Today is not Danise’s birthday
Ξ July 18th, 2010 | → 1 Comments | ∇ Hong Kong |
But it sure was clear in the Kong! 
Consider my trigger tripped.
Ξ July 15th, 2010 | → 1 Comments | ∇ Hong Kong |
I saw it from the upper deck of bus 104 on my way home from work the other day. It’s just around the block from my apartment on Queens Road West in Sheung Wan. For two years I’ve been on the lookout for this sign, and now I’ve found it!
Q: What do you do with a stationary stationery store?
Home Is Where the Horse Bezoar Is
Ξ March 18th, 2010 | → 1 Comments | ∇ Hong Kong, Tours and stuff |
The verdict is in: New neighborhood = winner. Take a look at these flickr photos I’ve posted from my neck of the woods, namely Queens Road West, Sheung Wan. From umbrellas to dinosaur teeth to horse bezoars…see for yourself!
Any guesses what this is?
My new neighborhood also has a McDonald’s, a French delicatessen, Thai restaurant, fresh vegetable stand, wet market, three grocery stores (in a two-block span of my street), and I’m a block away from Hollywood Road Park. Not bad, eh?
Also in March…a trip to one of the last remaining maker of hand-made wooden chopping blocks! Kevin and I walked there after my Sunday morning soccer match. Here’s some proof!
A long, long way
Ξ December 4th, 2009 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Hike the Kong, Hong Kong |
My Trailwalker team found out today we came in 6th place out of 23 women’s teams. Not bad for a bunch of rookies! We would’ve been 115th in the men’s category out of 560 teams. That’s excellent news, eh? I still plan to write about the hike. It’ll take some time as there’s a lot to say.
For now, here’s the link to our team page. And we’re on facebook. Look on my profile for the page “The Team.” We spent a lot of time talking about team names and came up with the awesome name Team Team. Then on race day we came up with an even cooler name, but I’ve since forgotten it. It’ll come to me… wait for it…
Our fundraising total: HK$9200. Way to go, Team Team and friends!
That’s Hong Kong, No. 2
Ξ December 4th, 2009 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Hong Kong, That's Hong Kong |
Well after happening upon this ridiculous display of energy waste, we figured out the display was set up in connection with the start of the East Asia Games. Righto.
There were probably 30 spot lights set up at eye level along the harbor in front of the convention center. They’re on swivel stands and send super bright rays across at Kowloon side. How unsafe is that? To make it even better, there were green lasers pointing across too. Kinda freaked me out. But I didn’t exactly stop walking in front of the pretty bright lights.
My wonderful dinner date and I took some photos…
That's me, bewildered.
Note the green lasers just above eye level.
Calling all iPhones!
Lessons learned, life lived, la dee da
Ξ November 29th, 2009 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Food, Hike the Kong, Hong Kong, Tours and stuff, Travels, hospitalizations |
Be mindful of fish bones.
Take only the water you’ll need.
Spandex is your friend.
If you need help, ask for it.
Go to Bali.
A 35-kilometer hike in the Vietnam heat can be harder than a 100-kilometer hike in the Hong Kong cold.
Take good care of your mother. She’s important.
Since I last wrote in August, I’ve had a few adventures. Shed some tears. Laughed with my whole belly. Made friends. Conquered challenges. Here are just a few shots of recent adventures. More soon, possibly…
Kids on the beach in Amed, Bali
I spent the good part of a week scootering around Bali, Indonesia in August. I spent three days in the SamaSama guesthouse in Amed, on the northeast side of the island. Then three days in Ubud. Think rice terraces, monkey forest, mountain biking. It was excellent. According to Indonesia immigration, I spent eight days, but it was literally less than seven. That cost me US$25, which was more than I paid for two nights in Sanya’s House in Ubud. Can’t complain.
The kids in the photo above were hawking their wares (necklaces, kites, good-luck boxes) and playing with the ball in the photo when I got home from an outing one day. I asked if they’d like to play Frisbee then fetched mine. We had a blast. Then I bought them Cokes and Fantas and suddenly there were twice as many kids, and they were all so thirsty. And, they figured, if I had enough money to buy them drinks, I surely had enough money to buy their trinkets. Lesson learned. I bought one necklace from the tallest fella in the photo. I don’t remember any of their names, but I remember the one standing at my right introduced himself as Barack Obama. Nice. I had a blast hanging out with them as the day wound down, sitting on the black sand beach outside my hotel.
Have banana, will climb.
After Amed I got a ride to Ubud, which was about 100 times more commercialized and civilization-like. And very cool. Have I mentioned the amazing food in Bali?
My trip after Bali was to Danang, Vietnam. This was supposed to be part of a three-day 100-kilometer adventure race through villages and remote areas near the border with Laos. However, a typhoon wiped out many of the bridges and roads and damaged villages where we were supposed to go. So we ended up in and around Danang. It was hot, and I don’t do well in the heat. But the race was great training for the one-day, 100-kilometer Oxfam Trailwalker I was signed up to do Nov. 20-21. That deserves it’s own post.
Here’s Danang:
I ran across those bridges pictured way below.
Here’s me finishing day 2 of the race. I decided to sit out day 3. My aching joints got a well-deserved rest.
It was so hot out there!!!
After Vietnam, I had a quick trip home to surprise Dad for his 60th birthday party. It was great — all six siblings were there, too, plus Mom and Non! A quick trip, but a great trip. On our way back to Hong Kong, Mom and I stopped in San Francisco to catch up with Annemarie (aka my very best friend) and the always-awesome Marilyn and Deb. Of course, I don’t think any of us took pictures (again).
That brings me to today, roughly. Yes, I’ve purposefully left out mention of the fishbone incident.
Yesterday Kevin took Mom and I on a tour of Macau. (flickr set begins here) Now I’ll be able to show people around there too (hint, hint, Anthony). We ate. Boy, did we eat. That really is ideal, to plan a daytrip around food. It helps when the food is fantastic.
Kevin and Emily at the old fort
That’s Hong Kong, no. 1
Ξ August 6th, 2009 | → 1 Comments | ∇ Hong Kong, That's Hong Kong |
I’m instituting a feature tonight called “That’s Hong Kong.” You might’ve gleaned from my numbering this post that I will continue these quick takes on life in the Kong. That is my brilliant plan.
No. 1
Building security guards. Today I speak of the men who man posts in my office building. After about 8 p.m., they rope off the Office Lift Lobby, directing traffic past a desk with “IN” and “OUT” card sensors. When I approach the desk from either direction, I’m half-heartedly greeted and directed by way of an extended arm to please scan my green building card. Then I’m thanked. If I forget my card, I have to show ID and they write down my information on a pad that’s kept covered at all times “to protect the identity of building occupants.”
There are always at least two men behind the desk, sometimes as many as five standing around. Greeting, directing, thanking. I don’t quite know which one to address so I try to make a quick sweep of all of them, greeting, swiping, thanking. I get a mixture of “hello, lei ho, thank you, mmgoi, ok, byebye.”
A handful of times I’ve rounded the corner after 2a.m. to find both of them asleep. Once I snuck by without waking them, but usually I swipe my card, it beeps and they jump. Revenge is mine!
I don’t mind the routine. Some people do. Sure, it’s a tad excessive. It’s a bit of a pain when I forget my ID (which happens a few times a month). I would prefer to leave the office and walk home without having to greet, swipe, thank two more people.
But, that’s Hong Kong.
The observatory that cried “wolf!”
Ξ August 5th, 2009 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Hong Kong |
There’s a T8 typhoon signal hoisted right now in the Kong. Ole Goni’s upon us. And get this: I just walked home from work, through the always dangerous mist. A warm-ish wind ripped between the buildings along the east-west walkway … wait, no wind. T8 hoisted. Not even a breeze. Hey, what gives? And will I ever stop getting excited at the idea of braving a ridiculous, thrashing, walk-through-me-and-feel-the-pain storm of storms? I suppose the wind must be stronger out over the ocean. The storm could’ve changed course, or maybe it was more intense while I was plodding through stories about Bill Clinton and tiny fish that could help save my hearing one day. Fish!
Speaking of, I bet fish have it a lot worse than I do. Think about it — they’re swimming around in the world’s biggest toilet when a typhoon comes along and pulls the flusher. But the ocean can’t flush, can it? So it stirs. That’s gross.
Have a nice day.
Midnight pontoon madness to the max!
Ξ July 25th, 2009 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Hong Kong, Lamma |
Feeling Frisbee-deprived, I shot a text to my pal Emma yesterday to see if she wanted to come out and play. She shot back with a wild idea: night kayak from Lamma? My response: “hell yeah!” We set out around 9 p.m. from Power Station Beach with one superbly decked-out boat.
We would be seen. Emma, above, with retro boat on Power Station Beach. Power Station in back.
Oh yes, we would be seen. It was a pretty calm night, perfect for a night out in the sea surrounding Lamma Island. We paddled around to Lo So Shing Beach, where we hoped to find a pontoon floating within the shark net. It took a couple passes to maneuver the kayak over the net. You’d think they don’t want outside sea creatures getting in there. Emma laughed at how I say “Boo-ey.”
Thirty strokes later and we were alongside the floating springboard for what would become Midnight Pontoon Madness. Witness:
What timing! Some of us are better jumpers. Some of us are better photographers. Note: no diving. Jumping? Sure.
We had a blast! Good, clean fun. Well, except for my spill that resulted in my left leg under the raft, right leg stuck behind the ladder, scrapes and cuts and bruises galore! Oh, and flipping the boat as we powered back over the shark net and toward P.S.B. Thank goodness for friends with kayaks…and who tie everything down in case of boat-flippage. And don’t forget waterproof cameras!
One of the few shots of mine that got more than Emma's left foot in the frame.
The crane. Aka: The Praying Mantis, floppy wrists, on and on...
Beachy keen
Ξ June 22nd, 2009 | → 2 Comments | ∇ Hike the Kong, Hong Kong |
I went here, and it was nice.
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