Junk roof jumping fun - the far side of summer

This blog seems pretty reluctant on the video front - which is a pity - because Aiden has a GoPro and its actually a very cool piece of kit for the water.  Given its reluctance, I've had to resort to some stills instead - and they seem to come out pretty well; so here is to the end of summer, a glorious day off Tai O:

Floating on a pool noodle with Ev - who together with Aiden must have jumped off the roof of the junk a hundred times.

The view from the roof, funny thing about a junk, when you're standing on the roof it's higher than it seems.
Ev about to go again.

Water on the lens - Ev launching himself out for the umpteenth time.  A day of this can build up a fierce hunger in
a ten year old.

Did have a giggle at this - the difference in expressions on the faces of people of different ages; closed eyes
and degrees of horror, vs oh yay! Cool; wooohooo.

And then of course Aiden, where it has to be a cartwheel or a somersault (should be summersault). 

HK Football club wasting

In the interests of balanced reportage, the joys of Friday and Saturday's football proved short-lived. Aiden's Sai-Kung Stingray's played the HK Football Club today and got absolutely monstered with a 55-7 scoreline that felt a bit like the Bokke against the Blacks of late, but worse.  They were just hopelessly outgunned, in every department - size, power, speed, skills, organisation; good night puppies.  And not to be scratching for positives, it required some courage to face both the onslaught and the result down.

Tackle practice - long and hard

Sprint training on turnover ball; chasing ghosts.  Their winger was the Jona Lomu of the U13 world - strong, hard, direct,
much bigger, much faster.

 

Going in too high, hand off in the throat coming...

From flyhalf in the second team, to fullback in the first (now one an only): one of two offensive touches of the ball all game.

Jules (who had a great game I thought, despite the context, running full tilt gets absolutely creamed by one of their forwards.

Coming off at half time - the demeanor says it all.

Half time - dazed looks

 

Max in a rare break down the wing - the jerseys of the other players in the picture says it all

Jake Cornelius - one of the stand out bright showings, big, fast strong, ran hard at the opposition all game.

Playing for King George V School

School sports are not big in Hong Kong, which in many ways is a pity.  So it was with great delight that Aiden found out that his school was putting a soccer team together to play in an ESF schools tournament, that took place on Friday late afternoon an evening.  Aiden is year 8 now, and his age group for the tournament was comprised of year 7 to 9.  Then, delight of delights, he went to the trials and got picked as the striker for his team.  I don't know a huge amount about soccer, but I can see from the way that he plays (and he does play 5 days a week - not counting every morning before school, and every other moment available) that he is getting more and more skilled - so it was game on.  For once the timing was great for me, I arrived back from a trip to India on Friday afternoon, had a shower, and headed down to the school to watch.  What an absolute delight.  It was a beautiful evening, cool and still, the atmosphere was great - lots of people down there to watch, lots of teams, and he played like an absolute king, scoring a total of 4 in the four games they played, sadly getting knocked out in the semis going down in a penalty shootout (much to his quiet delight, not from his turn being saved - that was buried in the back of the net).  I got a few pics, though none of his goals specifically - that all being a bit too exciting for a parent to be looking through a camera lens.

Fetching in the midfield, so cool to see him playing in school colours for the first time.

Powering away from the defense onto a through-ball

Getting up in the box for a header (hand of god? Nope)

He's such a social boy, jamming with his mates, many who he knows from other schools, but who he plays club football
or rugby with.

Advancing through the midfield

 

Cooling off with his mates between games.

 

With some of the boys from his team.

Couch potato collective

This photo doesn't need a caption.  

And so it begins again

The next installment of the sporting life kicked off yesterday.  A resounding success it was not.  Ev was playing at Kellet school where the pitch is on the roof.  He managed around 10 minutes, five of which were in the dry (and during which he made this save) before the pitch was closed with lightning and thunder.  Game over, head home.

Aiden played at King's Park at a different time (hence my getting to both) and the pitch blissfully stayed open.  He played well, though there was plenty of evidence of a long holiday with big couch time with electronics.

On the right here he taps the ball in after rounding the keeper.

Sundays are rugby days.  The stadium pitch is closed for Ev's practice because the field which is a rare turf pitch is waterlogged.  Now we are playing the waiting game to see whether an alternative pitch is arranged for Aiden's practice at 1pm.  Think about it, 1pm on a Sunday for a rugby practice. Mmm.

It's rained relentlessly in the past month or so.  Strangely, its hard to get rainfall figures - as if no one really cares because there is always enough?  I managed to find that it rained 570mm in August here, a little less than the P-town annual average of 680mm.

Finding little treasures on the phone

One cool thing about phones with cameras is that when you remember to take a look there can be such cool little treasures tucked behind its aluminium skin:

Interior chamber of a hotel I stayed in in Shanghai.  My room was on the 79th floor.  Massive.

Evan and Holly enjoy a morning game.

Definitely one of the quietly stranger photos on my phone.

Chris the morning after a night on the couch.  Sometimes you find it's too late to sensibly go home;
better to rest up a bit first

Evan and Holly in the morning before school.

Ponti in the alleys in Hang Hau village

Helping Jordan with her design project

Jordan had a design project to build a scale model of  a practical solution to a social problem with various design references.  Aiden and I joined in, and helped her build a borehole pump that was designed as a school see-saw.  It was pretty cool fun.  The hidden design parameter was that it had to be built so that it could be quickly dismantled (for the trip back to SA\) and then reassembled again.

Hang Hau, looking for bits an pieces needed for her model.

Getting the building off to a start - in the lounge, as you do in Hong Kong.  What I would give for a proper shed.

Jordan at work with the hole saw.

Ze Fat Tat (Holly's Chinese name) got involved too.

Here is the final product, with grass for the playground and water to pump (the bucket being the borehole).  This is the final test at 8.45pm; Jordan and Simon were leaving for the airport at 9.15: