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Published: December 12th 2005
Aberdeen
Chinese cemetary off of Peel Road Big day off! What shall we do? I know, let’s kill Martha with an exceptionally fast hike in 85 degrees /100%!h(MISSING)umidity with cloud cover at 25 ft.
Late start. What’s new. Figure out which bus to take to Aberdeen because that’s where we shall pick up the Hong Kong trail. Catch one on Queens Road & it turns out to be a rather a long bus ride taking us to the southern part of HK Island to a bus terminus on Aberdeen Main Rd & Aberdeen Reservoir Rd. The day is dreary and dripping and since it is late, we don’t stop to explore Aberdeen, though it’s worth a look some other day.
We walk up Aberdeen Reservoir Rd, then cut off on Peel Road which quickly turns into a paved path, up up up. As we round a bend we find ourselves in a Chinese cemetery built into the hillside, rows upon rows spread out around us. At the top the path (paved, of course) quickly leads to dense jungly growth and happily we see very few hikers. Along we go until we hit a fork in the
HK Trail
Olympic hopefuls? road. “…two roads diverged in a wood and,…“ And we have no idea what to do. We look down the one road, then we look down the other road. Which one is the HK trail? The one we choose has a posted map. Oh map, heaven sent! We still have no idea what to do as it shows only a section of the trail and the actual trails are not marked, you just have to figure out which is which. Eeny meeny miney mo. Let’s take the shortest one, we gotta go.
So the shortest one, we eventually figure out, leads us towards The Peak (we hiked this a couple of weeks ago coming from the other side). Dragging our way up and out of the drenched landscape - mind you it’s not raining - but everything is coated with moisture, there is not a bit of breeze, we’re bathing in the air that’s now combined with our sweat and we can’t discern which is which. It’s only a couple of miles but seems like 20. We let out into a chi chi neighborhood complete with gates & guards and sporty cars zipping around the hairpin turns in the
HK Trail
Bougainvillea along the trail clouds. Stop to rest and figure the best way back in a small “sitting out” pavilion. That’s what they call their mini parks, sitting out areas. It’s become difficult to see the street signs in this fog.
This ain’t the end of the hike - we’re on the east side of The Peak and have to get to the west side, and then have to go down down down. We’re in a hurry because we have to be at a dinner with the band folks in Tsim Sha Tsui by 6pm. Guest of honor is Stacie, one of the dancers in the show whose job has been displaced due to the new show. Hmmm what time is it now? Most likely after 5. Will we make it?
Naw. At home finally, and ready to leave about 6-ish we find that the guest of honor hasn’t even left. Anyway, we chase out the door together and those of us with short, tired old legs hobble along behind tall young dancer legs and strong runner legs thru the streets of Sheung Wan to the MTR, out of the MTR, thru the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui, in pain & in
HK Trail
Along the trail 3 1/2” heels (due to High Insecurity previously mentioned), finally reach our destination, The Nomad. Yet another of our benefactor’s nice restaurants.
The Nomad is located on Kimberly Road just off Nathan in the heart of this busy tourist area. It has a unique format - a make your own meal buffet. You can assemble pizzas or stir-fries and have them cooked to order for you. Dozens of ingredient options such that you can make a Mongolian barbeque pizza if you so choose. Tony is able to create one of his home concoctions, an amalgamation of peppers, garlic, spices, chicken, seafood, green material, all sautéed with various sauces. Twice. Yes, this is an all you can eat buffet.
After all you can eat, we leave together as a group and gracefully disperse in the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui. We peruse the cut tag shops, scouting deals for Zoe’s upcoming visit, then amble off to the ferry and to the Globe on Hollywood Road for a beer, then finally home.
No email tonight
No car ads tonight
No taxes tonight.
April 11 Can it be true? Did a sane person who knows where HK is and
HK Trail
Cool tree knows what a good car I’m selling answer my ad and honestly offer to buy it? Oh joy!
What to do tonight?
1. Slow learner that I am I finally found an option in the mail program to transfer everything over automatically.
2. Work on taxes: we owe the feds $185
April 12 It’s been rainy lately but we’re antsy to get out of the apartment, so we take off to find Jardines Bazaar in Causeway Bay. We bus down Hennessey Road and get off near Pennington. Somewhat confused, we look for a bazaar on Jardines Bazaar, but it is actually on Jardines Crescent. Go figure. Similar fare to other outdoor markets, lots of clothing & accessories. Walking amongst the booths becomes difficult in the rain because each has its own canopy and it doesn’t match up to the next guy’s. We walk, drip, walk, drip, and then give up seeing all that we needed to see.
In just a few blocks we spot one of those shiny malls Hk’ers are so dependent on - this one is called Times Square. We elevator several flights up, passing the usual designer type stores, then escalator a few more
HK Trail
There's a creek in this pic if you look hard stories to find big fancy restaurants. Some look pretty cool but nothing we want to afford just now.
We give up on our day out - it’s just too wet.
What to do tonight?
1. Work on taxes: we owe $98
April 13 A surprise day off for Tony. It’s cool, wet and windy today. Isn’t HK in the tropics? Just kicked around grocery shopping and picked up a few clothing bargains.
Dogs. Lots of dogs in HK - it’s the new fad. We think it might be HK’s way of quietly rebelling against the mainland’s restrictions about personal dog ownership. Maybe, maybe not. I’m sure to get hate mail for saying this, but this is no place to try to keep a dog. In this concrete city of heat and humidity you can imagine what “dog walking” has done to the already aromatic air.
There is a dog lover living down the block. Every day the dog is let out on the balcony to bark at every passerby - and there are hundreds of passersby. The weather is still nice enough to leave the windows open and the incessant barking is getting to be
too much. In pursuit of the exact location, Tony goes out into the night to find the source, and in so doing finds a cohort to help him - one of those passersby who also is disturbed by the barking. With this man’s help, they get the point across to the unwilling guilty party.
What to do tonight?
Work on taxes: we owe $65
April 14 Rehearsal rehearsal rehearsal. Where’s my playmate?
Guess I’ll work on taxes: we owe $24
April 15 HK visa business to be taken care of today. Must go to the HK Immigration office in Wan Chai to renew Tony’s work visa. These offices are not nearly as nice as the China visa office - a bit the worse for wear, crowded and no cool, electronic signs to efficiently guide you through the process. Let’s see - where to go for step one? The line in the corner looks good, there’s no queue. Whether it is correct or not, who knows, it seems that they just wait on you to get you out of the way rather than try to explain where you need to be.
Two and a half hours
The Cavern
At the club after the show - G'bye Stacie! later his number is called. After a two and a half second conversation we now know we have to come back in two and a half weeks and pick up the completed visa.
Wow, that was exciting.
Hmmm…today’s the 15th, what shall I do while Tony is busy with rehearsal & show tonight?
15:45 - we owe $59 ..what?
17:15 - we owe $24
20:22 - we owe $23
20:23 - I give up ..we just have to pay it
22:01 - we owe $16
23:19 - discuss at length with Tony the difference between legitimate and non legitimate business deductions, and why you can’t just make shit up
23:45 - decide to make shit up
23:46 - decide not to
23:55 - remember an all important business purchase not yet accounted for - yeah!
23:59 - we get a refund of $68!!
00:00 - oh no! it’s midnight and we still haven’t filed
00:01 - fooled ya - it’s midnight here, not in the US!
My cheap little secret:
TaxAct April 16 All my crazy business done, I’m ready for a night out. Tonight just happens to be the last night the dancers will
The Cavern
"Little" Andrew and Heidi the other dancer perform in the show, and Linden and I taxi it to the club even thought it’s fairly close (the guys usually walk to work). I’m sure they’d take a taxi too if they were wearing heels - or would they?
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Linda
non-member comment
hong kong blog
I stumbled upon you blog and am enjoying reading your entries. I was in Hong Kong in April for only a week and envy you being able to live there and experience it on a daily basis. Keep up the blog so I can be freed from my boring old work life while I travel with you.