河國榮, An Aussie in Hong Kong

I have just completed a 7-day diet, apparently designed to take 7 to 10 pounds off, although not permanently. No real diet is easy but this one wasn't bad. While it didn't take 7 pounds off, it did take a few off and I felt better overall. Unfortunately, today was the 7th day and being Sunday, I was unable to adhere to the diet while my wife and I had a day in the shopping centre.

The mainstay of the diet is a soup made up principally of tomatoes, cabbage, onion and celery. Whenever you're hungry, you eat and drink this soup. It's supposed to burn off the fat. I'm not sure whether it actually burns fat but I can assure you that you'll make frequent trips to the bathroom to release the extra urine.

While at the first reading for a new stage play I'm involved in (「香水」 "Perfume" by Springtime Productions to run from May 2 to 11, 2005), a funny incident happened.

I wanted a cup of coffee. While there was a drip coffee machine there, it was turned off and I don't like drip coffee anyway. I'd prefer either instant coffee or coffee made with cappuccino machines. There was a water dispenser but for really good coffee; even instant coffee; boiling water is the best way to go. So I filled a mug with hot water from the dispenser and then placed it in the microwave oven for just over a minute.

I have some friends who I have known for a long time. We met in Australia while attending the University of New South Wales, were together frequently for most of the time I have been in Hong Kong and still stay in touch since they moved back to Australia. We're good friends.

Occasionally, I help my friends out with their Apple Mac computer problems. I've been working with Apple Mac computers since the late 1980's and know enough to be helpful to my friends. So when my friends announced that they were coming to visit their families in Hong Kong, I quickly asked them about bringing me a coffee espresso maker.

Vinegar 醋. Everyone has vinegar in their kitchen. It's a common ingredient in many foods and I for one like it. Many Chinese people like it too, especially the red kind when it's added to 蝦餃 or 麵. Yum!

But vinegar has other uses that many people are not aware of.

Christmas began early for me.

A couple of weeks ago, I received a parcel from a friend in Canada. Actually, TVB called me to pick it up from the entrance office because the parcel was too big to put into my company locker. Inside the parcel, I found a pair of much-needed safety goggles; thank you; but that wasn't enough. The parcel also contained an insulated very-nice-to-hold coffee mug similar to the ones you'll see at Starbucks but made by a Canadian coffee chain. I've been using the cup a lot recently because the weather here in Hong Kong has become seriously chilly and my coffee cools far too quickly. If that wasn't enough, there were also a few packets and a can of high grade coffee. Unfortunately, I don't own a coffee grinder so grinding the coffee was something to ponder about.

Starbucks' stock (SBUX) is collapsing, and I think I know why. People are drinking less Starbucks.

I drank Starbucks coffee for many years, especially during my years of burnout depression from 2000 to 2003 when I spent just about every morning in the Telford Gardens Starbucks cafe drinking coffee and reading the 東方日報 or 蘋果日報 newspapers. Before Starbucks came on to the Hong Kong scene, it was almost impossible to sit down, relax and have a decent cup of coffee in a cafe. Rents were too high, and coffee was not a common beverage (we're not talking about Cantonese-style coffee sold in the Chinese cafes here), so coffee cafes were not a viable business. The only choices for coffee lovers were the expensive high society Cova cafes or the Japanese styled high-turnover Pokka restaurants; not a great choice.