We wandered through the Markets
until we found the perfect new black summer cap for me. At another stall, we
picked up the other things for which we had been searching, including a
‘romantic’ lightweight wraparound for me. I had expected our hotel to provide
dressing gowns & hadn’t packed something suitable for sitting on the bed
watching footy.
The water at Stanley was clean
& attractive & many young families were sitting in the shade or
paddling in the shallows. I can’t get over how clean everywhere is – there are
signs asking you observe coughing etiquette, to be thoughtful on public
transport & mindful of others. All the destinations on public transport are
in Chinese & English. On our return, we sat in the front seats upstairs on
the bus & had an even more stunning view of our journey.
We looked for a yum cha
restaurant & picked one that was reached by lift in a building, which
everyone assured us was very good. Once again, we were surprised by the amount
of English spoken. Our waiter listened to our request for dim sum without meat,
& was able to bring us three dishes only – ginger cake!!; seafood on
scallop shells & prawns in wet noodles. We followed this up with vegetarian
special fried rice.
Wes, wearing his Carlton shirt for good luck, sipping tea at
Ying Kee Hotpot Seafood Restaurant. The gentleman on the left smiled &
chatted to us & we all shook hands when he left.
Back in our room, we switched
on the Australian TV channel to find Carlton just ahead of GWS in the second
quarter & settled down to get them over the line, which we did, by one
point, in a most exciting match.
On Monday, we celebrated 47
years of marriage by catching the double-decker tram along Des Voeux Road to
Central, where we attempted to do a walking tour of Old Central looking at
street art & galleries. It was very hot & sticky & every now &
then a heavy rainstorm would soak everyone before disappearing & leaving
the air even stickier. Everywhere we looked we saw these signs.
We had been warned at
breakfast, but the heavy rain wasn’t expected until the afternoon. We found a
few good examples of street art, but all the galleries were closed & even
the Museum of Medical Sciences was shut for the day while they repaired a front
gate! However, we did find the Hong Kong Arts & Crafts Centre, they had
relocated to Central from Kowloon & we paid them a visit for old times’
sake.
After a cool drink at the
Western Market, we caught the tram back home & settled in the watch the
afternoon’s activities at the MCG. For friends reading this who know very
little about Australian Rules football, the match on the Queen’s Birthday
(second Monday in June) is a big occasion & has been played between these
teams only since 2001. In 2015, Neale Daniher, a very popular former player with
Essendon & former coach of Melbourne, went public on his diagnosis with
Motor Neurone Disease & vowed to raise money to find a cure.
Everyone got behind Neale &
for past three years, famous sportspeople & media stars have agreed to be
pushed down a slide into a pool of ice. The Big Freeze precedes the game &
is the impetus for many of the donations. Over $2M was raised on the day, and
the Federal Government matched it dollar for dollar. All funds go towards
research. It is too late for Neale, but he hopes to help many others who are
diagnosed now or in the future.
Gerard Whateley last year in Black Caviar colours & Lleyton
Hewitt on Monday wearing an Adelaide jumper
Collingwood played well but
lost a tight, exciting game to Melbourne by 4 points. The atmosphere was incredible
& we could feel it through the TV. This match was only one not shown live
on the Australian TV channel, so the AFL Live pass came in handy after all.
We had hoped to go somewhere
special for dinner, but the sleet suggested eating in our hotel would be the
sensible thing, so that’s what we did. We had a bottle of Penfold’s Shiraz
(with a cork) to accompany Wes’s scallop & black truffle risotto & my
penne with chillies & prawns. We finished the night back in the lounge on
the 6th floor chatting with other guests & eating tiny cream
puffs.
Back home, friends & family are
welcoming new puppies & you might just relate to this very early Snoopy
cartoon
We had earmarked today for
Disneyland, but the rain is too heavy & there is no guarantee that we could
get to Lantau Island. The ferries weren’t going to Cheung Chau, so we were
pleased we had already been there. After breakfast, we gathered up the laptop,
our books & puzzles & settled ourselves in the Guest Lounge to wait it
out & relax.
As I look out the window,
everywhere is very wet & grey & foggy. Wes has been talking to Judy,
who runs the lounge & she has suggested a seafood restaurant close by which
would be perfect for lunch. We have brought rain-jackets & an umbrella, so
should be perfectly equipped for a small adventure.
Karen & her coconut at Cheung Chau – we were so hot after
our walk, it seemed the coolest thing to have.
We hope this weather hasn’t set
in, but if it has, we will just make the most of the less wet times & rejoice
that we have already done much of what we wanted to do. Importantly, we are so
very thrilled to find Hong Kong almost smog-free, welcoming & easy to get
around.
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