Cinta-J to close down after 42 years

 

Allen Lee (in black) join his golfing buddies including ex-Labatt Bernie Julve
 (in green at back) for a final photo at Cinta-J

It was a night that recalled the happy times of the 80s and the 90s when Wan Chai was the place to be for late-night dining and drinking in Hong Kong, and Cinta-J restaurant and bar was where most Filipinos ended up in, for a taste of comfort food from back home and singers who obliged their penchant for karaoke and dancing.

After 42 years being at the center of fun and entertainment for most Filipinos in Hong Kong, Cinta-J at no 69 Jaffe Road (which explains the J in its name) is closing down at the end of the month.

On that particular Wednesday night, Sept. 3, many of its old customers who gathered there to party ended up getting nostalgic, as they realized that it could be the last time they would be spending their happy hours there.

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Among those who said goodbye to their favorite watering hole was former Labor Attache to Hong Kong Bernie Julve and his golfing and drinking buddies who used to gather at Cinta-J before, or after, a golf game.  They all realized going out on golf trips would not be as fun without their favorite pit-stop.

In another part of the restaurant, a group of longtime residents celebrated a birthday, and as before, spent the rest of the night dancing and singing with the in-house band. There could never be another place where they could let their hair down, and feel right at home.

Allen Lee with his son Bryan and daughter-in-law Cris

Cinta-J’s founder and owner, 83-year-old Allen Lee, said the Malaysian Consulate building where his resto-bar is housed has been sold, and given the current tepid catering industry and high property prices, it would not be prudent to continue operating it.

But his son Bryan and daughter-in-law Cris who have been running the place for the past several years remain upbeat, saying they are still hoping to find a new place where they can carry on the business.

Many longtime customers of Cinta-J would likely welcome a reopening, but Cinta away from Jaffe Road - - where they had the most fun eating Filipino or Indonesian food dancing and singing to their hearts’ content - would never be the same.

At its heyday, when Hong Kong was the favorite place for R&R by seafarers from all over the world, Cinta-J was often packed and pulsating. It could either be fun or rowdy, or both, but always with the best music in town.

A visit to Cinta-J is never complete without the singing & dancing

The all-night partying started to slow down about 10 years ago when China started rejecting berthing requests from ships, particularly those from the US navy, amid rising political tension.

Cinta-J managed to pull through, only to suffer another setback when massive anti-government protests erupted across Hong Kong from 2018 to 2019, with Wan Chai becoming one of the flash points.

Just as things were starting to quiet down, the Covid-19 pandemic happened, and the catering sector once more took a direct hit. Cinta-J, along with several bars on Jaffe, were among the worst hit. (See report here: https://www.sunwebhk.com/search?q=Cinta+J)

Getting back up from all those whammies have been difficult, but losing the place it has called home for decades was what hastened the Lees’ decision to shut down the business they nurtured for so long, for good.

Poster for the final group farewell to Cinta-J organized by the UPAA-HK

As a tribute to those happy times, a group of Filipino residents led by the University of the Philippines Alumni Association is preparing to hold a final farewell to Cinta-J on September 24, six days before it is finally shuttered.

Special guest for the evening will be Cinta-J’s most beloved singer Nicky Flores, who will be taking to the stage again together with his wife and former singing partner, Merly. Surprise numbers will also be presented.

To book a ticket, please see the poster above or call Cath at 9536 0166

 

 

Cautious customers shun restaurant across infected Wanchai bars

By Vir B. Lumicao

Cinta-J faces two of the virus-infested bars along Jaffe Rd in Wanchai

A popular Wanchai restaurant favored by Filipinos and their friends faces a tough time, after reports that the dreaded coronavirus disease had swept through two adjacent bars across the road.

Cinta-J, which has been in business for more than 30 years, finds itself at the receiving end of a fallout from the infection that swept through staff and performers at the now shuttered The Centre Stage and Dusk Till Dawn bars on Jaffe Road.

The two bars, along with Insomnia in Lan Kwai Fong, Central, and All Night Long in Tsim Sha Tsui, have been identified as the sources of a cluster infection that has struck down 27 musicians and staff, along with 16 customers.

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On Friday, Mar 27 alone, 10 staff and a performer at Dusk and Insomnia were reported as having contracted Covid-19, along with nine patrons.

The reports appear to have spooked customers of Cinta-J, a restaurant-bar across the road that serves both Indonesian and Filipino food, and also provides live entertainment at night.

“Dati laging puno ng tao rito, kahit lunchtime, lalo na kapag araw ng Biyernes tulad ngayon,” said Jackie Flores, a 38-year-old waitress at Cinta-J, said.

 

Flores, left, and a fellow waitress, sit amid an empty Cinta-J restaurant

She said that before the contagion, the restaurant would normally have dozens of office workers lining up to eat or order take-out food for lunch.

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At night, the place would be even more crowded, with many people coming in to listen to their in-house band perform starting at 6pm.

But on this day, Flores, along with two other staff, were the only people in the eatery.

“Ngayon ay wala na sila, walang dumarating simula kanina,” she said referring to lunchtime. 

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She said customers would usually start arriving at around 3pm for some snacks and drinks. Many would stay on for the performances of their all-Filipino band that belts out a wide range of songs, from English and Tagalog ballads, to classic and modern rock.

Guests would pour in until late at night, especially for their favorite part, when band members would start accepting song requests, or invite members of the audience to sing along.

Sunday is usually the busiest day at Cinta-J because many Filipinos migrant workers hankering for food from home gather there to celebrate special occasions, or just to meet up, dance and sing.

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That, too, has changed since Hong Kong was hit by the coronavirus infection, and the government advised migrant workers to stay at home on their rest day. Many employers seized this as an opportunity to stop their helpers from taking their usual Sunday off.

But the biggest whammy came on Mar 25, when a record five musicians who played in Insomnia and the two bars, along with a waitress, were included in the day’s list of new Covid-19 infections.

“Bale dalawang araw na kaming zero,” said Flores.

She said the crowds began thinning after the first band member tested positive on Mar 23.

“Kitang-kita ng mga customer namin noong pinuntahan ng ambulansya ng mga taga-Health Department ang dalawang bar na iyan,” Flores said.

Health workers also went up to the band members’ flat in Hang Shun Mansions just above the two bars, to disinfect the place. Many of the performers, who were mostly recruited from the Philippines on short-term contracts, lived in the flat.

Flores said she understood the customers’ fear, although Cinta-J itself has not been infected. But she can’t help but worry about the economic repercussions of the contagion.

At lunchtime on Mar 27, very few people were on Jaffe Road, some of them office workers scurrying through, with lunchboxes bought from other restaurants in the area.

Both Dusk till Dawn and Centre Stage have been boarded up after the outbreak

Inside the shuttered bars, two or three people could be seen moving behind the translucent window panes of Dusk Till Dawn.

Asked if they were employees of the bar, Flores said they were health workers disinfecting the entire pub after cleansing the Centre Stage.

The same grim picture emerged over at Lan Kwai Fong, where Insomnia, identified as the epicenter of the biggest outbreak in the entertainment scene, stands forlorn, its dim, empty interior watched over by a stone sculpture of a horned head.

Its entrance, once a place to be seen in the most popular nightspot in the city, is now blocked by two decks of wooden bar stools, lined up behind a pair of green plastic chains.

 

Once the place to be in Lan Kwai Fong, Insomnia is now shuttered after disinfection

A sign in front says, “Due to the pandemic, we are closed until further notice. Keep safe and healthy.”

The sad saga of what was once one of Hong Kong’s favorite bars may not be over yet.

Hong Kong’s health officials say more than 120 people working in the bars have been quarantined. A number of their friends are also being checked in case they, too, have been infected.

But they have also been quick to say that the source of the outbreak has not been determined, so there should be no finger-pointing, or laying blame on anyone.

The musicians, the food servers and other staff, are the least to blame for the outbreak. They are, in fact, victims. They got struck while doing their jobs.

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Consul Deric’s new job offers exciting sea of challenges

Consulate and POLO officials give Consul Roderico Atienza a farewell dinner at Cinta J.

By Vir B. Lumicao

Consul Roderico Atienza, who used to be deputy head of post in Hong Kong, is going home May 1, ending a relatively brief but “rewarding” posting in the city to take up a new and challenging assignment in the Department of Foreign Affairs.

His departure ends a two-year and two-week stint here that would have been much shorter, had it not been for a delay in the signing of the new government budget.

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He says there is really nothing special about his leaving. “In fact, if I have to go by the scheduled rotation, it was really due on the 31st of January. That was exactly when I completed six years overseas,” Consul Deric said.


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His departure comes just a month shy of the expected recall to the Home Office of Consul General Antonio Morales and Consul Fatima Quintin, both of whom are also winding up six years of posting abroad.

Consul Deric says he will assume his new role one of two directors of the Maritime Ocean Affairs Office.

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“It is a standalone office inside the DFA that recognizes the importance of the archipelagic nation status of the Philippines as one of the framers of the United Nations Law of the Sea of 1982,” he said.

He calls the UN Law of the Sea “one of our greatest diplomatic victories together with Indonesia. We essentially defined one of the provisions recognizing archipelagic nations. It’s the Bible of the sea, right? Essentially, if you classify that, it’s one of the biggest transfers of territory that is legal and won without a fight.”

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“Part of my role when I return to Manila is to make sure that we adhere to and respect and implement what is due to us by the law, especially in the area of the South China Sea,” Consul Deric said.

The Philippines has an overlapping claim over the South China Sea with Taiwan, China, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam. Some reefs, islets or shoals are within the Philippines’ economic zone that stretches 200 km from its western coastline.

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“If there is something about the South China Sea, then I’d be included or my team would be included. I think it is incumbent upon us that if we have rights to the sea, …we should be observant of that and, of course, benefit from that,” he said.

He looks back to his stay in Hong Kong “as very rewarding and in so many ways a relief. The good thing about Hong Hong is that the results of the work you can do here are immediately felt and seen.”

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“In that sense, you have a – whether you say it’s a psychic or psychological – reward, because you can see that the people you are helping in very short order receive the benefits,” he said.

It is in Hong Kong, which is teeming with Filipino workers, where he realized the important role of a consulate, something that he did not see in Korea where he was the consul general before coming here.

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OFWs in Korea are “under a very orderly system of government. There is a lot of system of monitoring and enforcement actions” that Hong Kong also has.

But he said with some 220,000 workers and with the power of social media, the Hong Kong post creates opportunities but also some challenges. 

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