Sep 24:  Beer & Babble & Best Western Food

I got a serious complaint from B&B's new management this week.
They've taken over on June 1st and strongly disliked a negative message posted by a member (not myself) in our Restaurants & Bars forum. They complained about the message (an alleged food poisoning complaint 2 years ago) not to me personally, but to their friend Lammadonna who escalated it to Lamma-Por. Everybody was blaming me, as usual, of course.

The owner asked me for a meeting over dinner to discuss the issue seriously, incl. legal implications. For the sole reason of them having just taken over B&B on June 1st this year and not being responsible at all for the incident, I agreed to remove ALL messages up to the date of the new owner taking over. No threats, bribes or sweet-talking were involved at all and it was all settled amicably.

It's nice to get some rare attention (even though negative one) from a local, Chinese-run restaurant/business who takes seriously what's being posted in our free-speech-for-everybody forums. But us forum moderators will have to watch messages being posted more carefully in the future, checking for potentially libelous, false and/or extremely damaging comments.

But this little, initially unpleasant story has a very happy ending. Not having eaten in B&B for quite some time - after a really disappointing meal - we discovered that a new chef had taken over the kitchen in the meantime, just one month ago. Lamma-Por and I - both of us wannabe-but-can't-afford-to-be-gourmets - have to say that this new guy is five-star! Ramond is his name and he's been cooking in the American Club HK, Hyatt Beijing, in Sanya and other famous places, learning from Swiss & American chefs. A very personable, cheerful fellow, fluent in English, his focus on high quality, low price & customer service is unusual & refreshing. And, oh boy, he can really cook!

Some of the best, tenderest, juiciest lamb chops and most tasty, crispy, flaky, moist salmon and sole fillets I've ever enjoyed in almost 20 years in HK, at some of the lowest prices ever. Even baked curry chicken rice or simple pasta dishes are just perfectly prepared and spiced. Up to 5 different, well-cooked and -spiced vegetables accompany even the great-value & daily-changing set lunches, some of them displayed outside the restaurant (from $35, including soup & drink.)

Simply the best Western food in Yung Shue Wan at the moment, in our humble opinion. Let's pray that Ramond will stay on for a long time! As he's on duty 7 days a week and has trained 2 sous-chefs, you'll always get his food quality.

It's not just our own opinion as some newspapers have already discovered the same good news. See the restaurant review and interview above, from Hong Kong Daily News. Click to enlarge to read or watch some of Ramond's signature dishes close-up.

Since the new management took over, B&B has redefined its name as "Beer & Babble" and is opening its well-stocked, cozy bar till 2pm on weekends. With young-Gong Li-lookalike Queenie behind the bar they might attract some regulars away from other bars or get some diners to stay behind for a drink or 2 or 3...

Lamma-Por & I have become happy B&B dining regulars again. By the way, they're NOT advertisers on this website, in case you're wondering! Maybe someday, but very unlikely...

Sep 23:  Finally! Late Ferries from Tue, Sep 27!

A two-month long trial after which HKKF will evaluate the results and will be free to apply for some permanent changes to the ferry schedule, or not. So it's up to all of us ferry customers to prove to HKKF and the Transport Dept. during the next 2 months that some of these new sailings on some weekdays can be commercially viable for them and they should apply to make them permanent after the results of the trial have been made public (we hope).

In the meantime, I'd say: credit where credit is due! To my understanding of the entire saga do far - after talking to most of the key players extensively & repeatedly - it's Fun Tse's (Lammadonna) success and accomplishment to make this trial happen. It would not have happened at all without our District Councilor bugging the ferry co. for YEARS. Only when she came up with the idea of a limited trial the ferry co. finally stopped resisting the idea for now and applied for the trial to the Transport Dept.

Let's see how it goes! The ferry co. is already threatening to pull out after the trial - see notice - but let's hope for the best. Let's take full advantage of these new sailings as long as they'll last!

Late ferry parties, anyone? Out on the 12:30am and back to YSW on the 2:30am? Or join just the return leg, after staying out in town till 2am!

Playing "Last Ferry to Lamma" from Red Star Rising at high volume over and over, the official theme song of this 2-month trial, I'd suggest!

First pictures from the 2:30am ferry will be published in this blog!

Last Monday, Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, I've received another press release from the extremely hard-working Public Affairs team at HK Electric:

"Hongkong Electric & Green Power Partner to Encourage Waste Reduction"

HEC volunteers remove a total of 51.2 kg of wastes from the Aberdeen Country Park

From a mere handful of press releases per year in earlier years, HEC issues at least one every few weeks nowadays (last one: 3 days ago). Under new leadership, HEC's Public Affairs Dept. has become much more active, media-savvy and outward-oriented, organising numerous public events, open days, various environmental & ecological campaigns with schools and green groups, like the recent Green Lamma Green tree planting.

They've also just re-launched their corporate website with a rainbow-coloured, animated, interactive new look. They're working hard on increasing the goodwill and image of HEC in the HK business community, the HK Govt, their stakeholders and also with their customers, but not necessarily in this order.

Officiating guests trimming the size of rubbish collected to encourage waste reduction throughout Hong Kong.

Part of this ongoing public relations effort is trying to increase their green credentials with frequent mentions of Lamma's spanking-new wind turbine up on Mt. Panorama, widely visible from all directions as a potent symbol of HEC's newly greening credentials. They're also financially supporting various local green activities, community groups, charities, tree plantings, the Lamma Fun Day and even this community blog for which I'm most grateful, of course! Hongkong Electric, hip, hip, hooray!

But sometimes they might get carried away a little bit in their newly-found corporate enthusiasm for environmental & ecological causes. It can sometimes be quite a source of amusement to read their releases and view the accompanying pictures & their captions. Let me demonstrate by quoting from this new press release about this cleanup operation into which a lot of work, unpaid holiday overtime and volunteer effort by over 100 HEC staff has been invested. It's one of my recent favourite releases, showing that the well-meaning, community-minded HEC staff really put their heart and time into these corporate activities, even though the achieved results might not always be in direct proportion to all their valiant efforts:

Hongkong Electric press release (Sep 19, abridged, full version is here. All photos supplied by HK Electric):

Hongkong Electric & Green Power Partner to Encourage Waste Reduction Mr. Keith K.K. Kwok, Permanent Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works (Environment), cleaning up candle waste at a barbecue site.  "Let's reduce waste" is the appeal made together by Hongkong Electric (HEC) and environmental group Green Power as they held "The 13th Clean Up the World in Hong Kong" today at Aberdeen Country Park, where more than one hundred HEC staff volunteered to help clean up part of the park after Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations... Mr. Keith Kwok and Ms. Audrey Eu were both pleased to attend the activity, which called for the community to pay attention to public hygiene. Ms. Eu, however, regretted that the wish she made last year – "Hopefully, there is no need for me to come to any clean-up activity next year" – had yet to be realized. Mr. Gary Chang noted that this was the 10th consecutive year for HEC to support this meaningful event reminding people to keep the environment clean. Capitalizing on the hot topic of "slimming", the Campaign is open to all primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong between 26 September and 21 October, 2005. The school that reduces the largest amount of waste will be crowned "The Super Clean School" and win a "Chinese White Dolphins Eco-tour" organized by Green Power... The amount of waste collected at Aberdeen Country Park today was:   Waste paper Aluminum cans Plastic bottles Other refuse 2004  6.15kg  6.36 kg  4.32 kg  21.82 kg 2005  9 kg  0.7 kg  4.5 kg  37 kg

Sep 21:  Wanted: Lamma Fun Day Poster Designer

We're looking or a poster designer for this year's Lamma Fun Day on Nov 20! Message from Sonya, co-leader of our Fun Day organisation committee: "We're desperately & urgently looking for a graphic designer who is proficient in Illustrator and who would be willing to work for free on the Lamma Fun Day poster. "Most of the designers of the former posters are very busy with work. In return, we can put their logo - if they have one - on the poster. But apart from that it's another thing in their portfolio and some recognition. "If you can give me any names of suitable designers that would be great!" Click on the posters of the last 5 years for some inspiration and contact Sonya directly by email!

Sep 20:  Restaurants & Bars:  Reviews & Ratings Reset

This entire large section of our forums has just been updated and cleaned up this morning. It covers almost all restaurants on all of Lamma Island. Recently opened restaurants have been added, with lots of new photos, name cards and dishes. New polls have been set up for most restaurants & bars, especially the ones who came under new management this year, giving them all a fresh chance to get good grades from our forum members. Check it out, click below and then let us know your favourites eating & drinking establishments!

Index of Lamma Bars & Restaurants (including Reviews & Ratings)

  Excellent!      Good!      OK      Fair      Not recommended

Sep 19:  Birds, birds, birds

While most of us were relaxing, partying & stuffing our faces with moon cakes over this long Mid-Autum Festival weekend, what has Lamma's Bird Photographer Extraordinaire been up to? Taking more amazing bird photos, of course. See above and right, all taken over the last few days. Click on the photos to go to our long-running "Lamma's top 10 birds" forum to see large photos and find out their names.

I also managed to receive an exceedingly rare shot of Guy Miller himself, taken by his bird-watching buddy. The intrepid bird-o- grapher is perching very quietly & camouflaged in a Lamma estuary at low tide, waiting for many hours for birds to get close enough to have their portraits taken. Click!

Great photographic skills, amazing dedication and infinite patience are absolutely mandatory for shots of this professional quality!

Sep 18:  'Hong Kong Rocks'

With a new helipad being built in Yung Shue Wan next year, will we get direct helicopter flights between Central to Lamma? Long-term Lammaite soundbydesign has already enjoyed a test flight, it seems? See his pictures of a helicopter flight over Lamma and beyond. Or was it just another little promo flight for the company he's a partner in, together with several other current and former Lammaites: Heliads?

They're specialising in "helicopter towed aerial advertising" and you might have seen them over HK harbour with their very unique and highly effective advertising.

Click on any of the pictures to see a musical QuickTime slide show of this recent helicopter flight over Lamma (over 8MB, please be patient, over a minute to download). But don't contact soundbydesign for your reservation yet. It might take a while till these heli tours might become available commercially, if ever...

Sep 17:  Windturbine Countdown

Hongkong Electric press release (Sep 16, abridged, full version is here. All photos below supplied by HK Electric, click to zoom):

Hongkong Electric Counts Down To Launch Of Territory's First Commercial-Scale Wind Turbine ...Hongkong Electric’s installation of its first commercial-scale wind turbine, located on Lamma Island, earlier this week. Chief Engineer (Projects) of the Hongkong Electric Company Limited (HEC), Mr. Cheung Nai-yik, today said functional testing of the facilities would be conducted in the next two weeks while the remaining site works, including road construction and landscaping, would take place in the ensuing months. Transportation of tower components  in progress on 2nd Cable Road.    When commissioned in three months time, the 800-kW wind turbine will run automatically and generate electricity when wind speeds are in the range of 3 to 25 meters per second. The triple-bladed wind turbine stands 71 meters tall and is located on the hilltop of Tai Ling. The turbine has been color-coordinated to blend into the local environment. The facility will include an educational centre to promote public interest in and understanding of wind power and other forms of renewable energy. More than 100 pieces gigantic bolts fasten the hub onto the ground. Once the station is up and running in 2006, the public can visit the centre and see up-to-the-minute operational data for the wind power station... "For example, special considerations had to be made in the planning stage regarding the transportation of turbine equipment along steep slopes and vegetation en route to the site. As a result, we divided the 50-tonne tower into three sections for easier transport and assembly at the site," Mr. Cheung explained... In addition, the turbine would attract visitors to Lamma Island... Installation of wind turbine blades.    "Notwithstanding these complexities, the $15 million project has offered us valuable experience in the application of wind energy in Hong Kong and allowed us to study the feasibility of developing renewable energy projects on a larger scale," he added. The project offers a unique educational attraction for HK. The turbine will be connected to the existing power grid and remotely controlled and monitored by engineers at the Lamma Power Station...

Sep 16:  Windturbine's Up!

Within just the last few days, the tower of HK's first commercial windturbine has been erected and the triple-blades installed. It was quickly followed by another wind turbine press release from HK Electric, of course!

But even before that, Alert Blog Reader, "Cristobal de Lamma", has already submitted a photo, shot from a Tai Peng rooftop which is close to this new Lamma landmark (see right).

The online discussion about Lamma's "Magical Spinney Thing" (local nickname) has been raging on for over 160 messages in our forums already. Click on TALKBACK! to check out local opinions, maybe even post a message yourself!

Sep 15:  'Last Ferry to Lamma' Music Video!

Red Star Rising just had their debut gig in the Island Bar on Sep 3 and they've already got their first music video out. It takes other bands YEARS to get to that stage in their careers! John Palmer videoed the concert and created a QuickTime Movie of Lamma's new unofficial anthem "Last Ferry to Lamma"!

Click on the video still shot on the right to watch it. You'll need to wait just 40+ seconds to download the entire 6-minute, 11MB QuickTime video first before it starts playing (if you're in HK and on Broadband!).

In the meantime, RSR has already been performing again:

Steve Cray of Red Star Rising writes:

"It was great to play The Venue in Wanchai on Monday night, and really nice to see some Lamma faces there. A big thanks to the Lammaites who turned out to support us!

"Monday night at The Venue is a kind of open showcase, although pro band Yomama are residents, and well worth seeing. They had a three-piece brass section last night and were amazing. I thoroughly recommend anyone at a loose end on a Monday to pop down there. It was a top night and I think everyone in the band (myself, Kev and Mark from Nude and Hugh from the Donkeys) had a great time.

"We're now looking forward to doing DickStock, a Rockit audition and another local gig soon, probably at the Deli Lamma."

  Here are some photos of this RSR gig @ The Venue, shot by Santi Sunarmah:

Sep 14:  Crown Green Bowls - a Spiritual Relation of Tai Chi?

Michael Grimes  (He's looking for work as a freelance copy writer. Contact him at words@hk.com or tel. 6071 8056. I sweet-talked him into promoting himself with a little illustrated article written specifically for this blog. "Photo usage is by permission of copyright holders"):

One of the delights of living in Hong Kong - as opposed to just visiting - is seeing beyond all the concrete and glass and discovering its people. As a new resident on Lamma, I've already heard several stories about the so-called 'Lamma effect' i.e. that if you're a westerner and you live here, Chinese people think you're either a hippy or a bohemian. Yet I've met westerners on Lamma who are extremely astute about money, and I've met Chinese and other Asian people who like a party. There are generalisations about cultures that are broadly true, but so often what divides us as human beings is less than what unites us. One thing that seems to unite people everywhere is a desire to help others, or at the very least co-operate if only in the name of profit. Would Yung Shue Wan be able to support so many small grocery shops without a large number of reasonably affluent residents? Probably not. Would we fancy hopping on the ferry to Central every time we needed a five litre bottle of water? I don't think so. The truth is, we need each other, both at a local level and globally in an increasingly complex world. As a Briton I confess I felt a little smug when my compatriots raised nearly GBP 200 million (HK$2.8 billion) for last year's Asian Tsunami victims in just one week. But even in my short time in Hong Kong I've been struck by the large number of Chinese people who give up their time and money to do voluntary work to help others. The Lifeline Express team at work    A good example of this is Lifeline Express. It's a Hong Kong based charity raising money to equip and maintain a hospital train that tours parts of rural China. Medical staff aboard the train perform cataract and other eye surgery to restore the sight of thousands of mainland children and adults whose lives would otherwise be blighted by disability and poverty. One of its fund-raising events here is a sort of tai chi Olympics. Tai chi masters of different styles and their students from all over the SAR attended the latest event on Sunday at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Wan Chai. I counted precisely two other westerners at the event out of an audience of six or seven hundred. In Europe, we tend to think that tai chi is for old people - a sort of kung fu for geriatrics - but after attending a warm-up session in Victoria Park at the invitation of a Chinese friend just before the event, I can testify this is not the case. I won't bore those of you who have lived here for a long time or who have tried tai chi, by giving a long commentary about it, but essentially it seems to be about form and control of energy. In other words, it's quite physically demanding because you have to control your limbs and hold them in unnatural positions in order to get the movement to be graceful and accurate. In the process of doing that, you leave a little bit of the humdrum world behind and enter into a mild state of meditation. Tai chi on grass? It reminded me of crown green bowling - a sport practised in the UK, parts of the Commonwealth and I suspect one or two clubs in Hong Kong. The under arm action of a good crown green bowls player is accurate, economic and above all graceful. Even when the bowl has left his or her hand, a player will often stay frozen in the delivery position, bowling arm straight ahead, palm up, with one knee bent forward, the other leg trailing, eyes trained on their projectile as it trundles along the well-rolled turf towards the jack and their opponents' bowls. If it was happening anywhere other than a working men's club in say West Yorkshire, we'd think it was some kind of religious ceremony. A brighter future with tai chi Line up sixteen bowls players in two rows of eight (never four rows of four), add some music, and hey presto, you have tai chi. As I say, what divides us is less than what unites us. So next time you hear a story about Cantonese families dumping their unwanted dogs on Lamma because the softie westerners will look after them, just bear in mind it may be true. But remember how many of your Chinese neighbours out here keep dogs too and love them just as much. For more information on Lifeline Express visit www.lifelineexpress.org.hk.

Any more professional Lamma writers (or photographers or artists or ...) out there who'd like a bit of free publicity in this blog?

Sep 13:  Check Out Lamma's Daily News

 

This blog has now been published on an almost daily schedule since Sep 1, 2004 and its predecessor Lamma-zine magazine since Sep 4, 2002 (3 years!). But I still meet local residents on Main Street occasionally who have never heard of it or haven't looked at it recently! This is absolutely intolerable and totally unacceptable!

This dire situation has to change...and it has to change RIGHT NOW! How can my top secret plan for world domination by media saturation ever become reality if not even EVERYBODY in my home village knows about this still small online media! There are over 2,000 weekly readers of this blog, but Lamma has over 6,000 residents. Admittedly, most can't or don't read English at all, but that's no excuse!

You can start helping to improve the all-important readership figures by telling your friends about this blog, especially the many new arrivals and anybody with any interest in "News, photos & stories from the Lamma Island community and its fascinating inhabitants."

A worldwide integrated marketing campaign is being launched this week! You'll see big posters on the walls soon, flyers being distributed around the village, emails going out to all 2,300+ Lamma-zine subscribers, promotions at DickStock & Lamma Fun Day... Plus HUGE adverts in SCMP, HK Magazine and commercials on all major local & regional TV stations. Well, maybe someday, if this website ever goes IPO or is being bought out. Google, Skype, could Lamma.com.hk be next? Don't worry, even if I'll become a US$-billionaire someday, I won't abandon Lamma and buy you all a drink or two...I think...

In the meantime, some feedback on my new poster/flyer would be most appreciated. You can see it by clicking here or on the big red banner above!

Sep 12:  Magical Spinney Thing:
Progress of Erection

New photo of the Lamma Windturbine pole being erected, viewed from the Trig Point, the highest point on North Lamma. It was taken at my request by minibeast, our new Official Court Correspondent on "Above Hung Shing Yeh" Matters. This is a new class of local Correspondents reporting from the area they live in or are most familiar with. Would YOU like to become a local correspondent for YOUR area?

The first picture with the 3 turbine blades installed will also be published in this blog! For more pictures of this construction and links to more detailed info (and to see a spinning wind turbine animation), click on TALKBACK!

Sep 11:  Fertility Island...

This is the cover picture of the GoodSchoolsGuide supplement of the SCM Post yesterday - © SCMP, Sep 10. It didn't give any info besides that this great photo was taken by Lamma's photojournalist extraordinaire & Laudable Lamma Luminary Steve Cray. In fact, ALL of these cover girls and boys live in or around Yung Shue Wan! Clockwise, from left:

Sascha (Vietnamese, daughter of Island Bar's Dan & Sharon),
Rajin (Indian/Filipina, son of Kumar & Anna),
Callen (British, son of Louise & Keith) and
Izza (Nepalese/Filipina, daughter of Zin & Marianne).

This photo is actually a pretty good representation of Lamma's non-Chinese population and the amazing multi-cultural variety of races and nationalities that live together (quite harmoniously) on our "Fertility Island".

Almost a child per week is born here, according to the Director of the Northern Lamma School. So they won't be in danger of being closed down due to lack of children, like the Lo So Shing school near Sok Kwu Wan last year, unfortunately.

Want to see YOUR children and their friends onto this home page which is viewed by many Lammaites daily? Send me photos of your birthday parties, outings, school excursions, hikes, celebrations, etc.

Sep 10:  X-Plosion Photo Gallery

in progress...

Sep 9:  DickStock 2005: Decide the Date!

Mr DickStock would like feedback from the readers of this blog about the date of the next DickStock concert! Saturday, Nov 5 or 12? Other dates?

Weekend of Nov 12 is Rockit! 3 and Sun, Nov 20 is Lamma Fun Day, by the way...

Click on TALKBACK! to cast your vote. But you'll have to login to the forums first. If you don't have a password yet, register here.

P.S. The final decision will rest with the host, Mr. DickStock, and depends on the availability of the Lamma bands, of course.

P.S. II. The date has been voted on (5-0) and confirmed by Mr DickStock!  Nov 5, '05!

Sep 8:  X-Plosive Lammaites

I was sitting in a meeting of six people a while ago, discussing the promotion & marketing of the "X-Plosion - Nite of Champions" Thai Boxing event in Queen Elizabeth Stadium tomorrow night, 7:30pm (poster, video, website).

Somebody pointed out that everybody on the conference table lived on Lamma! Yes, video, 3D animation, programme, ads, organisation, marketing, poster design (myself) and much of the production were all handled by Lammaites. This is just another clear example of how many writers, designers, artists and creative people live on our little island and the impact they have on the cultural and event scene in HK in general.

Tickets are still available! I'll be there ringside as the "official photographer" for the promotion company.

Sep 7:  Final Battle - in the Nude

J from NUDE: "Greetings Nudists,

"The funk flies full in the face of Hong Kong's music scene this Wednesday, Sept. 7th @ the Hard Rock Cafe, TST. Doors open at 9:30 and NUDE will be kicking off the competition.

"Join us on our eternal quest for jumpin' dance floors of beautiful people. It's time to show the world that Hong Kong's got some soul, not just canto-pop and hardcore Rock'n'Roll."

Links: WBOTB website, poster, NUDE poster, info.

P.S. If you'd like to have a look at the last big concert of NUDE, where they won their place in the final above, click on the banner below for a photo gallery:

P.S. bbChris: "The overall winner was Qiu Hong and the runners-up were Very Ape.
Nude played better at the Edge final in July. Shame for Lamma! Boohoo!"

Sep 6:  La Femme Desperado

Going out on a normal Tuesday afternoon in Yung Shue Wan, it's really surprising what you can come across in just an hour or two in our active community life:

• Primary School notice board: Lots of photos of a school excursion to see the dinosaur exhibit and visit a museum.
  
  

• Learning at lunch in Man Kee that they've recently got Cable TV via microwave satellite - which was unavailable on Lamma till recently, I think. $6,000 installation fee, all legal, first year free, then usual monthly fees.

• Taking pictures of a school of big, healthy sweet water fishes in the stream through the Yung Shue Long valley. The govt. will  be redeveloping the lower part of this natural stream (from the bridge to the sea) into a square concrete channel in the next few months. It's unlikely that this channel will remain a suitable habitat for large fishes like these.
  

• Seeing the poster I designed myself (red "Xplosion - Nite of Champions") on many walls along Main Street. Picking up the new monthly Fit! HK magazine outside the Deli Lamma and there's my poster full-page on the inside cover, similar to the last two weekly HK Magazines.

• Beds are being set up behind the Full Monty. Looks like we'll have a few Muay Thai champions staying on Lamma in the next few days (click on poster on the right