It's been a good long day today (Aug 23rd), the day we finally moved to Ma Wan (Chinese name: Horse Bay). The movers charge us HK$1,700 for packing and moving 20 medium-size boxes of books and about 10 boxes of household items, three book shelves, two tables and four chairs, a bed and a sofa. It was a a fair price for both parties. We panicked momentarily when both the moving company and the cable company called to bring forward their appointment by about two hours to 11:30a-12p, which was an hour and a half after the 8:30 am worship I attended ended. I rushed to get my haircut - there is none in Park Island - and bought a bag of rice, Skippy peanut butter and LKK oyster sauce, with 1o minutes to spare before the movers arrived. (To Be Continued)All through the afternoon Wife and Sister-in-law reorganized the things at home and we grabbed an early dinner at 4 pm to take a break before our relative left. At night Wife opened the 20 or so boxes to unpack her books into two shelves, leaving the third one empty. A little later, we took a walk and visited the supermarket before it closes. By night time, with the exception of unpacking a few more things and boxes, the moving was almost completed.
Most friends think Ma Wan is too far from city and work life. It takes me 55 minutes to get to work in Yuen Long on the first day; not bad, most would say. On the first night, I walked around the block in my shorts and T-shirt, something I would not do in the city, to enjoy the cool breeze with Wife. The buildings are built by Sun Hung Kai and all numbers "4" are missing from its blocks and flats, which means no 4th, 14th or 24th block or flat - 4 sounds like death in Chinese. There is only one ATM machine (Bank of China) and one supermarket (Parkway) on the island. It is dog paradise for canines and their owners. Wife commented "no dog is ordinary here." Indeed, all dogs here are elegant. Ugly dogs have no standing and cannot compete here.
While dogs are welcomed, cars are not, so rich people do not spare a thought to live there due the absence of parking. Also, school conscious parents could live there for so long only since the the city has more schooling choices. There is one primary shcool only and no secondary school there, so teens are few and between. The young adult and young family groups are visibily represented.A day in Hong Kong without the Octopus debit card is quite a nuisance and an experience.
On the first day traveling to work from Park Island (Aug 24th), I forgot my card and had to find other means to board the ferry, the rail and the bus - in that order - without the card, which is by cash. I could not return home and still catch the 7:41 am ferry for work. The terminal here is really backwards; they don't even have tickets to sell. Everything is by swiping card or inserting coins (for the entrance box). Fortunately, the nearby bakery changed a $100 bill for me and I have enough change to the office - $8 for ferry, $11 for train, and $6 for bus, where a coworker supplied change for the return trip. The return trip is at 6:05 pm or an earlier one at 5:48 pm, which is nearly impossible to catch with my work hours. The Tsuen Wan pier, however, smells, so I prefer to be on time rather than early.
We have a goood first week here. Today (Aug 29) we went to the local club (Blue Blue) and asked if our memberships are ready. Previously, a clerk told me there is a 14 days' wait. They checked and completed it on the spot while we wait, reading the papers there. There are three clubs here and inside the clubs are restaurants, swimming pools and magazines and newspapers, even a libray at the Green Green club. At 4 pm we took our first pool visit. Everything there fuflfills our expectations; like L.A. Fitness, they even have a hot spa by the pool with water streaming from a jet massaging the spine of the person seating by it. There is a machine to wring out water from wet swimming trucks, similar to what I have seen at some L.A. Fitness centers before, except that this one does not stop by itself. This is important because we did not have a plastic bag for the wet suits and we were heading to the supermarket for groceries before returning home, so it is incovenient and heavy to have wet suits in our bags. We couldn't be any happier now that we have found "our space" in Hong Kong finally, literally our place in the sun.
I have a perfect start to scheduling in September today (1st), catching the 7:24 am ferry instead of the 7:41 am ferry to Tsuen Wan, where the West Rail arrived a minute later to take me to Yuen Long, but the wait was longer than five minutes there. On the way home I hop onto the ferry a minute before it departed. My plan was to buy some groceries and head to the pool on the way home, but the line was long at the supermarket, so I tried swimming first. Unfortunately the indoor pool is closed until the 14th. Without any option, I used the outdoor pool for my pool exercises, ending with swimming three laps in Hong Kong for the first time, a lap more than last month. After reading today's papers at the club I returned to the mart but the line was longer. Still I had to buy bananas, vegetables and some meat. This would be my last time competing for groceries after work hours. Perfect as it may, I still eat at 8 pm and finish dinner at 8:30 pm. Hmm, I am still stuck with the old eating hours even after moving to Park Island, leaving for work earlier and making all my rides. I suspect in Hong Kong nobody gets done with dinner by 8 pm. It is just not possible on weekdays after work. With my perfect scheduling, I made little progess, so I wonder how others do it. However, I am satisfied as I can swim earlier rather than the 7 pm opening hours in Lai Chi Kok. It is less tiring than resting first and swiming later.
This morning (4th) I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep, and so I went to work five minutes before 7 am. What was weird was I dreamed of the possibility of working in Park Island or having an office here in the future. Now this is way off base and radar, but never say never. Also, I managed to finish my pool exercise and dinner by 8 pm lately. Maybe now things will stabilize and improve, not that I am complaining, especially when most locals have a later dinner time than me. This weekend will be the start of a busy church quarter for me, beginning with preaching on Saturday at Man On Shan (where I saw a talented but blind young pianist play for the choir and heard the praise team sing a beautiful song which I later found on the net), and on Sunday teaching Sunday school and preaching at North Point. Because of my schedule I will restrict speaking engagements to churches I have not been before.
Yesterday (Sept 6) was the last straw for me when I measured my gut for the first time and realized it is six inches over its ideal size - confirmed by a tailor 2 weeks later. One year's absence of pool exercise can do that to you. The next day I started a new exercise regimen in the pool that includes 400 high-kicks in the water. That will hopefully keep the bloating in check and reduce it by an inch at the end of the year. Last week I was in absolute pool heaven, making it seven days to the pool. I was tempted to exercise Sunday morning before worship, but decided against it. After worship Wife wanted to hit the pool before dinner, and I obliged.
Dogs at Island must be the most pampered in Hong Kong. Today (9th) I saw an owner wipe a dog's behind, then I noticed he has laid a piece of paper on the ground to collect the dog's poop. Sometimes there are couples who have two dogs, not one. I don't know how people who live in 500-700 sq ft apartments can accomodate dogs, sometimes maids as well. Despite all their rights, dogs have to be on a leash or in the owners' arms when taking a lift; and in a bag or with a mouth cover on a ship. Taking the ferry is the only downside for me here. On the way to Central Pier after our first official rental housing trip here, I felt like vomiting on the ship. I learned my lesson of not drinking milk tea before boarding a ship. Other than that, the ferry to Tsuen Wan is a a breeze, and a snooze on the way home. At least I have 20 mins rest before swimming.
The No. 8 typhoon today (14th) is the longest blowing wind I've witnessed since I've been here. It started around 6 pm and it is not letting up three hours later. I was advised to leave earlier at 4:15 pm because, unlike others, I had to take the ferry. The winds are expected to die down early next morning, in time for school retreat that begins in the afternoon.
Registration day today was refreshing, especially seeing the new and eager Master's program students. My second school year in Hong Kong is about to begin next week, I can not wait.The typhoon warning finally stopped the next day at 10:15 am but the rain did not stop until 3 pm at least - the most rain I have seen so far, as close to a deluge for me. Getting out of Island after the storm at the same time with those going to work was a nightmare. The buses skipped our stop within the community due overloading. Thankfully the management had more buses operating. At Kwai Fong a long line of passengers awaited their buses while the MTR rides were smooth.
I heard a good message at the retreat by Rev Tsang (曾立華牧師) and am thankful to see the eager students. I better stop writing at Suen Douh retreat center as "lights out" was 15 minutes ago!I was awakened at 6 am by a pesky bird this morning, yet I was fascinated by her shrieks, may as well since we are in the countryside. An hour later I began my search for birds and found four magpie-like birds singing in the soccer field. After a while there, they flew away. Sad to see them go, I wandered to the back corridor outside my room looking for more birds, only to find three parrots in a cage. They didn't move initially, so I thought they were figurines. Finally the red one cocked its head. I left the parrots but returned a second time, this time I heard the noisy bird again, then I realized the screeching was from the parrot all along. The worker there explained that the parrot makes noise when it is hungry, not because of sunrise. Day 2 at the camp was just the tonic for our small community in need of encouragement and strength. Rev. Tsang was in fine form. Reading Rev Kwok's (郭文池牧師) book was a bonus. I feel ready and optimistic for the new quarter. All of us needed a boost. The rain did not let up either, but it did not dampen camp mood.
It was with some reluctance that I have to leave the camp parrot that I have grown fond of. On the final day she woke me up at 6:05 am, again cackling so noisily away. After finally finishing the book I brought, I went to see the bird for the last time. She was quite a character. After literally enjoying a full brekast she walked up the catapult-shaped bar/stick in the cage, resting her divided legs and nodding her neck up and down on it for more than 30 times. She was like a rock star in concert. Later she shifted from tossing her neck up and down to swinging her body side to side. What a showstopper. I asked a colleague to snap a picture of her, that's her at the top.
I have been so busy this is my first full Saturday in the Island. On a leisurely Saturday (19th), we went for breakfast and sat at the clubhouse with our computers until it was time for salad lunch at home. I underestimated how tiried I was after the camp, that I slept for more than an hour before I woke up for pool exercise, followed by a home call to Wife's friend in the neighborhood for cake and ice-cream, the latter we brought to complement the cake. I joked that we have quota with our light lunch. It is hilarious that the plan to limit our food intake backfired by a last-minute invitation. An hour later we decided not to cook and ate a nice New Zealnd steak (HK$58). At night we watched a TV movie and now Wife is fast asleep. Tomorrow is her first time teaching at Yan Fook.
The school kickoff day (22nd) could not be any better. I have eleven students and two visitors for the historic first Master's degree class. New students are usually shocked by the amount of work they have to do in my class. The students are primarily pastors, so we get along well due our closer in age. I cannot complain, most students by now have warmed up to my loud and livey ways. Four of us teachers have a new office hours schedule that is more flexible (8:30 am - 5:15 pm), which greatly benefits me in my daily attempt to catch the ferry that leaves at 5:48 pm from Tsuen Wan Pier, which is a bus ride and two rail stops away from my Yuen Long office. The next day I will teach a night class at TST, so I will do pool exercises in the morning and take the opportunity to go to the bank, which I could never do with my regular work hours in Yuen Long.
Suddenly I am an old man to people in Hong Kong. For one time too many I have been discriminated because of my graying hair. Today (22nd), to my disgruntlement, a man (Charles) at least four years my senior stated out loud that he was the youngest and volunteered to eat the last bite of sandwich. Last week, an older gentleman 10 years my senior looked with disbelief and lost for words when I said I was ten years his junior. At a retreat in April, a 62-year old man thought he and I, the invited speaker, were the oldest in the camp, but embarassed leaders rushed to my defence and admitted they are older than me. At a lunch with TST's Rev. Kong in January, he passed the last piece of shrimp dumpling to my older coworker, remarking, "This is for the youngest at the table." For the record, I am not 50 yet. I can't help it when people mistake me for an old man, so from now on I have an excuse for acting young.
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