Old-style Street-side Delicacies

(Camera: Sony a55)

Stir-fry chestnuts and baked sweet potatoes are two of the most loved old-style delicacies among the locals. Nowadays the sight of hawkers selling these choice foods is few and far between, let alone one who sell both. But look, here is one in Wai Chai near Li Chit Street (dubbed "Toys Street" for the numerous toys shops flanking the open market).

The gigantic wok and stirrer is iconic of a stir-fry-chestnut hawker. The wok is filled with dark grit, and sugar which prevents bursting of chestnut shells. A variant to do this cate is by roasting in the unmistakable metal roller. But the chestnuts will not be as crispy or sweet-smelling.

Now the surprise! Their well thought-out cart is actually designed as a mobile oven! It has a rarely seen drawer in which the raw sweet potatoes go. The baking starts when the drawer-tray is closed. Sure enough, this creative design is new.

When you have a chance in town, visit this couple in Wai Chai and try the steaming hot chestnuts and sweet potatoes combo -- the real delicacies in this freezing weather.

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A Real Hero

(Grip On Reality: This photo was taken on my way to work. I was walking past trucks parking on a cul-de-sac when the ropes caught my attention. The light was right, the colour was right and the criss-crossing pattern was perfect and I held up my GX200. People passing by checked me out and wondered what could be made out of such a boring scene. To me, the fun in photography is that the photographer makes something interesting out of what is not obvious to most at the scene. The ropes tied in knots somehow reminded people I know who are in the grip of the recession) You must have also known a friend or two, or even yourself, being baffled by the spiral downturn of the economy. Bank went bankrupt and the rich was faced with a shrinking wealth. A friend of mine has just had his salary cut by over 10% and some of his colleagues started to be shed. But, wait. Was this done really for the sake of continuing the business? Or is there a factor or greed in it? I wonder whether the

New Low Prices

The window shopping some hours ago has almost provoked my AgIDS illness. Just in case you’re in Hong Kong or are coming here, and have the money to burn (All in HK$/ body only): GX200 = $3,280 GRD2 = $3,380 LX3 = $3,180 G10 = $3,280 Prices are available form a gear shop on the 1st floor of the Mongkok Computer Centre. Besides these new low prices, I found that Wing Shing Photo (55-57Sai Yeung Choi St., MK Tel: 2396 6886/ 91-95 Fa Yuen St., MK Tel: 2396 6885) is offering a Sony A700 + Carl Zeiss Lens package for HK$9,980 (hopefully, a bargain will make it some hundreds cheaper).

Eye Contact

(Leica D-lux 5) The digital era may make it easier to end up with fave shots. Even lousy photos may be turned likable after a few clicks in the post-processing workflow. But if digital advancement or amendments have any bearing on the cultivation of personal style, no photographers will need to discover his or her own photographer’s eye. Undoutedly, this is out of the question. Only with a trained photographer’s eye can we give a thinking gaze and capture an eternal moment, in our unique style. Style is the soul of a great photo. A few posts have been written in GXG to touch on the topic of photographer’s eye. Instead of finding an answer, which would require academic discussions, the posts are intended to give my general reflections and spark interests in moving towards further exploration of the topic. The posts can be viewed after the links: 1) Photographer's Eye: Storytelling 2) Photographer's Eye: Little Show of Observing 3) Photographer's Eye: Sight-Worthy 4

GX GARNERINGS

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