Grounded!

My passport was full.  No space left for any more stamps or visas.  As soon as we returned from Thailand, I headed over to the Canadian Consulate to order a new passport, this time requesting one with 48 pages, rather than the standard 24.  Because we travel so often, and because the processing time is almost three weeks, I had to make sure we would be staying put.  I must say I felt uneasy during the weeks that my beloved passport was not locked in the drawer.  The Consulate staff assured me that if an emergency arose, they would issue a temporary one.  Thankfully, I did not have to avail myself of that service.  Oh, speaking of service, there really isn't much at the Consulate.  Their hours for pick-up are two hours per day (2-4 p.m.) from Monday to Thursday.  Our tax dollars at work!  Jeff assures me that they are doing other tasks when they are not processing passports.
Hence, an entire month in Hong Kong!  Bored?  Never!

Hiking!  I joined three wonderful, adventurous hikes in February.  The first one was on Lantau Island with the AWA ladies.  Although the day was overcast, it did not rain, and the trail was dry.  We hiked up and over several peaks (Lantau Trail 5 and 6), and thanks to the leadership of Annemarie and Charlotte, we didn't get lost at all!  The trails are very well marked, but you really need a map to tell you which direction to follow.  After passing the Ci Xing Monastery, we came across a beautiful sight - Lung Tsai Ng Yuen, the estate of a (deceased) Chinese spice merchant.  The centrepiece of the estate is a traditional lotus pond with a zigzag bridge and covered pavilions.  The estate is two kilometres from the closest paved road, and is only accessible by the hiking trail (not for beginners).  Since Mr. Woo's death, the estate has been empty, but rumour has it that it will be turned into a restaurant or b&b.  The end of the trail brought us to Tai O, the fishing village that used to be a smugglers' haven.  By the time we reached the village, it was rather cold (about 12 degrees), so I couldn't convince any of the women to join me on a motorboat ride to view the pink dolphins (blog Feb. 3,  2010).

My next adventure hike was also on Lantau Island.  This time it was led by Michael Hansen, a Danish fellow who leads hikes and bike rides all over HK.  We covered 16 km from Pui O to Mui Wo.  The weather cooperated - I think it was the only sunny day in the entire month of February!  The climb was not very steep, and we followed the trail along the coast.  A photographer's paradise.  There were several surprises on this hike.  First, a youth hostel set in the park.  Alas, the hostel is closed!  The site looks primed for redevelopment.  The next surprise was the women's prison, which has been closed since 2010.  The third surprise was all of the garbage on the beach in front of the prison.  Apparently, when the prison was occupied, the prisoners were responsible for keeping the beach litter-free.  Michael took lots of photos of the debris, and promised to send them to the government department which looks after our parks.
My third hike of the month was again with the AWA adventure ladies.  It had been raining all week, so we were advised to bring rain gear and walking sticks.  We met at a central subway stop, and travelled quite a distance to Choi Hung, where we were supposed to catch a minibus to Sai Kung, and then a taxi to the Sai Kung Country Park.  Well, when we arrived at Choi Hung, we noticed that the line for the minibus was about 200 deep!  (Minibuses only carry 16 passengers).  Doing the math, we figured that the wait would be over an hour, so we decided to share taxis.  Unfortunately, the taxi line was also long. It seems that there had been an accident on a major road nearby, and all of the taxis and buses were delayed.  By the time we finally arrived at the start of the hike, it was late (after 10 a.m.) and pouring!  We had three choices - turn back, take an easier route, or continue as planned.  Being the heroes and braggarts that we are, we slogged on.  The trail was very slippery and steep, so our pace was not quite as brisk as usual.  Unsurprisingly, we saw absolutely nobody else on the trail until we got lost, and then, out of the mist, came three young hikers who pointed us back to the proper route.  It's very creepy to be walking along in the drizzle and fog with no cellphone reception (occasionally our phones beeped "welcome to China").  By the time we stopped for lunch (peanut butter sandwiches), the rain had just about stopped.  Charlotte told us that there was a surprise at the end of the hike.

Lo and behold, there was a charming stone house with a beautiful English garden!  Aside from the Chinese-style roof and trim, it resembled large homes that one sees in the French countryside.  The house is at least half a kilometre from the main road, and there are feral cows grazing nearby.  We assume the house is owned by British expats, since the cars parked on the main road had UK license plates.

Canadian content!  Our friends, David and Donna, introduced us to a new burger joint, owned by a Chinese-Canadian fellow.  On a rainy evening, we met at the Big Bite diner, which made us all very nostalgic.  There was a large Canadian flag draped over the counter, moose on the walls, and cheap wings every Tuesday.  A lot like Duff's on Bayview Avenue in Toronto.  However, this is Hong Kong, where nothing is exactly like it is at home:  BB diner serves only GERMAN beer!  Where's Moosehead or Molson?

Entertaining!  Joan and Ron both celebrated birthdays at the beginning of the month.  I invited them for dinner along with Susan and Art.  A few weeks earlier, Ron had presented me with a housewarming gift - an electric hand mixer, and I inaugurated it by making the famous family carrot cake (a la cousin Arlene).  Dinner was quite a hit.  My favourite dish was the grilled vegetable torte (Barefoot Contessa), but the rest of the gang really loved the cake.

Chatterbox (English conversation with high school students).  I've mentioned this programme in previous blogs.  Every Thursday, we meet with students at a local high school in Wan Chai.  The aim of the session is to give them a chance to speak English in a relaxed atmosphere.  I love the school and the kids!!  They are in form 5 (grade 10), and have limited opportunity to speak English at home.  It's amazing how much more confidence they have now than in October when we began.  Next year we will be doubling the programme at this school to cover 40 students in form 4, and 40 in form 5.  We do everything from playing silly games (broken telephone, Simon says) to discussing politics and world events.  A few weeks ago, I brought a young Canadian visitor, Georgia, with me to the school.  I'm not sure who enjoyed the hour more!

Speaking of visitors, we had a wonderful evening with Diane, an old family friend, on a chilly night (they were all chilly in January and February).  I've known Diane my whole life, and Jeff's known her (and her husband) since summer camp in the 1960s.  After dinner, we took a walk around Central, and I gave Diane an abbreviated tour of some of the historic sights in that neighbourhood.  A very short, but sweet, visit.

Arlene and John (re)visited us in February.  They were our first guests in our new(ish) flat on Kennedy Road.  Since we had covered all of the most popular tourist spots last year, we showed them the "real" Hong Kong, including Lamma Island, where we had a delicious al fresco lunch (alas, the only nice day of their visit) and an enjoyable walk around the Island.  The HK Arts Festival was on during their visit, so we got tickets to Dr. John (superb!) and Cossi Fan Tutte (not superb).  We also went to an interesting exhibit at the HK Museum of Art called "Fantastic creatures from the British Museum".  After John left (he's become a university student again in his retirement), Arlene and I "hung out" all week, doing the activities that keep me busy - study group, book club, chatterbox, and even a walking tour.  We had a lot of fun at Yue Hwa Department Store (blog Sept. 7, 2011), and a lovely walk through Kowloon Park, where I took Arlene's photo in front of the totem pole donated by Mulroney's government in 1991.  Arlene spent her last day in HK with Joan, since Jeff and I left early that morning for Qingdao, China (next blog!).

(Apologies for some poor-quality pictures - I took them with my IPhone instead of my camera)