Easy brunch at the Brunch Club, Hong Kong

As I was walking along Caine Road, I thought "where is this brunch club"? Anyway, past Shelly Street was Peel Street and there it was - an inconspicuous eatery on this otherwise quiet street in the Hollywood Road area.

The menu has everything you would want for a Sunday brunch - croque monsieur, mixed grill, continental breakfast. Like many places in Hong Kong, the orange juice was freshly squeezed (rather than just squeezed in big factory hundreds of miles away).

Simple food, nicely done.

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Faust at the Royal Opera

This is a revival of Charles Edwards (design) / David McVicar (director) production of Gounod Faust. Visually, it is still exciting to watch with the ever changing stage sets of this fantasy. In this production, Erwin Schrott was Méphistophélès - who had style and poise as this devilish character. Michael Fabiano did a good job at portraying Faust - especially in the first act when he had to start off as an old man before turning into an energetic youngster. Irina Lungu had the right French voice type for Marguerite - somewhat vulnerable with sufficient warmth for the romantic scenes. Dan Ettinger in the pit kept the pace going, and the chorus did magnificently in those big numbers.

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