Yau Lei

I love Yau Lei.  It's so Hong-Kong-outlying-island-run-down and grungy - very lived in - and I feel suddenly like I've been coming here forever.  Love it's hot and simple food.  Love the shimmering water, storm closing in on the way home. 

A taxing Sunday

The day started with an early football match, cool venue that I'd not been to before, Ev's team
now playing in the top division of their age-group.  The opposition, from China, were formidable
and Ev had a busy and heroic day in goals.  Sadly, they went down 3-2, but it was a cracking game.

Later on, after an unpleasantly brief lunch, he was back in action, this time playing
8th man for the Sai Kung Stingrays, in a three game tournament (here in action against the HK
Football Club).  But then, half way through the second game ... Houston, we have a problem.

Somewhere at the bottom of a maul (Ev is not too clear) he heard a cracking sound and
felt a very sharp pain in his neck.  He was clearly very sore.  The ref stopped the game the
medic came on, and determined that an ambulance had to be called, and Ev sent off to
hospital to have a scan.  Which is very sensible (the game itself is clearly not).

And is what then duly happened.

After an initial check up, the big orange ear-muffs came off , followed by some waiting for the
scan, which thankfully turned out to be all clear.  So The Pickle is being encouraged to take
less of a head-first approach to his rugby exploits, and we wait to see whether any physio etc
proves necessary.  Ho hum, and back to work for a more relaxing day on Monday.

Evan in the parking lot

Valentino about to hit the Saturday afternoon movies

Evan's bionic fingers

The aftermath around

The two below I like the most - the rest are contextual snapshots; the parking lot at Second Beach and the road that leads down to it.

The parking lot, carpeted with shredded leaves, and some road-paint imploring it all to stop.

Clearwater Bay road, one lane opened by the government's advanced clear-up team. Schools remain closed.

Generally the village seems to have held up well.  Cars are always vulnerable, and people living close to the water got trashed by the storm-surge (in effect, the sea rising up because the air pressure which ordinarily holds it down is so low), which was 4.5 meters vertically above the high-tide.

Some cars that hid from the water, were caught by the trees.  Insurance pays out 25% in a Typhoon.

Snail's house - this is the pile outside, the bottom story had waves directly from the sea roam through it.

Since I sent you the video of it during the storm, taken by Hunter, here is the Lexus that thought it was a boat.  Repect for its construction I must add.  It appeared to have no water inside.  I suspect if one removed the air-filter it would start - or maybe I underestimate the destructiveness of sea-water.

The beach and its line of trees is gone, barren rocks and a brush-pile is all that is left.

I don't generally use other people's photos, but here is what Sai Kung looks like.  The thing that really strikes me is the amount of polystyrene in the sea.  Devastating.  The effects of this will be felt in the ecosystem for a generation.  The massive concrete pier at Pak Sa Wan is gone - just disappeared.

This is the photo that staggers me most.  Hong Kong is built with these storms in mind.  Office blocks and apartments were thoroughly beaten up,  ours is apparently OK, though has lost its air-conditioning unit (rendering it pretty un-usable, because it certainly does not have windows that open).  I was planning to go in this morning, but was talking to my neighbour Andy who went out to fetch his car, secreted in an underground car-park.  Even at 6am the traffic build-up on the single lane road turned it into an hour-long journey - so I guess its another day working at home for me.  Tomorrow, Shanghai.

The aftermath at home - lucky lucky

To be honest, these pictures are not that interesting; piles of bush bent and buckled, tangled green with washed brown; inspiration for camouflage perhaps.  This is by far the biggest storm that I have ever experienced, or would ever want to experience.  The people who measure these things say its the biggest storm ever to have hit Hong Kong - and it went past 100+ kilometers to the South.  It smells interesting too, for the time-being, like spicy cut grass, very fresh and alive.  Later it will smell like that, but going off.  The little concrete box that is 89 Sheung Sze Wan stood its ground most admirably.  Nothing broke, unpenetrated.  And I touch wood to say that I guess that's how it will remain; something about the shape of the land, the steep slope behind, and the berm-shaped lip of earth and bush in front seems to successfully steer everything past or over.

Looking up at our house from the road.  Railings intact, and even the worm farm somehow survived, unmoved.

Paul and Sarah's roof in the trees above the slope, punched through and held nicely.  Going to be an interesting
activity getting that down, steel frame, aluminum sandwich.  Cut it up and piece by piece?

Our driveway, as always, closed off by the disastrous rubber tree.

One of our big trees came down, fortunately not in the direction of the house.

Portrait opportunities abound; Pieter Schats at the bottom of the driveway surveying the chewed up foliage.

The road at the bottom of the driveway - people walking up, wondering when they are going to get out.

The cars, those valuable and vulnerable things, a couple of the most minor dings, and a smattering of chewed up leaves.

Waiting for Typhoon Mangkhut.

It's an uneasy time, waiting for a big hurricane.  The light is different, wonderful, strange, and the calm is punctuated with sudden gusts that don't seem to fit all the other tranquility. Disquiet comes slowly to the sea, swell, whitecaps eventually.

Holly joining me for coffee in the early morning light.

Ange on her way out - conversations about lists of things to do to.  If it sticks to it's current track,
the wind will come directly off the sea onto our balcony.

By the late afternoon (after watching the Bok win against the All Blacks :-) in New Zealand nogal)
the clouds are starting to build and move across the sky.  Everything that can go from the patio has,
the outdoor sofa will be last to go in.