Dec 23, Power Station Beach, sunset:

A mix of a pagan winter solstice festival mixed up with Santa Claus holding court for the youngsters. That might explain Santa flanked and assisted by fairies (or are those angels?) With all the Glühwein - hot red wine, fruits and spices! - and the cosy fire on the beach, it looks like a real Lamma event: fun, friendly, for all the family. Stine submitted all the fine photos and this little write-up:

"Families gathered for an informal Santa party at the Power Station Beach on the 23 December. There was a bonfire and mulled wine for the big people.

Santa arrived escorted by lovely white angels. All the children were excited to receive their little pressies from the man with the white beard!

A few of us attempted a few carols by the bonfire. This event being on the beach may seem strange to non-antipodeans. I am sure Santa himself would find this event a great break from all that snow! I wonder where he kept the reindeers?

Fun was had by all!"

December's "Lamma Artist of the Month" is a political cartoonist friend of Harry Harrison. Harry introduced me to Sri Lankan cartoonist Sara now living on Lamma part-time. Sara described Harry as an "Angel from Heaven and a highly talented Editorial Political cartoonist who should be on top of the world. He is number one in my list. I have never ever met such a wonderful GENTLEMAN like Harry in my entire life time."

Don't we all agree with these fine sentiments? Hey, Harry, as an "Angel from Heaven", how about bringing some New Year fun and cheer to all your fans and friends? Oh, you're doing that already via your daily cartoons and many charitable deeds.

Lamma-Por and I enjoyed a very pleasant dinner in Spicy Island with Sara. Wow! He's a talker! He regaled us for hours with his fun and friendly stories of his fascinating life, travels, beliefs and many achievements. You can check them out on his biography page, one of the most impressive artist CVs you'll ever come across: Sara Biography.

But let his amazing caricatures and his artworks speak for themselves. Here are just a few samples from www.SaraSene.com, which is neatly categorised into Funworld, Political, Sports, Caricatures, Drawings, etc.:

Yes, I know that Christmas is over and you're getting ready for the big New Year's Eve parties, but I've got a few more Christmassy photos to show while the decorations are still up in the shopping malls. I shot these in the Pacific Place mall in Central, Hong Kong Island and the YSW Shopping Mall (IFC mall).
Click on photos to enlarge them:

Some of you might have seen this desktop calendar at the Lamma Fun Day. I, Lamma-Por and moderators Samson and Alan were selling them at the Lamma.com.hk booth. All profits went directly to the Child Welfare Scheme, of course. Well, there are quite a few left and they can be purchased from Anonymous_Guy directly (click on name to order), as soon as he'll return from his vacation next week. Price tba. For free calendars, skip down.

Guy's shot all the pictures on North Lamma, supervised the calendar design/ production and even paid for it. Fantastic job, Guy, his first-ever calendar! It was my idea and I've been consulting - having done several sponsored desktop calendars before showing my computer art. But ALL the credit for this beautiful product belongs to Guy alone. It shows off 13 of his very best Lamma wildlife shots, selected from tens of thousands he's taken over the last two years. Most of them have been featured before in our "Wildlife Photo of the Day" spot.

Guy will make the calendars available in some Lamma shops soon as well, I hope, trying to recoup his considerable design and printing costs. This is the only Lamma calendar we're aware of and it makes a great souvenir or present for your overseas friends and relatives!

Free Lamma Wildlife 2007 Calendar:

If you're a regular contributor or supporter of this website, for example having submitted something substantial to the Lamma-zine, you can get a free calendar, courtesy of Lamma-Gung. I've bought a few dozens from Guy as promotional gifts for this website. Just email me and I'll drop it off for you somewhere on YSW Main Street, if you live here. Local and overseas order will be happily mailed out in special cases, for example if you're really eager for this calendar, for example if you're a home-sick ex-Lammaite or an off-Lamma contributor.

You can also approach me on Main Street or the ferry, don't be shy! I'll be carrying a few calendars with me these days, handing them out to all of you website contributors, supporters and advertisers, everybody who's helped to make Lamma.com.hk into the successful community website it has become today.

P.S. Our Advertising Special Offers are still valid, but till next week only!

Get your ad on this home page, just one click from the #1 search result in Google for "Lamma Island" (#2 for "Lamma"; almost 3 million hits/month), for just $333/month! Free websites and advertorials for one-year commitments!

Where can you get this snowman and his (chocolate) snow roll for free in YSW?

For an answer click on the snowman above...

This seems to be the ONLY place in all of YSW to follow the Western tradition of handing out presents to their regular customers. This is just one of the many reasons why Ah-Can has such loyal customers and stable business, unlike most other Lamma restaurants. Smiling at every customer, having treats for their dogs and being nice to babies and pets are just a few more of the many reasons...

There's also another Christmas present for ALL of us living on Lamma, announced just in time for Christmas on Dec 21: an electricity tariff increase of 2.5%, effective Jan 1st. Electric Christmas lights will still twinkle at the old tariff till Dec 31.

This is the best Christmas wish I've received so far this year. Very Lamma, but not very HK at all. The Lamma-zine hopes that you've had a fantastic holiday so far?

A Merry & Meritorious Christmas full of Merriment & Merrymaking to all our readers!

It's 7:25pm right now and we’ve just finished our yearly, traditional turkey-on-a-rooftop lunch, after starting 5 hours ago…

Our fridge is full to the brim with leftovers which will last us at least till Chinese New Year. I lost the Eat-a-whole-turkey-leg Challenge to Lamma's famous STBWFLA (Jay Scott Kanes, see photo on the right for proof of his win), so I had to take ALL the leftovers home... I'll be stuck with all of them by myself, as Lamma-Por doesn't eat any leftovers. It's against her deepest spiritual principles as a Noleftovertarian, she tells me. But I always thought her to be a Catholic, when did she change her beliefs? Or is it a new diet?

Would you believe that the pretty lady below is an almost-Vegetarian and a regular of Life Café? Yes, it's true, despite this incriminating photo! She ordered another turkey the next day for another Eat-a-whole-turkey-leg Challenge with another set of friends! I admire her endurance! Let's nickname her Mrs. Flintstone from now on, creating another new Lamma Celebrity.

I put my ancient (university days) cooking skills to the test, preparing the roast potatoes and Brussels sprouts to go along with the 10+ pound roasted turkey from New Holiday Mood. After my cooking, our kitchen will never look the same and might need some major cleanup...

Falling into bed like a stone at 8pm, sleeping like a log for a full eleven hours, dreaming of a leftover breakfast... and lunch... and dinner... and breakfast... In my nightmare - induced by stuffing myself with stuffed turkey - there's an angry flock of turkeys chasing me through the hills above Yung Shue Wan...

But it was a great event, nonetheless, fine food and great company with great friends & family, all so much more important than money & business... Wishing you great business & loads of cash next year, nonetheless!

P.S. Jay Scott Kanes:

"Dear Lamma-Gung,

"Evidently, my younger brother Malcolm, who visited Lamma for Christmas in 2004 and ate a series of meals on our veranda, not only picked up the Lamma.com.hk habit, but he recognized some familiar elements in your Christmas Day story. You'll see his comments below.

"Lamma-Gung, your holiday reflections and sentiments (above) were very impressive. Would you mind if I reproduced a slightly edited version as a New Year message (guest editorial) in Cairns Media Magazine?"

Malcolm, Jay's brother:

"So now it's public record! My bro can suck a turkey leg clean in 8.5 seconds flat! Watching in horrid fascination, the onlookers murmured amongst themselves, "Sure bet the Prince Edward Island turkey population shot up after this guy moved to Hong Kong!" Other competitors could only stare in mid-bite, knowing that they'd been set up for slaughter. Kanes belched, glancing around for seconds.

"I always suspected that I came from a talented family, but - until now - hadn't been able to pinpoint the nature of our genius. Now I know. Must be some Tyrannosaurus Rex DNA somewhere in the bloodline, I reckon.

"You can just direct this note to your file for smart-ass comments from your little brother ... Don't mention it. After all, what are little brothers for? The food looked wonderful, by the way."

Dec 23:  'Lamma Version of Rudolph Reindeer –
                  Googie Woogie Version'

An interesting charity event is happening at The Island bar tonight. I'm not exactly sure what it will be, but I think it's a little Christmas concert with adult musicians and children singing carols. It's starting after 8pm tonight outside The Island Bar. After the concert and singing, it'll progress through Main Street in a Wandering Minstrels fashion, collecting donations for Operation Santa Claus. It was a really nice and cheerful event last year, see photo gallery. Let's hear from the organiser:

Rie Wada - Lamma X'mas Kids founder and organiser; mother of Louie the Violin Child Prodigy. [Editor: Many edits have been made to fix most typos and improve the legibility, but I've been trying not to deter from the spontaneity and originality of the submitted text, which is reflecting the fun and "spontaneity" of many Lamma events. Some funny names have intentionally not been corrected.]

The details: We'll have a different, great Xmas show, we will have a piano. Sorry, but it's electric, but it will be decorated by nice green and real Christmas leaves, etc. Matt / the nude will play, he does Elton John. Burney will set up the drums (Sam's brother). Anthony will play alto saxophone this time (first time). John Saeki will play acoustic guitar.  This band will play at The Island Bar (not on the stage this time). I have their PA, so it will be very specially set up near the door, all the acoustic sound go outside, they will play jazzy stuff, including some Christmas tunes.  Sam will show up later to play trumpet. Justin / the nude will also show up later. Hopefully, John Hutton and David will show up with Louie. Einslie will sing Lamma version of Rudolph reindeer / googie woogie version. I and Louie and Mr. Yamamoto (violin maker, also cellist) will play Bach's concerto for 2 violins, D minor, for the opening, followed by many many pieces of music. Dan the Buster will show up later to sing carols with the children.  Louie just completed her final concert at the French school on the day before yesterday, today we went to the mountain to get these pine trees leaves to decorate the piano. The show start from 8:00 PM. You can advertise if to any music lover or whoever can play instrumental can come to The Island Bar (sorry, no jumbe and drum, please, as we have enough percussionists). OK, sorry about late everything, I'm nearly dead end and I need my practice too...  For any info, call me at 2982 2436.  It's not only for adults, all kids and family will be welcome to sing and dance with the band at The Island Bar!  Sorry, I forgot, Alistair, he will show up with a special hat this year.   A bit PS: Alistair the Rudolph Reindeer will be Emcee for the show. Thanks!

P.S. II: There'll be more carol singing at The Island Bar tomorrow, Sunday, Christmas Eve, starting at 9:30pm, for adults only. "Dan the Buster" (see above) might make a repeat appearance at this yearly event.

Dec 22:  'Self Indulgence, Debauchery & Seafood'

Daniel MomentEye:  (Photo-montage below by Lamma-Gung)

Merry Christmas Everybody! The HK Copy News Christmas edition is now online: Issue 14, Dec 22 Christmas Special!!! Last minute gift ideas, self indulgence, debauchery and seafood - Hong Kong Copy News has it all. The studio will be closing for the holidays so there will be a slight interruption in transmission. Regularly scheduled service will resume on January 15th. In the meantime you might like to check out some other Christmas animation here: http://momenteye.cachefly.net/apvxmas.html Have fun! Daniel Clarke, Moment Productions, Ph: 91222849, www.MomentEye.com Alternate link Subscribe via iTunes

Dec 21:  Snake Banquet

in progress...

Dec 20:  Typically Lamma!

Zep, our Flora & Fauna forum moderator, writes:

"A fine way to end a cool sunny day - watch the sunset from the roof top through a beerglass darkly."

This image is so "Typically Lamma!", expressing in a single image so much of what living on Lamma is all about: Sitting on your rooftop, having a drink, watching the sunset, working from home, being at home at sunset time, relaxing, being creative by taking a great picture of it all...

I was also watching the very same sunset yesterday, sitting in Green Cottage - right above the beach of Yung Shue Wan - seeing a fire red disk merging into the hills of Lantau Island. But I was "working", talking to a potential new client to build an education-related website for him.

I almost shot this pretty sunset myself as well, always carrying my Nikon D80 and accessories almost every-where I go, always ready for an often fleeting, temporary photo opportunity. I took a few pictures of a just-married couple walking by instead.

For more Typically Lamma! pictures and to post your own, click here! Click photos below to enlarge.

Working Hard at the Ferry Pier (Bob Davis) - Police Box at Chinese New Year (Pit)

Lamma villager taking home the shopping (Anonymous_Guy) - Poster Box (L-G)

Dec 19:  'Journey to Find the Imperishable Energy'

港燈義工、保良局家舍小朋友與他們合力炮製的十二雪山合照。

Hongkong Electric volunteers and children in Po Leung Kuk pictured with the 12 “Baked Alaska” of Christmas made at the party.

 聖誕派對上，話劇「尋找能源之旅」再次呈現舞台，
提醒小朋友要珍惜能源、節約用電。

A Christmas party with green messages – Hongkong Electric stages the popular drama of "Journey to Find the Imperishable Energy" to remind Po Leung Kuk children on energy saving.

"The occasion also had educational side to it: the children were shown a popular drama 'Journey to Find the Imperishable Energy' produced especially for young people by Hongkong Electric to show them how to use electricity wisely."

Did YOU know that there is something called "Imperishable Energy"? According to a HK Electric's press release from yesterday they seem to have been searching for this mysterious new source of energy for a while now ("Journey to Find..."). It seems to be even better than "Renewable Energy" which they have been promoting so actively, especially to children and seniors through their many public relations events, like the one described above.

Is their logo on the right signifying this mysterious new form of energy? It could be far beyond the four basic forces of the universe discovered so far and described by scientists: weak and strong nuclear forces, electromechanical force and gravitational force. Is HK Electric suggesting a 5th basic force, the "Imperishable Energy"? This could be Nobel-Prize-worthy research, here on Lamma, inside our quite secretive Power Station? Wow!

Maybe this soon-to-be-discovered "Imperishable Energy" is the great hope and promise for the world's future energy needs and a solution for our air pollution problems: clean, free, powerful, imperishable! HK Electric should be highly commended and praised for their research efforts to find this mysterious new energy source! Let's hope that their 'Journey to Find the Imperishable Energy' will be highly successful very soon!

But this logo above looks a bit like a flaming Baked Alaska, doesn't it? You might know this popular dessert, an ice cream cake (see below). I wonder if they set it alight with liquor after the photo-taking, like their logo above, like a traditional flaming Baked Alaska? Is that flame burning fueled by Imperishable Energy, perhaps? Could flaming Baked Alaska become the future, inexhaustible, unlimited, imperishable source of Imperishable Energy? What a hot, cool and bold idea!

Imagine a Power Station filled with MILLIONS of flaming Baked Alaskas, replacing coal and gas and all other polluting energy sources! The mind boggles and falters at the sheer grandiosity and utter deliciousness of this idea! A little preview:

Dec 18:  What's For Breakfast?

Rushing to the ferry on an early Monday morning, Lamma's huge crowds of suburbanites are supporting numerous takeaways. These make almost all their weekday business during the morning rush hour, some even close down after the rush hour. So what are your current choices if you're running or biking to catch the ferry and only got half a minute to spare? Here they are, sorted by distance from the ferry pier:

Tropicana: So many choices and low prices from the "Happiest Man on Lamma"

Opposite Tropicana: Congee and fried noodles, Lamma-Por's choice

Chinese Bakery: Grab a bun and run to the ferry!

Dina's Diner: One (very popular) choice only: Bacon sandwich at $25

Sampan: Dim Sum, anyone?

Green Cottage: The leading breakfast takeaway place in Yung Shue Wan,
even though it's all vegetarian!

Village Bakery: Sandwiches, bakeries and coffee/tea with a smile.
Last takeaway stop before the ferry pier!

Plus one more, the raw-food brekkie choice for all of Lamma's ovo-lacto-vegans: Ah-Po selling her own home-grown organic (she claims) products besides Diesel's:

Dec 17:  More Advertising Special Offers

Click here for the same low-cost advertising on this website!

(Just hyping these special offers a bit more, for a second day in a row...
The future of this website depends on gathering enough advertisers for 2007!)

 

Offers only valid till end of Dec!

(maybe even a little bit longer, if you ask nicely...)
 

Dec 16:  Advertising Special Offers

Click here for amazing low-cost advertising on this website!

 

Offers only valid till end of Dec!
 

Dec 15:  Falafel Shoot-out!

What would you guess, how many places in Yung Shue Wan are offering Falafel on their menu? It's is a pretty good indicator of the very international and mult-cultural community living here now that there are actually FOUR places to offer Falafels in a former little Chinese fishing village! Let's show them all:

Falafels: on top: Best Kebab. Above: Bookworm Café - Deli Lamma - Green Cottage

Dec 14:  Bob Davis – Birthday Photographer

Famous professional photographer Bob Davis has always been a frequent and generous contributor of his photos to this website. He and his trusty Nikon seem to be regular guests at many of the major parties on and off Lamma. But recently he seems to have been focusing on birthday parties, especially the ones with big round numbers, 70 years, even 80 years! Have a look at three of his recent birthday photo shoots below.

If you need a professional to shoot your birthday party, then invite Bob and he might happily oblige, especially if there are a few free drinks involved. The older you are the better, he's still looking forward to shooting a 100^th birthday party!

Peter Berry of The Island Bar turned 70!  Such a popular guy,
making some of us younger guys really jealous!

A few more pictures from Peter's legendary parties, some of them quite historical, from the last millennium.  Click on photos to enlarge them.

Vernon Ram turned 80 recently, celebrating in the company of his zillions of friends in the FCC and The Island Bar.  This ex-SCMP editor, writer and author is still going to the gym several times a week and is fitter than many men half his age!

Congratulations, Vernon!  I'm sure we'll be celebrating your 90. and 100. birthdays on Lamma as well!  Click photos to enlarge.

Marilyn Hood's birthday - age unknown, of course.

Dec 13:  Living with Little Lovelies on Lamma

A. Contributor - New, first-time Lamma father.  (Photos by A. Contributor) This is the first story in a planned new series on parents and children on Lamma. I'd love to hear from new mothers, fathers and children growing up on Lamma!
A Short Year Ago... A short year ago, my wife would call me on my way home from work and ask me to pick up a bottle of wine. Now, possibly as a result of one of those bottles of wine, my wife calls me on my way home from work and asks me to pick up a bag of Pampers, some breast pads and a kilo of Dairy Milk. Yes, we have joined the legions of Lamma parents, after 4 years on the island. When on Lamma… you may say. It goes without saying that life has changed. Of course, it has and what a ridiculous question! Could people without children please stop asking us?! Do we ask you if you enjoyed your socially soaked Friday night? Yes, well, there is probably a good reason. While you were only 20 minutes in your bed, we got up already and had the opportunity to watch the sun rise over Mt. Stenhouse. If you listen to anyone who lives in Repulse Bay or on The Peak, us Lamma folks may as well be living in the tundra of Siberia. Often, I have to agree with them. It all started when the Good Lady was admitted to hospital a month early. After sitting at her bedside for what I thought was an appropriate amount of time, I took a ferry back, the 8:00pm I believe it was. Freedom beckoned and it was straight to Diesel’s for a spoon bender and a catch-up. 9:31 and said Good Lady calls me to tell me that labour was being forced upon her and I should make haste back to her bedside. At this stage, I realized that time nor baby waits for the Lamma ferry and I headed home to get a bag of essentials. Without going into details of why I had to kick my front door down because I left my keys exactly where I left them, next to a hospital bed, let’s skip to the part where I sprinted down the ferry pier at 10:29:58 telling the keeper of the gates that my wife was about to have a baby. So, finally on the ferry, sweating (it was July after all) and without said bag of essentials, but donning a fine headful of front door splinters, I was heading towards Central and closer to my wife who was barreling towards the birth of our firstborn. It is a thing to note that when a 100-kilo, sweaty gwailo jumps into a taxi at 11:05pm and shouts ‘Hospital - fai deee laaa!’, he does, indeed, give it fai-dee! And so, at 11:47, I was cutting through an umbilical cord while a nurse dabbed my brow and assured me everything would be fine. Mother and child too.
Many times since I have woken up wondering what I would have done had I received the ‘labour-call’ at 11:31pm, just missing the last ferry. My son would have been 8 hours old by the time I would see him. Our first foray home was relatively painless and the HKKF staff didn’t even try and make us take the slow ferry with our pram. 15 bags of gifts, large overnight bag, bunches of flowers, mother-in-law and, of course, a baby. Before you have a child, you usually think you have good hearing. After you have had a child, you realize you were kidding yourself. You may have been hearing things but you weren’t listening to how noisy they really are. 10 minutes after you have put a restless baby to sleep is when your hearing is at its most sensitive. I do not mean that you can better hear his little whimpers and gurgles and smile when he coos like a baby gosling. No, what I mean is that everything in the modern home makes a noise. When I say everything I want to clarify that nothing is excluded here – nothing! Let’s take the simple process of making cheese on toast. The fridge door creates a mini big-bang when it is opened, the bread is packed in a bag which could not make more noise if it were an Aberdeen fish wife (thanks, Village Bakery!) The cheese wrapper is made from recycled sonic booms and the toaster pops the toast like a starter’s gun. You would think that a butter tub would be silent - after all, butter is a lubricant - but no, it sounds like the four horsemen of the apocalypse cantering across a tin roof. If your progeny has managed to stay asleep through this, any parent knows what happens next. The second you sit down and are about to put the first mouthful of food on your fork - Waaaaahhhh! Hellfire and brimstone descend. This is not a problem particular to Lamma, though, parents around the world know this. Don’t get me wrong, I really do think that orphans in Nepal should have books, the elderly should be cared for in the community and the environment should be saved. I just think that some sort of money-raising campaign for ‘The Appropriation of Suspension for VVs’ would go much further to alleviate tension - especially in this little pocket of the world we call home. I appreciate my charity probably needs a snappier title, but I reckon there isn’t a parent reading this who would not like to see at least one VV disappear slowly over the horizon and sink into the murky depths of the South China Sea. Although I will give the VV drivers some credit for managing to be as predictable as they are - as soon as eyelids close, one will drive past in a flurry of flapping tailgates, slipping fan belt and creaking suspension - the rest of the day the drivers can be seen eating, drinking, smoking and snoozing.
Lamma is known as a haven for young families, a good place to bring up children and a close-knit community for new mothers. If this is the case why is there only one shop that sells nappies (in exchange for 50% more of your slowly disappearing cash than in town) and not a single one sells the 1,001 other things that your baby’s life is incomplete without. We do, however, have a Mother and Toddler clinic that is, by all accounts, a fine institution. Many visitors from the Dark Side come over with their children to visit us and nip in there for a quick going over and weigh-in. Since the arrival of Manchild Version 1.0, there has been an upsurge in the social goings-on of Monday afternoons at our place. It seems that it is imperative that a fresh quiche is baked on a Sunday night for the mothers’ group, while they discuss the colour of pooh and the consistency of vomit. This is another great thing about the island life, prams can be left at the bottom of stairwells, doors are thrown open to new mother groups and friendships are made in the important formative years of the ankle biters. There are a myriad of ways that could make our life easier, such as a few ramps, less dog logs on the paths, a smoother entry and exit to the ferries and a crèche, but we get by and our children will hopefully grow richer for the experience - I know I am. Now, if you’ll exc