A new addition to the Mui Wo herd.

Riding home this evening and had to negotiate around a rather large bull who was standing side on across the road flanked by two other slightly smaller members of the herd.   After cycling around them a smaller cow came cautiously out of the bushes followed by a wobbly calf.    I can only presume the calf is recently born as some of its coat looked wet and it was absolutely spotlessly clean.

An Eagle Owl - My what big eyes you've got Grandma!

   Found in a built up area and thankfully released in a far more suitable place.   Some serious peepers!   Not exactly what you expect from a bustling cityscape is it but there you go.

HK Triathlon Association - The boys' first dabble in the realms of cyclists with pointy hats

No day of rest for the boys this Sunday.  Both Matthew and Arthur made their first forays into the murky secretive world of triathlon, albeit this was without the cycling part!    Wearing their cheap trainers, swimmers and an old school running the vest the boys were hob knowing with the skin suited kids who preferred to wear their race number on a special gadget belt and lace their swanky running shoes with toggles stolen from a a parka hood.   The boys did splendidly, both came out of the swimming pool in second place, pushed / wedged their feet into all ready tied trainers, threw on their vests and set off on the run.   Unused to running for anything other than a departing bus, they soon fell backwards but nevertheless they had fun.   

Next on the agenda was Arthur's 3000m open water swim in Deep Water Bay in preparation / selection for the 2014 Hong Kong Invitational, international fin swimming competition in December.     Despite the water looking clean and clear he swam the distance and came out with a fine coating of oil and slime.   Not ideal but his hair has a great shine!   Not sure when we find out if he has made the cut for the Hong Kong team but if not he will be swimming a parallel race in the local races anyhow.

Before that though he has the last pool race meet in December to contend with too.

Islands District, Inter Schools Athletics

 

Chucking the ball competition.   Gold last year, for Arthur but fourth this year thanks to the participation of the cricket fanatics no doubt!

Mui Wo Recreation Centre - An End of an Era!

The end of an era.   The most happening place in Mui Wo finally succumbs to the wrecking ball.  What will the new one look like, I wonder?

Hong Kong Fin Swimming - October Championships

Since joining the "Silvery Sharks" Finswimming Club last year the boys have really improved their swimming.   This month the competitions were held in Ma On Shan.   Both Matthew and Arthur came home with medals for their efforts.  Well done boys...

Arthur

Matthew

Matthew took Silver in his age group's 50m relay and Bronze in the 50m mono fin but due to his Dad's advice of not going too fast too soon he misjudged it all and cold not catch them up.   He has however avowed never to listen to my advice ever again.  

A true sportsman's smile!

Marcus

School Team ma

Arthur on the other hand, still basking presumably from his China exploits in the summer when he swam with the Hong Kong team in the China National Youth Championships, was his usual laconic self and did just enough to win gold in his age group, 4 x 50m relay and 400m bi fin and silver in 200m and 400m mono fin (I think).  He has an uncanny ability to swim like he is not trying and keep himself exactly half a centimetre in front of the competition and no more.   I do admit to getting few school reports that were worded similar, "Does well but could do more if he applied himself."   But to be fair to him he certainly applied himself in the last race of the day and showed his speed in the 50m relay when as the last swimmer and in throe place by two or three metre he powered past the two leaders to take first place.    

Have to say well done to the other Silvery Shark swimmers too.   Amalea and Ethan did brilliantly entering their first swimming competition and they really swam their hearts out.   And after swimming together in their 50m relay race and winning gold, they and their teammates had to do it all again when the race was rerun after every team did a false start.   However, they won through again and just like Arthur, Ethan swam like a demon to pull his team from third to first.   Exciting stuff to watch too.   What was also great to see was the number of children from Mui Wo School who are getting active in the sport too.

Marcus and his Mum

Amalea and Ethan

Goodbye Facebook

We are now Facebook free.   No more adverts, no more pictures of other people's food, no more dross.  

How to lose a parrot and find it three days later!

This is Wong Dai our orange winged amazon parrot.   We think he is a she but we are not sure. I bought Wong Dai in 1999 when she was a very young and angry bird.   It took me at least a year before I was able to get her to trust me and not bite lumps out of me but since then she has turned into a sweet and adorable pet.   She loves to have her head scratched and tickled and fussed over.   As time has gone on, Wong Dai's family has grown with her.   Her arch enemies are Mango the macaw who lives in the cage next to her and Matthew! Noone knows why she dislikes Matthew but she has done ever since he was a baby.  

Up until last week Wong Dai had never uttered anything other than ear splitting screams and she has made it very clear that Matthew's fingers are fair game if they ever come within biting range.   This has now all changed.   For the past five years, Wong Dai and all the other parrots have lived up in their cages on our rooftop.   A place where they can make as much noise as they want.    They have plenty of fresh air, sunlight, shade and loads of things to keep them occupied.   They have survived typhoons, tropical rain storms and the winter chills.   Never once have their cage doors been blown open and never once have they escaped. BUT, .somehow, last weekend Wong Dai went missing.   The cage door was found open and the bird had literally flown the nest.   We searched and searched and searched.   We woke up before dawn hoping she would call out as normal but we could not find her nor hear her.   Her green feathers we presumed made her almost invisible in the trees and her silence we took to mean she was miles away or dead, killed by a snake or mobbed by other birds.

The boys were distraught and although they cried innocence we suspect they were involved somehow as it was their responsibility to feed the birds and they were the last ones to open the cages to do so.

Nevertheless in the late afternoon on the third day Nuch carried some washing up to the roof to hang out to dry and thought she could hear Wong Dai calling.   We all rushed up to look but could not hear anything.    I searched the internet and used my laptop up on the roof to play a recording of an orange winged amazon's call.   After twenty minutes, we could hear her calling back and eventually we spotted her down on the floor just a few yards away from the house.

With the aid of one of the boy's fishing nets we managed to scoop her up and plonk her back in her cage.   She had lost a fair amount of weight and was dehydrated but otherwise seemed uninjured.   We made sure she was firmly locked back in her cage and left her to rest.   Thankfully, she is now back to her normal self and more.    Whenever Matthew says hello to her, she replies with hello too.   And whenever Matthew puts his hand towards her, she moves towards him and lets him pet her.

So there you have it.   If you want to get a parrot hand tame and talking.... all you have to do is let it see that the grass may not always be greener on the other side.

A sad, sad day for Man Kok Tsui

Today, we lost our dear friend, Mr. Tsang Chun Kee or  Gung Gung  as he had us call him.   Although we only knew him for eight or nine years (or from when he was 85!) he immediately welcomed us into his life.  Despite the fact that neither he nor I spoke a common language we spent many an hour sitting in the shade of the banana trees at the edge of beach, just watching the world go by.   He named me, "A Hello", I think because that was one of the few words we both knew.

A refugee from China, Gung Gung rowed to Hong Kong during the cultural revolution and made his way along the South side of Lantau Island looking for somewhere to set up home.   Eventually he landed at Man Kok Tsui wher he has remained ever since.   He initially survived as a grass cutter selling thatch to the inhabitants of Cheung Chau Island.

When in his sixties, with his wife dead and his children long dispersed he was struggling to cope with running his smallholding of pigs and vegetable patches.   Encouraged by his friends to give up his humble life and move into government housing in Mui Wo, he remained defiant that he would not leave his "home".  Instead he sought out, (no doubt with much charm and twinkling of his eyes) a new wife and married "Patum" and equally resourceful and fiercely independent lady.
 
Gung Gung adored people visiting and people seemed to enjoy spending time with him too.   It was always a surprise to find hikers from Hong Kong returning again and again just to say hello to him.   Perhaps because he always could find a cold beer or a drop or two of the stronger stuff or a juice drink for the boys.

Rest easy Gung Gung,  
 

It's the law

It's the law in Hong Kong that cyclists must use a cycle path when one is there.   This classic piece of engineering is in Tung Chung.   How on earth did this pass approval?    Surely a sign of qa country with just far too much money if you ask me.

The swallows are back

Summer must be on the way as there are swallows and swifts zooming all over the place.   They were not here yesterday.   I wonder if they are en route to somewhere else or have reached the end of their journey?

Look out Mr. Bolt

Arthur (second from right) and his school pals celebrate their win in the Island District school athletics competitions.   Well done boys.

The Rosemary Bush

Our Rosemary bush that we planted as a few twigs a couple of years ago has thrived and thrived, so much so that it has sprouted some rather pretty flowers.  I never knew they flowered...