Last photos…Chi Lin Nunnery Gardens and Breakfast at the Peninsula Hotel

 We had a superb sight seeing day today which started with breakfast at the wonderful colonial hotel build in the 1860’s for all those Scottish and English expat ladies and military men. They could take tiffin, lunch, afternoon tea and go to a dinner dance in these hallowed halls. It is the Raffles of Singapore, these days with a price tag to match, though I am fairly sure it was more of a social club and necessary place to coffee and talk for the more isolated of the Empire builders of the time.

We were served as if we were in fact ‘special’, but so was everyone ! We had fantastic coffee, (thank the Lord, the coffee at my lovely Luk Kwok tastes as if it has been made with chicken peas, ground by a cement mixer and finally laced with gravy browning, ie it is terrible, so mostly we Brits have the tea at breakfast.) Coffee was followed by a silver platter of muffins and croissants, then our chosen hot course, scrambled eggs with with butter and cream and honey roast ham then the piece de resistance, French toast with berries and lemon cream and topped with raw lychee honey, if you were called Ann, or Waffles with the same if your name was Janet ! Oh my what a miraculous feast.

To top off our visit we were lucky enough to see a wedding party in tradition dress. They looked like multi coloured butterflies, in traditional golds, reds and greens, you can see the pictures below. The rest of the party, ie ushers and bridesmaids were clad in completely Western suits and dresses which would grace St Paul’s or Saltburn Parish Church !

After feeling so sated, if we did not actually make a move we may have grown roots to the comfortable arm chairs, we asked the booted and hatted doormen to get us a taxi for the Chi Lin Nunnery and Nan Lian Gardens and we were discreetly whisked away to paradise in the urban jungle where we wiled away a couple of hours in peace and serenity. Janet was in seventh gardeners heaven. I just imbibed the unfailing peace.

The perfection of this place is hard to describe, I have a few photos but imagine perfection in leaves, blossoms and all things green and you just about have it.

We went to the Teahouse and had a ritual tea ceremony with a young lady who performed it for us and was quietly passionate about China Tea as well as the full ritual. It was just such a peaceful and time elongating thing to do. No rush, only endless tiny cups of mild but tasty tea which refreshed and delighted. 

A taxi had to be got back to dear old Luk Kwok and we retired to our rooms. By now, as you can imagine I am a bit of a rung out rag, so I lay on the bed and promptly fell deeply asleep, legs elevated to stop the baby balloon ankles getting worse, whilst intrepid Janet went out and had a walk to the harbour once more, she has got the hang of HK very quickly. It is a totally safe, friendly and much engaging place, with all its back street bad smells, luxurious watering holes, fantastically iconic architecture of olden times and modern times, and public transport, which works like a gold plated very well oiled with virgin olive oil wheel and of course, military punctuality. 

We need to pack in the morning but Janet’s first visit to Stanley Market on the roller coaster bus is tomorrow’s outing. We check out at 12, leave our luggage with Justin the concierge treasure, then off to the final ‘shop’. My suitcase will be bulging, but at least all the food is now gone, let’s hope the space equates.

So signing off now. Amazing music still in my ears, wonderful stewards thanked and thanked again, all that remains is to come home and remember.

 

The wedding party, mother holds the parasol. In China red is the lucky colour !

My French toast with fresh figs, raspberries, and mint.

The Lobby of the Peninsula Hotel.

The Golden Gate entrance to the Nan Lian Gardens

Wild berry tea and utensils

Waiting for the ceremony to begin.

A garden view, but difficult to capture the serenity.

Carp in the lake the size of small and rather well fed whales.

Some sight seeing photos……

The top of the Peak.

Iconic view of Hong Kong on a beautiful day !

The lion Pichu. The open mouth means money is coming in, so it always faces an entrance. Every home should have one !

St John’s Cathedral. 

Victorian amongst the sky scrapers !

My recital in 1987 was just at the opening to the alter  

Last nights grand buffet menu

 

Almost at the finishing post……and The Hong Kong Club dinner !

 Sorry I missed yesterday, just a very very long day and then my colleague Ben was taking myself and Janet to the Hong Kong Club, an institution from earlier times in a colonial HK. Now it is quite different, it has lady members and guests are allowed, but it still manages to retain some of the gentility of those early days…..the good parts ! No mobile phones, no canned or background music and a dress code of Smart, Ties and no trainers ! I very much approved of those rules, it was not noisy and the service was impeccable ! Ben is a member of a London club and has a reciprocal membership of overseas equivalents. 

We went at 6pm to one of the bars,  of the leather clad chair variety, and had aperitifs. Thing was……I had not eaten at all since my small packed lunch at 12.30 and was misguidedly persuaded to have a G&T. It took three glasses of sparkling water and a Diet Coke for me to hoik myself out of a chair and walk in a straight line. I haven’t felt that squiffy since I was about 19, it was a long forgotten experience which winged its way back to my wibbly wobbly legs and brain at about 137mph. I don’t think Janet or Ben were aware quite how ‘happy’ I was. 

At 7.30 we went into the Jackson Room, no idea why it is called that……too foggy to ask at that point. It was a splendid room with the most magnificent flower arrangement of pale hydrangeas and cherry blossom, and was a centre piece the size of Gisborough Hall. Attentive waiters and a maitre de with the exquisite manners of the Queen Mother without the hat, homed in discreetly and we were off. 

I had Onion Soup Colonial, just superb, followed by a large Wiener Schnitzel, which proved almost impossible for the Cantonese waiter to pronounce, (though he valiantly tried to say it without spitting) then an exquisite bowl of fresh berries and cream, this could also have been topped with icing sugar from a porcelain bowl, but I declined ! By this time my glucose numbers were pinging all the time so I turned my watch off, no point in spoiling the occasion with a bout of ‘spike depression’ ! This was a one off evening, well to be honest I have had a few ‘one offs’ but who is counting apart from my bloody arm bandit. 

It was such a lovely, and special evening, Janet had Asparagus Veloute, then Suckling Pig, then the harmless berries and cream, and Ben had an exotic Indian starter, Calves Liver and compote, then more alcohol rather than dull his palate with dessert ! Ha Ha !

Like wounded and overfed rhinos we struggled to get a taxi home, but eventually a red cabbed saviour  hove into sight and we managed to get in, sit down and not snore for the whole10 minute journey back.  Bravo us ! Apart from Ben pressing the lift button I have no further memories after that.  It was an unusually refined and sated oblivion after too much food, too much alcohol and simply too much…..full stop. 

Marvellous.

I have said nothing about my work day because it was not memorable, and I think it is a hazy mist of fairies and Schubert, probably at the same time. The same goes for today. 

I skipped breakfast as I was still suffering from a surfeit of magnificent food at 7am this morning and breakfast seemed superfluous to requirements ! Today it was my final solo class sessions and guess what….fairies and Schubert AGAIN ! 

In fairness, I did hear some very fine singing this afternoon. Some students from the equivalent of the Junior RAM from the Performing Arts School sang and quite blew me away. Real young talent and would have graced the hallowed halls of the RAM any day of the week ! It was a very good way to finish my solo adjudications and I told them so !

Only a class of superb SSA vocal ensembles tomorrow morning and yours truly is finished and can let my poor brain and right hand finally relax. I am on my 8th pen now. I m not altogether sure that pens have the stamina they used to have, but then, neither do I !

Next blog will include some sight seeing…….Ah…..but first, sleeeeeeep.

(All photos illegal, no permission given. Oops)

Hong Kong Club interior

Interior 2

Interior 3

Exterior, and the club is the entire building !

Next door, the Old Law Court

Central province.

I fancy the 1860’s barristers sat on those balconies with a Gin Sling in hand many times !

Great Day ! In lots of ways !

 Today was very special. I had a morning of special needs choirs and instrumental groups. It was wonderful, and I am hard pushed to find the words to describe it.

Firstly an under 19 years school choir of children with moderate learning difficulties stood up and sang Santa Lucia, in Italian !! I was blown away, they had memorised it and they sang as well in tune as many a soloist/choir  I have adjudicated or taught in my life ! The next school group was a choir of Downs Syndrome boys and girls of around 12-18 years old, who sang two Cantonese songs with as much fun and riotous actions as was possible to squeeze into the 10 minute time limit ! They sang, they clapped, and they whooped and stamped their feet in time to the rhythmical beat of the songs……pp flew out of the window along with p, mp and f ! They were in joyful yippee mode which was as infectious as it was decibel heavy !

This was followed by a 13 and under choir of  severely handicapped children who just melted my heart. Many suffered from Dwarfism, others had difficult mobility issues, but oh my Lord they gave it their all and their second song was so full of the most complicated movements I gave them the Gold Award on the spot, for these actions as well as their singing. 

It was a tour de force of happiness, gay abandon and utter unalloyed joy. This is what music is really about. Fiddle faddleing around with support, legato line and explosive consonants pales into insignificance when faced with the reality of music healing the depths of the soul.

I came away uplifted by so many aspects of the morning, however tired I am by this stage, this put my perspective back on track and I smiled all the way home in the cab. I think the driver thought either I was drunk in the middle of the day, or high on something elderly ladies should not know about ! I was high on my drug of choice injection which these children had given me, and all was well with the world.

I rushed out of the hall, grabbed a cab and was whisked back to collect Janet from the hotel and after a brief sojourn in McDonalds ( of all places, but no time for ought else !) we cabbed again and proceeded to the Open Vocal Finals Competition. As I would have expected of these polite and welcoming people, Janet was brought into the festival fold and invited to sit with the committee to enjoy the afternoon.

We heard four finals, and these included the Chinese classes, Gulp. Ben and I were expected to judge all the singing from these 16 singers from all the differing genres. Cantonese is non existent in our world, but we were given translations of each song along with an idea of style from our colleague Steven who is Hong Kong/American so could be trusted on the language front !

In the end and like most ‘finals’ the winner almost always stands out like a beautiful sore thumb, and we three did not disagree on any result. The Chinese Song was quite challenging for us Brits, but in the end, singing is singing, and out of tune or harsh toned singing crosses all barriers and it worked out well. In the prescribed categories 2 winners came from Singing in a Foreign Language classes and two from Traditional Chinese Song.

It wasn’t even a fix ! 

The sun was shining, the sky was still blue and it was pleasantly warm today. After all the adjudication was done a cab back to the hotel seemed the best, and easiest on the feet solution, the boys initially opted to come back with we ladies, then after some male brain consideration, changed their minds and said they would walk back….via a few little wine bistros and the odd pub watering hole I’ll be bound !

Boys will be boys !

Janet and I lolled on comfortable sofas and had tea and a cake at the hotel which was just what the doctor ordered, then I guided her to the Star Ferry Pier at Wan Chai and we crossed the Victoria harbour to Hong Kong mainland. The sun was setting as we sailed for the fifteen minute journey and served as a gloriously fitting end to my treasured day.

( Permission given for all photos !)

Italian Stars !

Under 13 movers and shakers !

We love singing !

Proof of being in Hong Kong !

Sailing back home in a blaze of coloured light.

The iconic Hong Kong skyline !

The furthest venue from the known world, and Janet arrives !

 Janet has arrived safe and sound and almost awake ! We have had some dinner in a lovely Italian eatery, after which I gave her a complimentary conducted tour of USelect and Marks and Sparks so she has stocked up on some fridge basics and has, I imagine, fallen comatose into her bed. The jet lag is cruel and the time difference barbaric, but after a good long sleep I suspect she will be ready for tomorrow afternoon and the vocal finals ! 

Sods Law would have it that the day she was arriving I was posted to the Khyber Pass of Hong Kong. Yuen Long is about seven feet from China, a very long £40 each way taxi drive from the civilised world of Gloucester Road. We are in the Chinese Merchants Association Primary School, in a hall with a large pole for raising a flag…….make of that what you will. I arrived early as the friendly concierge chaps ( mostly young and handsome I might add) thought the traffic may be frightful at rush hour, so I was ensconced in the back of a modern family sized cab at 7.50am and rattled around in it for about an hour. Leaving the known world behind, though in fairness I have been quite a few times before, so largely knew what to expect, is never nice in a very alien place. I arrived at the school gates and stood for around 20 minutes during which time I was stared at with some suspicion by passers by. It was only after said 20 minutes I thought about loiterers outside a school playground !! Eek, thought I and moved swiftly on to a place where I couldn’t actually see the playing children. Jail time averted I hoped !

We had an indifferent 56 Molly Carew’s not catchy little fairy number, with lots of pianists accompanying as if they were Liberace on a more flamboyant day. Listening to some of the tiny 13 year old voices was like watching a mime show, I could barely hear a quaver being sung ! The best accompanist I heard all morning was a diminutive little boy of about 10 who played like an angel and almost breathed with the singer. I so wanted to give her the prize, but sense prevailed and she got a third place. He came to have his photo taken with me after the competition was all done and I told him how beautifully he had played for his partner. He twinkled a little smile at me and bowed….he walked  away with the hint of a teeny tiny  swagger, and well deserved it was indeed. 

When I got home I met with Janet who was looking tired and hungry so we had the obligatory cup of builders tea, and none of this jasmine or gladiolus petal stuff which is undoubtedly full of healthy antioxidants and hair growth hormones, but unfortunately tastes like five year old compost. We then left for the very lovely Italian restaurant near the Star Ferry where we enjoyed a chicken salad (me) and a Fettuccini San Giovanna ( Janet) ! It was altogether delicious and Janet looked all the better for tasty  sustenance as we arrived back at the hotel.

I have a very different morning tomorrow- the Special Needs Choirs classes and an Instrumental group as well !! It will be fun, laughter and much riotous goings on I think. Then I am coming back to the hotel to collect Janet for the Open Vocal Barbara Fei Championship Finals. I met this lady the first year I came to the festival, she was then a grand doyenne of Hong Kong opera society and a much respected and revered lady. She was also, like a lot of small singing teacher ladies of a certain age, quite scary. Naming no names !

School Hall with flag pole ?

The refreshment table, see Yorkshire Tea ! The difference being this was Yorkshire Tea which was supposed to taste like tea and a biscuit.

It didn’t. 

It made my sugars rise sharply, still you only live once…..

The posh hotel near the Italian.

Hope Renaissance can supply me with the food offerings on show ! 

Ha Ha !

Fab day of singing!

 Well, this was a whole new level of singing today ! I was expecting another raggedy bouquet of Everywhere I Look, not smelling terribly sweet, but no, apart from one or two out of 47 I heard some fantastic voices, great technique and lots of happy faces ! I was hard pushed to split three young ladies who really did sing like extremely talented Junior RAM students, wonderful diction, great tuning and a bit of X factor. This made the morning go with a real swing ! Once again there were a couple of English native speakers but they did not win this time, two girls from the renowned Diocesan Girls School sang so beautifully I found it hard to write. Given the material they have, ie words that make Enid Blyton sound like Virginia Woolf, they did magnificently ! 

I wandered about at lunch time trying to buy a decent coffee to no avail ! I ended up in a 7/11 and a very indifferent capuccino, but it hit the caffeine spot, which was all that was required ! I was on the 19th floor of a large Congregational church which looked like an office block in Belgravia or Westminster ! They clearly have some rich congregations or associations here to finance such a mammoth building. Everyone had told me that on the said 19th floor you would see workmen looking like ants scurrying about on the ground. I don’t know quite why they did look so small because I am on the 22nd floor in the hotel and it doesn’t seem nearly so far off the ground ?! Maybe I am losing my sense of spacial awareness, if indeed I ever had any ! Lefts and rights flummox me !

I ate my lunch in the wonderfully song free and isolated hall hoping I didn’t get caught…..the sign says ‘No Foods Or Drinks Here’ in ominous loud capitals, and a threat of a fine. I concealed my peanut butter sandwich, cherry tomatoes, strawberries and slightly mangled and  vaguely warm babybel cheese under my napkin. Subterfuge is not my strength really and I would have fooled no one except a blind donkey with dementia. Coffee done my assistant Betsy came back and we started the afternoon session. She is of the dragon school and even the parents sit up to attention ! No crowd control issues here !

I had the only Open oratorio class in the festival this afternoon and WOW, it was brilliant. Only 9 competitors but what quality. If you remember back on my first day I had the Open Art Song class which was, to put it bluntly a vocal car crash, well, a  pile up of gargantuan proportions. This was a whole different ballgame. 

We had an equal number of girls and boys and a fair spread of arias from My Heart ever Faithful, Rejoice Greatly, Mozart’s Alleluia and such a fine But Who May Abide sung by a diminutive alto with such style and fast runs it was a very safe tour de force. Then with the boys we had If With All Your Hearts from Elijah, Lord God of Abraham from Elijah and a Bach Christmas Oratorio aria to die for. Actually the Bach won and it was the same young man who won the Open Baritone party which I enjoyed so much ! Oh to hear a class of this quality in the U.K. of 16-20 year olds. Truly fantastic.

Betsy propelled me like a whirling dervish to the MTR to get the train home. I came by taxi as I had never been to the venue before, but I am going back twice more I think, so now I can do the public transport thing, which always makes me feel proud of myself in a sad kind of way ! These tiny, retired Hong Kong ladies move like the wind, walk like an Olympic racer and must think I am a lumbering elephant in a world of gazelles. Most often that is what I feel like, without the cuteness of an elephant !!

On my walk back to the hotel I took a picture of what passes for scaffolding here. It is all made of bamboo strung together with raffia, or in the really posh construction areas, with plastic garden ties. Not entirely sure how ‘elf and safety’ would cope with it, apoplexy and therapy I imagine. Bring it on …….!

Janet is just arriving at Newcastle Airport as I write. I have ordered her a taxi, with man and sign, at HK Airport, well our concierge man Justin has done the honours. He is just divine, so insistent upon things being just so, checks everything 6 times, and then checks again. Every home/hotel should have a Justin ! My colleague Ben has booked the three of us to have dinner and aperitifs at the Hong Kong Club on Thursday evening…..dress up and look like you belong I reckon. Good job you made me buy some new outfits, fit for such elevated institutions. He likes his drink so pre dinner aperitifs were an essential part of the evening ! Dress code says Suits, Evening wear, no white soled shoes ?!? Is that trainers then ? Ben is a member of a club in the uk and this is a reciprocal arrangement abroad. Going up in the world, will report on that on Friday. 

See the bamboo scaffolding ! 

Seems to hold up just fine !

Justin insisted I photograph and send this to Janet with

direct line to the concierge desk !

Sweet man !

A short one, it’s a day off !

 I woke late today, missed breakfast and had a leisurely few hours in my room before deciding it had to be a domestic day ! I needed fresh food so it was back to USelect for salad stuff, milk and some squirty cream !! My M&S cream was long gone so as this was President squirty cream, I thought it would probably pass muster. 

I was walking further along Lockhart Rd, just behind the hotel when I spied an amazing florist shop. I took a couple of photos outside but then saw the most amazing orchids inside. I ventured in to ask if I could use my camera only to be met by a very fat and very elderly Corgi that waddled my way with such a smile on its face my heart melted. No human had appeared by this point…..I petted said little fat rascal and spoke to it, it clearly understood everything I said so it was most definitely tri lingual  - English, Cantonese and Woof. After the meet and greet he shuffled back behind stage so to speak and left me still humanless in the shop. I took my photos and left. 

After shopping I went to the tiniest laundry you have ever seen ! It was the size of my kitchen including the washer and dryer. The tiny lady who I think was probably 107, put my bag on a scale, the sort with steel weights and promptly charged me $60 about £5 and worth every cent ! Back to the hotel to sort out the fridge which is quite small but jigsaw puzzle packed with fresh food……of course every time I go in it for something almost everything falls out, I do a little dance of crossness and put it all back in. 

I then decided to go back to Stanley market on the 260 bus, sit by the sea and have some clean (ish) air from the sea breeze and amble among the stalls again. This all went suitably to plan, dollars spent, seaside English Breakfast Tea in the shade, sunshine and 24 degrees, and a market amble. Just as my ambling was turning into a tortoise shuffle the Heavens opened, the crash of thunder made me leap a foot off the ground in shock and heart attack mode ( some feat since I was by now almost comatose and brain dead) and for 10 minutes it was like standing under Niagara Falls. I whipped into a shop and bought the nearest umbrella which was  a strange item that looked like fragile bit of meccano with a small tarpaulin hat on ! A line of people, including me trudged to the bus stop through little rivers and waterfalls and by the time I sat ( most thankfully) on the 260 I was literally sitting on a wet dress, in a wet shirt and gently steaming like a Peking Dumpling. Grim.

The sun came back before we reached Wan Chai which was lovely, but by then I completed my dripping ensemble with squelchy shoes just to add to the glamour of the day ! 

I proceeded, after a change of clothing, to go back to collect my laundry, all done and smelling delicious. Then back to the Luk Kwok…only a matter of 100 meters away, got to my room and fell into one of the two comfortable arm chairs and promptly snoozed ! I awoke after 30 minutes feeling almost human again and made my in room cuisine. Salad, tuna and sweetcorn, half a low carb wrap, finishing the gourmet meal off with strawberries and squirty cream ! Delicious. Then I watched a movie. 

Hong Kong is so exotic, not so much at the weekend. Just sayin…….

Lampard a la carte

As torrents in summer !

The incredible Banyan tree with roots in the air.

Orchids in a pot

More orchids in a pot…

This is how one buys a potted plant ?!?

End of a long stint and two days off…

 I finished my day today with 44 under 14 boy trebles, which in itself is astonishing. It is even more surprising when you know that there have been three other classes of equally large numbers of boy trebles  singing in this week alone ! I would be hard pushed to find a handful of non chorister boys in numbers like that in the whole of the U.K. ? Other than cathedral and church schools trebles are a dying breed. These little lads, of all differing standards you understand, were bright, happy, engaged and actually ‘doing it’ without a shred of embarrassment or looking like they were hating every minute of the ordeal. Quite an amazing feat. The song was hideous and even my stalwart assistant remarked on the fact that it was boring and not tuneful. I couldn’t have put it better myself. It was The Owl by Richard Rodney Bennet, and frankly it had all the charm of a nest of squawking owls fighting over a dead, and already mouldy mouse. It was also very very difficult and I felt for the weeks of work these boys had put in  practising long hours with pianists, and all for something so completely unrewarding ! It squeaked and swooped and changed key 28 times in four bars. The words were impossible to sing well, even if one were  a native English speaker. The set piece person must have been having a bad day, or at least a row with her husband to be cruel enough to inflict this upon innocent children !

We fought our way through 44 upping and downing performances, hoping a sniper might come along and put the aforesaid owl out of its misery, but no, some little chaps fought with the notes, others fought with the piano and about three boys won the Owl v Boy match. My little winner had a lovely voice, but more even than that, he could actually sing the flippin notes ! Enough about a song which is not really worth the mention.

I managed to snap a quick picture of the rule book whilst my friendly and efficient assistant was out of the hall for a second, you can see how big it is. I find it unbelievable that the association can actually find that many rules and regs, a tour de force of legality, punishment and cussedness. You have got to admire the singleminded attitude, and the sheer doggedness of the committee. I get a touch of nervous exhaustion just  thinking about it being only a metre from me at the desk, looming ominously with its fat list of misdemeanours.

So far this has been a ‘Four Pen Festival’. When I was doing this all the time I graded festivals by how many pens ran out as much as the quality of the performing. My fourth rollerball hit the dust at 3pm today and now I am on the last one. I told my lovely assistant Catherine, and she very obligingly took me to a stationary shop in the Jade Garden, where I could buy some more ! Now rollerballs are expensive at home, I paid £9.99 for a pack of four a few weeks ago, and I got these today at the cost of £1 each, so I jolly well stocked up ! I really wanted to stop and shop in this quaint, vastly overstuffed and old fashioned emporium, and look at the wonderfully ornate writing paper, cards, exercise books with ornate Chinese titles and other such fascinating wares, but my assistant wanted to guide me back to the MTR and thus back to the hotel. I felt unable to keep her waiting as she had been so kind, but I had to drag myself away from the power of stationary…..especially very foreign stationary which looked like it had been made in fairyland !! 

I got back at about 6.10pm, completely bushed and so ready for a cup of builders tea I nearly broke the 60m world record down my hallway to room 2215. My room that is ! One strong cup of tea later I touched base with Iona, fiddle lady who is leaving tomorrow, and we went for a celebratory final dinner for her, and an equally celebratory dinner for me, marking my survival of an entire packed week. We went to an Indian restaurant nearby which I had frequented a few times in past Far East sojourns called the Himalayas, and we struggled up the steep urban version of the beasts to get to the top of the stairs and into the restaurant. After flopping down on the comfortable, if slightly gold bedecked chairs we triumphantly ordered delicious food. 

Ok people, I had rice, pilau rice in quite a large portion and I didn’t care. Caution to the wind said I to myself, I have earned this rice, a fully cooked rice badge of honour, and all mine. I am sitting back at the Luk Kwok now with my Dexcom alarm beeping at me in a truly annoying and slightly childish manner, sarcastically telling me I am a wicked and horrid 14.4. 

IT WAS GORGEOUS AND I DON’T CARE A JOT. Sad, deluded woman I hear you say. 

There is also a photo of me and my name tag, we all long for the rosettes to come back, we all want to be best in show once again. I think these must be much cheaper to produce. Perhaps if we bark a bit they might relent ? I fear in my state of mental and physical exhaustion I am rambling today…..apologies to anyone bored enough to read this slightly hysterical missive !

Name tag/badge of the slightly boring variety, but it obviously still

tells us who we are, lest we forget.

Rule book, the novel !

My assistant stared in utter disbelief when I showed her my Met Office app

showing the temperature at home and that of Chai Wan Jade Garden !!

You had the sun though !

Extraordinary Vocal Ensembles !

 I had a wonderful day today. From 9.30am until 4.30pm the two other vocal adjudicators and me were utterly blown away by the most extraordinary performances of mixed voice vocal ensembles I think I have ever heard. One after the other the walked up in front of the big and beautiful church altar,  (see picture and the wonderful wood carved lecterns and alter table ) and sang like angels. 

We heard everything from tricky madrigals to contemporary music filled with sounds and speech as well as incredible singing, we navigated through John Rutter to Monteverdi, singing  in Latin, Italian, German and French as well as English. It was a tour de force of magnificence, no other way to put it. 

We each chose our own standout and most memorable performance of the day about which to talk in the final moments. You will find it hard to believe that mine was a six part arrangement of The Seal Lullaby, by our own Eric Whitacre ! I am not exaggerating a bit when I tell you it was sublime. To see these Chinese children, well 16 year olds, boys and girls, all mixing up of parts, moving with musical delight and singing with a ppp to die for, was something I will not easily forget. It made every hair on my body stand on end with such sparkling electricity that I was almost unable to write. My colleague Ben had tears rolling down his cheeks and Steven was speechless. 

If these youngsters had been paid for their performances it could not have been bettered or more moving. There was a totally out of this world rendition of the madrigal Adieu Sweet Amaryllis that made us melt, The Kings Singers could not have given a more beautiful or nuanced performance. How is it possible, we Brits asked ourselves all the way through the competition, that school choirs in the U.K. would be hard put to  a) get any boys to sing at all and  b) to tackle music of such complexity, and not shouty choruses from The Lion King ? Both Ben and myself had never ever heard the like of it before. One school who came in second and third had THREE ensembles entered ! Three, three, yes really 3. The marks for the first three places were 92, 91 and 90 and the ‘also rans’ were all 88 or above !

It certainly was the most exquisite musical experience. I got them to take some photos with my camera, and permission from the teachers to post them, so you can see the youngsters themselves and the pride and joy they had in their achievements.

It was 28 degrees today and much too hot outside, I did not venture out of the church which was a cool and relaxed haven with lovely air con. It was a large Methodist Church and luckily for us, today was their free coffee to passers by in the church foyer !! Actually it was the best cup of coffee I have had here, and I told them, and waxed lyrical with thanks ! That was just another great bonus, adding to a bonus filled day.

Angela was our most competent assistant, both efficient and jolly, thus perfect for a hall filled with over excited teens ! We did have one slight problem……it was meant to be an SATB day and one group, most unusually had 8 girls and 2 boys and proceeded to sing Balulalow and This Little Babe from the Ceremony of Carols ( SSA remember !) with the 2 boys singing the alto part in baritone voices !?! This flummoxed Angela, as there was not a single rule or regulation which covered this inventive use of parts ! Fortunately they were not at the top of the pile so their punishment was a  ‘no marks given’ violation of the rule stating ‘wrong music offered’. We speculated that next year another rule would be added to the Vesuvius sized pile of rules. I will try to take a discreet photo of the rule book the assistants have, it is slightly larger than War and Peace. 

Oh how I wish recording was allowed and you could all share in the infinite joys of the day. Alas not, and I’m not breaking any of those said rules, being clapped in irons does not have much appeal. 

My most welcome and quite delicious flat white coffee.

Great singing and good coffee…..bliss.

The beautiful church altar furniture.

The Youth Square and a compliment!

 I was back in Chai Wan today, the district is at end of the MTR ( which simply means Mass TRansit) line on Hong Kong Island where the hotel is based. It starts off packed to the gunnels with early morning rush hour crowds but thins out with each of the 10 stops until it is quite empty by the time I alight and walk straight into a shopping mall.  I was alone today so took my time to people and place watch. I was 45 minutes early so after a wander around the mall I found a Starbucks and settled down to an Americano with cream on the side. The barista brought to me a normal sized coffee cup and approximately a quarter pint of cream! This is the second time this has happened, and I am beginning to think that they think the cream is another drink completely, and like a Tequila shot in the old Wild West, I throw it down my throat between coffee gulps, whilst flipping my gun from its holster !  Even I can’t take the coffee so creamy…….incidentally, yesterday after finishing I went to  M&S to top up rations and bought a yellow stickered pot of 300ml of double cream. Even with the yellow sticker it was £3 ! Yikes !

We had some very interesting performances today of the aforementioned fairy delight, Everywhere I Look. Infact it was altogether a different experience. There were a number of girls from a couple of the International Schools and they proved really very good, now here is the dilemma - I had to award first place to a Japanese girl who sang like a pro, well a junior pro, then second was an American girl called Amelia, so far no Hong Kongese child note - then I had three third places one fully Hong Kong, one clearly Indian in name and looks, and one who was mixed race. This has never happened before, so all I can imagine is that the usually disinterested in music, ‘other schools’ have suddenly acquired good teachers ? The dilemma is, these classes are called ‘Singing in a Foreign Language’. I am fairly certain that four of the five girls used English as their home language because when they spoke to me and came for the ‘photo with the smiling adjudicator moment’, (367 to date….actually I stopped counting after 75 )  their spoken English was completely fluent. Duh ! I have no idea what the Association thinks about this influx but I can only judge what I hear !?! The flippin set piece is so fast ( though largely twee and meaningless)that it is, therefore, very difficult for the Cantonese singers, so they are at a distinct disadvantage. What does a woman do ? She gives the prizes to the best, and hopes not to get the sack for breaking rule 6b, paragraph 42, subsection 17 !

I don’t care about any of that as I had the most amazing compliment from a competitor ( who wasn’t placed by the way incase you are thinking a bit of bribery going on here ). They all queue up for the obligatory photo call after the class, and one young lady who was the image of one of Inner Sound’s most precious members, Shadri, had her photo holding up my scribbled sheet with much pride. As she was leaving she stopped and turned round and said, ( I kid you not !) ‘ You look so pretty, I love your dress, what a pretty lady’. It’s 50 years since anyone said that to me, and when I told my supper colleague, violinist Iona, she guffawed and said ‘ Wow, hang on to that you lucky woman !!’ Blimey I will ! Made my day. 

My coffee and greatly oversized cream pot ( probably about £2.50 worth) !

A cake shop in the shopping mall.

The amazing Youth Square building, it is vast. One enters the building on the walkways that you can just see.

The way up to the second floor, such a long escalator one can barely see the top !

Walking to the building on aforementioned walkways I saw these amazing trees which have some kind of hanging fruits that look vaguely like French beans, however I was told they were very poisonous and I would probably die if I ate one….quote small and matter of fact purple uniformed child carrying a violin. I thanked her in an equally serious and formal manner.

Baby Doe and too many Rosary beads…..

 I was so lucky today. I was scheduled for three classes in the Falcon Room which is here in the hotel ! No breakfast before God, no long transport or fear of getting lost, and no packed lunch ! This is a triple win and gave me such a warm and pleasant glow when I set my alarm (s) for a very civilised 8am. 

I ventured downstairs at 9am for a 9.30 start to be greeted by the most courtly and chivalrous assistant in existence, who was manning the doors and numbering the seats, a job which needs doing before each new class and involves much sticky tape and numbered labels. Woo Lau bowed and bowed and couldn’t have been more deferential and charming if he had been acting on stage. A man in his 70’s, he was so concerned if I was ‘ cool enough’, ‘warm enough’, ‘comfortable enough’ and if my back was fine in the chosen chair. I was brought a selection of back rests and cushions and generally treated like I was royalty.  There is no denying, it was very pleasing to be treated thus….so when I get back to choir ladies…….

Ha Ha !

I started with a large phalanx of  duettists, singing The Rosary by a composer not known for anything else except this faux religious little number, and who goes by the unimaginable name of Ethelbert Nevin. He was an American from Pennsylvania and clearly fond of the Edwardian Salon Musical Evenings so loved by those who sang The Lost Chord and ballads of that ilk ! Today, however this duet was to be sung by 39 pairs of under 14 girls. It slid  chromatically in heart rending thirds with sloppy words about kissing the cross and various other things which would have made the nuns I visit a little nauseous! These girls had to do with it what they could, and all power to their elbow, they made it suitably serious and sang it with dignity and feeling.

I have always noticed on every visit to this wonderful festival that duettists stand as far away from each other as they can get away with, so when they communicate they are almost putting hands to their foreheads and saying ‘I see no ships’ ! It was cat amongst pigeons day today and I said that in the UK we stood together at a slight angle so the projecting sound could meet in the middle. Open eyes and mouths were staring at me…..as if I were an alien. I got two girls up to demonstrate and it was as if I had split the atom right there in front of their bewildered eyes. I have no idea why standing as if they actually don’t like each other is the tradition, not a clue, except that old chestnut ‘ We have always stood apart’. I cannot say whether they will ever change in future years but hey ho, I tried!

A gorgeous team of two very beautiful voices and security of parts, the like of which comes only once a decade, won this class with 89 marks and thoroughly deserved it was too. I will not, however, be passing this cloying little gem on when I resume teaching.

My day was made with five young baritones from 16-20 years old. Oh what complete joy. What we lacked in number was more than made up for by quality in shed loads. These young men were in the Open Baritone class and the set piece was an aria from an American Opera called The Ballad of Baby Doe by Douglas Moore. It isn’t very well known but like The Crucible it is positively yummy and the aria was squelching with melody and gorgeous harmony. These young men got up one after the other and I could hardly write, they coaxed and flirted and made delicious sounds which melted my heart. I was totally won over ! Whilst adjudicating I decided to do a little masterclass with them. All that had been missing from their performances was abdominal breathing, so we all did the hands on the wall trick and I taught them how to use their abdominal wall muscle. They were like charming sponges and took it all in. I did have to choose placings, which seemed against the grain of the moment but has to be done, so a dark chocolatey voiced young man will sing to me again in the finals ! Not sure how he will be bettered by the other finalists……deep breath and small smile ! 

Lunch was all the better for hearing five charming, well dressed, booted and suited young chaps open to all input and help. What joy. ( ….and yes I am a sucker for a handsome young man with a velvety voice !)

Onwards and quite possibly downwards after todays’ vocal delights.

This is the banner which comes with first place, and is much coveted.

 Outside my window at lunchtime, see the old Sampan, such a lovely traditional meets modern moment.