Nov 27, Tuesday.
CS took me to the airport. It
snowed lightly in the Newark area.
Incoming flights were delayed by about 90 minutes by the time afternoon
rolled around. Our plane left the gate
about 20 minutes late, but we then had to line up to get de-iced, which was a
bit surprising as the snowfall was light and the temperature was above freezing. I guess an overdose of caution is fine. That meant we left about an hour late, and
ended up landing in Hong Kong about 90 minutes behind schedule. The flight was quite crowded and there was no
empty seat next to me. It was reasonably
comfortable even though I couldn’t get any real sleep.
I ate something at Maxim’s at the airport before taking a
taxi to Tai Po. It was past 11 pm when I
got in.
Nov 29, Thursday.
Lunch with Ruth, Stephen, Ling and Wally was more like a brunch: it took
more than two hours as no one was in any hurry.
I had to buy a multi-function printer to set up at Tai Po
because there was quite a bit of paperwork back and forth related to the sale
of our Holmdel Condo. I opted for the
cheapest device possible, a HK$299 HP.
So far it has done okay (it has printed fewer than 10 pages so
far.) I notice the ink cartridges (even
the OEM ones) are quite expensive.
Dinner at Tai Po house, Ling did most of the cooking.
Nov 30, Friday.
Spent most of the day with David, starting with coffee at 11 am. We had lunch with his friends Dr. Chu and his
wife Klara. I have met them a couple of
times before. After lunch Chu brought us
to a audiophile shop so he could return some of the devices he no longer needs,
and then to Ap Liu Street, famous for selling various electronics at bargain
prices (some are, alas, bargain designs also.)
Both David and I ended up each buying an “Android Note” cell phone and a
Cable Box. The Android Note is about 1/3
the price of a Samsung Note, and can take two SIM cards to boot. Along the way we stopped for a quick snack of
“tofu brain.”
The Chus are very friendly, and insisted on taking us to
Castle Peak and Yung Lung Restaurant to have dinner. We picked out some fresh seafood and brought
it to the restaurant to be cooked. After
dinner they dropped me off at the Hunghom MTR station; it was a breeze to get
home.
Dec 1, Saturday.
We went to Kowloon City to have lunch with Mr & Mrs Leung. When we got back to Tai Po I picked up some
tickets for the Dec 8 Hong Kong Philharmonic Concert.
Dinner at Tai Po.
Afterwards I went to Tai Po MegaCity to buy a couple of long sleeve polo
shirts at Bossini and a pair of pants at UniQlo. Bossini’s customer service pales in comparison
to UniQlo’s: it takes Bossini a week to alter a pair of pants, with UniQlo they
say they will have them ready the next day.
Dec 2, Sunday. We
had to wake up very early this morning in order to make it to ABC at 9:30
am. We actually started the day early
enough that I had McDonald’s for breakfast at Admiralty after getting off bus
307. It was a short taxi ride to
ABC. We board Tim’s boat at around 9:30
am.
First stop was to Clear Water Bay Marina. Whitney, Tim and I got on a two-hour or so
hike around the peninsula. The walk was
a bit tricky with slippery spots from the recent rains. We then took the boat to Sai Kung where we
had lunch at Loaf On, arranged by Whitney to celebrate the December birthdays
of Ling (11th), Tim (13th), and mine (22nd.) The dishes were all quite unusual and
delicious.
Hike around Clear Water Bay.
It was a rather long trip to get back: boat ride back to
ABC, bus rides to Admiralty and Taipo, and I stopped by Tai Po Center to pick
up some pork jerky and the pants I was having shortened.
Ling was already busy preparing dinner. Tim brought Alyson with him and we had a
simple dinner together. A couple from
the Boston area were planning to attend a conference and stayed at Tai Po
House. Turns out they know my in-laws
(Tsai’s) quite well.
Dec 3, Monday.
Lunch at Festival Walk, dinner at Shatin Hyatt 18 with Ling, Wally, Ruth
and Stephen.
Dec 4, Tuesday.
Met up with David again at Mongkok East Station. Both of us felt hungry so we shared half a
chicken. Lunch at Fu Shing in Sheung Wan
with Ka Shi. We then headed over to Hung
Hom to meet with the folks from Hope International for a short chat, followed
by coffee with Jane (David’s sister) at Starbucks Hung Hom Station. It was dinner time when I got back to Tai Po,
where I met up with Ruth and Stephen for dinner.
Dec 5, Wednesday. It appears I have been eating a lot, and today is no exception. Ruth, Stephen and I went into town for lunch with Tim at West Villa Causeway Bay.
Dec 6, Thursday.
Stopped by lawyer’s office and then enjoyed a piece of cheesecake with
coffee at McCafe Central. Got in touch
with Josh and had dinner with the Hope Staff (Chris, Brian, Mr. Li, Ms. Cao,
and the Ruyles) at Jade Garden in Star House.
Dinner at Jade Garden, TST. It was HT's birthday. Second row: Chris, Brian, myself, Mr. Li. Front row: Mrs. Cao, Beth, HT, and Josh.
Brian and Chris sharing a silly moment.
Dec 7, Friday. Went to Tai Wo to have lunch, then took subway to town. Ran into Josh at Starbucks TST East. Rest of evening spent on preparing and hosting the An Evening of Hope event. Got back to Tai Po around 11:30 pm.
Dinner Menu for Evening of Hope.
With Josh and Edwin.
We know Onching and Daisy Yue from their days in NJ.
Dec 8, Saturday.
Got up early to go to Harbor Grand Kowloon hotel for coffee with Hope
International team. Contacted by an old
Cornell classmate Philip who found out about my whereabouts from Kenneth. Had coffee with him at the Mandarin Oriental
Hotel. Thus two rather expensive cups of
coffee in quick succession. After lunch
at KFC Admiralty, I returned to Tai Po for a short rest before the concert this
evening. Another late night, and I had
to rest up for a long hike tomorrow.
Dec 9, Sunday.
Left Tai Po at around 7:40 am, met up with Ling and Wally at the Kowloon
Tong station: they were a few minutes behind me. We had enough time at the Admiralty Station
for a quick breakfast at McDonalds. We
left the Aberdeen Boat Club at around 9:30 am, and got to Chi Ma Wan (on Landau
Island) in about 45 minutes, burning about 250 liters of fuel in the process.
After more than a week of overcast and drizzly weather,
today’s blue sky was certainly much appreciated. I even put on some sunscreen and borrowed a
cap from Tim. With two large bottles of
water in my backpack, the four of us (Wally, Tim, and Tim’s colleague) set out
on this 18+ km hike around the Chi Ma Wan peninsula, with the objective of
scaling the “Lo Yan Shan” (Old Man’s Mountain).
18.5 km is a long distance, and Lo Yan Shan at 300 meters or so would be
quite a challenge after such a long walk.
Luckily prudence prevailed, and we decided to skip the hill. That made the hike a 4+ hour trek for about 17 km
(10.5 miles), on moderately difficult terrain.
I was doing reasonably well until the last couple of miles where my body
was complaining “stop.”
There were several people riding mountain bikes on this
trail. They were certainly well
equipped, bringing along nitrogen cartridges for tire inflation. On the other hand, they were certainly taking
many rests, which resulted in us having to yield to them multiple times. We also saw one guy, a bit overweight, riding
his bike on the same track in T-shirt and shorts, without a helmet. He just rode on and on … Evidently proper gear is no substitute for
proper training.
Trail Map. We didn't go on Lo Yan Shan but completed the loop.
Actual route we took as logged in MapMyRun.
Some photos along the hike. Here I, Tim, and Wally trying to find some shade.
A nice, quiet beach.
Sweaty and tired toward the end of the hike.
Chi Ma Wan is known for its history as the location for a drug rehab center and a prison.
Earlier that day my high school and college classmate
Johnny called me up. He was unexpectedly
delayed in Hong Kong, and he knew I would be in town around this time. So after having salad and pizza at Mui Wo, we
sailed back to Aberdeen where Wally, Ling and I took Bus 75 to Admiralty to
transfer to the MTR to get to TST. (The
taxi line was just too long.) As it was,
I made it from Mui Wo to TST in about 50 minutes. Johnny and I chatted for close to 2 hours
over a cup of Starbucks coffee. This was
certainly a nice bonus for the trip.
Dinner was with family again at Shanghai Min at 1 Peking
Road – a place where we could get a reservation after making numerous phone
calls to different restaurants. Tim was
complaining about his neck being compacted by all the pounding, I was complaining
about a tight ligament in my left leg and that my lower body parts (back, feet,
etc.) were all aching, and Wally twisted his ankle despite wearing hiking
boots. Tim (a physician) gave me a
painkiller so I would be able to fall asleep.
I am not sure I really needed it, but took it just in case. And I slept well, even though not long
enough.
The meal at Shanghai Min started well enough, the first
dishes were quite delicious. But the
experience deteriorated as the evening went along, the bland fish dish tasted
nothing like what I expected, and the dumplings took forever to arrive.
Bus ride (271) followed by a minibus (the driver waiting
for me to catch up) got me back to Tai Po.
It was time to pack.
Dec 10, Monday.
The taxi was a bit late in showing up, which got me worried. Traffic was quite smooth, so I got to the
airport in good time. Had breakfast at
Café de Coral (finally got my glutinous rice dumpling) but didn’t have time for
the lounge. The plane is relatively
empty (it hasn’t been like this for a long time.) Someone sat in the other aisle seat of my
center row, but that’s okay. Ran into
John Hwang at the security line, he is going back to NJ from Taipei.
