Some Quirky Things

Hello Excellent Ones,
It has been dreary for like weeks on end.  At times the clouds have been so low that the view from my apartment is nothing but a grey wall and you can't see the top five floors from below.   I can't remember when I last saw the sun, but I am really looking forward to seeing it again.  It has been drizzling a little as well every day.  Still it is @ 15 above every day.   So grey and plus 15 vrs. sunny and minus 40.  Ah I think grey and plus 15 will be good.

Today I will report about a few of the thousands of quirky things that I encounter in Hong Kong almost every day.  Quirky is different, quirky is interesting, I kind of like quirky.

Hairy Crabs
Every January-March it is hairy crab season.  Millions and millions of these creatures are thrown into baskets, live, with a little ribbon tied in a bow to keep their claws under control.  Sometimes they are stacked neatly.  Kind of cruel, but the Chinese love them.

Mini Austin
Hong Kong has great cars.  All, however have their steering wheel on the right side rather than the left.  Rather weird.  Lots of German and Italian hot rods rule the road, but there is a niche for Austin Minis as well.  Came by a garage that fixed only Austin Minis.  Hmm.  Rather interesting.

Blossoms
Ok I admit it.  I like flowers even though as a big, burly guy I am not really supposed to admit it.  Yet I enjoy the blossoms that abound here year round.  It makes my day.  And  they have this amazing year round flower market.  I will have to a blog just on that some day.  It is pretty great.

Quirky signs
Chinglish is much better in mainland China than here in the Special Administration Region, but occasionally there is an interesting sign.  Have a Blossoming good year every one.

Dogs Wearing Coats
When the temperature gets down to 12 out come the dog coats.  The poor dogs might get cold.  Pansies!  Canadian dogs are much tougher.  Many of the jackets are designer Chinese coats.  Rather amusing to observe.  In the summer out come the razors and many dogs are sheared to a fine stubble so they can survive the heat.  One sheltie is sheared like a lion with a lovely mane.  Now why did I not think of that with Lady?

Oranges
There are millions of oranges now.  They are going real cheap.  A pound for about fifty cents Canadian.  Cheap.  Bought a giant mandarin orange and tried it.  It was super sour but it was an interesting size.

Have a great week everyone.

God bless you.

Love adios and peng on,

Dirk

Panorama Views

Hello Fantastic Ones,
One of the great features of my new camera (Fujifilm Finepix S2900 Series) is the Panorama one.   Today I  have put my favourite shots on display.  The blog site won't do the pictures justice due to how small it makes them, but if you can enlarge them I think you would enjoy them.  Have a great week.  I am rather sick with the flu so pray for me.

Love adios and peng on!

Dirk  

Shun mon Springs

Hello O Excellent Ones,
On Saturday afternoon (today Feb 11) I went with a group of high school students from my school to the Shun mon Springs youth center.  Located up in the hills of Shatin it is a tranquil place surrounded by jungle and the sounds of a murmuring spring (hence the name) that makes you feel instantly relaxed.  It is run by an organization called the St Stephen's Society, which was started by the legendary, (to Hong Kong anyway) Jackie Pullinger.  The facilities are top notch, but the people who run the place are even better.  All have a fierce devotion to God, Jesus Christ and helping the boys, who attend the center, to get better and eventually become contributors to society.  The boys, who come from all walks of life, have some how failed at family life, school, or lost their way to drugs.   Shun mon Springs gives them a chance to find their way by following the Lord: The Way, The Truth, and The Life.

Most of the students I took from my school today come from good homes and are all relatively well to do.  They also all attend church and have a good genuine faith in the Lord.  Still it is rare for them to interact with kids from a lower socio economic bracket than themselves and especially with those who have had trouble with the law.

Yet by worshipping, playing sports, and then having a barbecue together all the kids, my school and the center kids, were allowed to be just kids and it was a positive experience for everyone.   Worship was interesting in that the songs were sung in Cantonese and English.  It was beautiful really.   After worship the girls, especially, had a screaming good time going up the climbing wall while the boys got rid of some testosterone playing soccer, basketball, and ping pong.  Well,  on second thought the testosterone release may not have been that strong with ping pong.

The barbecue was, well, different.  Little stands for the charcoal were lit up by mini blow torches.  Of course by the time the coals were perfect starvation had driven most of us to eat half cooked food, or burnt offerings, and thus there was no more room for a well cooked piece of flesh.  Barbecues are always the same, in that sense, around the world.   There were hotdogs, but no buns, ketchup or musturd.  Heck you might as well eat the dog raw then, but there was also fish, fish balls, pork chops,  chicken and mushrooms wrapped in tinfoil.  All good and interesting.

Yet the best part was getting to know the guys and one aspect I like about Christianity is that having meals and getting to know one another while stuffing your face is very Biblical.  Jesus did it all the time.  So pray for the kids, all the kids, that got to know one another today, and maybe in the future they will treat those from different socio economic brackets than themselves with kindness and respect, rather than ignoring them.

Love adios and peng on!

Dirk

Tai O

Hello Tremendous Ones,
I have been in Hong Kong for almost two years and it still amazes me.  On Saturday I went to Lantau island.  The ferry ride over was peaceful and nice.  On the other hand the hair raising, nauseating, roller coaster like, bus ride, up and down over the mountainous Lantau terrain was not.  Still Tai O was very interesting and I will let the pictures and captions explain why.

Love adios and peng on!

Dirk