Bike Ride Alone

My bike with saddle bags




Selfie - I cannot believe the huge zit is on the tip of my nose 

During my 2 week break in Taipei, I was really bored and Grace's brother suggested that I do a bike ride from Hualian to TaiDong. 180Km and if I do it in 3 days that's going to be relax and interesting. I started from Hualian picked up my bike around 11am - by the time I reached the town I am supposed to stop for the night, it is only 1pm. I decided to go further to the next town, it is only 43pm. Oh well, it is only 9km to the next big town (later I realized it is only to the boarder of the county), I decided to go for it. That was a mistake because I actually biked for 15km up to the hill and by the time I reach the town it was around 5:30pm and raining. I found a small hotel and spent the night. I woke up very early the next day (didn't sleep very well) and set off around 6am. The weather was not that great and I can only keep biking. I reach Taidong around 3pm, biked for 95km and had a big lunch. I then decided to take a train back to Taipei that very night, my parents are both very happy because they didn't like the idea for me to bike alone to begin with.

Waitomo NZ (3)

We met the Martyn, Sue, the kids and Douche in Matamata.  The problem in Matamata is there is no good food at all (I think that's the problem with NZ in general - but we found a great Indian restaurant in Auckland near Jon's place).   Holiday making with St. John's is to go hiking, go biking, then swimming, picnic for lunch, tea in the afternoon and card games at night.  Of course Douche hanging around.  Pretty fun - the only problem is I got sun burned so badly after a whole day's bike ride, I had to use olive oil as face cream. 

Waitomo NZ (2)

Scooter for sale?

The B&B we booked in Waitomo was run by an old couple, English, migrated to Australia (math teacher if I remember it correctly) and moved to NZ for retirement.  Amazingly beautiful garden, the 8 room establishment extends up to the hills, flowers, grapes, fruits are everywhere.  We had breakfast prepared by Collin - he made this plum marinated which is delicious, I think Jon got himself a number of helps.  English breakfast - Jon's softest spot.  To me, the super hot noodles soup or rice is more like my cup of tea.  Ah again, tea for English...

We went to the cave adventure guided tour.  Emma and Mike took us through the cave.  We first roped down 50 meters into the bottom of the cave, then flying fox over the dark.  Glow worms decorated the peach black cave they look like stars!  Emma and Mike fed us hot chocolates and then pushed us down the 10C water (ok, not push but we have to jump into the water with the tube under our bums), lots of climbing, swimming, eating chocolate.  We all have the 10mm wetsuit on but we still need to keep moving to keep warm.  The only problem is when you need to pee. 

We left Waitomo to meet up with Mart and Sue at Matamata.

Waitomo NZ (1)

Coming out from the cave

Great little car

I came to Auckland after New Year I was only allowed to take vacation then because I had to run a couple of projects while everyone else went on vacation.  Jon flew back to NZ a couple months earlier.

Summer in Auckland was warm and sunny - we did a few things around the town (had the ride on Jon's scooter to the beach) then we packed up to go to Waitomo because Peggy recommended it. 

Our transportation is Jon's little white 2 door car with 200 or 300K under the belt, the driver side door handle is dangling almost wanted to claim independence (I had to keep an eye on it while driving in case it flies off) and it has only 4 gear wow, amazing - I love this little white Toyota.  It is big enough to stuck a bike, rollerskates and all our gear - 2 computers and stinky undies in the back. 

We drove through Raglan and that other little coastal village.  Beautiful beach but it has turn much commercialized so we drove further down south inching close to Waitomo.  We stopped by a big sand dune beach - before the beach, pine plantation turned sands into forest for miles.  Shallow rooted pine seems to adapt to the sandy soil very well.  We walked over the huge sand dune finally get to see the flat huge black sand beach.  Only a few people around, some of them carried spade start digging holes in the beach. 

Jon explained that NZ people like to build sand castle for kids to play, some times adult plays also.  When ties come in and sand castle crumbles and it is time to go home. 

After the big black sand beach we stopped a little town Kawhia and jumped from the pier with the local kids.  We checked with a local old guy standing around the pier to see it is safe to swim across the big river - he said yes.  So we jumped and started our challenge - it wasn't as easy as it seems.  The current is very strong and I got nervous so I signaled Jon that I wanted to turn back. 

After we got back to the pier the kids said to us they are told not to swim out and the old guy said he is quite happy that we decided to turn around.  Huh?  We started to chat and he explained the black sand beach is actually a natural hot spring beach.  People dig a bath at the beach to enjoy the hotspring, so much the castle story - I almost believe Jon's story.

Oxygen Canister

Strong wind we can bearly stand

Old town in Peng Hu

Very cute ladies

One week after heading back to Hong Kong from my Easter holiday break, I got a FB message from Mankit that Dad was admitted to the hospital due to lung problem. I had to fly back to sort out dad's bills, the oxygen machine to use at home, and the canister that he can carry around so that he can have some mobility. Jon's brother in law is the pediatrician saying in NZ normally doctors won't prescribe oxygen to smokers because they tend to blow themselves up.

Sambal Sauce (3)

Sambal Sauce (2)

One,

Two,

Three!

Batu cave is pretty amazing but we didn't want to join the cave tour. The Waitomo caving experience is really cool, didn't want to spoil the memory. We then drove to the port Dickson, it is said to be the beach resort KL people go to. Miles of miles of palm tree farms, original forest or vegetation has been completely cleared up. The water looks muddy, waves pushing mysterious bubbles into the flat sandy beach. We drove back to the hotel and dived into the swimming pool again. What else is left after the heavy industrialization? Where can people enjoy the nature or it is just too luxurious to think about nature. The cooking class is absolutely fun - we had great time learning the palm oil, sago and coconut milk. Shrimp paste, fresh chilly paste, shallots can turn into delicious sambal sauce which tasted great with shrimps (I am the fake vegetarian sometimes).

Sambal Sauce (1)

Cooking lesson, I am just being attacked by army of mosquitos at the same time.

Jon is forced to participate - he is the only man in the class oh wow.

We didn't do much on Easter holidays - this year in Hong Kong, good Friday and the Chin-Ming holidays together with the weekend means roughly 6 or 7 days off from work. So we got the most reasonable tickets to fly away, ending up in Kuala Lumpur (I was thinking about going to Honui, Vietnam but it is just not possible to get anything). I thought tropical weather, good food and night life, KL could be pretty good. We can then hire a car to drive to the beach, wow, perfect. It turned disastrous, the decision to hire a car. The highway signs are totally unfriendly and there are almost motors ways/toll roads everywhere. If you miss an exit, chances are you have to drive for miles to get back on and pay another toll. For a city of 1.5 million population, it has staggering amounts of toll road. It is obvious some money has changed hands due to these type of government own infrastructure construction. It took us 3 hours to get to the hotel (for a supposing 1.5 hour drive) the road sign shows to Kuala Lumpur but it is actually heading back to the airport, we were lost after hitting the first construction site. We had no map no smart phone, gas station do not sell maps because maps do not help. Sometimes you cannot find anyone speaking English because the gas station workers looks like new immigrants. We thought our nightmare is over when we drove around in the broad daylight - wrong. Again we were lost on the way to Batu Cave, which is supposingly 20 minutes drive away from the city center. It took us 2.5 hours to get there - it was a bit heart breaking to see the beautiful cave being cemented into a Hindu temple but what can you do.

Year 2015

The view from my balcony/living room.  That's kitchen plant, no name, harry and my new friend "co COO KOO". 

Being very lazy in updating my blog - quite a few things to record since Jan 2015.  I went to NZ to visit Jon and family.  Learnt what is river bashing (jump into the 10C clear water and being washed down by current - adrenaline rush makes you forget about the chill, in my case I was worried to death that if my bum is going to hit the rocks at the bottom) and exploring unconventional hiking trail (the family decided to get down the mountain via the water way, we climbed the rocks, slipped down the mud, dived into the river, waded across the stream to get back down the hills...).  We bid farewell to the family and went to do the caving in Waitomo.  Lots of crazy people in NZ I can only conclude. 

In February we went back to Taipei for Chinese New Year.  One thing we learnt is that all good restaurants are closed, only not so good restaurants are still running because they are desperate. 

In March I was forced to used up my vacation days that is 14 days.  Otherwise they will go expired before April.  I took 2 weeks off.  I took Mum (and group of Aunties, they would like to tag along because retirement is so boooooring) to Peng Hu - a little island west of Taiwan.  Beautiful small island, I was the tour guide, driver, travel agent.  All ladies were having great time despite the strong winds and empty street (not yet the hot season because of the strong north east wind, even the fishmen were at bay).  Very net and clean and lots of beautiful scenic sites. 

I was again pretty bored after the trip so I went on the 3-day bike ride by myself.  I hired the bicycle with saddle bags departing from HuaLian, thinking to finish the 180 KM tour reaching TaiDong on Monday but somehow I arrived TaiDong city center on the second day.  So I had to travel back to Taipei earlier but both dad and mum are happy that I came home early.  They are not happy I decide to bike alone. 

Now I am back to Hong Kong - my compost project is a great success without worm.  The first batch of tomato plants are growing pretty good.  I shall write some more about them later.

Chinese family's favorite activity - food!

Skating in 南生圍



The last natural reserved in Hong Kong, we skated through the path around the wet land, lots of water birds.

History means nothing?

I once saw a successful Hong Kong guy (by the definition in Hong Kong, being successful means he has a business and made some money), proudly said to the TV camera crew that "I have never spoken a single Cantonese word to my daughter until today".   He looks content and proud that he has abandoned the culture/language, successfully groomed his daughter to be a westerner who can only speak/read English.  This interview is, of course, conducted in English - the irony is that he speaks English with thick Hong Kong accent.

Every time I think about his face and attitude I feel sick to my stomach.  What type of environment praises people who despise his own culture.  Wish him best of luck with his parenting choice. 

Staunton

Staunton is the pub at mid level, just by the escalator.  It is close to the office, close to everywhere, we tend to meet friends there a lot.  One evening we were gathering in the pub again and I saw the table under the stairway is empty, I quickly came over to took a seat when a man from another group of 4 or 5 also reached the table almost at the same time.  I squinched my eyes and said "I saw this table first and got here before you" in a growling voice, he said "but your friends are not here yet, mine are.  Why don't we share the table".  I agreed and we started to chat.

Long term Hong Kong dweller (definition of long term is like more than 20 years), he is the supplier to the duty free shops in the airport.  Although 90% of what we pay on the price tag is going to the rent, he said the business is still profitable.  Yet he and his associate still cannot work out why women spend 500 USD for a jar of La Mer whereas the blind test shows that the over the counter Olay cream is just as good.  Nevertheless, he is happy that people spent money on that sort of stuff.  He told me that he couldn't understand jewelries either.  He once bought a set of jewelries on the duty free catalog shopping on the airplane, gift to his wife because he hasn't been home for a few weeks.  Gift well received, kiss on the cheek, thank you exchanged.  A few months later, he bought another set of jewelries on the airplane again and this time, his wife went blistered.  "This is exactly the same as the last one, and I didn't even like the first set!". 

Great guy to chat to, we were talking about what is the most valuable things in life if expensive jewelries and sports cars are simply a joke, he said, the number one is integrity and the second is friendship.   

Gordon Visiting Hong Kong

 

 

Gordon is Jon's Mum's friend from Gisbourne. He used to be a pilot working for British Army in Hong Kong, aged 88, he is coming back to see his friends and the small island his parents and grand parents were born. He showed us those black and white pictures in the album published by the Hong Kong British Army veterans, one of those is a airplane being lifted up by a crane at the harbor, he explained "I crashed that babie into the sea and the poor guy had to get it out!".

Hair Length

Not updating my blog for more than a month, quite a few changes in my life recently, and have been pretty busy to cope with my new routine.  We moved away from the affluent, expat area in Mid-Level in Hong Kong island and moved to the grass-root, traditionally considered working class, gangsters fighting, prostitutes standing at the corner area in Kowloon.  It is in the heart of the business, tourist frequenting district - cheap food, shops, and every day life stores. 

It is very different from Mid-level where only English speaking Expat lives (of course, Some Chinese love to live there as the symbol of status), I think the Maids are speaking better Cantonese than the Madam in most households.  The expats are not interested in local culture, language or food, hence they have re-created (or the market has created the shops to cater for them) another English speaking neighborhood. 

Yau Ma Tei, where we moved to, is completely opposite - all shops are doing things selling stuff making foods for locals.  Not the best quality of air nor the view (our apartment has pretty good view though, we can see far out to the west end of the Kowloon peninsula and get some sea view when the air is clear) but it is full of life, full of actions - I have not yet tired of walking around this area day or night.  It is right next to an independent movie theater, and temple street where the famous clay pot rice is.  I can walk to Kowloon park swimming pool where the boy club sometimes showing off their oiled bodies under the sun (Jon and I sometimes giggled behind their backs).

The commute to work is much more pleasant because the train is very reliable (I used to commute by bus back to mid level, believe me, you wouldn't want to walk the hill after a days of work in the hot summer evening). 

Oh my hair has never been this long in my life, the good thing about it is that I don't need to wash it every day because it takes too long to dry.  I think I save a lot of water and shampoo.

Being a Vegetarian

I find it is very powerful for being a vegetarian - basically, you have less options when considering what to eat and hence you eat the same food/restaurant over and over again.  Also, no one can bribe you with the offer of great steak anymore.  Not too bad.

My experience of veggie restaurant is that people are generally very nice, dinners are very polite and quiet.  The waiters always tell you something is very delicious, you have to have it - it turns out not as good as they claim most of the time.

Brisbane Photos

Mum and I spent some time to find the dress for myself to wear in Alex's wedding earlier this year - cannot be too bright and flamboyant that attracts attentions but cannot look too boring.  It turned out nice, keeping a photo here because I don't know when I will wear it again.

Bala Article

There are many articles published by friends in FaceBook but it is very obvious those were translated from Mainland Chinese - some phrases were giving it away such as "Shocking", "Moved", "Speechless" - I don't remember those were used that frequently in Taiwanese Chinese.   The contents were overly melodramatic and unsophisticated.  A typical example is the title would say "Russian President Putin made a speech that shocked the whole Chinese Population" - if you click into the article, you will probably find those statements were not made by Putin but you did read it from some other magazines.  It is also very doubtful that Putin's speech are translated to Chinese word by word and read by the whole China - I don't think even President Xi's speech was that popular.  This whole story is completely fake and being put together just to attract careless readers.  Nothing is true nothing is authentic - the publisher can get paid if the article attracts web traffic hence they are very used to make up disturbing headlines or pictures.

Please do not share articles if you are unsure about the origin - that's really annoying.

PS, Bala is a how Taiwanese call "Guava", the phase is used to describe time-wasting, useless item, song or people.

Toilet Problem in Hong Kong

I hate it when running into the lady's in Hong Kong and found that the toilet seat is wet.  You can tell that is because the lady who was using the toilet before didn't sit down but semi-squat so that her precious bottoms are not touching the seat.  I am pretty sure she was taught by her mother not to sit in public toilet because of the fear for gems and virus.  I was told the same.  However, now thinking about it, the wet toilet only encourages next user to squat (you need strong legs to do that, not a problem for yogi).  The vicious cycle starts - no one can actually sit and relax and the toilet seat gets filthier and filthier.

Thank Goodness many toilets are now equipped with alcohol dispenser so I can clean the seat and (I purposely make some noise to squeeze the alcohol spray and make sure people outside the stall can hear that I am cleaning the seat).   If there is no alcohol provided, I will pad the seat with toilet papers before sitting down - after all, sitting on someone's piss is not a pleasant thought.  Please Chinese Mothers, tell your daughter to sit down on the toilet when going pee.  If that's not hygienic, let's make it clean and nice, there is nothing wrong to do a bit of dirty work and start a clean toilet.  Besides, I think the lack of community sense and selfishness are more harmful than gems on the toilet seats.

I also hate the white tissue papers Hong Kong people love to use everywhere, at the beach, at the hiking trail (wiping their shoes?!?!?) and discard the used tissues anywhere but the garbage bins.  Mmm, I am not sure they are being cleaned and sanitized, I think that's pretentious (you are hiking and you care about how clean your shoes are???) and stupidly environmental unfriendly.  I refuse tissues, I prefer to wipe my nose with my shirts (or Jon's).

Good Bye Worm Farm

We gave away our worm farms (one vertical and one horizontal) because we are going to move by end of this month. The funny thing is that the worms live in the horizontal farm are darker, thicker and stronger. The ones live in the tower block (vertical worm farm has the 3 layers) are pale and thin, a bit like human beings in real life. We shall start another worm farm once we settle in to our new apartment.