Ah, the joys of training in Hong Kong. It has rained, almost without stopping, since Thursday. 
This is what I rode in this morning. And yesterday, I swear it must have rained three or four inches during my hour and a half long run. I believe monsoon season has officially started.
Swine Flu has hit Hong Kong. Says Monsters and Critics.com, 240 guests and 100 hotel staff have been quarantined for a week. They were initially told only 24 hours. What’s scary is that Hong Kong, because of it’s preparedness from SARS, can do this. They could do more than just lock up the Wan Chai Metropark Hotel, they could close down the airports to all incoming flights. They could lock up the borders. The place could get crazy.
Its been another long week. Vicky is packing her bags as I type, and we’ll soon be leaving for the airport via the Airport Express bus. We went out on the town for a few hours last night – Lan Kwai Fong. My buddies Sam and Kirk joined us. We saw a couple of cover bands at the Cavern. Drinks were way too 
expensive but there were good times had by all.
These signs are outside my apartment. In total, there is less than 200 square feet of grass on the entire grounds. They’ve distracted me more than once. I thought about stealing them. I finally got around to taking some photos of them. Now I’m sharing them with you.
It’s right below my 16th story balcony in the little village market, a cargo container converted to a hair salon. This is where I got my haircut. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m off work on Sunday mornings. After six days of waking up before five o’clock, I usually manage to sleep-in until six thirty or seven. I make pancakes on Sundays. Mom used to make pancakes every Sunday morning. She’d make half 
chocolate chip, half blue berry. I’m partial to the blue berry. Well, blue berries are expensive in Hong Kong, and the ones available at the Wellcome Market aren’t real quality. Instead I’ve started making apple pancakes. I heat up my skillet, throw a little oil in the pan, then soften a usually half rotten, week old apple. While my batter is cooking on one side, I toss in a few chunks of apple. Add a few tablespoons of peanut butter, some of my Grandmother’s strawberry jam, a cup of coffee, and Voila!
I went to Dan Ryan’s Chicago Grill last night. It’s a 35 minute train ride to Kowloon Tong, but there’s a book store near by, so I figured I’d buy some new reading material. I’ve been reading Charles Esdaile’s Napoleon’s Wars. I have yet to finish it – not really my cup of tea. Anyway, while at Dan Ryan’s, I ordered a side-salad and a KilKenny beer. I was still hungry and ordered a chicken sandwich, and another beer. I opted for a side of broccoli rather than fries. As you can see, I not only got fries but cole slaw, a pickle, and a full head of broccoli. The menu says “Warning, we serve American sized portions.” I joked with the waitress saying that Americans would never eat that much broccoli. She didn’t get it. I bought two new books, Freakenomics, which I’m about half-way through, and The World Is Flat.
I rode to one of my favorite places today – Bride’s Pool Reservoir. It’s in one of the more remote portions of the New Territories. It’s a five mile long road that’s frequented by fast cars and motor-bikes. There were a lot of mini-coopers there today, and a few Ferraris. I managed to avoid injury and accident until the last loop. On the return, right before the last climb, the cable to my back detailer snapped. The next eight miles were steep, but I managed to limp back to Sheung Shui on my front sprockets, unscathed. I’ve got to start taking better care of my equipment.
I want to say that work is frustrating and then list some reasons, but it’s not frustrating. It’s interesting and peculiar. Things that, to me, are normal, are often made into a big deal, and things that should be a big deal are often dismissed as normal. Examples: The agenda of Friday’s afternoon meeting included instructions for supervisors to tell their staff not to eat the fresh bamboo shoots rising from the previously trimmed bamboo sites around the course, as this will destroy this years “crop.” I laughed aloud. I often do when such things are mentioned. A few weeks ago, in a staff meeting, the biggest complaint wasn’t over work, or poor working conditions. Rather, it was that the lunch boxes, which are subsidized by the club and cost only HK$10 for about as much as I can eat, had only one divider rather than two; therefore, sour foods were mixing with sweet foods and so on, and so on.
Something that might be a big deal but is dismissed as normal: There are about 20 or 25 odd gardens around the course. They’re usually no larger than ten to fifteen square meters, and they’re always out of play. Well, I say that, but there are some really bad golfers here, so that might not be true. In the gardens are mostly cole-crops like broccoli, bok-choy, and strange cabbages that I’ve never eaten before. On more than one of my dusk-time runs, I’ve seen course staff watering their gardens. I suppose me running on the course at night might be a big deal back in the states, but hey, IT’S CHINA!!!
Chinese New Years is awesome. A fifth of the world’s population resides in China, and all of them celebrate Lunar New Years in some form or fashion. It is one of the most celebrated holidays on earth, next to the conventional New Year’s Day, Christmas, Earth Day. It’s a big deal.
The following are just a few interesting facts about the holiday. Check out wikipedia for more.
- Chunyun (Chinese New Years, Lunar New Years) prompts the largest human migration in the world. This is the time when migrant laborers return home to be with their families.
- The first day of Chunyun is for the welcoming of the deities of the heavens and earth, officially beginning at midnight. Lighting fires and using knives is considered bad luck on New Year’s Day, so all food to be consumed is cooked the day before. (Bummer if you’re trying to buy freshly baked bread).
- Red packets are handed out as gifts (called licee in Cantonese and Ya Sui Qian in Mandarin, which literally means, the money used to suppress or put down the evil
spirit). I suppressed a lot of evil spirits.
Last night, I watched the fireworks over Hong Kong Harbor from a grand view at Felix’s in the Peninsula Hotel. Felix’s is one of those trendy bars that plays Asian trance music and charges way too much for weak drinks. They occasionally throw in some music by Moby just to make me angry. The view is amazing. I may have
mentioned this before, but the urinals in the men’s room overlook the vastness of Kowloon Tong from about 30 stories up. Hey I can see my house from here (while I pee). Awesomeness.
Happy New Years,
Jay
Duathlon that is. I “did a du” this morning and won my age group. I might have won the overall, but I left before results were posted for all of the heats.
This was my second multi-sport event in Hong Kong. The first was the OSIM Olympic Triathlon. Both were multiple-loop courses.
Season’s Greetings from Hong Kong. No, I haven’t heard anyone botch the words to “Deck The Halls.” Call me a Scrooge, but I’ve never gotten really excited over Christmas songs, probably because there’s a limited Christmas song repertoire, so the songs are inevitably over-played. But, this year, I’ve enjoyed them. I guess I haven’t heard that many songs here, so now I find myself singing songs to all the guys in the office. I hope they appreciate my beautiful voice.