"Snow Day" in Hong Kong

Now that we have your attention, we want to share the Hong Kong equivalent to a Canadian snow day.  The advantage of being a country that is only 1104 km2 (426 sq mi) is that when severe weather comes in, you can shut it all down.  The country knows to watch the HK observatory to find out what is going on. On Thursday Typhoon Nesat passed within approximately 400 km from HK, and we awoke to a Signal 8, meaning very high winds and lots of rain.  You can click HERE to further investigate the HK observatory and the levels.  At a Signal 8, all schools, offices, buses, escalators, and many stores are closed.  The MTR (Mass Transportation Rail...subway) continues to work because it is mostly underground. 

We did not fully understand the impact of a Signal 8 being announced, so off Jeff went to work - and quickly discovered the buses weren't working, the escalator wasn't working, and that when he took the MTR to his office, only the security guard was there.  Jeff had to sign in and out of the floor, however he got a tremendous amount of work done!  Mid-afternoon Linda headed to an open grocery store nearby, and discovered it was full of families, parents and kids shopping together.  This is very unusual in HK since it is usually the domestic workers (the help) that do the grocery shopping.  How wonderful for the kids to have Dad home and spending time with them!

Yes, the wind was incredibly strong and yes, from time to time it rained sideways, so we were thankful to only be on the outskirts of the typhoon.  Even on Saturday during our run/hike up the Peak, the evidence of branches down still remained in places.  The wonderful thing about a snow day in HK is that there is nothing to shovel and it is still warm!!

Around the weather we continue to explore and enjoy Hong Kong....

There are some very tall buildings.....

  

some very old temples filled with incense coils that burn for hours and hours ...    and fascinating store fronts to be in awe of (this store sells miniature paper items like clothes, cell phones, cars and more - these are burnt to send them up to deceased ancestors so that they would have them in the after life) 

As we walk through the streets, we often come across little oasis of parks amongst the rush and pace of Hong Kong...this one with its "hobbit door" is one of my favourites!  It also gives us this image of the old and the new existing side by side in Hong Kong.

 There is always the night time view to enjoy....

and beaches to hang out on with friends.....



But the most fun thing we have done in a long time?  Sharing our new home with friends.  Recently a friend from Manila, Anne (who is actually Canadian but we met her diving in the Philippines) came to visit for the weekend.  What great fun to re-discover Hong Kong through her eyes!  We saw many things, explored corners and ate lots!

Lunch by the beach
in Stanley

Supper at S-M-L in
Causeway Bay

Vegetarian lunch at a
Buddhist monastery

Anne being enlightened
with Big Buddha

Thanks for visiting, Anne.....and looking forward to your next visit!  It really is such a joy to see the joy on other people's faces as they discover Hong Kong - the extra room is always ready for visitors!

All this thanks to:

Hope you are all enjoying fall....we miss the changing colours of the leaves.
As always, we love you all
Linda and Jeff

P.S....Happy 90th Alice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mid-Autumn Festival

Tuesday was a holiday in Hong Kong.  It was mid-autumn festival, a celebration of harvest during the full moon.  This festival includes moon cakes, lanterns and fire dragon dances.



This is the mooncake I received
from the nursery school I
volunteer at

Moon cakes are special sweet cakes traditionally filled with ground lotus and sesame paste, with centres like egg yokes, and more recently chocolate and other sweet fillings. This tradition stems from a 14th Century uprising against the Mongols. In a cunning plan, the rebels wrote the call to revolt on pieces of paper and embedded them in cakes that they smuggled to compatriots. This became part of the mid-autumn festival, along with colourful lanterns to help celebrate the largest full moon of the year.

The fire dragon dances started in Tai Hang, a small fishing village, in 1880.  Now it part of the Causeway Bay in Hong Kong.  Tradition holds that the villagers killed a serpent and a few days later a plague spread in the village and many people died.  A village elder received a vision from Buddha telling him to perform a fire dragon dance and to burn fire crackers during the mid-autumn festival.  The sulphur from the fire crackers drove the disease away and the villagers were saved.

Today, this immense celebration still includes all of those elements.  I was fortunate to join in the festivities with a friend, Caroline, and her husband Michael (they are Brits we have met in Hong Kong).  First, we lit a lantern in their home

Caroline with our
lit lantern

Lantern on their balcony
(overlooking Victoria Harbour
and Kowloon)

Next, we headed to the streets of Tai Hang to watch the fire dragon dance.  Just being in the crowd was entertaining as we saw many things.....

People get hungry as they wait

So proud of the roasting pig!

Of course, there were lanterns all around us.....

 

Much to our surprise, this is what happened before the dragon arrived !

Ah, the British empire still alive and well in Hong Kong...bagpipes at a fire dragon dance!! I have now seen Chinese bagpipers (add that to the list of international bagpipers I have seen that includes Filipino!)

Modern fire dragon dance uses 72,000 incense sticks instead of fire crackers and smoke, and we were fortunate to watch them light them. All of the people involved are from this neighbourhood, and are obviously very proud of this event!

The crowd waited in anticipation as the dragon wound its way through the narrow street...and then, cheers ahead and it was here...all 67 m (220 feet) of it!

Next we followed the crowd to Victoria Park nearby for continued festivities.  Of course, there were lots of lanterns

 

 

 The most impressive was the world record breaking fish lantern...37 m  x 9.6 m x 13 m

They started another fire dragon dance, and I have never been in such a crowd of people!  It was all very exciting, and yes, the moon was full!

Well, though I have many more pictures and stories from this magical evening, it all comes down to what most festivals all over the world are about.....the kids

 

 

Even the big kids!  Thanks Michael and Caroline

Put this festival on your calendar and see you next year!  Your room is ready!

As always, love you all

Linda (and Jeff who unfortunately missed this event....he was in Kuala Lumpur)

Canadian History

Who knew we had to come to Hong Kong to learn about Canadian WWII history?  Scattered in a variety of places across Hong Kong are reminders of the Japanese invasion and the troops (including Canadians) who tried to defend it.  Come journey with our Canadian boys......

Two infantry battalions from the Royal Rifles of Canada and the Winnipeg Grenadiers arrived in Hong Kong November 1941, bringing the total defence force to 10,000.  They had not completed their training, did not have all of their equipment, and were not combat ready, however they became the first Canadian soldiers to fight in WWII. 

Click on this to enlarge - it is in
English, Cantonese and French!

On December 8, 1941, at 8 a.m., four hours after they bombed Pearl Harbour, the Japanese invaded Hong Kong.  By December 18th they were on Hong Kong island and fierce hand to hand combat began.  Much of this fighting happened at the Wong Nai Chung gap, the key route for the Japanese to get to the other side of the island.  The Canadian presence in the gap was so important that the Canadian government has posted numerous signs along a trail in the gap to ensure this history is not forgotten. 

Lawson's bunker

The trail starts at Lawson's bunker.  He was the Canadian commanding officer and one of two brigade leaders.  He lead his troops in defense of the gap with incredible bravery.  On December 19th, down to just a few men, he radioed headquarters to say he was "going outside to fight it out", and left the bunker with pistol in hand.  The Japanese so admired his bravery that after the war they erected a memorial to him.

Standing on one peak, looking
across the Wong Nai Chung gap

As you follow this very peaceful trail through the gap, it is hard to imagine that when our troops fought here, it was barren land -not a tree or bush in sight.  The troops would have seen the thousands and thousands of Japanese troops approach, knowing that they were utterly unprepared and would loose.  Yet, they held their ground.




As we walked, we came across a few pillboxes that have been left.

 



Quietly, we wandered and thought about these Canadian boys, so far from the  farms of Canada, who fought and died here.  The statue to the right stand in Hong Kong park.  It is of Sergeant Major John Osborn of the Winnipeg Grenadiers who fought in the gap, and threw himself on a grenade to save the lives of his fellow soldiers.  For that, he was awarded the only Victoria Cross given for the defense of  Hong Kong.

 



Click on to enlarge

By the morning of December 20th, the gap was lost and the fighting continued down the hills to the shore at Stanley.  On December 25th, Sir Mark Young, governor of Hong Kong, officially surrendered to the Japanese.  In Stanley sits the Stanley Military Cemetery, maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.  Here 20 of our Canadian boys are finally at peace, and our history lesson ends. 

We continue to love exploring this country, and learning a wide variety of things, even about Canada.

Oh, and this was part of the bus ride home from the gap!  Enjoy the view from the top of the double decker bus!  As always, we love you all....Linda and Jeff



Random Oddities....

As we wander through our home town, often we see flavours of life that are unfamiliar to us.  Here are a few.....

Because Hong Kong is made up of tight spaces and busy streets, deliveries cannot be made by the large trucks seen throughout North America.  These are two egg delivery systems we have observed:

Drive carefully !

Left at a restaurant door

As we travel home up the escalators, there are many people handing out pamphlets with all sorts of advertising on them.  To get people's attention, this company advertising foot massage / reflexology have gone a "step" further and outfitted their workers in this attractive head gear - yes, that is a foot on his head....would he still have hat hair or would you call it something else? 

Throughout Hong Kong there are tiny parks and playgrounds squeezed into corners.  This gives us some nice greenery, and at times a good laugh.  This sign is from a very specific playground (with equipment).  Read carefully and enjoy!

Puzzles:

Did a crane deliver this crane?
This helps give you an appreciation
for the tight spaces where not
a centimeter is wasted

For our physics / engineer friends and all other
enthusiasts, why are all bamboo scaffolding bases
cut on an angle?  Wouldn't flat give a better support?

 A taste of Canadian history found in the Hong Kong Maritime Museum ..... note the name of the shipping line above the "Empress of Asia" words

A short walk from our home is the Hong Kong Botanical and Zoological Gardens, one of the many free oasis in the concrete jungle that is Hong Kong.  Enjoy these couple of shots from this area.

 

Happy Birthday Little Girl (who will never grow up!)