Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Feb 2007 - Sailing thru the Phillipines

Tim & Heather arrived Thurs night and I have no idea what happened, but we managed to miss them at the airport! Maybe its a Wilkins sibling jinx thing - but we had checked which arrival hall they were coming out of and were there before their plane landed! After giving them several hours to get through customs etc we started worrying, and tried to call but after not being able to conenct to Heathers phone I then realised I didn't have Tims number - for some reason only about half of my UK numbers stayed stored on my phone when I put in the Hong Kong SIM card. I even emailed everyone I could think of who might hear from them asking them to pass on numbers etc, and we tried the help desk but the airport would not even tell us if they were on the plane in the 1st place! We eventually gave up and hesded back to Central, and thank gods found Heather waiting there - they had missed us, got the train there and had just given up waiting for us so Tim had just returned to the airport! Anyway we all reunited and headed off for a massive Thai dinner in Aberdeen. They were then installed in the flat next door to us on Lamma for the night, but came round to blather and swap prezzies which was lovely, thank you all!

Tim & Heather, Hong Kong
Originally uploaded by wildcatfin.



Friday morning while I tried to chase up a last few business bits & pieces, Mum took them on a walk down to the pretty gardens and Tung O beach. Pete rang saying he was berthing the catamaran at Cebu & asking for a book from his office 'if we had time'. As it was the cruising guide to the Philippines, Tim reckoned it was fairly important! So we then all collected our luggage and got the ferry over to Aberdeen. As it was nearly lunch we stopped at the stall that supplies me with my vanilla eggball waffles and Mum with her peanut butter-condensed milk waffle sandwiches. Feeling brave we also tested a few of the random food objects all the school kids always queue up for, which turned out to again be the chewy omlette stuff, on sticks and dipped in salt. The owner (taking hours to make our waffles etc from scratch in the special waffle irons) was fascinated watching us eat and very happy we liked it! The taxi dropped us off at the top of the steps down to Petes work ferry, so Mum guarded our luggage while I showed the other 2 Petes office and where we hoped to moor the catamaran when it arrives. Ringing to check there was nothing his boss wanted taken/ said to Pete, I luckily asked where we could leave luggage and they told me of the office in Central station which is so well hidden I had never noticed it! So we dumped all our bags there in Hong Kong station, and set off to 'do' Hong Kong in 8 hours.


Fancy dress street, Hong Kong
Originally uploaded by wildcatfin.

Heather argued that as Tim would have more time when he sailed back, she should get a chance to shop etc (fair I think!) so we triopped off on a potted tour with added money spending. We missed out touristy things like going up the Peak or IFC 1 as it was so misty/ smoggy you would not have seen much. So, we rode up the outdoor escalators and walked down through the fancy dress streets. Tim was very taken with the cowboy hats etc and was persuaded into buying a fake moustache for a party they will be going to soon. We then went up and down the 2 alleys (Li Yuen Street east & West) where all the silk/ clothes/ pretty touristy bits are sold in Central, and they got some nice chinese silk place mat & chopstick sets, etc, as well as the mini silk bags Judy liked so much as mobile phone or ipod holders. Felling peckish we wandered back up to the 'locals' earing streets, and into a little cafe. The english menu they produced listed 100's of flavours of tea, available as green or black. We chose flavours like apple mint, but sadly when it came, it was more like hot squash, very sweet and not remotely tea-like! The food was interesting though, mainly very watery noddles with bits added. Leaving there we found a fantastic china shop - we think it was ends of lines or seconds - full of tiny teapots, cups and eating sets. Heather got pretty chopstick rests with matching sauce dishes, and if we hadn't been moving onto a boat I would have got an entire dinner set! Next door was a sort of discount clothes shop and in passing I noticed ski/ spalsh suits for under £10 - and ended buying one as they fitted and I had no waterproofs to take out with me. Not that I hope ever top wear the matching trousers!


After a tram ride east to Wan Chai, we gave T & H the scenic walk under the carparks and over to the mid-day gun. To tick another thing off 'the list' we took a sampan over the marina to Petes main clubhouse on Kellet Island. Which took all of 2 minutes & was full of sweet dogs who kept wanting to give us their toys. In the club I forged Petes signature so we sat watching the harbour lights with drinks, enjoying the peace & calm & lack of 1000s of locals. Petes manager was in the bar! We then took a taxi to the Star ferry and hurried along Kowloon side to reach a spot where we could get photos taken as we watched the light show. I hadn't seen or heard it all with the soundtrack which is broadcast on a special radio station as well as from speakers around the Avenue of Stars & the Kowloon musesums. You would think with it being such a huge attraction, and in the Guinnes Book as the worlds largest permanent light show, they could have arranged some decent music but its some banal tune neither eastern nor western and totally not worth listening to. The cheesey commentary then introduced each major building (which madly flashed its laser beams or ran through colours on its display) was fairly laughable though! We had our photos taken by one of the guys with a massive camera on a tripod as mine have never worked well - too blurry at night.

Where to eat in Kowloon
Originally uploaded by wildcatfin.


We wandered around Kowloon until we found the food district, but realised most eateries had queues waiting to be seated once tables were free. We ended up trying a posher than usual cafe that had no waiting, and sat down to try and figure out what the stuff on the 1 english menu they gave us was! Seeing something we fancied being eaten at the table next to us, we asked for that with several different meats in it. It was obviously lost in translation though as we ended up with another 3 HUGE bowls of noodles in soup! After retrieving our luggage and getting the train to the airport we tried again to get something more filling but all the food stalls and shops were shutting. I still think thats a bit odd - 2 BA flights, most of the smaller airlines and all the Oasis flights leave after 11 pm, so there must be 1000s of customers wandering the airport for several hours after 9 pm, with nowhere to get food or spend cash! Heather and I ended up trying the peanuts on sale on the plane which was interesting - scalding hot chilli flavour or garlic. Can't say I recommend either!

We flew to Cebu in the Phillippines which only took a couple of hours. I had printed off letters on Peters official office paper, which is what they give to their staff who fly into other countries to collect boats they need to sail back to HK, as most countries don't like people arriving with no return or onward ticket. Pete had said he had no trouble; Tim got through customs easily but Heather and I got a grumpy woman who started by telling me I was not allowed into the country without a return ticket. I gave her the letter, explained why but she still wanted me to have a flight out, even when I said we didn't know the exact date we would leave as it depended on how fast the winds made us sail to the next airport etc. She wasn't impressed when I pointed out my husband and by then Tim had both been allowed in! great start! Still, Pete was waiting for us and we all jumped into a taxi to the boat which was mored at Cebu 'yacht club'. He had parked it with the pointy bow ends into the jetty, meaning the surface/ deck of the hulls which were closest to the dock were about chest high. Getting mum onboard was a hysterical as she nearly fell in and ended up stranded on her tummy over the bow, all of us laughing so hard there was some literal wetting ourselves! I wasn't much better, and as for some reason Pete had got us to climb onto the hull in which Harry was sleeping, we woke Harry up! After a chat us 3 girls went to sleep on the bed/ sofa benches in the kitchen side and I think the boys stayed up. It sounds as if the trip over was a bit nervy in places as there were big floating things that had something to do with satellite fishing (?) that they nearly hit, ad some rough waves though at 6 feet they were small! Harry was a dream, Pete says, and he hoped would return to do the HK crossing; but Christian was stressing about something he hadn't done at work and wanted to push the boat as fast as he could to return to HK as soon as possible. Which didn't go too well with Pete trying to be careful!


Cow bison thing,Philippines
Originally uploaded by wildcatfin.

Anyway after a fab breakfast in a french cafe, we hit the local supermarket. The streets were full of small ragged children and we passed many shanty houses, but the wierdest thing was the funny pinkish cow type of animals tied up beside many walls. They are even more obsessed with fish than in HK - there were several aisles of towering shelves stocked with millions of brands of tinned or dried fish. I knew it was a poor country but the prices of most food was shockingly low - and beer was 25p a bottle and rum for under £3. We did pass on things like spaghettis sauce and curry sachets though as they were very pricey! Pete also bough another much-needed item - a banjo thing (missing his guitar & didn't have enough cash for one on him, he said).We were obviously getting the posh treatment from Pete as he collected his laundry and actually had clean clothes to wear then, though the boat neeed a clean. But as he rightly said they hadn't even had a chance to sleep let alone keep stuff spotlesss.....
After saying bye to a knackered Harry, we set off from Cebu around lunch time. It was overcast but still warm and all 3 of the sailors were grinning like loons. There was some rather fancy sailing to rescue my sunhat which blew off, and lots of Pete being captain-ish with the other 2 who had a fair idea of what he was actually on about. It was fine until mid afternoon when it got a bit duller and rainier and the waves were rougher; I ended up feeling vile and huddled in the lee of the loo (sorry, port) cockpit with mum, wrapped up in jackets. The stars were amazing though, and we still aren't sure what was making lights flash accross the sky as it looked as if it was from a lighthouse but we couldn't see any nearby or on the map! We didn't reach Pacijan Island, where Peter wanted to anchor, until after dark. Mum decided to sleep on deck rather than in the space Pete had cleared out under the port cockpit (under the steps down). Tim went swimming as soon as we stopped - I tried to take pics but the amazing phosphoresecnce doesn't show up. I do have a great pitch black video with lots of swimming noises and me saying 'splash harder Tim!' though! Heather also got over her shark fears and jumped in - we all sat with rums after that watching stars.

The next morning we attempted sailing gently along the edge of that island, but there was no wind, so we motored instead, watching lots of fisherman in outrigger canoes, with shirts wrapped around their heads like balaclavas. The sun made it much more bearable, though it was scorching even in the shade, and Heather was already burnt frm the cloudy day before! On a sad note, the Quicksilver (or was it Ripcurl) boardies (shorts) Pete has lived in since befoe we met are no longer with us. I had bought him a nice new pair, and as he decided to try them on on deck (making us all look out the back of the boat while he perched on a front hull), the wind whipped them off him. Literally. We did circle back, but unlike my hat the poor things had no rescue! I would like to point out that the stitching was failing all over and since he got to HK the things had faded to pale grey rather than blue, but still, he was upset!


We then sailed to Malapascua island. After a trip onshore to buy supplies (not much available as there were only tiny stalls selling a few staples),
Heather managed to entice over 2 small boys in a canoe with handfulls of my hypo-swets. (Well, along with half the fishing population they had been circling us getting slightly closer each time). She then bravely tried out the phrases in the back of her guidebook, and learnt the words for fis, not that they had caught any for us to buy. If nothing else it made them laugh!


In the middle of the night Pete decided he didn't like the mooring (and hadn't gone far enough that day), and started sailing off. After sailing all night, day showed us the tide had taken us almost back to where we started when the winds died! Mum kept spotting dolphins in the distance as we mottored/ sailed along all day. Tim was forced to jump in and attempt singing dolphin stylee through his snorkel in the hopes his siren song might attract them ..... but for some reason it didn't work. Did amuse us though!
There were a few scary bits when a reef popped up out of nowhere that wasn't on any chart; and we headed for Bogo Bay which had a town allegedly. (Tim was worried over the beer shortage he & Pete had caused). Pete suddenly decided to trust his GPS rather than his eyes, and nearly beached us on a reef on the way in- all the local fishermen suddenly got very interested! I was feeling vile most of the day, so they all set off to the big jetty we could see over the mudflats to try for more supplies, and I 'guarded the boat'.
I was a bit freaked by circling fishermen, then luckily worked out how to hook up the big bar light on the mast when it got dark and they hadn't returned. Apparantly there was much 'hilarity' onshore with very slimey mud on the steps from the dinghy, (very low tide), and ships unloading giant screaming pigs onto the dock. They hired a tiny motorbike thing that somehow packed the driver, his wife, his 2 kids, our 4 and later a couple of other passengers onto it. Just on a sidecar and a bike! But he took them everywhere they wanted to go when they needed/ remembered stuff, including a meal heather wouldn't talk about for fear of it re-appearing, I think. On the way back they were terrified, (Mum apparantly even swore), Pete fell on the eggs, they had fish jumping into the rubber duckie with them (one they missed in the dark and it was found a day later, too late for rescue.....), it hit shallows, they realised they wouldn't see the catamaran if I hadn't thought to put the light up...and it all took a lot longer than the trip in! It blew a gale all night so mum slept downstairs, and in the morning we were amazed we hadn't grounded as the tide was even further out. As in I woke up to a man walking past the catamaran to inspect his fish trap/ corral. On mudflats only knee deep!!!!

That day we made it to Malapacusa Island. Again we were fishing all the way, but no joy. Just as well as having seen tarpon, marlin, tuna etc in Belize I don't think our lines would have held!

It took a bit of getting into the more sheltered harbour-bay bit - very shallow with lots of coral heads to avoid. I was more worried about damaging coral with our anchor than the boat ripping its bottom out, but hey, we all have our priorities!Sunny, lovely white sands and blue water rather than the manky brown mud/ sea of the day before. LOADS of interested traffic! I finally braved a swim and it was actually pretty cold. Next time we crusie anywhere we are getting a ladder up to the deck though 0 I was always useless at getting out of ater onto boats even when I was fit & skinny and diving every day in Belize, but it was nearly impossible here as our deck is so high! We introduced mum to the delights of showering from a bucket (on deck, with spectating locals) and Joy washing up liquid which really gets salt off.
Our guidebook mentioned several places to eat onland (tourism at last!) so we took the Rubber duckie in (now christened pingu) and tied it up on a big beached fishing outrigger.
We wandered around a small dusty lane, lined with concrete and woven-fibre houses, many with local pop music blasting out. It seemed to be if you had one, flaunt it - scare the entire islad with the sounds your stereo could make. There were a couple of tiny huts with metal grilles over spaces that acted as shops - all we got were a few bread rolls and alcohol. Then one shop owner insisted on escorting Tim & Heather to his friends dive shop which was next-door to one of the restauarunts we had read about. We pigged on Italian fishy food and had a lovely moonlit phosphorescent trip back to the catamaran on Pingu. And despite still wearing no shoes Pete even avoided standing on the urchins littering the shallows!



Early the nex day, T&H were collected from the catamaran (how about that for service!) by the massive outrigger that took them off diving. Sadly the famed Thresher sharks did not show, but they were back in time for a return trip to the Italian place for breakfast. Bit lush, really.white snads, blu skys, giggling local kids, watching out boat drift on the horizon and stuffing (canned???!!) OJ and toast with choc spread!



The kids were gorgeous and one hysterical bunch on the beach near our table were having a whale of a time with their toys. Which turned out to be the end of a plastic milk container with a tiny treasured tuft of tinsel, and a gaorgous big black beetele who was trying to escape them!
We then wandered around the tiny street of market stalls hoping to find sunhats for us all as we were getting toasted heads, but none were seen. Mum & I bough 4 rolls and packets of crackers from one and realised that was her entire stock, whoops! The locals were very friendly, though, but totally bemused as I kept taking pics of their roosters-on-leads and cool bugs.
Don't get me started on the poor wee tiny starving puppies though. Pete and I tried to feed one the sandwhich Tim had saved for lucnh, but it was so weak & wibbly csared of people........ Mum spent the wait (T&H had gone to try and replace a broken snorkel at the touristy dive shop in the other side of the island) playing with a bunch of kids who were using Pingu as a trampoline.
Some of them were wearing fleece jumpers, as we panted in the shade!! Mum & I agreed we could have spent more time here - just the possiblity of a little bit of touristy (ie cafe food) helped; there was a 'resort' there so a few westerners, but it was still quite unspoilt. And the government was tearing down all buildings not in traditional style along the beach to improve it! But it was SO goregoues as well, whits sands, clear water and loads of starfish.....



The next island we stayed at was Los Gigantos, arriving in the night again to surprise the villagers the next morning. It had a fairly hilly profile, all covered with jungly-looking palm trees, etc. Heather flagged down a passing fisherman and started her phrases on him again. She & Tim leapt into Pingu to go and barter, and attracted a load of canoes. A few pounds of local money and she had 2 big fresh fish (can see why she does well in PR!).



As they brought them back to the boat, one man started on about the hat Tim had borrowed from Mum (special buy at about 50p in HK!) and leapt into the water when mum said he could have it. He was really chuffed, sat between his crew (who were all wrapped in DIY Tshirt balaclavas) with his flowery fruity sunhat!
Tim then bravely started guttung the fish with a small knife on his Swiss Army knife. I took photos as they were so pretty.......and had wierd long elasticated stringy buits from their longest fin spines.


T&H went off snorkelling and we had canoe-loads of kids (and adults) constantly circling us, whispering to each other. Most waved back but were to shy to do anything else, apart from accept my sweet, and sat staring.
Eventually a severely nosiy, overloaded canoe with about 12 kids in it came right up, sinking faster than the tots in it could bail out, and some of the sodden teenagers climbed onto one of our back ends where there is a lower standing space. Mum & I invited them on (well they had arrived anyway) and ended up with the entire load on deck. Some of the older girls had good English so we swapped info (up tp 12 kids slept on a flor in their hut), but they just kept staring at Pete who was trying to catch up on sleep. He got embaressed and tried to move away, but wherever he went to hide, heads swivelled to watch him. Like a tennis match. I admit he's looking pretty yummy, all tanned and extra blonde and muscly, but it was a bit much! The girls kept calling 'beautiful' at him, and spent a lot of time making sure that he was with me, yes really, and yes we were going to be making babies, and yes he was married and YES to me. Though I think they were impressed with how white I was, as thats what they all wanted to look like - talk about grass ALWAYS being greener, we were admiring their beautuful skin!
One of the teens (birthday girl) had a beautiful voice (even though she kept singing Celine Dione), but luckily our return effort - with dance - of 'heads, shoulder, knees and toes' was well received. It turned out they had the day off school to revise for an important exam but we were more interesting. Sadly just as we were etting rid of them (we wanted a snooze as we planned to sail away overnight, and Junior, the youngest biy there was sopping wet & shivering), T&H reappeared from snorkelling which set all the chat off again. Finally when we had again got around to the 'time to leave' phase, the girls lost all english and wouldn't go. poor Heather eventiually twigged they wanted a ride in Pingu - it was the first motor boat some had been on. Only agreeing to visit them later persuaded them to go.

In the end, Mum, T&H took a trip to see the kids on their island. Apparantly as they beached Pingu they were greeted by several 100 poeple coming down to them, and escorted around by 100's of kids. The birthdya girl had set up a tea party i her frotn yard, with old plastic chairs and a few cups, am[nd was SO proud of her guests. Mum said she would have loved to give her some money or something but it just wasn't appropriate - they didn't even get out their cameras. It sounds mad, like being royalty - they had to kiss babies, see the whole village (no electricty or sewers, mountains of empy shells) and were escorted by crowds wherever they went. Mum did buy some boiled eggs - more on them later! The school teacher came to see them and told them what a big deal it was - they were the first white people to ever vist the island. Some Americans had visited the next island over, but never here! All a bit overwhelming! Anyway, our 3 were back for tea (Tim & I grilled the yummy meaty fish we hadn't eaten raw as sashimi/ marinated in lime at lunch). All tired and planning to sail overnight, they went to bed early while waited uop until I could do my jab. When I suddenly noticed one of our towels 'flying' and realised that in the dark a fisherman had climbed into the opposite cockpit. He took off when I exclaimed, but for the next 5 hpur (until 2 am!) I was fending off 'visitors'. Most went with a few waves/ 'shushes' from me but again a canoe load of nsy kids wouldn't. and woke mum up bumpng into her hull. They eventually climbed on board despite my best efforts, to insist on delivering something for 'Auntie Heather'. When they finally left I hoped that was it but they returned a 3rd time to try & get on/ get a motorised lift back/ I said no. There followed a lot of whispering in the dark outside the range of the boats's light; then the 4th attempt; the youngest girl climbed on in tears, shivering, while the teens on the boat said she was scared of a 'wtch' and needed a lift in the big boat. As I couldn't drive the boat, and had no intention of waking the others who could OR giving them a lift home at 1 am, I said no, repeatedly, and after arguing for 10 minutes actually lifted the kid up & dumped her back in the canoe. This went on for a while but by 2am it had been quite for a while & I was too tired to stay up, so I stowed as much as I couls in cabins and lay in bed jumping at any noise!


Our last stop was Roxas, a commercial port and city. T&H went to try and book flights/ find a hotel, paddled out by Pete as the engine on Pingu died. He was escorted back by kids who flaoted on bits of scrap polystyrene and paddled with 2 squrae sraps of plywood.

We had hoped the boiled eggs Mum bought would be a welcome addition to breakfast, with the odd sweet stuffed rolls we had. But mum cut her egg open to find a large duck embryo in it. National delicacy but for some reason even I couldn't face it! Anyway as we dozed waiting for out turn to go & explore, with the usual crowd of floating kid/ fishermen onlookers, Pete decided to give the eggs to a bunch of the boys. Who wolfed them down, making him decide he'd regret it if he didn't try one. So he at least ate the non-embryo bit!

duck egg embryos, Philippines
Originally uploaded by wildcatfin.


We then spotted T&H returning, but before Pete had got Pngu paddled round the end of out boat, they appeared in a local's outrigger! Looked funky but Heather was not impressed with the stuff floating IN the canoe, or the raw sewage they had to wade though to get into it in the first place. I made her douse her coral0cut feet in the contents of the 1st aid kit!


We had decided that as we 3 girls had to catch a plane early, we might as well stay in a hotel in town as there was no guarantee we would find a taxi at the port in the early hours. So as the sun set, and 100s of fishing canoes chugged out to sea, we packed and all squeezed into the dinghy. A nice man let us tie up on his rusting hulk, and climb on board to use his gangplank onto the dock. We nearly lost mum into the slimey waters as she did the old holding onto the big boat & not letting go when Pingu started being pushed away by her feet! We managed to flag down a jeepney (converted car thing with benches in the back) and started for the hotel. Lots of shanty houses, very like Belize. The driver stopped (as we paid in advance) to buy a water-bottle refilled with enough petrol for the trip, which his assistant poured down the special funnel under the steering wheel, but a few minutes later it all went wrong and stalled. We got pushed to the side of the road and were just beginning to think of finding a new jeepney when it retsarted and carried on to the hotel. Which was lovely, small but several stories high with displays of amazing local carvings and clothes inside. I think it was the top hotel in Roas, and we had the honeymoon suite - 1 room with a double & single bed. Pete and I leapt into the shower (it was big!) and after the others arrived so did they (in turn!) as it as over a week since any of us had washed in fresh water properly. Then we descended on the cafe downstairs and ordered loads of food. It was random (like Mums mango drink appearing as slices on a plate) and some dishes took several hours to appear, but lovely and very cheap. For some odd reason they gave us 3 girls plates, cutlery and placemats/ napkins, but not the 2 boys. Even when we asked they only brought out 1 more, we had to ask again! After a teary good bye to the boys (who luckily recalled the name of the port just in time as we couldn't give directions/ an address to their jeepney!), we collapsed in our room. The beds were the most amazingly comfy I have had slept in in years, it was torture getting uo for our early call (nice breakfast though!) and taxi to the airport. Can't belive B&B in the top hotels top room only cost us £5 each!!!!

It seems the anchor slipped for the 1st time or something and the boys had soent all night sorting it - glad we got away then! Our flight took us to the main airport in Manilla, but as I had expected we were supposed to go to the ticket office near the local airpot to collect our onward tickets, which was a nightmare when I did the Palau trip with Pete. Again Heather charmed a lady into letting us buy& collect our tickets there instead, and once we had them we tried to check in. As before with Pete , there were barriers keeping all but actual passengers from even entering the passageways that lead under the roads entering the airport, so we got through all the security to be told to wait 6 hours before we coud check in. As I knew most of the bits in Manila were scary and there was nowhere decent to wait outside the main building, we stayed and luckily found seats. What was a releif (we were hungry and there are NO shops or stall of any sort until you have checked in and gone into the departure lounges!) was that Jollibee (the local & USA burger chain) sent staff into the airport with menus who took your irdrs, went off outside to their place and came back later with all your food - far easier than us struggling out & back with luggae and all those security checks etc! Mum had been amusing a couple of Asian kids in the row in fron ith her origami - their dad was a pilot learning english in Hong Kong - when his non-english speaking wife turned round and presented us with a beautiful origami crane she had made from Mums papers. He said that in his country (Taiwan?), when you propsed to a woman you had to take along 1000 cranes you had made - but he didn't! She then had to teach us, and we spent the rest of the wait mastering them!



Thought this might amuse you - intersting things to do with vermin that were sold in Manilas departure lounge!. At least I hope these were something along the lines of Cane Tads, invasive species eating bugs/ plants they aren't supposed to! Or if not, I hope they weren't endangered.







I kid you not. Tanned, eyes replaced with googly fake ones, zips in bottoms.........
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Sunday, January 28, 2007

Letter 22 - Kung Fu Tea, Baking, Beads & Braids

Did I say that from 2007 HK has similar no-smoking laws to Ireland? As in its illegal in most public places and indoors. Apart from a few clubs, hotels and bars who are exempt for a few more years. (Bribery or what I wonder?). Of course it didn't really have a great start as many people stuffed in all the bars etc celebrating the 2007 countdown were smoking, but now new signs have sprouted everywhere you look. As I don't get to go 'out' often (ever - sniff), it hasn't affected me socialising etc, but I DO notice ciggy butts strewn all over the streets now. And frantic puffers congregating in little huddles near doorways - so I think I'm inhaling more NOW than I did before! Theres also a big hooha as the Asian International Tobacco Conference starts soon, and they had hired the Exhibition Centre near Pete's main club rather than the posh new non-smoking Expo Centre near the airport, as the HK one allowed some smoking spots. Or it DID when the Tobacco lot booked it - it doesn't now! They are rather miffed but have to carry on.

Mum arrived Friday morning, so after dumping her gear back at home we returned to Hong Kong to wait in Petes bar until he finished work. We dropped him off at the Airport Express, and off he trundled with just his usual day-rucksack as carry on luggage only. (The one you gave us each for our wedding Gee). As that means he can't take any liquids (etc) and knowing his willingness NOT to buy/ use shampoo, deodorants, etc, I fell very sorry for Jason & Virian who will be living on the catamaran with him until they emigrate to the USA next week. And even sorrier for the Taiwanese sailor (coming along to learn) and one of Petes sailing students, Christian (did the round the island race with him) on the week they sail it to the Phillippines. So Mum & I will be carting out stuff for him just in case, as well as so that Tim & Heather don't have to lug loads over from the UK.


We had a quiet day on Sunday, down at the lovely Tung O beach again. Talking of which I see Chow Yun Fat the famous actor from there is not only the star of another huge Crouching Tiger style film, he's in the 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean! Anyway we sat in a sheltered spot and sunbathed (well, fully clothed for me!) on his beach.


We want to try all the free stuff the Tourist Board organises - interestingly some is exactly the same as what I was going to have to PAY for if I did it with the YMCA Women's courses!
To start with we went to Hong Kong Park on Monday and had a good look around whilst waiting for our talk to start.
It's actually very nicely done, set around a big, empty pond/ lake (empty as the massive coy carp and little turtles have eaten everything in it).


Sparrows, bird, Hong Kong Park
Originally uploaded by wildcatfin.

Lots of trees, plants, wild but fairly tame birds (including white cockateel things), and a big conservatory with a few mini-biomes (desert, wet humidity etc) set out, and a lovely orchid exhibition.

Orchids, Hong Kong Park
Originally uploaded by wildcatfin.


Orchids, Hong Kong Park
Originally uploaded by wildcatfin.


Orchids, Hong Kong Park
Originally uploaded by wildcatfin.

I adored the Chinese New Year decorations they had started to set up, especially the drilled coconut lanterns if that is what they were...
The famous avaiaries are shut indefinitely due to bird flu.

Oddest was all the brides - every corner there was another happy couple surrounded by photographers (but often without any other guests or even bridesmaids) snapping away like slightly better dressed & equipped paparazzi. All the new Mrs's were dressed in hideous white creations, meringues to drown in evidently still in fashion here! One did have the most amazing (diamond?) collar necklace, we were too far away to see her face, but the flashing necklace caught everyones eye, her neck was lit up as if she had on one of those fibre-optic tube christmas light displays. She didn't - I had to go and look to check as it wouldn't have surprised me here!
We sat down to watch herons eyeing up the fish from their perch on lake scupltures, and realised the park has its own registry office - must be a marriage every 10 minutes, we were there less than an hour and saw 8 different (but hideous OTT dresses on all) wedding groups go by. They must have been queuing at the most photogenic spots. Which are all carefully labelled 'photogenic spot' for you by the way. Gods, even art is regimented here!!


Anyway we eventually went into the museum there, which had a tea shop underneath, where we had booked in for a free tea course (there are lots of 'interesting' courses available free from the Tourism Office if you are a tourist - I got mum to book it and stood with a camera around my neck looking touristy but pretending I had forgotten my passport). We sat around a beautiful wood table, on the same square wood stools that Gran Fin has as a table, surrounded by gorgeous carvings and tiny teapots. The chinese lady then told us about the 7 different colours or grades of tea, which depends on how they were made. Green & greenish teas were basically 'fresh', not allowed to oxidise at all; yellow, red, black & white teas are all allowed to oxidise to varying degrees (i.e. kept warm & moist). The we had a very long and boring lecture, often repeting itself, on the art of tea making. It wasn't like the ceremonies you see with kneeling geishas whisking bowls; we learnt KUNG FU!!!! Not as exciting as it sounds; if we understood her, Kung Fu can be applied to cooking, decorating, tea making..... and martial arts. Basically I think its having a way of doing things, maybe not a tradition, but your way, and having reasons to back up the way you do them, thinking about sights, smells and all senses including your guests'.
She used a tiny tea pot, a couple of inches accross and about half that high, like a dolls tea set, and stuffed it with loose tea. Boiling water was poured on and all the bubbles that frothed to the top (too active to drink apparently) were swiped off with her special tea-scoop chop-stick thing, to drain through the pierced & carved tea tray to the bowl hidden underneath it. She chose 3 of us (as the pot was too small to serve all at once), and taking our 3 tiny tea bowls (slightly larger than thimbles), she upended the teapot above the 3 cups, circling it so each cup evenly got top, middle and bottom strength of tea mixed into it. (makes sense unless you have some who like the weker/ stronger brew!). Of course due to the constant circling of the spout lots of tea again went all over the tray to drain away.
Then she threw out the tea from the teacups and did it all again. THIS time we were allowed to drink it....... She then showed us 'cakes' of tea, wrapped in paper and stored like you wold store old books, to age like red wine. One batch of tea picked & stored in the 1930s they sold one cake of in 1988 for $700 dollars, and from the same batch, after being tested by a tea-master in 2006 sold another cake for $17,000!!! But if you keep it in your kitchen it can pick up bad smells, or anywhere damp it will start oxidising again, etc, so conditions must be perfect to let your investment grow. We do it all wrong it seems - big pot, big cups, serving everyone at once, filling up each cup in turn so someones is too weak or strong - and only green tea should be stored in a tin! And they gave us a dimsun which turned out to be one of those chokey chewy testicle things I'd tried in the bakery, this time with a crunchy peanut centre which was nice when you managed to get there!


After passing a total photo frenzy with TV crews outside one mall in Central (2 people in giant kids cartoon character costumes launching a credit card with pics of same animals on them. Queues hours long to be photo'd with them but ALL ONLY ADULTS clutching tickets in the queus, no kids!!!), we headed for the minibus home. We finally tried the drippy balls on sticks that have their own distinctive required eating style. Most of the stalls that I get my beloved vanilla waffle-ball sheets from make them; they are scooped out of a seething vat of brown liquid and jammed onto a wooden skewer. You get hold of the skewer end, lean forward from the waist at right angles and take a ball off the skewer with your mouth whilst trying not to drip the liquid onto yourself, your clothes or your shoes. Mum bravely bought some - we had no idea what they were, and she had 1st ball.
After scalding my tongue (mum still bravely chewing at hers but unable to break the skin of it), I ripped off a bit of my ball to actually get INTO it in my mouth, and realised the whole thing is a super elastic lump of omlette. I have occasionally seen expert eggball eaters attempt to move, talk or even walk whilst doing this but they are rare and it isn't advised. OK, not particularly tasty, but fine, strike another local delicacy off the list.
Next we will be trying the toasted, squashed, spread out mini squid which look like stiff angular crisps. I just realised that here I eat anything from anywhere and don't think about bugs/ upsets, whereas everywhere else I have travelled I would not, or at least would think twice about street stall offerings! It struck me after seeing tourists gasp in horror at me & locals stuffing our face at one of the stalls. I wonder if subconsciously I think I'm immune if I have my magical Hong Kong ID card????

Got another cool thing - I was voted 3rd place in the International Statue Body Painting competition! Very cool but I feel the other painters in it were hard done by - I entered the pic of my gold tennis man Wilson meditating like a Buddha in his lunch break, and it beat loads of other amazing colourful & creative ones. And a bunch of the marble-effect people which take longer to do and are notoriously difficult as white is the flakiest paint on skin so harder to work with. Still, even if mine was simple & straightforward beginners statue- YAY!!!! It's only other painters that can vote! Have hopes for my Halloween cat face paint though, the voting on the International Halloween Comp ends soon and the standard for that is amazingly high - if I make the top 30 I will be happy! (made the top 15, just heard, yay).

Trying to buy shorts again was maddening. Found some nice ones for Pete - know hes about 2 inches 'fatter' (as if!) than me, so wanted to try them on but the stall owner said no as they were men's shorts. Um, yes I KNOW that, won't stop me buying them if I can try them. Had to bully her into giving me a receipt so I can take them back if they don't fit him...bet she denies it all if they are wrong! Then picked out 4 pairs I wanted to try for me. Followed by a weird sales pitch.
Me - Can I try these on please?(as several were in sizes I couldn't indentify, and anyway they are all screwy here if I can fit a size 10 skirt but not a size 18 trousers..).
Yes missy you can try on those 2 pairs but not those last 2 pairs.
Me - Why?
Because those last 2 are in the sale missy and you can't try them on.
Me - well, do you know what size they are in inches? or in UK sizes?
No missy.
Me - Well, let me try them on as I won't buy them if they don't fit.
No.
Me - But I'll be in there trying on these 2 anyway.
No missy you can't take them I'll hold them here while you fit the others on.
Me - but can I bring them back to swap the size if they are wrong then?
No.
Me - So I can only try on things that aren't in the sale. Even though I still want to buy them, now, if they fit, with the same money, just like the things not in the sale, if THEY fit?
Yes missy.
Me- Why?
Because they are in the sale missy and you can't try them on.

Etcetera. Ok...australian tourist nearby told us which sizes were what in UK so I did get some in the end, to find out when I got home that of course they don't fit, maybe the wrong labels are in them or something. In which case letting people try them on would have made no difference as there were other sizes so they could have chosen what fitted them. Very confusing.

Sat we 'sailed' on the Duck Ling, a restored fishing sampan with (faded) red sails that you can book a free crossing on via the Tourist Board.
We weren't very impressed with their directions though - said, meet at Pier 9. Now I knew that since they had started demolishing the old Star Ferry Pier, Star Ferry had moved to its new home beside all the other new ferry piers, the latest finished, beautiful Piers 7 & 8; but thats all that has been built so far. So we got there and yes, they are still building Pier 9, its off limits. The not brilliant lady on the Tourist helpline was far keener on telling us all about Hong Kongs new no-smoking laws even though I kept saying yes we knew and no I didn't smoke! After trekking back round to the site of the demolished old Pier 9, we finally found it....motoring in, not a great day, bit cold, windy and very murky so you could hardly see Kowloon form the island! Big boat, all wood, big engine, traditional woven (wicker?) fenders etc rather than tires for a change. Seemed half empty despite only being allowed 40 people on it.
Also they kept the sails (just like you see on old chimese paintings, angular with horizontal ribs of bamboo) down, mostly. Still, it dropped us off at Kowloon, and we went off to look at the largest shopping centre in Hong Kong. Over 700 shops it said - I had always thought it was just the bit where cruise liners docked, beside the Star Ferry Terminal, but no, its another Mall. Felt very sorry for the two poor souls in the small dinghy we spotted beside one liner - one was guiding the boat, the other had a normal sized paint roller on a mega pole and was PAINTING THE LINER!!! Every tme he needed to dip the roller in the paint which was in their boat, he had to collapse the pole.must be a punishment, surely!
It would be so NICE to find shops I'm actually interested in, but yet again it was all the name brands from Alia and Gucci to Prada and Chanel. ZZZZZZZZZZ. We did, however (knackered from walking the entire length without going into 1 shop) try a Japanese cake shop. Mum had mashed, hot sweet potato, with ice-cream and pumpkin sauce which was lovely, I'll have that again - filling and warming and slightly sweet! I had Green tea ice cream & sauce - the tea ice-cream was almost like a sorbet. I really can't describe the taste - sort of fresh and almost minty but with more tannin really. Not so keen......
We spent the wait for our minibus home (after we got the tube back to auseway bay) cooing at the tiny puppies in the dog shop. I do hope they let the bigger ones on the lower shelf cages out lots, they can hardly turn round. And ALL the tiny ones are in dog jumper - not sure if they are that cold or she's just advertising her doggy fashions!

Sunday we headed back to Kowloon, after a MacDonalds 'hotcakes' (american style pancakes with an actually TASTY sausagey flat thing, and syrup) breakfast, the only thing worth going in there for. Shame its only offered till 11 am! Anyway, after sitting a while in a Deli France as we were early, fending off waitresses wanting to give us warm plain croissants filled with ice cream (what? ick), we squeezed into a tiny Wing Wah cake shop, for our next, free Tourist Board thing. These shops are a chain all over HK, and this is the only one that runs lessons, 2 times most Sundays for 10 people. After filing to the cooking tables to wash our hands and be numbered, we met the translator and then the Master Chef (HAI! Sensai!- Jake), a lovely lady. Called Cactus. I kid you not. She demonstrated how to make the 2 different pastries needed for 'Wife Cakes' (whch seem to be coming out more for New Year), which looked similar to short crust.
But she mixed both, including the eggy one, just on the table by swirling her palm on it, looked really odd! We were all shown, step by step, how to then combine the 2 doughs (strict method no kneading allowed, only certain foldings and rollings in the correct order!). Then we stuffed a mix of sticky rice powder & sugar water in the middle, and they went to get baked. Over tea and 'egg rolls' (sweet crunchy tubes sort of like crispy pancake versions of the dough balls I like) we watched a demo on how they make the neat ciggy sized tubes, the egg rolls.
They have an electric heated press a bit like a tortilla press - blob on the liquid batter, squash/ heat; use pallette knife to fold in 2 'vertical' sides of it; take metal rod and roll resulting oblong onto it. I'm pleased to say I was the only one complimented on my technique; but I did get tutted at for getting flour on my side, butt AND chest before I left. We got to make a couple each, and by then our cakes were ready to.
All the time they were snapping pics of us, and we had to have a 'class graduation' pic with the chefs at the end which they will email to us as well.
Then as we left, clutching our hot and very tasty baking efforts, we were given a gorgeous little paper gift bag with the recipies and a plate-sized special cookie! VERY impressed, all free, interesting...does the UK Tourism bunch do stuff like that?
Mum bought a few bits from the shop, but not their 'Husband Cakes'. Wife cakes, yes, sweet, with a variety of fillings (bean or lotus paste etc); husband cakes are salty!

We then wandered over to Kowloon Park to watch people practicing/ demonstrating some sorts of Martial arts - a sort of Tai' Chi, led by a very flexible granny; then routines with long pointed sort of 'knights' swords with attched fringed thing on handle; then my fav, with curved scimitar sword that had silk hankies falling from the handle. They made a great sort of woing-ing ringing sound as they were flicked about.

One day we took the train up north of Kowloon to Sham Shui Po, that place where all the fabric, ribbons, beads, feather boas and haberdashery in general are sold or advertised by their manufacturers.
It was even more impressive than last time as with Mum replacing Pete I was allowed to go in and LOOK and buy some - got stunning ribbon full of amazing peacock or silky cockerel feathers (looking for ideas to make costume for the FAce Painters conference ball this autumn already!); gorgeous braids and hand beaded sequinned trim, etc.
And all under £3 a yard! Also all the material sellers coat their shops & stalls with sample cards, little snips of their materials a few inches wide, about 4 to a card with 1000s of varieties and colours of each variety.
We bought a bit of a 3d plastic holographic fish-reef stuff as it was just so WOW - no idea what for! So we helped ourselves to loads of sample cards for mum to use in her crafts - that art teacher who ran the craft table at one recent party I did said thats where she gets all her bits for free from! Also shops of fossils and semi-precious stones but I avoided them - dangerous for me to go in there with cash/ card! Hungry, we found the regions multi-floor 'market' (they all have one) and wandered through heaving stalls of weird veg and fruit with little old ladies screeching and waving hands/ money/ obscure root products at us. Then we gave up finding the cafe in it and got a bit lost getting out - ended up in the poultry section. Cages stuffed full of chickens stacked on each other (and I could name half the breeds, heh) including the white fluffy feathered black skinned sikies! Again people wandering around with live birds hanging from their waists/ hands......its not Sainsburys!
Coming down from the market I had to take a pic of the hgh-rise flats above every single shop/ cafe/ stall here...HOW many people must be living here? Its scary. We had a brilliant snack in a tiny local cafe where they spent 10 minutes searching for a hand-written menu in english for us (aww!) and we ordered hot Horlicks (YUM its huge out here, in all the cafes!) and 'france toast'. Which was the thickest slice of bread I have ever seen, deep fried in egg - WOW - with runny honey. New favourite food!!!!
We only managed a small slice of the district before it got dark/ shut down/ we were knackered - have to get there earlier I think and find where the glitter and wire is.


We actually got seats on the train home - woo - and I had a chance to take pics of my favourite train signs - I love the 'please give your seat up to these people' icons. I mean it looks like theres a man who's nailed a walking stick though his leg, someone having an alien erupt out of their chests, an obese pot-bellied person, etc..hehe.

I made the mistake of telling another face painter about all the haberdashery stuff and now they all want samples and are sending orders for ribbons, beads, wigs etc!
Could be a new line of business if I work out how much I can charge whilst still making it cheaper than in the Uk - tho the range here isn't available in the Uk anyway. Most wanted animal fabric for the jungle-themed face conference ball, so on Wednesday Mum & I went to visit the Western market in Admiralty. Its the one small old building with about 20 (bit pricey) fabric stalls upstairs. Its mainly for rich people to order clothes from - one guy was choosing material for 6 suits and 20 shirts he had just ordered and, as last time, there were Indian ladies looking for sari material. Still, the silks are cheap even there! I do like the 'new' fur fabrics - not the awful fluffy fake fur but a lovely drapey cloth with a very real fur/ hair like short nap to it, almost like velvet.......We headed into Central and tried for French Toast again in another locals cafe. This time it was a deep fried peanut butter sandwhich with syrup - yum but ALL sweet stuff here seems to have nuts in it, not good for when Lochie visits in a few months, with his nut allergy! Anyway I ended up buying 2 amazing wigs (allegedly for working in, honest - but I love the greeny-blue one - Sammy, you want one??) from the fancy dress stall street. Again, cheap - under £10 when I know even the really cheap tacky short UK wigs START at £10. The rainbow wig needs a bit of sorting tho, bit too fluffy, but will go with new rainbow fairy outfit I'm working on!


Uncle Neil answered when I rang Granny FIn - horrified to hear shes really ill, unconscious and not eating at all, horrible. Think I will fly back to the UK as soon as we return from seeing Pete - shame I'd already booked all the tickets etc for the Phillippines.

I have spent a hectic few nights putting together & pricing my wish kit for each of the painters supposed to be working at the Rugby 7's with me, as I need to give the Youth Arts Foundation a quote to give their sponsors. Problem is I have no idea of the baseline prices they expect to pay for kit, and until I know exactly what/ how much/ how many to order I can't ask my UK supplliers for a quote as postage will be a big factor. So, Thursday we revisited the slightly less astronomically priced of the 2 makeup/ face-paint suppliers in HK, again up in Kowloon. I managed to spill neon pink glitter everywhere, oops. But I did buy one of their own glitter tattoo kits to see how it compares to what I import, as it is far cheaper here. On the way from there to the airport I finally got a brief text from Peter to say they were in sight of the Phillipines and expected to reach the Cebu Marina on Friday, which was a big relief!
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