Biking with Gary

Hello Most Amazing People,

The weather is cooler now.  Plus 20ish and the Hong Kongers have their parkas on and the poor dogs are wearing boots and coats. Let them be dogs for crying out loud!  I on the other hand meander around outside at my complex in flip flops, shorts, and a tee shirt much to the bemusement and wonder of my Chinese friends.  Plus 21 is Alberta summer weather.  The weather is also great for biking and my friend Gary,( who is well into his 60's yet he can not only keep up with me on a bike, but more often than not passes me) joins me often on my travels in the biker friendly world of Shatin.  Biking I find needs to be done early in the morn because by noon time the trails are filled with , helmetless Chinese bikers, who wobble along at excrutiatingly slow speeds.  Not good for my nerves.  People here also don't seem to have any concept that bike trails are for biking not hiking and I have nearly plowed, many a time, pedestrians suddenly traversing the bike trails oblivious to the dangers of swiftly moving bikes.  Uggggh!  Nevertheless there are some good views along the trails, banyan trees and lovely views of the sea.

The other day Gary and I rode out to a jetty that is popular with several hardy souls who go swimming in the ocean from there (year round!).  Hong Kong has the highest life expectancy rate in the world for women and the men are not too far off.  And it is pretty obvious why.  Old people are constantly exercising and socializing with one another while doing their activities.  Tai Chi, badminton, walking, running, and swimming they are always out and about. So on January 18 Gary and I swam and nearly froze to death due to lack of wet suit with some old timers.  It was great fun once my body numbed to a point where I could not feel the pain of the cold waters.  Afterwards we fortified ourselves with a man's breakfast of eggs, bread and a variety of meat at a quaint and rugged outdoor cafe.  Lovely.  Yeah I think I will try to stay as long as I can in Hong Kong.  Freezing at minus 30 in Canada during January or freezing while swimming in the ocean in January in Hong Kong.  I choose the latter.

God bless you all.  Have a great week.  Love adios and peng on!

Dirk      

End of the bike path.

 An overpass over a busy road with a bike lane.

A few bikes.

 Stay off the bike paths!

 Oblivious to oncoming bikers.  Helmet?

 Under the banyan trees.

 Lovely.

 A styling Chinese biker.

 Gary before plunging in.

 Swim buddy.

 Pugs with their owners enjoying breakfast.

 Arnold Schwarzenegger.

 Gary and I at the quaint, rugged outdoor cafe.

A breakfast for men.

A Day With Eli

Eli posing with the Big Buddha.

Hello Most Great Ones,

It has been well over a week since Eli and Elsie departed from amazing Hong Kong, but we did so many things I could spend the next month just blogging that.  I am not going to do that, but I do want to  blog a great day I had with Eli.  Elsie needed some well deserved time out from us so Eli and I got on the rails and headed to Lantau to visit the Big Buddha.   After arriving in the town of Tung Chung on Lantau we took a wheezing, coughing bus up to Big Buddha, which rests high on a small mountain.  After checking the big guy out Eli and I decided to march 7 kilometers down the mountain on a well paved path.  This may not sound like much to a certain well hiked, retired Mobil couple, but the trail was pretty steep.  The views were quite spectacular and the bamboo jungles were amazing.  Half way down the mountain we came across a Buddhist monastery with monks dressed in traditional garb tilling their well manicured garden plots.  It was like going back in time.  There were also other Buddhist shrines, and gravesites along this path.  Finally we came upon a rushing creek with lovely clear pools.  It was a delightful trek and as I have said over and over again, Hong Kong never ceases to amaze me.

God bless you all.

Love adios and peng on!

Dirk 

Son and dad.

Eli posing in front of the eternal pillars.

In a bamboo forest.

Asian pose in front of the trail head sign.

In front of the Buddhist monastery.

At a shrine.  

Interesting steps.

In the mighty jungle.

Clear waters.

 Great views.

 Mountain vistas.

Interesting Food

Hello My Dear Great Ones,

Eli and Elsie left this week, Eli back to Calgary, Elsie to Bremen, Germany where she will be a nannyfor three children.  This job will be for the next eight months.  I am happy for Elsie cause it sounds wonderful.  It was great having Eli and Elsie with me and we had many good talks and experiences.  We also had some interesting meals.  Here is a sampling of a few of them:

Till next week.  Love adios and peng on!

Dirk

Oysters with cheese and squid cooked abalone style.

Eli drinking fresh coconut milk.  The coconuts came from the trees at our hotel.

An artsy coffee.

 Eating at a deluxe buffet.  Steak, lobster, you name it.  Awesome.

 Eating on the beach at Boracay.

Elsie ready for some sushi.

Hot pot!  You get the food raw and then you cook it your self.  Not bad but Eli was a little skeptical.

Checking out fresh seafood in an aquarium.

Jumbo shrimp, lobster and fish.

Eli and Elsie

My Dear Great Ones,

Happy New Year!   I wish you all a wonderful and happy New Years! 

Having Eli and Elsie with me this Christmas season has been wonderful.  Here are a few pictures of what we have done so far in Hong Kong.

Love adios and peng on

Dirk

Cool Elsie.

Eli and Elsie in Hong Kong.

Eli by a buddhist shrine.

On the way down from the big Buddha.  Trail head.

Eli by buddhist pillars.

Night time view of Hong Kong from the peak.  Beautiful.

Eli by massive rubber tree.

Looking down at Hong Kong from the peak.

Checking out the peak.

At the Hong Kong zoo.

Watching the monkeys.

Eli and Elsie at the zoo.

Sushi!

By Lion Rock.

On top of Lion Rock.

By Amah Rock.

Biking with Eli.