Hello Interesting Ones,
Another weekend has come and gone and I must say it was interesting to say the least. The weather right now is like a perfect summer day in Alberta. Very sunny, a little cool in the morning and evening, beautiful, just right, plus 25 during the day. The one big difference however is that I am yet to meet a mosquito here. I got no problem with that.
I headed up to Lion Rock on Saturday. The view from the top is unreal, Kowloon, Hong Kong, and Shatin are visible. It is a tough climb, lots of steps. Had an encounter with a rather large monkey on the way up. He blocked the middle of the path and I could not go any further. We checked each other out. Wearing sunglasses helped me cause he could not see my fearful eyes. Finally the big galoot sprinted up the steps then launched himself on to a skinny tree which he shook with great vigour, then flew off that tree onto a large rock and watched me pass. It was an impressive manly display. I guess I was infringing on his territory or he felt I was a threat to his women. He can have both, no problem, you the man monkey face, I just wanted to get to the top of the mountain for the view. Funny sign found on the trail about the monkeys. It says if you just ignore them and don't offer any food that they "should," leave you alone. "Should," thats good. Yet I have only heard of one story where a monkey has actually attacked someone. Nevertheless, despite the little adventure with the he man monkey the view from the top was unreal.
Despite Hong Kong being 90% buddhist Christmas is celebrated here. Money is a great motivator and the shops are enjoying the season. Christmas decorations are up everywhere. A lot of it is over the top, but the spruce tree in the lobby of my complex smells great, like the forests back home that I skied through, so that is wonderful. Yet the weather is simply not conducive to getting in the Christmas mode.
On Sunday afternoon I went with a group of guys from school to watch a major golf tournament here in Hong Kong. Remember 70% of Hong Kong is natural, there is a lot of money, and despite the lack of good flat land there are a few golf courses. I personally hate golf. It is too slow, takes too much concentration, makes me stressed out, and I am a failure at it, despite efforts to learn. I would rather bike. I hate watching it too. Yet, the chance to see some of the world's best blast a white ball around intrigued me so I went. We ended up following a guy named John Daly who is infamous for his beer gut, chain smoking while playing, bleach blonde hair, crazy pants, and a wicked drive. Man could he blast that ball. His fans wear crazy pants as well and his caddie wore the american flag as shorts. Ok... It was all a little strange following this fat guy in goofy pants and being very still when he blasted a little white ball up the fairway. Nevertheless it was an interesting way to spent a December 4 afternoon. Did I mention it was about plus 25 and perfect?
Well my dears till next week. May God bless you and keep you and may His face shine upon you.
Love adios and peng on!
Dirk
