Keiko Tanabe - Blog: Hong Kong Landscapes

Dim Sum, Hong Kong III, Interior Painting

12/11/2013 8:31:06 AM

Eating with a family or friends means sharing some time together over a meal but in some cultures it is literally sharing the same dishes among those present. In Chinese culture, people normally sit at a round table and put several dishes in the center. In each dish there is a different kind of food - stir-fried meat and vegetables, steamed fish, roasted chicken, dumplings, soup, for example. There may be a pair of communal chopsticks for serving but it's quite common that they use their own chopsticks to take whatever they want. This way everyone sees each other and both [...]

Man Mo Temple, Hong Kong I, Interior Painting

12/5/2013 8:34:55 AM

Life in Hong Kong is fast-paced. In the downtown financial district it is even more so. Not far from this busiest part of Hong Kong, Man Mo Temple stands among high-rises. But the inside is a world apart from the outside. It is a quiet place of worship for people who come here to pray to the Gods of literature and of war. Large cone-shaped coils of incense are hung everywhere with people's wishes written inside. Smoke from these coils slowly escapes from the opening on the ceiling as the light filtered through smoke comes in to add mystical ambiance. Man Mo Temple, [...]

Aberdeen I, Hong Kong Landscape Painting

12/3/2013 9:56:09 PM

After enjoying a beautiful day painting at Aberdeen on Hong Kong Island, I traveled to the New Territories to visit my artist friend and respected teacher Harvey Chan. His students gathered that night in Harvey's studio to watch my demonstration he organized for me. I also had the pleasure of having some of my former workshop students and my art collector friend join us. I had a wonderful time sharing my work and talking about watercolor and more. I would like to thank everyone who was there for me! painting en plein air in Aberdeen, HK With Harvey Chan and his students, Hong [...]

Sam Mun Tsai I, Hong Kong Landscape Painting

12/2/2013 7:03:18 AM

In Sam Mun Tsai Fishing Village, local fishermen breed fish in cages. There are several stations floating on the calm water inside the bay, and I loved the serenity and timeless beauty of the scene as I watched fishing boats come and go. But the number of such floating stations is dwindling. I even heard (and I hope I was wrong) that the remaining ones may be removed eventually - just like old houses and shops tucked in between high-rises of Hong Kong. I looked up toward one end of the bay to find an enormous luxurious housing development, named the Beverly Hills. That in and of [...]

Tai-O II, Hong Kong Landscape Painting

4/5/2013 10:09:57 PM

If I were to make a video of my travel bloopers, I should definitely include footage of my visit to Tai-O. Tai-O, a small fishing village in Hong Kong, will be one that I will never forget because of what happened there. I was already excited to see the village even before I arrived there, so imagine how I was when I got there. In short, I lost myself in the sights and fell in a canal. I wanted to get a perfect viewpoint and walked down the steps to get close to the water surface. When I noticed the last few [...]

Tai-O I, Hong Kong Landscape Painting

4/4/2013 4:13:36 PM

Hong Kong's urban areas are growing bigger so fast that the entire place may be soon dominated only by high-rise buildings, it seems. This is happening not only in the heavily-populated downtown and surrounding areas but also out in what used to be a sleepy countryside. So before it's all gone, I wanted to see an old village or two and find a remnant of the past. Tai-O is one such place I chose to visit. This small fishermen's village on Lantau Island is particularly known for stilt houses standing over the rivers that run through it. During a day, however, it's [...]

Dim Sum, Hong Kong II, Interior Painting

4/1/2013 5:19:23 PM

I met up with my friends in Hong Kong's busy Central district one morning. They had invited me to join them for authentic dim sum breakfast at an old tea house, and I was full of anticipation to see the place and taste what they think was the best in town. As we passed a small bakery near the entrance of the tea house and walked upstairs, I felt like I was instantly transported back in time for several decades. There was a huge dining hall with traditional Cantonese flair, brimming with local people who gathered to eat breakfast, meet friends or just [...]

Dim Sum, Hong Kong I, Interior Painting

3/22/2013 9:51:29 AM

If you visit Hong Kong, you have to do dim sum for an unforgettable culinary experience. And if you do it at an authentic tea house with local friends, that's even better. My dear friends who live in Hong Kong took me to one of the oldest and most popular dim sum restaurants in town for the ultimate culinary and cultural experience. There are do's and don'ts in a place like that: if you don't know the rules (and obviously their language), you are not going to get any of those steaming goodies, or even a seat. Thanks to my friends, I enjoyed [...]