should watch for them. It took me awhile to figure out what they were talking about (see photo above). Rock ducks are little piles of rocks that mark a trail, especially in areas where it otherwise would be hard to follow the trail. I guess they call them ducks because the typical pile looks like a duck's body, with the biggest rock on the bottom and the smallest rock on top (OK, it takes a good imagination). From the photo, you can see how it can be difficult to follow a trail through a rocky area without having rock ducks to guide your path. On many hikes, rock ducks have helped me greatly, sometimes keeping me from getting lost. On my hikes in HK in 2001 and 2004, I don't recall having seen any rock ducks. Instead, HK hikers seem to mark their trails with arrows, ribbons, and ropes. Does anyone know whether rock ducks exist in HK?

P.S. Speaking of ducks, for anyone interested in the shop where I got 滷 水 鵝 in HK, I added the name below.  ¶ 8:11 PM 0 comments

  Mountain High
Lower Echo Lake
Tamarack Lake

Keiths Dome

Upper & Lower Echo Lakes

Autumn leaves
Last week, I spent two days at a legal conference in South Lake Tahoe, a resort town with casinos, a large lake, and beautiful mountain scenery. Whenever I go up to Lake Tahoe 太 浩 湖/塔 何 湖 or Reno 李 糯, I forget about eating Chinese food. Why? Because I have never found anything worth a damn up there. One time, when I was in Reno, I went into a tiny place called 鴨 子 館 Chinese Duck House. The waitress, who spoke Cantonese, got the chef to cook something authentic for me 豆 角 炒 牛 肉 (dau6 gok3 chaau2 ngau4 yuk6) stir-fried beef with green beans. Otherwise, the food would have been mediocre. This time, rather than chance the Chinese food up at Lake Tahoe, I enjoyed American food--four-cheese pizza, Caesar salad, butternut squash soup, and a hamburger made with ground filet mignon. Yum! :P

After dinner on Thursday, I wanted to see a show. Walking around several casinos, I noticed a show at the Horizon called Fusion 2. According to the poster, the show was a combination of magic, comedy, and illusion. One thing that caught my attention was the illusionist's assistant--a young Asian woman dressed in a sexy leather outfit (check her out). The show was cool and upbeat, a perfect mixture of skillful tricks, hilarious jokes, and hip music and lights. The illusions and juggling were especially good. One illusion started out with the assistant (Pamela) standing up and then lying sideways suspended in mid air. What made it so convincing is that, as the illusionist (Alexander) moved Pamela's body in mid air, first parallel and then at a steeper angle, Pamela kicked her legs about freely. It all looked so natural. Alexander even dragged a large ring around Pamela's body to show that there were no wires or other things holding up her body. What amazed me about Pamela's performance was how quick and nimble she was in jumping in and out of the boxes and other magic props. After the show, the four performers walked onto the casino floor, where the audience was able to talk with them, shake hands, etc. Pamela was dressed in her leather bikini and appeared to me to be Southeast Asian (Thai?). What a cool experience!

After the conference ended on Friday, I wanted to go on a half-day hike in the nearby Desolation Wilderness, which is one of the more scenic areas of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Whenever I go hiking in the Sierras, I like to use Kathy Morey's book "Hot Showers, Soft Beds, and Dayhikes in the Sierra." That title sounds so appealing! Friday afternoon, I did a 9-mile loop hike, visiting four different lakes--Lower Echo Lake, Upper Echo Lake, Tamarack Lake, and Triangle Lake. The combination of white granite, green forest, and deep blue water was breathtaking (see photos above). And what surprised me is how few people I ran into on the trail. For me, this is hiking at its finest.  ¶ 9:22 PM 1 comments