1.2K
Downloads
92
Episodes
I’m Gaz Brightman and I run VIBE Book and Music Shop in Mui Wo on Lantau Island in Hong Kong These podcasts have 3 purposes:- 1. To promote VIBE Book & Music Shop in Hong Kong 2. To interview local people with businesses or good stories to tell 3. To promote local authors books, musicians Tiny Desk gigs at VIBE and our other services
Episodes
Saturday Mar 19, 2022
Saturday Mar 19, 2022
VIBErations podcast Ep 39 at VIBE Book & Music Shop in Mui Wo on Lantau Island in HK on 1st March, 2022
BIO
Cary (as in Cary Grant) Shakeshaft-Nicholson was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada… A steel city located between Toronto and Niagara Falls. Approx. population of 580,000. At a young age her parents divorced and remarried, resulting in a double household environment. Cary wasn’t much into schooling; she attended a Catholic high school where her favourite subjects were Drama and Gym. She never finished College and started working for a Family business... Tim Hortons (highly known in Canada)
As a teenager Cary played a lot of Baseball (and even played for Canada) and spent time with her friends and her pets. Roller skating became a huge pastime for several years. In her early 20’s she got hired at UPS and got involved with Aviation- where she met her one day to be husband, Brandon. 12 years at UPS landed her a Load planning and Management position, allowing her to financially support herself Not long after dating Brandon… he got offered a job with Cathay Pacific, which lead them here to HK. Cary then retired from Aviation.
After residing in Central (SOHO) area for a few months with a roommate, Cary and Brandon moved to Lantau (Mui Wo) and have happily been living in a village house with their 4 adopted dogs. Cary now spends her days being a stay-at-home housewife, attending to household duties and spending time with her dogs. She’s actively involved with TAILS LANTAU, a nonprofit animal charity here on Lantau. Cary loves HK and all it has to offer, but realised that the animal’s welfare in HK is a mess and needs a major facelift.
10 Questions….
1. Favourite book or author? Jodi Picoult and Alice Sebold
2. Favourite musical artist? 90s Hip-Hop R&B - EPMD, Total, Scape, Notorious B.I.G, Tragically Hip, Dallas Green
3. Preferred drink? Iced Tea, Sauvignon Blanc
4. Life motto? Even if you're crawling you're still moving forward
5. Favourite HK walk? Nam Shan
6. Favourite HK restaurant? Gordon Ramsey's Bread Street Kitchen & Paisanos Pizza
7. Faced with a python whilst walking up to the Peak, what would you do? Take a photo or video and send it to Andrew MacDonald
8. Best advice you were given? Respect your elders
9. Finish this sentence… I live in Hong Kong because… Better financial opportunity to live here and the weather…
10. Favourite area of Hong Kong? Lantau
Tuesday Mar 01, 2022
Tuesday Mar 01, 2022
VIBErations podcast Ep 38 Suzanne Andrews at VIBE Book & Music Shop in Mui Wo on Lantau Island in HK on 17th February 2022
BIO
Suzanne’s lived in Hong Kong for almost 10 years, working as a High School English teacher. She’s been president of the Hong Kong Women in Publishing Society for 2.5 years and spent five years taking her own Bodyburn fitness classes at Gold Coast in Hong Kong.
Prior to living in Hong Kong, Suzanne taught in Brunei for two years and before that she lived in New Zealand, her home country. She taught English and Maths in High Schools then had a complete break for seven years. For three of those years, she was manager of a large Values Education charity in Auckland. Her 16 staff taught life skills in 12 South Auckland schools and educated children in how to combat bullying, build self-esteem and aim high.
Suzanne also taught her own confident communication classes in schools and to adults in the evenings. She worked in sales and advertising for three years and helped with a Yellow Pages start-up magazine. Some of her great memories include singles events which she organized, matching couples. At least two different couples are now married with children!
Suzanne’s three adult children live in L.A, the Cook Islands and Auckland. She has two grandchildren too. Most Saturdays she catches the ferry from Tuen Mun Ferry Pier, hikes across Lantau and ends up here at VIBE, perched on a tiny toddler’s chair in the corner, sourcing books for her Nanny Zan date with Carter, her 3 yr old grandson whom she reads to usually for 2 hours. He loves books! Last year Suzanne published her first book in the Nita’s Adventures series, Queen of the Pawpaws. She’s releasing the next two books in the series by May hopefully, as well as another series, Nita’s Eureka Pick-Me-Ups. She’ll leave teaching in July to focus on Nita’s World full-time. Her website is Nitasworld.co
10 Questions….
1. Favourite book or author? 'The Story of the Orlando Magic' by Sara Gilbert & 'The Prophet' by Kahlil Gibran
2. Favourite musical artist? Meat Loaf & Dolly Parten
3. Preferred drink? Red Wine / Mulled Wine/ Pimms
4. Life motto? Don't compare yourself to others cause they're more screwed up than you think…
5. Favourite HK walk? Lantau Olympic Trail
6. Favourite HK restaurant? Heato Coffee in Gold Coast
7. Faced with a python whilst walking up to the Peak, what would you do? Run away and maybe screaming!
8. Best advice you were given? Not all is as it seems
9. Finish this sentence… I live in Hong Kong because… I had to originally, but now love it!
10. Favourite area of Hong Kong? Gold Coast
Sunday Feb 06, 2022
Sunday Feb 06, 2022
VIBErations podcast Ep 37 Jake Johnson at VIBE Book & Music Shop in Mui Wo on Lantau Island in HK on 26th January 2022
BIO
Like many people, Jacob Johnson was born. As a toddler, he was moved from a rural area of middle Tennessee to Memphis where he spent most of his youth. While spending his teenage years endeavouring to avoid living up to his scholastic potential, he began working in the food service industry as a line cook at a corporate chain restaurant. After an unmotivated, perfunctory stint in university, he decided that he may as well go to culinary school and acquire a broader range of skills to accompany the unhealthy sleeping habits and functional alcoholism the restaurant industry had already given him.
Around this time, he met Matilda who would become his wife - while playing fighting games at a shopping mall arcade. Their idiosyncrasies were surprisingly compatible and they were married a few years later. After buying a small home and beginning to establish a respectable rut, they realized they were bored and wanted to try living somewhere entirely different. As Matilda still had permanent residence in Hong Kong from her childhood, they decided they would move here - with no plan whatsoever. Both ended up finding work in schools and spent the next 7 years traveling non-stop during every holiday and long weekend.
After a brief stint back in the States, Jake rediscovered an old hobby he'd picked up as a teenager and started making beef jerky. After a year or two of using his friends as guinea pigs to improve recipes, the birth of his first son prompted a somewhat irrational decision to leave the security of his job to spend more time with his family and pay the bills with beef snacks. After renovating a small location in Mui Wo to begin building Lantau Jerky, Jake and Matilda decided to start cooking a few simple comfort foods from southern cuisine on weekends to make a little extra to pay the rent. Thanks to the overwhelming support of the Lantau community, this little side hustle grew to become Southside.
10 Questions….
1. Favourite book or author? – Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson
2. Favourite musical artist? - 'Wish you were here' by Pink Floyd/ 'Boston' by Boston / 'Ten' by Pearl Jam
3. Preferred drink? – Mint Julip or hot toddy or Whiskey & water
4. Life motto? – …from 'Time enough for Love' by Robert Heinlein
5. Favourite HK walk? – Walk between Yau Ma Tei & Sham Shui Po…
6. Favourite HK restaurant? – Mama Lala Sham Shui Po - Sichuan food
7. Faced with a python whilst walking up to the Peak, what would you do? – Carry on walking
8. Best advice you were given? – Don't be Beholden
9. Finish this sentence… I live in Hong Kong because… The diversity
10. Favourite area of Hong Kong? – Mui Wo!
Friday Dec 31, 2021
Friday Dec 31, 2021
After 35 episodes of VIBErations Podcast, I was persuaded to sit on the other side of the mic... This episode was recorded at VIBE on 3rd December, 2021 and I was interviewed by Martin Malden (interviewee on 23rd March 2021) I've been running VIBE Book & Music shop for nearly 4 years now in Silvermine Bay, Mui Wo, Lantau Island, HK.
https://www.facebook.com/VibeSilvermineBay/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnVuHCsRcswTqr0FZ2Pz5Q
https://www.instagram.com/vibehk/
https://open.spotify.com/show/2LHQKTk20zpNynS9kyPp7o
10 Questions….
1. Favourite book or author? – J G Ballard / Roald Dahl
2. Favourite musical artist? - David Bowie / The Clash
3. Preferred drink? – Water / Red Wine / G&T
4. Life motto? – ‘Treat others the same way you would want to be treated yourself’
5. Favourite HK walk? – Chi Ma Wan Coastal walk
6. Favourite HK restaurant? – China Beach Club, Mui Wo
7. Faced with a python whilst walking up to the Peak, what would you do? – Take a photo and then retreat
8. Best advice you were given? – My parents taught me all people are equal 9. Finish this sentence… I live in Hong Kong because… I chose to live here and its my home
10. Favourite area of Hong Kong? – Sham Shui Po & Lantau Island
Thursday Dec 02, 2021
Thursday Dec 02, 2021
VIBErations podcast Ep 35. Pete Spurrier at VIBE Book & Music Shop in Mui Wo on Lantau Island in HK on 16th October 2021
https://www.blacksmithbooks.com
BIO
Pete Spurrier is the author of three guidebooks for exploring Hong Kong’s wild and interesting places: the Serious Hiker’s Guide to Hong Kong, the Leisurely Hiker’s Guide and the Heritage Hiker’s Guide. He arrived in Hong Kong by happy accident in 1993, at the end of a journey along the Silk Road through all the newly independent ‘Stans’, which he only embarked upon after an old man in Greece gave him a decades-old map of Central Asia. He ran out of money, when he crossed into northwest China, but another stranger told him that he could probably find work in Hong Kong, so he hopped on and off trains to get across the country to Lo Wu.
He has had many jobs, including acting in TVB dramas, managing an unlicensed restaurant, teaching Vietnamese boatpeople and editing a free magazine. Nowadays he runs Blacksmith Books, which has published more than 100 titles on Hong Kong, focusing on culture, history and the life stories of its people. The first flat he rented in Hong Kong was in Silvermine Bay, and he still returns to Lantau for the hiking.
10 Questions….
1. Favourite book or author? - 'Down & Out in Paris & London' by George Orwell
2. Favourite musical artist? - David Bowie
3. Preferred drink? - Guinness
4. Life motto? – ‘Prior Preparation prevents piss poor performance’
5. Favourite HK walk? - 8 Peaks on Kowloon side or Fan Lau to Tai O
6. Favourite HK restaurant? - Taj Mahal in Chungking mansions
7. Faced with a python whilst walking up to the Peak, what would you do? - Freeze and then walk backwards very slowly and move away
8. Best advice you were given? – “Why don’t you go to HK - you could probably find a job there”
9. Finish this sentence… I live in Hong Kong because… Because all my friends are here…
10. Favourite area of Hong Kong? - Sai Kung
Thursday Oct 21, 2021
Thursday Oct 21, 2021
VIBErations podcast Ep 34. Diana Tang at VIBE Book & Music Shop in Mui Wo on Lantau Island in HK on 8th October 2021
Interviewed during heavy rainstorm...
Instagram - little_field_hk
BIO
Diana Tang grew up, like many other Hong Kong girls in a traditional Chinese family and studied Sociology at university. She realized that there are many different perspectives to see around the world and HK norms are not the only way to live. Her mother always wanted her to be a civil servant, but she found herself working as a baker and then a cook in Mui Wo before traveling around the world and returning to Hong Kong in the summer of 2019.
Upon her return she had the chance to run a restaurant she named ‘Little Field’ by Cheung Sha Beach and for a year Diana established the brand. Many people think Little Field is a bakery brand, but besides making long-fermented bread, they are actually making a space that allows people to take their time - a space that challenges the impossible - a space that encourages breaking norms. She says that ‘she believes, after all people are looking for happiness and it is important to follow their hearts and not what the society tells them to do’.
10 Questions….
1. Favourite book or author? – ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho
2. Favourite musical artist? - Nujabes
3. Preferred drink? – Water and Tea
4. Life motto? – ‘If you want something to happen enough the universe will conspire to make it happen’
5. Favourite HK walk? - Pak Kung au to Sunset Peak
6. Favourite HK restaurant? – Little Field – her restaurant
7. Faced with a python whilst walking up to the Peak, what would you do? - Take a photo in case bitten by it
8. Best advice you were given? - Don't bother to argue with idiots
9. Finish this sentence… I live in Hong Kong because… To take care of my parents and grandparents
10. Favourite area of Hong Kong? - Lantau
Thursday Oct 21, 2021
Thursday Oct 21, 2021
VIBErations podcast Ep 34. Diana Tang at VIBE Book & Music Shop in Mui Wo on Lantau Island in HK on 8th October 2021
Interviewed during heavy rainstorm...
Instagram - little_field_hk
BIO
Diana Tang grew up, like many other Hong Kong girls in a traditional Chinese family and studied Sociology at university. She realized that there are many different perspectives to see around the world and HK norms are not the only way to live. Her mother always wanted her to be a civil servant, but she found herself working as a baker and then a cook in Mui Wo before traveling around the world and returning to Hong Kong in the summer of 2019.
Upon her return she had the chance to run a restaurant she named ‘Little Field’ by Cheung Sha Beach and for a year Diana established the brand. Many people think Little Field is a bakery brand, but besides making long-fermented bread, they are actually making a space that allows people to take their time - a space that challenges the impossible - a space that encourages breaking norms. She says that ‘she believes, after all people are looking for happiness and it is important to follow their hearts and not what the society tells them to do’.
10 Questions….
1. Favourite book or author? – ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho
2. Favourite musical artist? - Nujabes
3. Preferred drink? – Water and Tea
4. Life motto? – ‘If you want something to happen enough the universe will conspire to make it happen’
5. Favourite HK walk? - Pak Kung au to Sunset Peak
6. Favourite HK restaurant? – Little Field – her restaurant
7. Faced with a python whilst walking up to the Peak, what would you do? - Take a photo in case bitten by it
8. Best advice you were given? - Don't bother to argue with idiots
9. Finish this sentence… I live in Hong Kong because… To take care of my parents and grandparents
10. Favourite area of Hong Kong? - Lantau
Thursday Sep 23, 2021
Thursday Sep 23, 2021
VIBErations podcast Ep 33. Xiao Mei Huang at VIBE Book & Music Shop in Mui Wo on Lantau Island in HK on 9th September 2021
Facebook: @muiwolanguagecafe
BIO
This week I’m pleased to interview VIBE’s own ‘Sunday girl’ Xiao Mei Huang. Based in Mui Wo, she’s just clocked up 3 years working for VIBE, and I hope we can keep her for many more years to come… Being a Mandarin native, she is always interested in learning new languages and now she teaches English, Spanish and Cantonese to adults and kids, of different ages and levels.
She enjoys literature and does a lot of simultaneous interpretation and translation works, including Chilean writer Isabel Allende’s ‘In the Midst of Winter’. She has an M.A. in cultural studies, and is also a researcher, writer and translator: ‘Fukushima: Looking back in Ten Years’ is published in Mainland China and its traditional character version will soon be released in Hong Kong. The kids like her because she is playful and fun-loving. Also because she has a cat called Dumb Dumb. You can easily catch her in VIBE on Sundays as long as she is not occupied by her students.
10 Questions
1. Favourite book or author? - Jorge Luis Borges, Pablo Neruda, Haruki Murakami, Raymond Carver, William Somerset Maugham, Wang Xiaobo, Bill Bryson, and a lot more.
2. Favourite musical artist? - Chavela Vargas! Favourite tunes: Summertime by Janis Joplin, The Thrill is Gone by B.B. King, Sweet Child O'Mine by Guns N' Roses, Concerto de Aranjuez
3. Preferred drink? - Hot tea or coffee
4. Life motto? - I'd rather end up wishing I hadn't, rather than end up wishing I had (Leo Tolstoy).
5. Favourite HK walk? - Lantau Trail Sec.5
6. Favourite HK restaurant? - a nameless Chinese cafe on the farmland in Kam Tin, N.T.
7. Faced with a python whilst walking up to the Peak, what would you do? - Take a photo and leave quietly
8. Best advice you were given? - Don't be afraid to make mistakes
9. Finish this sentence… I live in Hong Kong because…of a series of beautiful coincidences.
10. Favourite area of Hong Kong? - South Lantau.
Thursday Sep 23, 2021
Thursday Sep 23, 2021
VIBErations podcast Ep 33. Xiao Mei Huang at VIBE Book & Music Shop in Mui Wo on Lantau Island in HK on 9th September 2021
Facebook: @muiwolanguagecafe
BIO
This week I’m pleased to interview VIBE’s own ‘Sunday girl’ Xiao Mei Huang. Based in Mui Wo, she’s just clocked up 3 years working for VIBE, and I hope we can keep her for many more years to come… Being a Mandarin native, she is always interested in learning new languages and now she teaches English, Spanish and Cantonese to adults and kids, of different ages and levels.
She enjoys literature and does a lot of simultaneous interpretation and translation works, including Chilean writer Isabel Allende’s ‘In the Midst of Winter’. She has an M.A. in cultural studies, and is also a researcher, writer and translator: ‘Fukushima: Looking back in Ten Years’ is published in Mainland China and its traditional character version will soon be released in Hong Kong. The kids like her because she is playful and fun-loving. Also because she has a cat called Dumb Dumb. You can easily catch her in VIBE on Sundays as long as she is not occupied by her students.
10 Questions
1. Favourite book or author? - Jorge Luis Borges, Pablo Neruda, Haruki Murakami, Raymond Carver, William Somerset Maugham, Wang Xiaobo, Bill Bryson, and a lot more.
2. Favourite musical artist? - Chavela Vargas! Favourite tunes: Summertime by Janis Joplin, The Thrill is Gone by B.B. King, Sweet Child O'Mine by Guns N' Roses, Concerto de Aranjuez
3. Preferred drink? - Hot tea or coffee
4. Life motto? - I'd rather end up wishing I hadn't, rather than end up wishing I had (Leo Tolstoy).
5. Favourite HK walk? - Lantau Trail Sec.5
6. Favourite HK restaurant? - a nameless Chinese cafe on the farmland in Kam Tin, N.T.
7. Faced with a python whilst walking up to the Peak, what would you do? - Take a photo and leave quietly
8. Best advice you were given? - Don't be afraid to make mistakes
9. Finish this sentence… I live in Hong Kong because…of a series of beautiful coincidences.
10. Favourite area of Hong Kong? - South Lantau.
Thursday Sep 02, 2021
Thursday Sep 02, 2021
VIBErations podcast Ep 32. Shirley 'Shirminator' Johnson at VIBE Book & Music Shop in Mui Wo on Lantau Island in HK on 13th August 2021
VIBErations podcasts are also available on YouTube, Spotify, PodBean, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, Listen Notes, Sticher and PlayerFM
BIO
Shirley Johnson, also known as ‘The Shirminator’, is a proud and self-proclaimed Tong Fuker. When she was pregnant with her first child, she sensed a strong kick in her tummy when she came across a property development advertisement in a Cheung Sha newspaper. She believed it was a message from her unborn child that, that was where she wanted to spend her childhood. Shirley and her husband started house hunting in South Lantau, a part of the island that she had never visited. Well, it was love at first sight and the rest was history… A former jetsetter in the glamorous luxury sector, Shirley dedicates her second career in making a difference, and helping people to heal. She is a life coach, yoga and meditation teacher, Reiki healer, writer and online business owner. You may have heard of Lantau Ren, a local lifestyle brand of designs inspired by its name sake.
10 Questions….
1. Favourite book or author? - American Journalist Daniel Silva
2. Favourite musical artist? - Gotan Project Argentinian Tango
3. Preferred drink? - Ginger Lemonade
4. Life motto? - Believe to receive
5. Favourite HK walk? - Walk between Tong Fuk beach & Cheung Sha beach 6. Favourite HK restaurant? - Mandarin Bar & Grill
7. Faced with a python whilst walking up to the Peak, what would you do? - Leave it alone and don’t do anything stupid
8. Best advice you were given? - 1st Love yourself, then you can love others 9. Finish this sentence… I live in Hong Kong because… Its where I was born, but then when to study in Japan
10. Favourite area of Hong Kong? - Lantau st - but Central if going out for city fix