Hong Kong by Storm

Hong Kong has had lightning and thunder showers for the past 3 days.  I love storms, so I'm not complaining... okay, I have one complaint... the damn umbrellas.

The flash ruined the top of this one. Still a cool strike.

Because it's so hot and humid here, people don't wear rain coats, EVERYONE uses an umbrella.  That means that overly crowded streets filled with people shorter than me, are walking around clueless to their umbrella spikes which happen to be right at my eye level.  I'm shocked that I didn't get an eye injury today when I was downtown over lunch hour.  It was madness.

Anyhow, the real purpose to this entry is to share some pictures I managed to take of the storms.  These were taken with the new camera, but my lessons aren't until Tuesday, so it was a 'trial and error' approach to photography.  I took about 500 photos to get these 7 good shots.  It makes me really respect the investment and skill level in the 'olden days' when people did this with film cameras.  I'd have gone bankrupt.  (Correction: I would have made Foley bankrupt, seeing as I'm still unemployed).

I was able to snap off so many shots because the storms seem to last a very long time, and with frequent lightning flashes.  This link is for a video I shot from our bedroom windows on Tuesday night.

It's finally a clear night tonight, although thunder showers are forecast for all the way through to Tuesday.  Maybe I'll get more shots after my lessons.

Double whammy.

The clouds make me love this one.  The lightning is subtle, and in the left of the frame, but the ominous clouds rolling down the mountain on the right give me the shivers.  

Lightning coming down the mountain when she comes...

Crazy how the lightning splits out in different directions.

Double strike, one up the mountain, one down.

My favourite one.  Bank of China building getting hit.  The rectangle building in front is Foley's office tower. 

Rolling in the Deep...

During our Phenomenal Philippines vacation, the Foley's went scuba diving.

The doctor narrowly passed me, considering my diagnosis of narcolepsy.  Seeing that I was all drugged up (totally legit, I take proper meds for the condition) and unlikely to take a nap 12 meters below the surface, the doc hesitantly signed off on my dive.  I was VERY conscious not to yawn while in his office.  Just reading that, I bet you yawned.  Thinking of yawning makes it incredibly difficult not to yawn. Yawn, yawn, yawn.  [I've yawned 3 times while writing this, but then again, I'm narcoleptic].

It's a bit curious that I didn't have to answer any health questions or get a doc to sign off last time I dove... oh wait, no it's not, that was Thailand.  This outfit was far more formal, and certainly more strict than the last time we went diving, when the instructor let me go quite a bit deeper than I was supposed to.  None the less, we had a wonderful dive surrounded by stunning brightly coloured fish and intricate coral.

The pictures in this entry are sub-par.  They were taken with an underwater disposable film camera.  I tried editing them, but they aren't outstanding.  The beauty underwater is difficult to capture... especially with low light and crappy photography equipment.  Use your imagination.

Phenomenal Philippines

I'll explain the fire dancer in the sequent bikini later... this is social experiment to see if I get more blog hits with a scantily clad girl as the 'thumbnail' photo... thank you for contributing to my research.

Happy belated Easter!

Last Wednesday was a holiday here called Qingming Festival.  This day off from work (ahem, for those who work) is a dual purpose holiday.  It is a day designated to "enjoy the greenery outside during springtime" as well as "tend to the graves of departed ancestors".  True story, I just checked wikipedia because I had no idea why we had a holiday.  It is also referred to as "tomb sweeping day". [Side note: Ontario has 8 stat holidays, including 'Family Day', Hong Kong has 17 stat holidays.  We'll safely call this an upgrade.]

Anyhow, last Monday Mike emailed from work saying that he booked the Thursday off, giving him 6 days off, (since Easter Monday is also a stat here, naturally).  He said I should look into a short vacation, leaving two days later.  Although flights were slim (Expedia pulled through when 3 different travel agents told me there was 'absolutely nothing'... and they wonder why the industry is dying... sheesh), we booked a last minute trip to the Philippines, to an island called Boracay.

It was stunning.  We spent Wednesday evening to Sunday morning in a wonderful beach routine of "rinse, heat, repeat".  Aside from one scuba dive, delicious meals and taking sunset photos, we rarely left the beach.  [Photos of scuba diving will be posted later, once the film is developed from the disposable camera... I can't believe we used to wait like this for all pics... nutty.]  So there honestly aren't many stories to share from our time here, but I did want to post plenty of photos so you can see the incredible beauty of this place. 

Our last night there we had a dinner on the beach where local performers entertained us as we ate with waves crashing a couple metres away.  This performance was where we saw the fire dancing girl in sequent bikini (likely a very authentic and traditional Filipino costume).  I have uploaded a clip to youtube of their impressive performance.  In the words of Mike Foley, "I can't be certain, but I think I just watched a Filipino ninja manipulate fire."  It was a great way to spend our last night in paradise. 

A wee sand crab... look at those black beady eyes.  I followed him like a paparazzi for a half hour to get this shot.

One of his many talents... see youtube clip.

 Makes me giggle that the man front&centre is taking the 'wrong' pic. 

It is a remarkable thing about living here, that we can explore incredible places within a couple hours of 'home'.  

We couldn't have it all...

I haven't posted in about a month... which I'm assuming I should explain.  I actually made a quiet trip home to Canada for a few weeks.  I was going to leave my family woes out of this blog, but I figure if you are bothering to read this you are likely family or a good friend of either Mike or I.  So, at the risk of creating the ultimate 'Debbie Downer' moment, I was at home, helping take care of my mom as she goes through chemo treatments (click here).  About a month before we moved away, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer (click here).  It has been very difficult to be away from her and the family through this difficult time. On the bright side, she is doing very well and I know with absolute certainty that she will make it through this.  I really loved our time together.

I've been back in HK for almost a week now, and it has been a very busy and exciting week (thank goodness, because I was a mess after leaving my family... click here).  First, Foley gave me a wonderful birthday gift!  A gorgeous digital SLR camera (Canon 60D).  It's big, heavy and equipped with an excellent stalker zoom.  Many of the photos posted from now on will be taken with this beauty (not the stalker photos, more landscapes and such).

We had guests again!  Lauree and Rich (friends from Toronto) were here from Friday to Sunday on an extended stopover during their Asian adventures.  We saw some of the classic sights aboard the Red Bus Tours. We rode the tram up to the Peak for some stunning views, had lunch in Stanley, strolled along the waterfront and through the market, walked through a temple, had a Sampan ride (boat ride) through Aberdeen harbour, and we went out at night.

The first night we went out to an area of the city called LKF.  It has oodles of bars and clubs, all 'open concept' and spilling out into the streets.  A very lively and fun place to go out.



 

  

Got there a little too early...



One hour later, it's packed.



The second night we went to a different area of the city called Wan Chai. After a couple of drinks at a pub called 'Mes Amis', we strolled over to 'Dusk to Dawn'.  The latter is a bar that has outstanding live cover bands.  You can hear everything from Bon Jovi, to John Cougar Mellencamp, to the Boss, to Katy Perry, to Adele, to Madonna, to ... you get the idea.  These bands are excellent.  Generally the covers are top shelf, but once in a while there's a funny mishap on the lyrics.  My favourite on Saturday night was when they sang Adele's 'Rolling in the Deep'.  For those who know the song, when it gets to the chorus, Adele belts: "We could've had it all, Rolling in the deep...".  Saturday night rendition was "We couldn't have it all, Rolling in the deep..."  A small difference but it changes the meaning quite abit and was hilarious to see it belted with gusto.

 



Sunday afternoon our guests left.  Yesterday (Monday), Mike emailed me from work with a 'task for the day'... booking our Easter vacation!  So, tomorrow morning we leave for the Philippines.  I once swore I would never go there after my father was abducted there (click here), but it's only a few hours away, and apparently stunning.   Done.