GX GARNERINGS

(Ricoh GX200) This is supposedly what most people around the world will do on Saturday.

(GXR M-mount with Nokton 35mm F1.2 ASPHII) Kaifong is a colloquial way of saying neighbours in Cantonese.  It is a noun and as a general rule, Chinese nouns are neutral in countability, i.e. neither countable nor uncountable.  The countability is denoted by means of the article-signifiers. Kaifong literally means "street (kai)" and "lane (fong)", which gives some insight into the local view of who neighbours are: people living along the street and lane are neighbours, not just those living next door.  Some old neighbourhood associations are still known as kaifong associations.  When the British was on the helm in Hong Kong, kai fong is a commonly used "English" term to refer to the locals living in the community.

(GXR M-mount with Nokton 35mm F1.2 ASPH II) This is another old-style hand-written signboard which is rarely seen these days in Hong Kong.  Here it was seen in a makeshift neighbourhood feifaat po (for "po" see the post Potautsai ) in an alley.  Feifaat in Cantonese means hair-cutting.  So, fetfaat po is a hair-dresser shop.  There are lots of interesting stuff to see in an old fetfaat po, which was discussed here and here .  For the shot of today, one cultural thing worth mentioning is the second last item on the signboard. It says, Hair-cutting for Old Lady.  The special mention of Old Lady is probably because in the old days (the barber of this feifaat po is an old-timer), not every hair-dresser shop was catered for service for women.  The ladies had to trip to those which did serve them to have a hair cut.  Why old ladies?  That is easy.  The feifaat po is situated in a very old neighbourhood.

(GXR M-mount with Nokton 35mm F1.2 ASPH II) The display of roasted poultry meat in this fashion is a draw to tourists coming from the western countries.   In their hometowns, the unwritten rule is not to remind the patrons of where the meat comes from.  That is to say, one should not display the carcasses in the same way as when the original life forms were alive.   Here in the Chinese world, such a reminder is taken to prove that the meat is fresh enough to be consumed. In the shot, there are the roasted pork, pork in BBQ style, roasted geese, whole chicken marinated with soy sauce and whole soft boiled chicken.  Collectively, these are known as siu mei, with siu meaning grilled or roasted and mei meaning taste.    

(GXR M-mount with Nokton 35mm F1.2 ASPH II) This is a rarely seen signboard.  There is almost no where to see in Hong Kong.  It was sheer luck that the author came across one.  In the old Hong Kong, such domestically-made, hand-painted signboards were ubiquitous.   Those which used them were mostly small neighbourhood stores, or "potautsai" in Cantonese.  "Potau" means store while "tsai" is a prefix used to refer to smallness.  Nowadays, with the chain stores getting a lion's share of the market, the neighbourhood stores are close to distinction.

(GXR M-mount with Nokton 35mm F1.2 ASPH II) Sawlo is a derogatory term in Cantonese to mean stupid man. "Saw" is stupid while "lo" is man.  For that matter, you may say "sawpo" with "po" meaning woman. Although the term is derogatory, it is widely used planking with one's friends in a harmless fashion.  With reference to the shot of today, the locals usually use "sawlo" or "sawpo" to pass their judgment to such persons doing extraordinarily silly things to make a scene of themselves to achieve nothing, if there is anything to achieve at all. The man in the shot is protesting against something probably not understandable to all.

(Sony A55) This is Sunday.  Dream some dreams. Have a nice day.