Last weekend, a Malaysian monk I met last year opened a new meditation center in Tsuen Wan, one of Hong Kong’s 18 political districts, situated in the southwest of the New Territories. He used to be the abbot of a Chinese Mahāyāna temple, built in the 1930s. Last year, he had to leave his position…

A few weeks ago, I met with one of my friends in Hong Kong for some nice food (a fusion of Thai and Malay and some other styles as well) and conversations. After dinner, we strolled back to the Tai Wai MTR station, passing through Tin Sam Village, according to the website of the MTR –…

Monday morning. I sit in a coffee house in Mongkok East, enjoying my coffee, reading the newspaper, sending emails to different people. The coffee house I’m sitting in is one of my favorites in Hong Kong: it is on the fourth floor of a shopping mall, it is large, has lots of nice couches to…

Last Tuesday, after walking around the neighborhood of Tsuen Wan a while and chatting, one of my informants took me for ice tea – something which I longed for in the heat. She asked me if I wanted to go to a local place or MacDonalds. “Everything but MacDonalds” was my response (leading to a…

Today, in name of “science”, I did something which is officially considered a no-go in Hong Kong: I bought a sandwich at a station, entered the MTR (Mass Transit Rail, the train system that connects almost every corner of the region with the others) and ate my sandwich while riding on the MTR (or, more…

At the moment I’m living in the neighborhood Prince Edward, a neighborhood at the north side of Kowloon. It is at the far north of what I perceive of as the “urban” part of Hong Kong. Last year, I lived in Sheung Wan, on the west side of Hong Kong Island, right in the heart…

I’m back in Hong Kong, after having been away for over almost eight months. I’m back in “Asia’s World City”, as the region is advertised by the Hong Kong Tourism Board – a definition that well reflects Hong Kong’s global attitude, as well as its pride in being part of Asia with all its culture, tradition…

One of the things you have to do as a foreigner in Hong Kong is go to a fortune teller. And so me and my friends sat down at a small table at the Temple Street Night Market a few night ago, in front of an older middle aged man, to have him look at…

Now, I know that this post has nothing to do with urban religion – but it does deserve a small post on my site: The commemoration of the June 4th student massacre of 1989, and the evening vigil held in Hong Kong last night to commemorate this. As every year, there has been much controversy…

Together with more than 1,000 other people I joined a four day retreat organized by the Plum Village, a Buddhist organization led by the famous Zen master Thich Nhat Hahn (Thay). About half of the people present were local Hong Kong people or expats living in the region; another quarter came from mainland China; there…