GEORGE CHEN

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Horizon Workrooms

微博,十年

November 27, 2021 by George Chen in Hong Kong, Shanghai

這週參加一個晚宴,居然同桌偶遇一個微博「粉絲」,話說都已經追蹤我微博十年有餘,還同鄰桌其他朋友介紹說,這就是「滬港小生」,真是令我有些慚愧。自己沒想過有那麼大影響力,也覺得最近幾年因為這樣那樣的原因,微博上的文字分享也不如以往那麼豐富⋯⋯

科技發展真的很快,我確實屬於比較早一批開始玩微博的,也可能是因為自己本來做記者的原因,對社交媒體上手比較快。因為微博,我認識了不少朋友(或者說網友),以前也確實經常有發生在現實生活中以「你就是滬港小生」這樣的緣由做互相問候的開場白。

也因為微博,我也吃過不少苦頭,十年前可能還比較意氣用事,別人說你一句,你忍不住最好回十句。這十年,也因為這樣那樣的原因,期間也考慮過好像其他朋友一樣,不如停了微博,眼不見為淨,也越來越不知道還可以說什麼,越來越不確定什麼不可以說。

人生苦短,特別是不惑之年之後,如果一件事情太折騰,不如不做,浪費大家時間。

這十年上微博,最欣慰莫過於偶爾收到一些不認識的朋友的私訊,比如有一個大學生給我發消息說,因為經常看我微博,最終決定來香港大學讀新聞,她覺得改變了她的人生。那一刻,我真的覺得原來自己的文字和分享確實可以影響到他人,我想這也是很多曾經的同行選擇做新聞的初衷。

不知道十年後我們會在哪裡,也不知道十年後的微博會變成什麼樣子。最近我也在學習研究元宇宙,特別是自己公司的產品,比如附圖是Horizon Workrooms,大家可以在3D環境中工作,回郵件、做電話會議等等,都可以。要想認識工作以外的朋友,還可以在其他的元宇宙社區中找到不同主題活動。

微博也好,元宇宙也好,最終能吸引我們都是因為影響力。一個人的言行可以影響很多人,是好是壞,每個人都有機會,也都有責任。當然,每個人的境界不盡相同,這也是為什麼微博上不必太多爭辯的原因。畢竟,林子大了,什麼樣的鳥都有。

對,我就是那個滬港小生,微博上的那個。

November 27, 2021 /George Chen
Hong Kong, Shanghai, China, 上海, 中國, 香港
Hong Kong, Shanghai
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My Ray-Ban Stories

October 14, 2021 by George Chen in Hong Kong, Facebook
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I really love my Ray-Ban Stories, a very nice addition to my Ricoh GR3 camera for street photography.

Ask any street photographer, and they will definitely tell you one of their biggest worries is to miss a moment. Timing sometimes means everything for photography.

I still carry my GR3 for photography but Ray-Ban Stories can make sure you won’t miss any moment you want to catch and the image quality proves far better than expected.

With a little bit post-shooting editing (I mean “cropping”; I don’t usually add filter effects to my photos as I want to keep them organic and natural), your photos are at least good enough for your Instagram.

Technology is amazing, as always.

Disclaimer: The author is a Facebook employee. Facebook collaborates with Ray-Ban for the smart sunglasses Ray-Ban Stories. All photos for this article are shot on Ray-Ban Stories by the author in Hong Kong; no filter.

October 14, 2021 /George Chen
Facebook, street photography, technology
Hong Kong, Facebook
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我的雙城故事

October 03, 2021 by George Chen in Hong Kong, Taiwan

今年身邊陸陸續續有不少朋友離開,各有各的原因,有些出國讀書,有些舉家移民,有些因為不言而喻的原因離開了生活了很多年的香港。

在香港常駐五年之久的倪伯嘉博士是其中一位離開的人。倪主任就其職務而言,其實就是台灣經濟部駐香港的首席代表。事實上倪主任過去幾年也一直熱心港台兩地的經貿聯繫,小到幫台灣美食小店解決一些貌似微小但且重要的疑難雜症,大到幫香港的品牌落戶台灣,促進港台兩地經濟「雙循環」,真可謂事無巨細,盡心盡力。

去年疫情爆發前,倪主任曾和我商量,是否能在我們辦公室舉辦一場「台灣美食節」,把台灣的一些知名美食品牌帶給我們的同事和業界同仁,此外也可以找一些香港的餐廳一起來聯誼⋯⋯我們都覺得這是很好的主意,沒想到後來受疫情影響,再後來倪主任不得不離開香港,這件事情也終究成為我心中的一個遺憾。

倪主任喜歡畫畫,他覺得油畫創作是一種可以令他靜下來的好辦法。我也曾想過什麼時候可以跟倪主任學畫畫,因為我的工作說實話也是太繁忙,壓力巨大,真的也要找一些辦法來抒發。很可惜,還沒趕上和倪主任一起畫畫,他已經不得不返台了。

臨走前,倪主任給他這幾年在香港結識的好朋友們紛紛寄上以他的油畫為封面的明信片。倪主任知道我是香港國泰航空(Cathay Pacific)的超級粉絲,我也和他提過當年英國路透社(Reuters)攝影記者曾經拍攝過一張非常經典的國泰班機在香港舊啟德機場降落的照片,於是倪主任便以這張經典照片作為創作靈感,還很“頑皮”地將原本的國泰班機在他最終的油畫作品中替換成代表台灣的中華航空(China Airlines),考慮到他的工作背景,這樣的創作當然是妙不可言。

倪主任在給我的告白明信片上寫道,香港和台灣的關係是全世界任何一個地方都無法比擬的,無論是人與人的連結,還是文化交流等等。我非常認同,也正因此我一直覺得自己非常幸運可以在有生之年為港台關係做小小貢獻。問一下身邊的香港人,有誰不認識幾個在台灣的朋友,反之亦然,這樣的情感連結真的可以說是價值連城。

寫這篇散文的時候,我已經破紀錄超過550多天沒有飛去台灣了,甚至有些擔心自己對信義區的街道印象都開始有些模糊了。

很想很想再去光點台北(那是舊的美國駐中華民國大使官邸)坐坐,下午的時候可以安靜地喝一杯咖啡。很想很想再去誠品松菸逛逛,在那裡看書感覺就是和在香港很不一樣。很想很想晚上吃完飯可以在文華東方附近散散步,順便買一杯珍珠奶茶。很想很想在台灣吃火鍋,很想很想在台灣的很多朋友們,很想很想⋯⋯

這場奇怪的疫情給我們帶來的影響恐怕不僅僅是公共衛生層面那麼簡單。二戰後的世界之所以可以重建互信,推動經貿,甚至加速全球化進程,這些都同人與人之間的交往和連結不無關係。就算我們再愛香港,如果還要一兩年甚至更長時間才得以重新自由飛行,恐怕很多人,包括我自己,都會很容易變成井底之蛙。

人的一生,最難能可貴的無非是“境界”兩字,留在自己的小圈子裡,只能把自己的“境界”越做越小了。

留下來的人,會想念。離開的人,也會想念。海內存知己,天涯若比鄰,無論此時此刻大家身處何地,希望明天都會更好。

(完)

October 03, 2021 /George Chen
Hong Kong, Taiwan, 香港, 台灣, Taipei, 台北
Hong Kong, Taiwan
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Farm to Table, A Hong Kong Story

September 18, 2021 by George Chen in Hong Kong
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“Farm to table” has been a popular culinary concept and trend in Europe for many years. Will it also work in Hong Kong?

The answer is yes.

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In Europe, “farm to table” has been a sort of movement. Essentially, “farm to table” means harnessing the produce and livestock of locally grown farmers and ranchers; to put it simply, buying local. “Most produce loses its nutrients within 24 hours of harvesting.” For places like Hong Kong which is not really well known for agricultural development at all, the traditional way for “farm to table” could be like a Mission Impossible to implement, not to mention how to scale up on city wide.

But Interval Farmacy, located inside the Cyberport (數碼港) shopping mall, feels just like a new experiment of “farm to table”; it is also a culinary adventure of plant-based food for the local communities of Hong Kong, aka “Asia’s food paradise” to many.

I first thought it was a vegetarian restaurant and I was wrong. One of many highlights of the restaurant is its custom-built wood fire oven from Naples for making pizzas. It also has an asador-style grill for meats and vegetables.

The restaurant has cooperated with Farmacy, a Hong Kong home-grown startup, to provide seasonal “micro greens” — what you see is also what you can eat and you can eat the greens fast, fresh, and delicious of course.

Farmacy’s mission is to “hand-pick the freshest, premium quality, green produce to perfect your culinary process.” It claims to be the first “Agri Prop” tech company in China and Asia that builds “decentralized smart mobile solutions” in store farms in highly urbanized cities, just like Hong Kong.

Want to have a short escape from the city centre? Interval Farmacy sounds like a good option for weekend brunch. Plus, here “farm to table” means even less than 24 hours.

September 18, 2021 /George Chen
WhatGeorgeEats, Hong Kong, 香港
Hong Kong
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The Private Kitchen in Happy Valley

September 12, 2021 by George Chen in Happy Valley, Hong Kong
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This is already my 4th month of living in Happy Valley and I keep exploring the happy and delicious neighbourhood.

You may know The Chairman (大班樓) in Central, which used to be one of my favourite local Cantonese restaurants. Unfortunately The Chairman suddenly became too famous for me to get a table (yes, you need to wait until Q1 2022) after it won the Michelin fame. Never mind. I found my new favourite, the Tasting Court (天一閣) in Happy Valley. The founder and chef of Tasting Court was one of the co-founders of The Chairman, hence my favourite crab steamed in 15-years Shaoxing Huadiao wine (十五年紹興花雕) is an iconic course at Tasting Court too.

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You have to make advanced booking for Tasting Court, which is more like a private kitchen than just another restaurant for the public. Tasting Court hides inside an ordinary apartment building on Wong Nai Chung Rd, facing the Racecourse. You probably will miss it when you walk by if you don’t pay enough attention to its small board showing the restaurant name. Low profile is its attitude.

Other signature dishes include fragrant chicken oil and flat rice noodles and smoked Chinese pork (aka cha siu), pomelo skin and jujube and coconut milk pudding and etc. In fact, you don’t need to remember those items. Everyday the restaurant has its own and the only menu for you. Just come, sit, and enjoy the food.

Address: 1/F, Bonny View House, 63-65 Wong Nai Chung Rd, Happy Valley

September 12, 2021 /George Chen
WhatGeorgeEats, Happy Valley, Hong Kong, 跑馬地, 香港
Happy Valley, Hong Kong
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