Things are Blooming in Hong Kong

Hello My Dear Great Ones,

Spring has arrived in Hong Kong in a riot of colors and blossoms.  The air also is fragrant with the annual bloom.  Here are a few pics as evidence:

Have a great week.

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk

A Happy Birthday!

Hello My Dear Great Ones,

I am thankful for another birthday.  Can't believe I am at 57 and 60 is coming up fast.  Wow. Nevertheless I am grateful for Celia who planned a nice birthday celebration for me with our great homegroup friends.  We travelled on the Aqua Luna around Victoria Harbour sipping wine, chatting and enjoying the views of Kowloon and Hong Kong.  It was a nice time despite the threat of blustery weather.

Have a great week,

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk 

The Budwills, Bulls, and Barnstables!

Dragon's Back

Hello My Dear Great Ones,

Dragon's Back is one of the must do hiking trails in Hong Kong.  Last weekend Celia and I went on a glorious clear day on the Dragon's Back:

To get there one must go up a lot of stairs.

A Hong Kong graveyard.  They are located on sides of hill.  Land is precious so Chinese use sides of hills to bury their dead.

The nature to be seen while getting to the Dragon's Back is interesting.

The Dragon's back is a trail on the ridge of a mountain.

Great views of the ocean, great space, and steady winds make it a great place for paragliding.  We happened to come across some people ready to sail in the winds.

Below is Big Wave Bay one of the great places in Hong Kong.

The views on the other side of Dragon Back's is Stanley.

A view of Shek O below.

Celia admiring the view.

Heading down after a great hike.

Have a great week.

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk

Grassy Hill

Hello My Dear Great Ones,
Celia and I took a walk a few weeks ago in our "backyard,"  Shing Mun Country Park.  We burned off several thousand calories and our gluts were on fire after going up and up for seemingly hours to a place called Grassy Hill.  Our reward upon arrival was fantastic views, a great workout, and later, a deep healthy slumber when we got home.

Start of the journey.  Shing Mun reservoir.

 The trail up to Grassy Hill is wide, paved, and steep.

 Views on top are great.

 View out to Tai Mo Shan.

 The lake below is Shing Mun Reservoir.

Celia taking some excellent photos.

 View out to Tai Po.

Not really grassy but Grassy Hill is awesome.

Have a great week!

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk 

Niseko!

Hello My Dear Great Ones,

Most of the following pictures and video were taken by Celia.  I think she is a good photographer and her camera is an apple I phone!  Wow.  We enjoyed our time at the Niseko ski area.  Great snow, small lift lines, super terrain, huge area, it is a great area.  The weather, however wasn't the greatest but we got a few hours here and there where it was decent.  Another great feature about Niseko and skiing in Japan in general are the ticket prices.  An adult day pass at Sunshine Village costs $109 Canadian plus GST whereas an adult ticket day pass for Niseko, a much larger ski area by the way, costs $56 Canadian tax included.  Another reason why I believe that Japan has the best skiing in the world.  

Please click on the link below for a great video.

Looking out to Mount Yotei an inactive volcano.

Nice views.

The snow was incredible.  Trees were almost totally buried in snow.

Happy times.

This cosy lodge halfway up the hill was a welcome respite from rough patches of weather.

Heading down the slope from the cozy lodge.

Taken from the gondola going up the mountain.

Fantastic!!!

Of course we had fun reading the Japanese attempts at English.

Thank you for your corporation?

After ski time was spent in hot springs like this.   They are called Onsens. Great for aching muscles.

And of course raw fish for supper.  Very Japanese.

Skiing in Japan is fantastic!  Celia and I both really love it.  Experiencing real winter for a week is also a great reminder of how much I love Hong Kong and its lack of snow and ice and freezing cold winds.  Amen.

Have a great week.

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk