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!
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.
Adventure racing. It’s no googlewhack, but it is addictive. Here’s post-race me, with new pal Sari. We met about 10 minutes before the race started. She was there with her friend Rob. All newbies, all made it to the finish!
An ActionAsia event, the 13-kilometer Discovery Bay Sprint on May 10 was my introduction to the sport. It drew a motley crew of 300 or so thrill seekers. Teenyboppers to old farts (hey, some of ‘em beat me!), we all donned required helmets and scrambled across beaches, up and down a couple big hills, up and along rocky waterfalls, past a monastery, through a village or two. Scenic, anyway.
I was glad to be helmeted during the rock climb, and wondered what sort of reasoning one of my fellow racers used before deciding to carry his helmet in his hand during the most dangerous portion of the race. There were portions where you could choose your own path along the rocks, and at one point I opted instead to jump into the water, taking the more direct (though not any quicker) route…
“Was that a good decision,” a guy to my right asked. I had to think about it. Then, he answered for me, “the correct answer is: absolutely.”
Score. I love this stuff.
The beach sections came at the best times. No, wait. Worst times. It’s hard to run on a beach! And it’s harder to run on a beach after 12 kilometers of the aforementioned surfaces. Also hard: mountains. I remember wondering, probably two-thirds of the way up big-arse hill numero dos, “hey, I wonder how long it’ll take me to forget how much this sucks.”
Quote of the day (any variation of): “This is the last big hill.” or “One more uphill then it’s flat the rest of the way.”
Thanks for the support, folks, but I think I’d rather hear you tell me you like the dirt covering my entire front from that massive wipeout on the second big downhill. It was HUGE. Face first, sliding down. I remember being a little bummed that the reservoir swim came so quickly after that — no one got to see the evidence of how hard-core I was.
The race ended in the Piazza, where one can opt for a bottle of water (thanks, Bonaqua) or beer. Every time I went to the tent I was greeted with a friendly, “beer?” If only I hadn’t been expected at work in a couple hours.
Special thanks to Anna for serving as my emergency contact. I’m glad I didn’t die.
Six of us set out for the Dragon’s Back after an earthy lunch at the Life Cafe along the escalator last Saturday. I brought my Frisbee along, just in case. Here’s how it went:
First, a bit of a climb along the Dragon’s Back. Every time I hit one of these big, big views, I’m reminded of just how small we are in the grand scheme of things. Part of my group, pictured here at left along the trail…
Around the next curve, we found a crowd watching this fella:
…waiting for the right gust of wind to take him to infinity…
For the record, everyone was happy to be here…
See the excitement in EVERYONE’S faces???
The hike winds up in Shek O, sort of. I’d like to take this moment to point out that my quest to find a beach where Frisbee is allowed has concluded, in victory. Yet I now consider it my duty to scope out the rest of the beaches in the Kong. I know, rough life. Here’s my victory dance at the beach by the Back Beach Bar:
Boxing Day 2008: A three-mountain day. Want to walk with me? Cool. First, take a look at where our hike begins: The bottom of Violet Hill.
The first of what would be many stairs. Think you can make it? Please, follow me. The views are worth it…
You’re nearly to the top of Violet Hill. You may be wondering, “what’s the difference between a hill and a mountain?” Join the club, friend. While you sit on an enormous rock pondering that, check out Hong Kong. You’re breathing cleaner air. Your ears are learning how to open again after spending so much time trying to block out the noise of city life. A few large birds are circling, swooping. There’s a strong wind blowing in from the south. Shall we?
Wait, what’s that ahead of us?
Ha! More steps!
The final batch before we reach the top. And, a fork!
I’d done a bit of research before setting out this time. But none of the place names I was expecting to see were here. I’d come from Park View, so that left two options. I went for Tsin Shui Wan, chosen because it sort of pointed in the direction of Stanley, by my calculations. How right I was!
While hanging around on top of Violet Hill, I stopped to pose for a moment…
Thanks to the first of the day’s trail friends for taking this shot. At the bottom of this mountain I’d make a few more friends…
To my left in the photo is back up the Violet Hill. To my right is the first of The Twins. Continuing with the poetic beauty that is Hong Kong, when this photo was taken I was about to “Do the Twins.” Lovely, eh?
On top of Twin 1 I paused to eat an apple. That’s when I met Jeff, trail friend number 3 (if you count the group above as a collective friend). Jeff and I hiked down Twin 1, laughed a little bit, and hiked up Twin 2. Decidedly less strenuous than the first, but made a little tougher by talking about football. Soccer? Yes. Brief pause atop Twin 2 (heh), aka Ma Kong Shan, then down the steps to Stanley Gap Road and the always enjoyable Stanley Market. Shrimp wonton in noodles for me, chicken wings in noodles for Jeff. Mmm. Stopped for a few minutes to watch what I dub “the penguins”:
… if for no other reason than it was my first thought when I saw this group of people hanging out on the rock outcropping. I’ve never typed outcropping before this blog post. How bout them apples.
I’m glad I didn’t die.
