thericechronicles

Saturday, October 17, 2020

Selfie Time (Going Maskless)

Hello Dear Great Ones,

Wearing a mask in Hong Kong is not an option. You go out you have to wear one. I have been talked to a few times by people reminding me to keep the mask on. In fact you can actually be fined for not having one. Yet the following are a few selfies taken with my mask off for a few seconds. Note it is ready to be put on in a flash if I need to. I have actually gotten used to wearing a mask. It is almost like putting on trousers or a shirt. A required piece of clothing when you venture outside of your home.

Hanging in front of an outdoor pool. Waiting for the wife.

Waiting for Celia (again) to get her bubble tea. A fav. HK snack. Basically lots of sugar.

An old lady collecting cardboard, which she will then bring to a recycling place and get some money. Sad that many senior citizens do this to eke out a living.

On the best subway system in the world. Clean, fast, efficient. You never wait for more than 3 minutes to get the next one. It rocks.

This is ladder street. Just a small portion of the steps I need to walk up to get to my school. Great for fitness.

By a market. There are hundreds of these quaint markets in HK, which are fun to see and shop.

Urban jungle.

Pics above and below. HKers love their dried seafood. Ah no.... Not for me.

HK has 355 skyscrapers. Most in the world. New York? 284. 3rd place. Shenzhen, just across the border? 298 for 2nd place.

In the background is ICC. In 2010 it was the 4th tallest skyscraper in the world. Now it's 12th.

Social distance in HK. Ha ha ha ha ha. Its the masks that keeps covid low in HK!

Banyan tree roots growing on a wall. Interesting and very unique.

Have a great week.

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk

Sunday, October 11, 2020

Hike from Tung Chung... to the gate.

Hello My Dear Great Ones,

A few weeks ago Celia and I, along with a friend, ventured out to Tung Chung (famous for the airport) to go on the trail from there to Tai O (famous for stilt houses over water). It is 12 kilometres long, but its relatively flat, relatively paved, relatively easy, and relatively scenic. Awesome. So here is a brief chronicle of our journey:

We started at the Tung Chung fort. Nothing special really except the cannons were interesting.

Mountain view of the Ngoi Ping Gondola.

We had to head towards it...

Lantau has some interesting mountains.

Not sure what this is.

Ngoi Ping Gondola. We walked underneath. The gondola takes you to the Giant Buddha.

You have to pass through some quaint towns. With a mask on of course.

Grave site.

A portion of the 55 km bridge to Zuhai, China.

Plant life...

Half way through our trip we encountered some excitement.

Villagers had set up a gate. No way to go further. Going around was impossible due to thick brush. Ugh!

The villagers shunned us through the fence. Although someone videoed us after we demanded an explanation. I even offered some money to get through. No go...

An unhappy crowd milled around the fence, phoning police and yelling at the villagers. Apparently the villagers are upset about the gov't land use near their village.

Arguing with the villagers and the police who showed up later was pointless. The police said it was out of their hands and they did not have the authority to do anything. Garbage. Sadly we had to head back....

On the way back we saw an old shed...

A big turtle being walked by its owner...

And laundry hung on a public bike stand area... Yeah real exciting!

Anyway we did not get to go where we wanted, but nevertheless we had a good hike and time.

Have a great week!

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk

Friday, October 2, 2020

Mid Autumn Festival 2020 Hong Kong

Hello My Dear Great Ones,

Mid Autumn Festival is not really in mid Autumn. Didn't it just start like 10 days ago? However, it is a pretty big deal here and is Hong Kong's and other Asian countries version of Thanksgiving. However the moon is more involved in the celebration. More on that later. Interesting enough Mid Autumn Festival was on October 1 this year which coincides with the 71st anniversary of the establishment of the People's Republic of China.

"People's Republic?" Yeah China has 1.3 billion people. Hong Kong, population 7.5 million is bordered by a city Shenzhen which has 15 million people. That city in turn is bordered by another city of 15 million people called Guangzhou. They are in a province called Guangdong which is @118, 000 sq km. Alberta is 661, 000 sq km. Population of Guangdong= 113, 000 MILLION people. Alberta = 4.3 million. China has people!

Anyway, there is much to be impressed with concerning China. They have emerged from being a poor third world country to a global powerhouse and have brought 850 million of their citizens out of extreme poverty. Yet, most Hong Kongers, instead of celebrating China's achievements as a country celebrated Mid Autumn Festival. Very few citizens had flags out. Mid autumn festival lanterns? Yes.

I have had many local Hong Kongers come up to me over the years here and apologise for their government. They love the city of HK and the country of China, but can't stand the government. The government has done many good things, but their historical and ongoing poor treatment of those who express justifiable concerns or are not "Chinese" enough is horrendous. Unacceptable for a PEOPLE's republic!

My hope and prayer is that the People in China never give up their love for their country and traditions like mid autumn festival. In a way celebrating that over national day is a form of protest. It is peaceful, it is healthy, it brings people together, it is what gives a People an identity. Again, a government that will hurt its own people in the name of national security is one most are not proud of and don't want to identify with. So here is a little clip about the mid Autumn moon festival:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpVd822yr7M&ab_channel=SouthChinaMorningPost

The following pictures were taken by a colleague's brother. A beautiful inspiring full moon over Hong Kong on October 1, 2020.