Beyond the Buzz...

The view

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During a TerryFox fundraising hike (for cancer research) about 56 people started on a hike up a mountain overlooking Shenzhen in mainland China, only 4 of us made it to the top, one of us was a 60 year old African American lady, I think the sight of her hike up got me motivated to make it.

Waterfall

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On the way were waterfalls, with lots of butterflies around!

Caterpillar

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And on the way were tiny little wonders that were sometimes easily overlooked.

Organic

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Some lady workers hired to farm the organic fields…very yummy vegetables!

Next: Cheung Cha Island

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The boats

Cheung Cha Island

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The beach

Cheung Cha Island

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The hike on the rocks

Cheung Cha Island

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The bamboo view

Cheung Cha Island

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The old homes

A field trip

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Back to school life, this is a picture of one of the 3 major sewage treatment facilities in Hong Kong (situated in Yuen Long, North-West upper territories). Inside this aeration tank billions and billions of aerobic-microbes are feasting on the sewage waste. As you can imagine it wasn’t a very pleasant smell. (one crazy story told was that: once they started getting millions of HK dollars floating in the sewage (durring the screening stage) and after investigation it was found that money, illegally obtained, had been dumped in public toilets because the thieves had no other way to dispose of it)

2 Macau School Girls

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Just like Hong Kong with the British the Portuguese’s owned Macau but latter on gave it back to China.

Casino

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Today, Macau is known for gambling. In its realitively 2 small islands there are at least 1/2 a dozen casinos and 4 more being built. Because most gambling is prohibited in Hong Kong, so many people from here and all of Asia go there to gamble. It was really strange because everything was in either Portuguese or Chinese (just like in Hong Kong: English or Chinese)! It was strange to see the marriage of Chinese culture with a Latin sort of Spanish flare.

Remnants

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Remnants of the Portuguese influence in Chinese Macau.

Yummy!

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Some good street deserts!

A street

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Dont you just love the title of this picture...

A sweet win

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Jockey Club is a very powerfull rich organization because it has the monopoly as being the only major form of gambling in Hong Kong; Apart from betting on sport games and wining numbers (like the loto 649), twice a week they hold huge hourse races. Its big big money, people are so addicted, they gamble from home placing bets then they get there to the race site and place more bets and watch the hourses and just like that they lose all the money. I tried for trying sake and played once, a friend and I bet 30HK$ and won 859HK$ and decided never to play again ( as Emeka taught me once you win you call it a night).

Sea Food

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My host family took me to one of the seafood galore places in Hong Kong. Boats come in at the harbour (not from the polluted ocean water but enclosed lakes) and you buy your, very fresh, sea food and take it to a restaurant and they cook it for you. As I already mentioned, Hong Kongers don’t cook (maybe I cant say never but lets just say rarely), the kitchens are small and they don’t have the time is what most say.

Strange Food

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That day I saw a lobsters as big as half of my leg, notice I said leg, but also as expensive. I ate all sort of seafood I never knew existed… one of them in Chinese is called an elephant’s trunk because out of a massive shell is this protruding muscel that looks like an elephants trunk! Here is one that I had heard of before, I don’t know its name though…perhaps something like “soldiers helmet”?

Walk

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Winter has started here but I prefer the weather now! It’s not as humid, and most nights we can do without the Air Conditioning. Thanks for reading my blog. I sort of miss the snow back home (not the cold though!)...Xmas without snow will be strange