Snorkelling in Hoi Ha Wan

Hoi Ha Wan translates as ‘Bay Beneath the Sea’ and the Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park is a protected area that contains 60 types of hard coral and 120 species of coral fish. It’s also a particularly good spot for those interested in snorkelling or mangroves.

Hello Excellent Ones,

Last Saturday I went with some excellent ones from my school to Hoi Ha Wan which is located in Sai Kung country park, a 44 square kilometre oasis of jungle, beaches, ocean, small mountains, trails, and fresh air.  It is awesome and, for me,  the fact that three quarters ( 3/4 !) of Hong Kong is made up of country parks, like Sai Kung, makes it truly one of the greatest places on Earth.  What a great blend of city, culture, and nature.  Ok I am gushing now.  

The day started when we packed ourselves onto a mini bus at Sai Kung town and careened through the jungle to Hoi Ha village

Happy times on the mini bus.

Upon arrival we were greeted by this sign.  Hoi Ha gets a few visitors and we were advised to not cause noise nuisance.  Hmmm.  I Should have a noise nuisance sign in my PE class.

Interesting flower in Hoi Ha.

Hoi Ha village is miniscule, but has some interesting buildings.

Exciting downtown Hoi Ha.  We had to walk through Hoi Ha and a jungle to get to Hoi Ha Wan.  About a 10 minute walk. 

On the way to Hoi Ha Wan we came upon some ancient Lime kilns.

Trek through the jungle to Hoi Ha Wan.

A group photo at the pier by Hoi Ha Wan.

View of Sai Kung, Hoi Ha village, and the bay.

Snorkelling time.  Was an overcast day, but that was good.  Was only 29 rather than 35 degrees.

Gearing up.

Ready to see another world.

Jim had a cell phone that could take pictures underwater.  Hard to take pictures of fish flitting around, but the coral was interesting.

There were massive schools of small transparent fingerling size fish.

Feeding the fish.

There were some very colorful and interesting fish.

Ok, cheating here.  This picture was taken at a seafood restaurant, but there is a great variety of fish in the waters around Hong Kong.  Tough to take good shots of the fish with a cell phone.

This sea monster had a great time.


Have a good week everyone!

Next entry is Qatar and Austria!

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk

World Cup Soccer Challenge

My Dear Great Ones,
World Cup fever has hit Hong Kong.  Restaurants and bars all over the territory are offering "World Cup Specials."  Even the young kids at my school are acutely aware of what is going on and many have asked who I am cheering for.  Germany of course.  They are due.  We shall see.  Last time I checked Canada was ranked 111 in the World, behind Equatorial Guinea, and were disqualified from World Cup contention about two years ago.  So sad.  However, Canada produces good hockey players and they have the gold medals to verify this.  Only thing is, 98% of the World does not care, due to their love and attachment to soccer.

This year the World Cup is in Brazil , which makes watching the games in HK rather terrible due to the time difference.  Games are on at 1:00 am, 3:00 am, 6:00 am.  It is truly the worst possible times to watch a game.  Nevertheless there are establishments here in HK offering live World Cup action on their TV screens.  I like soccer, but I am sleeping and catching the highlights later.

Outside of the Harbour Mall (in Kowloon), near the star ferry line, stylish statues of some World Cup stars were set up.   Most of them are strikers.  Strikers are players who have a talent for scoring goals.  They play way up front in their team's formation.(Think Wayne Gretzky)  Behind the strikers are the midfielders, followed by the defenders, and then the last line of defence is the goalkeeper.  Since strikers score most of the goals in a soccer match they get more publicity and fame then a defender.  They also generally make boatloads more money than their teammates.  Take the test and see if you can match the name with the statue.  Answers are below.

Who are they:

Statue A.    Is it:  Tim Howard, David Luis, Cristiano Ronaldo, Franck Ribery, Wayne Rooney,
                          Neymar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Andres Iniesta

Statue B.    Is it:  Tim Howard, David Luis, Cristiano Ronaldo, Franck Ribery, Wayne Rooney,

                          Neymar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Andres Iniesta

Statue C.    Is it:  Tim Howard, David Luis, Cristiano Ronaldo, Franck Ribery, Wayne Rooney,

                          Neymar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Andres Iniesta

Statue D.    Is it:  Tim Howard, David Luis, Cristiano Ronaldo, Franck Ribery, Wayne Rooney,

                          Neymar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Andres Iniesta

Statue E.    Is it:  Tim Howard, David Luis, Cristiano Ronaldo, Franck Ribery, Wayne Rooney,

                          Neymar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Andres Iniesta

Statue F.    Is it:  Tim Howard, David Luis, Cristiano Ronaldo, Franck Ribery, Wayne Rooney,

                          Neymar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Andres Iniesta

Statue G.    Is it:  Tim Howard, David Luis, Cristiano Ronaldo, Franck Ribery, Wayne Rooney,

                          Neymar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Andres Iniesta

Statue H.    Is it:  Tim Howard, David Luis, Cristiano Ronaldo, Franck Ribery, Wayne Rooney,

                          Neymar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Andres Iniesta

Answers:

Statue A.  Cristiano Ronaldo- plays for Real Madrid and Portugal.  A great striker.

Statue B. Wayne Rooney- plays for Manchester United and England.  A chubby striker.

Statue C.  David Luis-plays for Chelsea (London) and Brazil.  A great defender.

Statue D. Andres Iniesta- plays for Barcelona and Spain.  A great mid-fielder.

Statue E. Tim Howard- plays for Everton (England) and United States.  A great goalkeeper.

Statue F. Zlatan Ibrahimovic-plays for Paris St. Germain and Swedan.  Immigrated to Sweden from Bosnia with his parents at a young age.

Statue G Franck Ribery- plays for Bayern Munich and France.  A very good striker.

Statue H.   Neymar- plays for Barcelona and Brazil.  A great striker.

Have a great week everyone and go Deutschland!

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk

Monkeying Around

Dear Super People,

So the other day I head out on a little walk by my place and lo and behold what do I see on top of a lamp pole? Yep you guessed it a monkey watching the world go by...

He seemed rather alarmed at the goings on from his lofty perch, but then...

 He suddenly flipped on his stomach cause obviously...

 A case of the munchies hit him.  No problem he hung 15 feet above the ground and savoured some...

 Delectable leaves...

Yum yum…

I then walked on and came upon a vehicle covered with monkeys.  A man in the vehicle had his window slightly ajar and was feeding one of them...

 This is highly NOT recommended...

 Cause the monkeys will, like bears who are fed in Canada, become a nuisance...

And it does not go well for human or beast.   Better to leave them alone…

And let them just hang out…

Anyway as I have said a million times Hong Kong continues to surprise, amuse, and amaze me pretty well every day that I am here.

Have a great week everyone.

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk

Dragon Boat

 A dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft. They were traditionally made in the Pearl River Delta region of China's southern Guangdong Province out of teak wood (mostly imported from Pontianak, Indonesia) to various designs and sizes. In other parts of China, different kinds of wood are used to build these traditional watercraft. It is one of a family of traditional paddled long boats found throughout Asia, Africa, and the Pacific islands. Currently, boats are being made for competitive purposes out of carbon fiber and other lightweight materials.

Dragon boats are the basis of the team paddling sport of dragon boat racing, a watersport which has its roots in an ancient folk ritual of contending villagers, which has been held for over 2000 years throughout southern China. While competition has taken place annually for more than 20 centuries as part of religious ceremonies and folk customs, dragon boat racing has emerged in modern times as an international sport, beginning inHong Kong in 1976.

Every year in the early part of June many Hong Kongers, including those in the education field, get a day off for "Dragon Boat Day."  This year we got Monday, June 2 off.  All over Hong Kong on that day were dragon boat races.  This year, instead of hanging @ home or lounging at a beach I went to watch a race in Shatin.  As you can see by the picture below it was a hot day.  In Asia umbrellas are not only used for rain protection, but sun as well.  Lots of umbrellas indicate that its HOT HOT HOT.  Lots of umbrellas means it was very crowded too.  Nevertheless it was an interesting experience.  Most of the teams train year round and compete in a variety of races, but the June 2nd race is the BIG one.  Many companies in Hong Kong have dragon boat teams as a way to instill morale.  Despite how physically exhausting the race is the people in the boats look like they had fun even though they had a drummer guy in the front of the boat and a rudder guy in the back of the boat "exhorting," them forwards.  Yet, being yelled at while sitting in a cramped boat under a searing sun does not sound fun to me.  I'd rather chase a ball with a stick in my hands, or bike on some rugged mountain trail, or ride the waves.  But hey, different strokes for different folks.  Get it?  Dragon boat…strokes….groan  ha ha.

A bridge over the Shatin river was closed off for spectators.  

The course was about 400 meters, starting from the bridge in the background.

There are 26 people in a large size dragon boat. 24 row while the other two boss the 24 around. It seems in China people like to do things in cramped, crowded spaces.

 Teams had their own colors.  Very Chinese to be in groups with same colors.

Co-ordination is essential.  Guy at the back is the rudder guy.  His job is to keep the boat going straight  and to add his own exhortations to the men/women doing all the work. 

 The drummer guy needs to be bossy and have some rhythm.

A smaller version of the dragon boat.  Note no drummer guy so rudder guy has to not only rud (is that a term?) but he has to whistle a whistle to keep up a beat.

Victory!

The boats are pretty long.

 The dragon boats heading back to the dock.

Have a great week everyone!

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk