I'm with Katy at her parent's flat in Ma On Shan, we saw Jonathan off to Japan this morning and we went back to the flat to rest since it was a pretty late night last night especially being out the door at 6am to get at taxi.
We made some guacamole from scratch and it was incredible. I packed my bags for the week and Katy and I rushed out to catch the bus, but we missed it. We went to plan B and instead of taking a bus into the city we took the MTR.
I bought a new router in Sham Shui Po, it took us a little while to find the exact one that I wanted, but the old adage holds true, "you can find any computer part you'd ever need in Hong Kong you just have to look long enough." Luckily it wasn't that long, maybe 30 minutes of wandering. I had my full Go-Lite bag complete with fiddle, camelbak, and laptop case. Katy helped me carry a lot of the stuff while I dodged and ran around trying to find the piece i needed.
Once I purchase my prize we caught a taxi right up to Ma On Shan and we looked at the summary website for Jonathan's Japan trip, he should finally be arriving to his final destination about now after a full day of traveling.
Tomorrow I head into Sai Kung for the dragonboating experience, it will be interesting to see how it turns out. It is supposed to be really windy tomorrow, I think we will be protected from the swell, but it doesn't matter because my job is 100% land based anyway.
I should be done at 2pm every day so it will be really nice to have that time off in the afternoon, i brought some curry ingredients up here to Ma On Shan in hopes that a chicken will come in contact with them and then fall into the frying pan.
Showing posts with label New Territories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Territories. Show all posts
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Crazy Haze Today...
The weather has been hot and clear for quite a while now, which is different than usual. Well, the clear part at least. I've been up to quite a few things lately and haven't done much updating, but here's an overview.
Last Friday I went to Macau to activate my dependent visa and to acquire some Portuguese egg tarts (probably the most important part of the trip)
I left Hong Kong around 1:30 I think on the Turbo Jet Ferry and arrived in Macau an hour later, I wandered around following a Lonely Planet guide to try to do a walk they recommended. I took a bus to try to get to some place on the map, after a while I didn't really know where I was going, which was fine. Then we turned a corner and I recognized a place that Katy and I had been to last year to activate my visa. I hopped off the bus and saw the area where we had Lapsap Live In Macau on the one night long ago...
part 2 and part 3
I wandered around this place for a while searching for the place that I bought some amazing egg tarts last time i was there. I walked and walked and never found the back alley place with the mouth burning tarts, but I did find some alternates that we ok. I also found a Dairy Queen! In South East Asia! I thought I'd stepped through a portal back to the US for a second. I bought a large chocolate chocolate chocolate blizzard and they served it upside down to demonstrate how thick it was. It was so think it took me two hours to eat it in the 90 degree heat.
After DQ i walked more and then caught a massively packed bus back to the pier, it was a busy time so the sailing I wanted was booked and so was the next one after that. So I looked around and bought a ticket from a different company, one that dropped me off in Kowloon rather than Hong Kong Island.
It was a comfortable ride and there wasn't many people on the boat. The immigration lines were slow, but they activated my visa. Actually, I opened up to the page and showed the lady specifically that I had it, she grabbed the passport and scanned it in her machine then asked "Do you want to activate this now??"
Me: "......"
Her: "....."
Me: "No, it's cool, I just spent $50 to go to Macau today so I could extend my tourist visa and work a job tomorrow....no need to use it really, I'll just see you in 90 days for another re-up on thee ol' tourist days stamp....It's not like I just showed it to you when I walked up to the counter and all..."
Actually that was pretty harsh, it was fine except that it was slowness I haven't encountered since being in the U.S.A.
After getting everything taken care of I caught the MTR up to a stop near Katy's parent's house in Ma On Shan and took a death bus...er mini-bus the rest of the way. Katy, Jonathan, and I stay over Friday night and I caught a bus to Sai Kung Saturday morning with 3 egg tarts in hand.
I met the people I needed to meet on the pier and we headed out on a junk with 60 people looking for a good time kayaking (which I was leading), stand up paddle boarding, and banana boating.
It was a great day for weather and the clients were fine, quite a bit different dealing with adults and having an objective to see the coral. I got to do some paddle boarding as well. Overall great day, I hope I can get to do more stuff like this again.
After work I met Katy in Tsim Sha Tsui for our Date Night and we walk for a while :) actually a long while :)
Then had one of the best meals I've ever had here in Hong Kong, an 11 course Indian food "journey of flavor"
Sunday was the usual, except we were in Ma On Shan and didn't have to leave as early to catch the ferry, went to the service and then Simply Life for lunch. Then came home and I relaxed as Katy and Jonathan went to scope out some additions to Jonathan's room here in Pui O.
Yesterday (Monday), I had a busy day of cooking, Katy and I bought tons of vegetables at the public market last thursday and a bunch of it need to be used up. So i set off making bread, finished to half opened bags and busting open a third, then while that was rising I started in on some Guacamole, I only had one avocado, but it had enough green mush in it that it was OK. Then I started baking the bread and got everything else ready in the frypan for when Katy and Jonathan walked in the door with Olive Oil and my latest addition to my curry arsenal Tumeric. Then I cooked up some chicken marinated in curry spices, garlic, and lemon juice and we ate until we exploded and our mouths burned off.
**As I was writing this I might have booked three days of work here in Pui O next week** Yay for freelancing!
Last Friday I went to Macau to activate my dependent visa and to acquire some Portuguese egg tarts (probably the most important part of the trip)
I left Hong Kong around 1:30 I think on the Turbo Jet Ferry and arrived in Macau an hour later, I wandered around following a Lonely Planet guide to try to do a walk they recommended. I took a bus to try to get to some place on the map, after a while I didn't really know where I was going, which was fine. Then we turned a corner and I recognized a place that Katy and I had been to last year to activate my visa. I hopped off the bus and saw the area where we had Lapsap Live In Macau on the one night long ago...part 2 and part 3
I wandered around this place for a while searching for the place that I bought some amazing egg tarts last time i was there. I walked and walked and never found the back alley place with the mouth burning tarts, but I did find some alternates that we ok. I also found a Dairy Queen! In South East Asia! I thought I'd stepped through a portal back to the US for a second. I bought a large chocolate chocolate chocolate blizzard and they served it upside down to demonstrate how thick it was. It was so think it took me two hours to eat it in the 90 degree heat.
After DQ i walked more and then caught a massively packed bus back to the pier, it was a busy time so the sailing I wanted was booked and so was the next one after that. So I looked around and bought a ticket from a different company, one that dropped me off in Kowloon rather than Hong Kong Island.
It was a comfortable ride and there wasn't many people on the boat. The immigration lines were slow, but they activated my visa. Actually, I opened up to the page and showed the lady specifically that I had it, she grabbed the passport and scanned it in her machine then asked "Do you want to activate this now??"
Me: "......"
Her: "....."
Me: "No, it's cool, I just spent $50 to go to Macau today so I could extend my tourist visa and work a job tomorrow....no need to use it really, I'll just see you in 90 days for another re-up on thee ol' tourist days stamp....It's not like I just showed it to you when I walked up to the counter and all..."
Actually that was pretty harsh, it was fine except that it was slowness I haven't encountered since being in the U.S.A.
After getting everything taken care of I caught the MTR up to a stop near Katy's parent's house in Ma On Shan and took a death bus...er mini-bus the rest of the way. Katy, Jonathan, and I stay over Friday night and I caught a bus to Sai Kung Saturday morning with 3 egg tarts in hand.
I met the people I needed to meet on the pier and we headed out on a junk with 60 people looking for a good time kayaking (which I was leading), stand up paddle boarding, and banana boating.
It was a great day for weather and the clients were fine, quite a bit different dealing with adults and having an objective to see the coral. I got to do some paddle boarding as well. Overall great day, I hope I can get to do more stuff like this again.
After work I met Katy in Tsim Sha Tsui for our Date Night and we walk for a while :) actually a long while :)
Then had one of the best meals I've ever had here in Hong Kong, an 11 course Indian food "journey of flavor"
Sunday was the usual, except we were in Ma On Shan and didn't have to leave as early to catch the ferry, went to the service and then Simply Life for lunch. Then came home and I relaxed as Katy and Jonathan went to scope out some additions to Jonathan's room here in Pui O.
Yesterday (Monday), I had a busy day of cooking, Katy and I bought tons of vegetables at the public market last thursday and a bunch of it need to be used up. So i set off making bread, finished to half opened bags and busting open a third, then while that was rising I started in on some Guacamole, I only had one avocado, but it had enough green mush in it that it was OK. Then I started baking the bread and got everything else ready in the frypan for when Katy and Jonathan walked in the door with Olive Oil and my latest addition to my curry arsenal Tumeric. Then I cooked up some chicken marinated in curry spices, garlic, and lemon juice and we ate until we exploded and our mouths burned off.
**As I was writing this I might have booked three days of work here in Pui O next week** Yay for freelancing!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
****UPDATED****New pictures from my week in Pak Lap
Here's the slide show of pictures, I'll type a description of each day tomorrow....maybe
*****************
The week in Pak Lap consisted of:
Arriving on Sunday in a junk boat (large boat that sometimes people have parties on) filled with all of our stuff, it took us 2.5 hours to get there and I slept the entire way on the couches inside.
When we arrived we had to unload all the kayaks (about 10), the paddles and pfd, 18 thirteen liter jugs of water, all of our gear, all the ropes and harnesses and climbing helmets. It was a lot of stuff to say the least.
We got it all in to shore after most of us were dumped by the large and quickly crashing waves right before the steep slanted beach, we got situated and I set up my hammock and tied my tarp on and slid it down to the end for maximum airflow.
Albert was the man that owned the building and the kitchen near the beach and he provided us with 3 meals a day until Thursday.
After a Chinese dinner and a overview of our crazy week and impossible timing for the group movement we went to bed.
I had difficulty sleeping in the hammock this week, I was actually cold enough to need to wear a fleece and cover up with my blue ALE shirt, but then I was comfortable.
The kids arrived on special buses that could enter the park around 9:30 and were on the beach and going to their first activity by 10:30 or so. Our first activity was the abseil (aka rappeling for us 'mericans) we ended up going about an hour over our time, the kids were slow and inexperienced, but it's not their fault, what we were doing was a little over their heads and we changed it for the next 3 days, instead of dropping them straight down a 40 foot rock they walked backwards down a 40 foot rocky slope and it got the same effect and everyone was able to go and it fit in the time slot.
The kids left by 3pm and we were free to do whatever for the rest of the night, which was pretty awesome. I did a bunch of things each night, played guitar, bowdrilled, made a rocksling, learned how to ascend and rappel using a single rope technique, did some slackline balancing, swam, ate, hand drilled, plus many other things it was a really great week.
The Hong Kong outward bound students showed up on our last night and I was doing some bowdrilling just as 2 or 3 were nearby and they instantly came over to watch as I busted a coal. Then they left and I played some guitar until they came back with 10 others, haha, all trying to figure out the english to ask me to do it again. So I obliged and busted 2 more coals for them and they were thoroughly impressed... They also played some guitar, but just did little riffs and things, they were ok, but it was a different guitar style, they enjoyed my pick strumming songs.
Thursday night we packed up the junk again by paddling everything back out into the sea and riding 2.5 hours back to Mui Wo to load a truck then unload it back at Pui O and wash and put away everything, it was a long day, but at least I got to sleep in my bed that night. Although, it wasn't for very long since at 6am the next morning we were back out to Wan Tsai in Sai Kung for our final pirates day event.
Long story short, one of the teachers forgot to book the busses for that day and the kids were 1.5 hours late and we had to scrap almost everything but feeding the kids and all of our pirate themed quests were useless...
That's about it (and i'm sick of typing....)
Anyway, this weekend in short has involved recovery from the last week by resting and eating good food, Katy and I bought a quilt and duvet to complete my bed setup so it actually looks and feels like an actual bed now, we went to El Taco Loco last night and had some decent Hong Kong Mexican food, then today we head out to Ma On Shan for Church and brunch with Katy's family and then caught a bus back, had pizza at the airport and then the 3M back to Pui O...This coming week will be day camps Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I'll be kayaking with Bryan and Yvonne all 3 days it should be pretty good, although it's supposed to rain all week...
*****************
The week in Pak Lap consisted of:
Arriving on Sunday in a junk boat (large boat that sometimes people have parties on) filled with all of our stuff, it took us 2.5 hours to get there and I slept the entire way on the couches inside.
When we arrived we had to unload all the kayaks (about 10), the paddles and pfd, 18 thirteen liter jugs of water, all of our gear, all the ropes and harnesses and climbing helmets. It was a lot of stuff to say the least.
We got it all in to shore after most of us were dumped by the large and quickly crashing waves right before the steep slanted beach, we got situated and I set up my hammock and tied my tarp on and slid it down to the end for maximum airflow.
Albert was the man that owned the building and the kitchen near the beach and he provided us with 3 meals a day until Thursday.
After a Chinese dinner and a overview of our crazy week and impossible timing for the group movement we went to bed.
I had difficulty sleeping in the hammock this week, I was actually cold enough to need to wear a fleece and cover up with my blue ALE shirt, but then I was comfortable.
The kids arrived on special buses that could enter the park around 9:30 and were on the beach and going to their first activity by 10:30 or so. Our first activity was the abseil (aka rappeling for us 'mericans) we ended up going about an hour over our time, the kids were slow and inexperienced, but it's not their fault, what we were doing was a little over their heads and we changed it for the next 3 days, instead of dropping them straight down a 40 foot rock they walked backwards down a 40 foot rocky slope and it got the same effect and everyone was able to go and it fit in the time slot.
The kids left by 3pm and we were free to do whatever for the rest of the night, which was pretty awesome. I did a bunch of things each night, played guitar, bowdrilled, made a rocksling, learned how to ascend and rappel using a single rope technique, did some slackline balancing, swam, ate, hand drilled, plus many other things it was a really great week.
The Hong Kong outward bound students showed up on our last night and I was doing some bowdrilling just as 2 or 3 were nearby and they instantly came over to watch as I busted a coal. Then they left and I played some guitar until they came back with 10 others, haha, all trying to figure out the english to ask me to do it again. So I obliged and busted 2 more coals for them and they were thoroughly impressed... They also played some guitar, but just did little riffs and things, they were ok, but it was a different guitar style, they enjoyed my pick strumming songs.
Thursday night we packed up the junk again by paddling everything back out into the sea and riding 2.5 hours back to Mui Wo to load a truck then unload it back at Pui O and wash and put away everything, it was a long day, but at least I got to sleep in my bed that night. Although, it wasn't for very long since at 6am the next morning we were back out to Wan Tsai in Sai Kung for our final pirates day event.
Long story short, one of the teachers forgot to book the busses for that day and the kids were 1.5 hours late and we had to scrap almost everything but feeding the kids and all of our pirate themed quests were useless...
That's about it (and i'm sick of typing....)
Anyway, this weekend in short has involved recovery from the last week by resting and eating good food, Katy and I bought a quilt and duvet to complete my bed setup so it actually looks and feels like an actual bed now, we went to El Taco Loco last night and had some decent Hong Kong Mexican food, then today we head out to Ma On Shan for Church and brunch with Katy's family and then caught a bus back, had pizza at the airport and then the 3M back to Pui O...This coming week will be day camps Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I'll be kayaking with Bryan and Yvonne all 3 days it should be pretty good, although it's supposed to rain all week...
Monday, April 20, 2009
Dim Sum
Dim Sum in the city was pretty awesome on Sunday. You can have hundreds of different varieties of mini-portions of stuff.
Sunday was the most humid/muggy day I've experienced so far in Hong Kong. It was probably in the lower 80s with around 90% humidity. Walking around the city was quite the experience, you get short little blasts of cold air every once in a while as you pass the shops.
We played music for quite a while in an area on one of the busy streets and then had some dinner.
Last night was Bryan's last night in Hong Kong (for a while?) and he wanted some Nepali momo
1 Bus Ride to Mui Wo $3.2 HKD
1 Fast Ferry Ride to Central $25.50 HKD
1 Star Ferry from Central across to Kowloon/mainland $1.8 HKD
1 MTR ride from Tsim Sha Tsui to Jordan $3.8 HKD
Walking for an hour around the streets of Jordan at 11pm looking for "that one place" that sells momo: priceless
We found "the place" but it was closed, but we did find another place that sells momo, it was a small little place, but was really nice. We overran them with orders I think, they were very nice. I don't think they get a lot of of Westerners in there or at least not ones that like to talk or are friendly like us.
We bought 4 platters of momo, a chicken curry, a boiled potato curry (alum dum), and some really spicey cilantro nacho dish that I forgot the name of.
I really enjoy Nepalese food, it's definitely one of my favorite things to eat here in Hong Kong.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Namaste, Happy 2066!
The Nepalese New Year was pretty awesome, we got there a little late so we only saw 3 monkeys instead of the dozens last time.
The usual bags and bags of chicken wings, pork chops, and hotdogs were brought out once we got a barbecue pit. Along with some Baji and some really great Nepalese pickle sauce.
I ate so much, everything was really great
The last two days were pretty uneventful just playing and listening to a lot of music, I really enjoy these down times as I can always find ways to keep myself occupied. Now that Austin has given me a new direction to go in banjo playing I won't be bored for a while.
Probably will be camping out at Tai Long Won again this weekend, not 100% sure though.
Word is circulating about my leet computer skills so I have a little bit of work tomorrow for some supplemental income.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Call Me Trendy
I broke down and bought an iPod last week and as you can see at the top of the page is my Twitter feed, so I can give small updates a little more often. Since I don't always have the time/energy/motivation to sit down a write a full post I was thinking I could write some Tweets every once in a while to show what I'm up to. I still want to try to make a new post 2-3+ times per week, we'll see how this goes. Next up on the list buying some Abercrombie polo shirts and popping the collar.
I also wanted to ask anyone reading if they had any specific questions about anything in Hong Kong or something they would like to see more written about. Just write a comment and I'll see what I can do.
I'm excited for tomorrow, it's Nepalese new year hosted by Khem in the New Territories at Monkey Hill, I've been expanding my stomach in preparation. I'm thinking I'll go for 5 pounds of grilled meat tomorrow...
I also wanted to ask anyone reading if they had any specific questions about anything in Hong Kong or something they would like to see more written about. Just write a comment and I'll see what I can do.
I'm excited for tomorrow, it's Nepalese new year hosted by Khem in the New Territories at Monkey Hill, I've been expanding my stomach in preparation. I'm thinking I'll go for 5 pounds of grilled meat tomorrow...
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Pictures from the City
We went into the New Territories section of Hong Kong on the mainland yesterday and visited an farm out there. Here are a few of the pictures. We also rode the trolley around Hong Kong Island and I bought a complete fiddle setup for like $75. More pictures and explanations to come soon
I finally found bluegrass in Hong Kong! too bad it's not the right kind
I finally found bluegrass in Hong Kong! too bad it's not the right kind
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Nepalese Barbecue
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This is where I went today for a Nepalese party, at a park in The New Territories. I think I ate like 5 lbs of beef, chicken, and pork from the barbecue. I'm glad Khem invited us, it was pretty awesome.
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