Kuala Lumpur

We went to KL for the first time the other week and enjoyed it a lot. There are plenty of pictures on Flickr (although not as many as we would have liked, as our camera finally packed up halfway through our stay!) If you'd like to donate to the new camera fund ...

Just kidding. The day after the camera broke down, we hired a taxi for a few hours and went on a half-day excursion to the FRIM, where we got a bit hot and tired but did see some flying squirrels and huge fish. Unfortunately, the main attraction - the canopy walkway - was closed for maintenance (like half the other places in KL it seemed). After that we went on to the Batu Caves, which were amazing and definitely worth the trip.

We also couldn't take any pictures from our room at the Mandarin Oriental which had the most unbelievable view of the Petronas Towers. They were literally right outside the window. As I said, unbelievable, and no photographic evidence of our own to prove it!

Make up your mind then!

I noticed some slightly conflicting headlines on the BBC site a few days ago, at the time when there was a lot of faffing around in Japan over the future of Shinzo Abe (now ex-PM):

(you can click, but you won't see a bigger image - sorry about that)

Administrative layers

I saw this ad in the paper the other day, and it made me doubt the sanity of the human race a little (especially those responsible for recruitment).

(click to see a bigger image)

It's really no surprise to read that the unfortunate candidate would be responsible for 'general office administration'.

Standstill

Well, that storm skirted right by us, without too much effect. The number 3 signal was raised briefly. But then, the storm stopped, thought for a bit and decided to come back at us for a second try!

Just over a year ago, a large storm hit Hong Kong, but the Observatory didn't raise the number 8 signal because the wind where they are wasn't strong enough. However, in other parts of Hong Kong the wind was very strong, and a lot of unexpected chaos ensued. This year they're taking no chances. They raised the number 8 signal around 3 p.m. We were allowed to leave work before that, as soon as the Observatory announced that they were planning to raise the signal.

So, here I am at home at 3.17 on a Friday afternoon! Here in Central it's not even raining much, let alone stormy ... but we shall see. Getting home wasn't too difficult - the MTR was just starting to fill up a bit. I'm just sorry for those people who live on the outlying islands. They're showing the big queues on TV at the moment.

It's amazing the way a that all the complex workings of a huge financial centre like this can basically come to a halt because of the weather.

Uh-oh

Here comes a severe tropical storm.

That's a pretty direct hit, although I don't think it will be very strong. We'll see ...

what we did

Yesterday we made our way to the south side of HK island to find Waterfall Bay - a historical waterfall where ships on their way to Canton (Guangdong) used to stop for fresh water. To get there, you have to take a bus to Wah Fu estate and find your way to Waterfall Bay park. From there, some steps lead down to the bay Although there is a padlocked gate with 'No swimming' signs, nothing says not to trespass, so we joined a few other people on the rocky beach. The tide was low, so the waterfall was not plunging directly into the sea as such, but more into a small foam-covered pool. This bay apparently used to be very picturesque, but has been allowed to become quite dirty. It's a shame that historical places like this have been quite neglected. Still, the view of Lamma Island and huge container ships making their way through the Lamma Channel was good.

From there we managed to make our way along the coast most of the way to Aberdeen. On the way we passed what looked like a Tin Hau shrine where over the years people had placed statues and other paraphernalia, so that now the rocks are packed with them.

I'm back

Today marks 1 year since we arrived in Hong Kong (a day late) so it seems as good a time as any to restart my blogging. Sorry sorry sorry for the big gap. It got to that point where I was just too ashamed to post anything, so I put it off ... and then Facebook came along and quickly swallowed up all my online time ...

Anyway, since that last post it's basically been hot and summery. The last few weeks have been sunny and quite pollution-free (thanks to winds from the south and not from paltry anti-pollution efforts, as the government would like to have us believe) with blue skies almost every day. We've done some stuff. We've been some places. I've been working, lots. And that's about it. If you really want to know more, you can just ask me directly I suppose.

I'll leave it there for now, as I need to decide exactly what to do with the lazy Saturday stretching ahead of me. More soon, I (sort of) promise.