Of Islands and Drains

School is getting into full swing.  I not sure what effect last week's sharing session had on relieving stress, but everyone seems to be getting tied.   Teachers were getting fatigued and getting sick.  Naomi despite being brave and heading to school Tuesday was sent back home ill.  She retired to bed for a couple of days with a sore throat and terrible cough.  With nothing to watch but a constant bloody stream of horror films on the so called 'movie' channel, boredom and extra strong Strepsils both equally seemed to help in her recovery.  My week as a teacher was interrupted by the odd ugly cough and a little PE Friday morning.  Having a few periods spare I joined the line and jumped onto a bus full of form one students.  We were going for a little jog.  The bus drove through the dingy streets of Yuen Long and up into the hills.  Stopping at the end of a steep, winding road the students piled out, lined up and ran.  The jog was a sprint of about two km and joining the masses - I was glad to say that I kept up with the thirteen year old students.  What a funny old World it is that here I was volunteering to do PE, when fifteen years ago at school I avoided it like the plague.

Those empty hours between Pearl TV News finishing and Doctor Who starting suddenly vanished this week.  Our sparkling new mobile phones meant that the gap was filled by calling faraway loved ones instead of staring dully at the TV watching a show about fashion in Copenhagen or what was happening on the Malaysian stockmarket.  The HK $38 a month all you can call international plan is an awesome bargain (yep that's a bargain A $6.30!).  Naomi spoke to mothers, fathers, sisters, sisters and more sister, while I spoke to my parents and my brother for the first time since arriving.  It was great to chat to everyone and the 'all you an call' deals means their certainly potential for lots of abusive drunk phone calls to the boys - watch out Festor.

After my run in the morning a week of work, Friday was certainly a night to drink beer.  After escaping from school as early as possible  Naomi and I headed into TST.  The destination was the same Knutsford Terrace, but instead of the previous expensive, trendy, obnoxious bar we headed to a new venue.  The  environment  shifted from once concerned about designer brands and annual incomes to drinking beer and chatting.  Sitting outside the crowds passed and the beer flowed.  The food was tasty, cheap and sufficiently fried (see review), the beer cold and the cocktails fruity, sweet and cheap enough to keep Naomi happy.  As the evening progressed a mate and I headed into the Fong and battled the crowds for a couple more beers and even briefly visited a Karaoke bar.  Though I didn't have a sing, I enjoyed the sight and was lucky I had the excuse of catching the last train home to escape the karaoke temptation. 

Saturday started with a joyous thought - this wasn't just any weekend, this was a long weekend.  A celebration of Chinese national day - for a day off work I was more than happy to wave a red flag and watch fireworks.  We decided to celebrate Saturday in the local way - yum chai to start, then engaging in the joys of shopping in traditional Hong Kong Consumerist style ... wasn't I meant to be waving a red flag?  Our monstrous, airconditioned, designer filled centre of choice was the New Town Plaza in Sha Tin.  Avoiding all the wanky shops I can't even afford in Hong Kong, I purchased a couple of CDs and headed across to Ikea for a few more bits and pieces for the house we are meant to be looking for.  My only regret was that seeing we were in Sha Tin we didn't drop into the races and experience Hong Kong's other great cultural activity.

It was Sunday and we were going on a day trip.  With backpack, camera, waterbottle and guidebook we headed into Kowloon with Jacki and Chris on the hotel bus.  Catching the Star Ferry across the harbour was a fun start to our nautical adventure.  We shuffled along to the central ferry pier and jumped on another ferry.  Lamma Island is located on the back/southern side of Hong Kong and though it is the territories third largest island it is relatively unpopulated and a peaceful retreat from all things hustle and bustle.  After a fifty minute ferry trip we arrived in Yung Shue Wan.  The island's biggest town is a peaceful harbour,filled with gently bobbing boats, families fishing and one main winding streets.  Despite it's relaxed feel Yung Shue Wan was close enough to Central to offer a couple of cafes offering quality coffee.  Sitting drinking quality cafe late it certainly felt like I wasn't in the New Territories. 

We headed through the winding main street and along a paved footpath that we assumed was the walking track that crossed the Island.  It certainly felt like a long weekend with the crowds of families idling alongside us at frustratingly slow pace.  We wound past sprawling houses, with lush subtropical gardens tended by long haired westerners living their hippie dreams just forty minutes from central Hong Kong.  Most of the crowd accompanying us were heading to a sandy beach about a third of the way along the track.  Bars, restaurants, a shark net and even a suggestion of surf.  We continued and climbed to an excellent view back over the beach, town and Lamma Islands imposing powerstation.  A highlight of the walk was a tranquil pagoda situated over looking the sea, where we happened to be the only visitors.  Listening to birds, while looking at a stunning views was so peaceful and worth the trip to Lamma Island alone.  Sok Kwu Wan our destination was not really a town, but more a strip of seafood restaurants on the seashore (or maybe it's a tongue twister).  The restaurants are famous and many Hong Kong residents get the ferry over just for a meal.  We enjoyed a tasty lunch and headed home to recover from our big adventure. 

A day off work is always going to be good and the National Day Holiday was no exception.  Bacon and eggs for breakfast, a little local shopping, a run and finally it was dusk.  Grabbing my new rod, new lures, new tackle and old reel I headed down to the local ... river ... canal ... gutter ... drain.  Two to three feet deep and full of murky, dirty water the Tin Shui Wai 'River' isn't an idyllic fishing spot, but it is local and surprisingly full of fish.  Bait was a problem until I hit the jackpot and for HK$18 was able to get a big fat bag of frozen prawns.  The fishing ... well the first thing I caught was a plastic bag, but after that the fishing was hot.  In about forty minutes I landed three fish, the biggest was probably about a pound and a half.  I have no idea what sort of fish they were but it was just great to be fishing.   After all the excitement I managed to catch Dr Who before heading to bed, exhausted after a fantastic weekend.