#610 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Friends and Family, Serendipity, Travels1 Comment

‘A city can be many things, it’s people and their stories, urban experiences and how it is represented and seen by others. A place is made up of these qualities and impressions and is larger than the sum of its parts.’

This was the starting point, or inspiration for people leaving an exhibition about architecture and art in Hong Kong in the seventies and eighties. Members of the public were encouraged to use words or pictures to explain their relationship with Hong Kong, and then create a wall of art. It also seemed, to me, a good way to start a blog.

My starting point for Hong Kong was always Victoria Harbour, Chinese Lanterns and The Peak. When I was young I had an Uncle who travelled. Occasionally he would come home with gifts. Notably a night light featuring Victoria Harbour in the 1960’s. 10 years ago when I first travelled here Victoria Harbour was as exciting in real life as it was when I was 5 and the lights on the Pearl River were represented by pinholes in a lampshade.

Victoria Harbour May 2023

Chinese Lanterns because my jewellery box featured a large Pagoda with many doors or lids that had little lanterns as knobs.

The Peak was harder to replicate from my childhood memory. My travelling Uncle gazed wistfully out of a hilltop rainforest, in the black and white photos we had in our house, to remind us of his distant existence on The Peak. I have been to the Peak many times in the past 10 years and failed to quite replicate that feeling. But global warming has changed the weather for May and we found a trail we had not done before, along the Lugard Road. The Rainforest and the rain were suddenly recreated.

Hannah’s story begins with her birth and her parents, who had lived in Hong Kong and Asia for 16 years. Not for them the Peak and its aspirational dwellings but the hourly burly of Sham Shui Po.

And now, for the past 10 years Hong Kong has become the home of our family.

We come here, when there is not a global pandemic as often as we can.

Which ties this blog up as neatly as this aerial root in the Rainforest.

Who could guess how long ago someone tied this root in a knot. Many years ago when it was soft and pliable. Now it is rock hard and helps to hold a high tree on the rocky edge of a precipice.

#609 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Home2 Comments

Ten, tired, travelling toes, took a trip to Shueng Wan for some pampering. They went in slightly blistered and care worn and emerged one hour later rather glossier than I had anticipated. My toes are brilliantly embellished with chrome! Like millionaire supercars in London during the summer. Despite being decidedly glam they still have to carry me on my travels. Although last night they went to a glam toe appropriate setting. Hutong, Hong Kong for a belated Mothers Day meal.

A postprandial walk by the Walk of Stars gave the toes their final outing of the day.

Chrome shins, no Chrome toes

#608 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Home Towns, SerendipityLeave a comment

And so we are in Hong Kong and wall art presents us with two quotes. One, possibly more useful than the other. The one above is the more useful. Below is one that is not quite so immediately thought provoking.

Beyond quotes we plunged immediately into authentic Hong Kong life. Authentic because we were in Sham Shui Po, Hannahs’s birthplace, authentic because much of the architecture is protected and the area is unlikely to become over-developed, and authentic in an @theoldmortuary way because it is the home of independent and intriguing coffee shops.

Colour Brown, Sham Shui Po

Even Tatler talks about Sham Shui Po and that’s fairly rare for genuinely working-class areas.

https://www.tatlerasia.com/dining/food/coffee-shop-cafe-sham-shui-po

Accompanying us on our daytime adventure were our growing family, one of whom danced with delight last night when we touched down at Hong Kong airport just after 7:30.

There is also the promise of a trip to an exhibition by Yayoi Kusama. Expect dots later in the week.

#607 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity, Travels1 Comment
Bangkok rust

Fit to burst, the image above was a rusty post box, not my actual flesh.It exactly replicates how I began to feel after a 16 dish tasting tour of the oldest land market in Bangkok. Nang Loeng Market. Another day of being overwhelmed in Bangkok and still avoiding the tourist traps. 42 degrees (feels like 50) is, possibly, not the best temperature for gastronomic excess.

Another downer for Gastronomic failure is my sensitivity to shellfish, something I have loved since childhood when my grandparents pub was visited on a Friday by a local fishmonger with fresh cockles, mussels and whelks. 30 odd years of shellfish love cascaded from me after a dodgy Oyster in Plymouth. There had been an earlier 6 month sensitivity in my twenties. The trouble is I love seafood. I continue to be a seafood lover with some degree of caution.

Our first dish, of the 16 was mussels.

A moments dilemma, these were cooked by the King of Thailand’s seafood chef. It would have been rude not to, and no ill effects were suffered. 16 dishes later there was definitely a sense of gastric disquiet caused by gluttony and not a seafood toxin.

The Michelin Guide of Thailand.

The other 14 courses will get their moment in the blog but today just 1 and 2.

Sticky rice with Taro stuffing.

#606 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, Serendipity2 Comments
Yayoi Kusami, Infinity- Nets 2021

Nothing is quite as it seems in Bangkok on a Public holiday weekend. With the King himself elsewhere. The city is decorated for a party but there are no additional public celebrations. People do indeed seem to be taking a break and the city seems quieter than we imagined, Businesses and Temples are closing earlier.

The Thai King and Queen are in London this weekend.

Our evening explorations are proving to be unpredictable. Daytime yesterday we achieved what we set out to do and I thought I knew what this blog was going to be about. Based as it is on a daytime event. Our day was planned to be spent at Moca, The Museum of Contemporary Art which it was. And then I was going to write about it. But one of Asias largest collections of Contemporary art blew my mind a bit and I feel lost as to where to start. So much so that we are off to a different art gallery today to try and get a bit of context and maybe distil  my thoughts. Even my trusty phone camera was baffled. The top picture is by Yayoi Kusami. Not her traditional Polka dots, this 2021 painting is still part of her Infinity Nets series. The painting is a yellow and black image displayed on a lime green wall. Nothing I did could replicate the acidity of the combination. A fine metaphor for the rest of our visit really. So this blog is not going to be about the art we saw but more about how we felt. I am going to share two proper writers reviews of this collection of contemporary art because my inane witterings will not do it justice.

https://www.cntraveler.com/activities/bangkok/museum-of-contemporary-art-moca-bangkok

https://sawasdee.thaiairways.com/love-art-heres-a-handy-guide-to-the-moca-bangkok/

Please read them, they really will better prepare you for my over-sharing of our responses.

The first one I need to get off my chest, pun intended, is that I was exhausted by perfect perky breasts and smooth, mostly hairless bodies. Traditional and cultural stories, visually explored even in contemporary art seemed very much aimed at the ‘ male gaze’ market.

Goddess of Earth,  Chatawan Rodklongtan

Goddesses are perhaps excused perfection but goodness me it got exhausting.

Some images were, to me a little troubling. One, certainly traditional in subject matter, represented young girls, just at pre-, puberty preparing for traditional Thai dancing. What was unsettling to my Western eyes was that so many of them needed to be topless and also, due to the skill of the artist, seem to lock eyes with the viewer.

Much more to my taste was the one below that represented more natural older women.

Satan’s Daughter no.1 Surathin Tatana
Detail, flipped.

It is going to take me and google quite some time to research the meaning of this in Buddhism but these are just my early response.

Sundays seem to be the day instagrammers are about. There were several groups of people, one at least with a professional photographer, anxious not to see the art but to ‘be seen’ with the art.

Not that I am immune to the lure of the ‘gram’.

Is this not the most beautiful Lemon Meringue Pie ever?

I have no shame in sharing that it appears on my Instagram grid.

So much more art to discuss, so little time. Arty witterings for many future blogs.

#605 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn TravelsLeave a comment

It was never our plan to escape one Coronation to leap headlong into another country’s Coronation celebrations. And yet that is what we have done and there are similarities. Today in Britain, Camilla a former Royal Mistress was crowned Queen. Here in Bangkok there are a confusing number of women on the celebratory arches built over busy roads.

Royal Purple was a theme in both capital cities.

While this 4 day public holiday in Thailand is celebrating a past Coronation, the city has plenty of extra bling to enhance our visit. We also stumbled upon a Budha wholesale store. More bling.

Trying desperately to stick to the best advice on Jetlag. We adopted the timing of Thailand the minute we arrived. As we faltered in the afternoon we swam, a lot, and then watched the British Coronation live on BBC News channel. Then set off on a random street walk to get supper and found a street food store that first opened in 1939.

https://thipsamai.com/

A day well filled, 8,000 steps and two flights. Time for bed.

#604 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Travels1 Comment

Here we are in a quiet backwater of a city celebrating Coronation Day. There are flags of red, white and blue and brilliant yellow and white drapes adorning important buildings. Coronation Day/ Weekend is held in Bangkok every year to celebrate the coronation of their King in May 2016.

This year the King has taken a trip to London so is missing his own party. We quietly enjoyed pancake rolls and fried noodles after a lengthy journey to get here.

#603 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity, Travels1 Comment

Giddy times. Our passports are out and about. Last night for the first time we needed photo ID to vote.

Voting in the romantically named, St Peter and The Waterfront Ward

Today we are off, leaving Britain before the big party. Nothing says peak celebratory cuisine any more succinctly than a motorway services stop.

Not that I am completely turning away from Royalty. My travel books are accidentally aligned to the theme of the weekend

This one should be finished in the airport and left for a different life with someone else.

And then out of the blue this ebook dropped onto my virtual library shelf last night, after a considerable time on  a virtual book waiting list.

I am about a chapter in, so for now, I have no strong sense of what I am getting into. Queenie, the actual paperback, is a really good read. Whoever picks it up will get a treat. It is a travelling book. I picked it up on International Womens’ Day at a glorious gathering of interesting women, and one man, who shared stories, laughter, tears, cake and books. The end of a week, tomorrow will be quite a different blog.

#602 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn abstract photography, Serendipity, WordsLeave a comment

We had a little lunchtime trip to Mount Edgecumbe on Wednesday. A day off from house moving stuff, exhibition stuff and tennis club stuff. The weather around the Wisteria was deceptive. We were blown about when we later walked on the parkland but none of that is the subject of this blog.

The glorious Wisteria sent me searching in my photo archive for a series of photographs of a special Wisteria spider that I photographed on my own isteria some years ago. My apologies to spider haters but I was really thrilled to get a photo of the spider actually making the silk for her web.

This should have been the focus for the blog, but while searching for the spider I found a cat.

I have been looking for this image in my archive for years and never been able to find it, despite using all the right key words. I took this picture a few years ago in Brixton Market and couldn’t believe my luck in getting such a brilliant piece of visual wordplay. No words can express how happy I am to have finally found this picture again.

I knew this photo had to be somewhere, I am so very pleased to have located it again. Suddenly Thursday has been gingered up!

#601 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn pondering, SerendipityLeave a comment

A spring morning and the fish are swimming, this is always a good sign to wake up to. Sunshine streaming in through the blind and creating sharp fish shadows. This last week has been busy, but I am winning the tasks v time battle. Some paintings sold at the weekend which is always worth a skip and a jump.

At the risk of repeating myself I also took a photograph yesterday that makes me really happy.

If I were the sort of person to ever go anywhere posh enough to wear an outrageous hat, then this image might be my inspiration. As it is this photograph may end up as one of my art greetings cards later in the year. After a week of toil, today, Wednesday is almost a day of rest.

My fingernails are no longer ravaged by packing and unpacking, decorating, or framing art and took themselves off to a nail bar yesterday. There is a huge flaw in my rest plan though. There has been a large amount of seagull poo deposited on my car. Neighbours had suffered a similar fate over the weekend but we had been lucky, not so yesterday. There are parts of my red car that would be camouflaged and easily hidden in Antarctica. Nobody needs a photograph of that. So here we are, ‘hump’ day, enjoy the slide towards Friday.