A politically incorrect python

Now would this be best used as shoe leather or should it grow a bit more and become a belt? 

Star Ferry

This weekend we went up North to the New Territories to visit our pals, Pat & Karen and their clan, Harry Ruthie and Bop.  Ferry to Hong Kong, Star Ferry to Kowloon, then train to Tai Po Market then a taxi to Plover Cove.  Its a a trek and we must remember never to feed young boys with chocolate cake before putting them into a taxi, driven by a taxi driver who seemed to only be able to see 10 feet in front of him!  



Matthew spies on the ferry
captain through the window. 



Whoops, he may have seen me?

I wonder how many times that steering wheel has steered the ferry across the harbour?

Eating ice cream, no problem

Apparently this is a smile



A few photos



Matthew and his new bike.
One very, very happy boy





Nuch getting the ceilings ready for painting



Next job, the electrics, urggh



Heading back, Matthew takes the helm.

 







Waterproofing completed.

This was takin in March or April.  It had been raining for two weeks and we had been back to see if the slope renovations had held out.  Thankfully the works have proven to be a complete success and the house is cured of damp completely.   YoOu can see that the land in front of the house is a mud bath. 

Lightning never strikes twice (we hope)

Last week we had some pretty severe thunderstorms.  What we did not realise is that our little house had house had been the victim of a lightning strike.   When we arrived there yesterday it only became obvious when we opened the fridge.  The aroma of rotting food was rather piquant to say the least.   Anyhow, we checked the fuse box and all the fuses were in the right place.  We tripped the fuse box and nothing happened.  We reset the fuse box and nothing happened.  We checked the meter outside and could see it was not moving but other than that all seemed fine.  So we called the China Light and Power company.  Can you believe it.  They sent two workers to check the line who arrived within two hours.  Amazing, a Sunday and they had walked out from Mui Wo carrying all their gear in a rucksack.   Any how, pleased as we were to see them, they announced that the power was fine up to and including the meter so any fault further on was up to us to sort out.  Knowing nothing about electricity we stood there open mouthed, so they took pity on us and traced the fault to a circuit breaker or something that had been fried.   All we have to do now is find a commercial electrician who can come and suck air through his teeth, give us an estimate, over charge us and then fix the damn thing.  Ah well, they say lightning never strikes twice.  Maybe we need to think about a lightning conductor or having a bag full of spare bits that get fried.   The good news is the house is now painted, inside and out, the bad news is the fridge is off so no cold drinks and we need to wear head torches of a night time.

Its been a while

It has been ages since the last post.  Mostly due to work and more work. 

We have moved house.  Not too far from the old MW8 house but this time into a flat.  

I have set up a new office, a stone's throw from the flat so cmmuting is a cinch.

The boys have had their summer holidays and are now back at school. 

Nuch has a new job as a medical interpreter (Cantonese, English and Thai) working mostly in the government hospitals.

Poor old Garfield the cat has gone to that special cat place in the sky.  Sadly missed but not to be replaced. 

Man Kok Tsui has been somewhat sidelined due to lack of cash for renovation works but the inside and the outside of the main building are now paiinted and clean and rather fortunately there is no sign of any water leakage so hopefully all the digging and repairing of the slope abehind the house has been worthwhile.  In the pictures here you can see the lemon grass has grown and established itself as has the kafir lime trees (just inside the garden area).

Next on the list is to brick up the open roofed area to make a more sheltered stitting out area, then add a canopy roof to the front of the main building.  Once that is done we can finish off the electrics and the plumbing and we are done. 

We have discovered a fresh water spring right outside the house wher the water literally comes out of the rock face.  Sweet, clear and cool to drink. 

What else?   Nope, that's about it.

More paint

Last weekend we painted the outside of the house with a latex sealant and then a coat of pink paint.   I also managed to paint half of myself at the same time and discovered that the latex sealant is particulalry tenacious and takes about a week to completely pick it all off your skin.   This weekend its the inside of the house and the eaves and window ledges etc on the outside. Photos to follow.

2010 - Back to it.

Painting the House Pink: Eager to sort out the house before the summer heat begins to build up and the rains set in, we have started painting the exterior of the house.  Most of the preparatory work was done last year so Saturday was spent brushing down and scraping off the few remaining old and flaky paint scraps and then resealing the walls with a very sticky sealant and Sunday was spent painting the outside pink.   Although we have never done this before we have actually made a half decent job.   Next weekend, weather permitting we will add a second coat of paint and finish off by highlighting the windows and eaves in a second darker colour.

We have internet access: Unable to have broadband cable connectivity, (probably due to the fact that we are about three miles form the nearest telephone exchange and quite literally are the only household likely to ask for broadband in this area ever again) we have managed to connect up using 3G wireless networking.   The bandwidth is sufficient to stream music, surf the net and send emails etc. but video calls so far have been a little shaky.   Hopefully by hooking up the 3G USB modem to a 3G wireless router (to be installed higher up the hill in the new building) we can pick up a clearer signal and share our wireless network coverage for 300m or more, allowing multiple users via one USB modem link rental.   If it goes to plan we may look at installing a PTZ webcam so viewres to this blog can enjoy our views.


The new office:  Our empire has just increased with the addition of a second building.   This one will probably have one of the most enviable views in Hong Kong.  Set higher up the hill behind the house it has full views across the bay, taking in the Western corner of Hong Kong island, around to Lamma and the Sokos islands (albeit when the haze clears) and across to the mountains behind Mui Wo.  You can just make out the office in hidden in the trees in the top right corner of the last (bottom right) picture below.   We will need to do some gardening around it to clear away the overgrown trees and bushes and give it a lick of paint but other than that it is good to go, no damp, no leaks and hooked up to electricity all ready.

All I want for Christmas

The joys of children's touch rugby.
Missing teeth.
Arthur decided it was time to pull out his front tooth while playing touch rugby.
I took the tooth over to the coach and asked him to explain how his supervision of our eldest child had failed to stop the other child kicking Arthur in the face and knocking out his front tooth.
Poor fellah, he nearly fainted with fear.
Never realised I could be so convincing.
Perhaps I should sign up for acting?   Then again perhaps not.

Cycling

It seems the cycling is eventually paying off. Since August I have shed 3 stones in weight, pedalled over 1350 kms of which the equivalent of 3500m upwards. (Everest is 8848m high and base camp is at 4910m so I have a way to go yet). I have apparently burnt over 40,000 calories and spent 58 hours in doing so. Let's see if I can keep it up and how long it will take me to get to the equivalent of the roof of the world. Any betting people out there?   Follow my progress at the blog site of the South Lantau Cycling Team.

Lantau Buffalos - Mini Rugby

Their first training day with the new club strip.

Global warming – I Don’t Think So!

Last time I looked the temperature was down to 10 degrees.   This is the sub tropics not Manchester.   I firmly blame China for this as last week they claimed they had deliberately caused snow to fall on Beijing by firing some sort of chemicals into the clouds.  Snow in Beijing

“Weather forecast for tonight and tomorrow” Cloudy and cold overnight. The minimum temperature will be about 12 degrees in the urban areas, and 2 to 3 degrees lower over the New Territories.

Just what I wanted to hear.   Ah well, it is only supposed to last a few more days and then we are back to the warmth.

Mini Rugby - Lantau Island Style

This weekend was the first training session ever of the Lantau Buffalos Mini Rugby Club. An official HKRFU club and one of the few in Hong Kong that can actually boast having its own playing field! Well to be fair, the field is a football pitch that had fallen into disuse and thanks to the tremendous efforts of some the grass was cut back to make it useable once more. (you can see the height it had grown too to the sides of the pitch!) Quite surprisingly some 35 children were signed up, boys and girls and a real mix of languages too. Any referee who tries to sort out this lot out will need to be pretty well educated. Despite several pitch invasions and a sit in by some sponsors, see pictures that follow, it was a great start.