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.