A fine day out

It is the end of the school year, which means many goodbyes as teachers leave for pastures new.
Neighbour and Maths / SEN teacher Tracy and her family were leaving, so a junk party was organised.
A junk is usually an old-fashioned wooden boat with an engine. However ours was a bit posher. Here we are all lounging at the back of the boat. We took a range of booze and snacks with us and at 11.30am the party was in full swing. Here's me (in orange) with my friends.


We didn't take our own monsters that day as they didn't want to go. Heather went to a friend's house for a sleepover and Alexandra did playing on her computer all day.

Back to the day - The boat had an upper deck. We stopped in a cove on the way to the restaurant and people did this:

By "people" I am not including myself. I could have stepped daintily down the ladder of course, but being out of my depth after plentiful beer does not not top out my list of good things to do.


So we went onto lunch - yummy. You can see the back of me in orange, chowing down even when everyone is finished and chatting. Jaspa's restaurant can be reached after a very long hike over the hills, or by this more refined method of boating in. We ordered a mix of foods and shared. BTW there was more beer (funnily enough).


So we wended our way back home via boat - the sun setting over the mountains - pleasantly full and slightly tipsy (more than slightly tipsy in some cases).
And here is the farewell photo:

It sums up Hong Kong in June/ July. Bikinis and Face Masks.
Or if you prefer not to wear the face mask on your face it makes an amusing accessory.
Bye Tracy & Chris we'll miss you loads.

New Warning!!

New warning.
We had a T8 - T9 - T8 last night. It was a scary night as the wind was gusting in a swirly pattern. It kept picking things up and throwing them at the house.
This morning there is a lot of tree debris about but the house and windows are all intact.
As the warnings drop back to T1 and Thunderstorm, I am hibernating!
However I did find a new warning sign to excite me:



LANDSLIP WARNING

Landslip Special Announcement issued by the Hong Kong
Observatory at 3:00 a.m. on 19 July 2009:

The Hong Kong Observatory has issued the Landslip Warning.
Keep away from steep slopes or retaining walls.

Motorists should avoid driving in hilly areas or on roads
with landslip warning signs.

Cancel non-essential appointments, stay at home or remain
in a safe shelter.

If you see signs of landslip danger, keep away from the
area and report to the Police.

Temporary shelters provided by District Offices are now
open. If you receive a notice to evacuate because of
landslip danger, or believe that your home is endangered,
you should make immediate arrangements to move to a safe
shelter.

DISPATCHED BY HONG KONG OBSERVATORY AT 03:02 HKT ON 19.07.2009

Weather - again? surely not??

Yes indeed - more weather is happening. We are leaving the rainy season behind and entering...



...Typhoon and monsoon season - yippee.
Basically the difference is that we now have rain AND wind.
At least it is warm.

Yesterday as we were off to work for the last day of school for the summer, the T1 signal was hoisted. This means that a typhoon or tropical storm is on the way. It went to T3 at about 4pm. It never got stronger, though as it went by things were gusty and rainy.

So today we at are the Monsoon and Thunderstorm warning. In the UK windy and rainy doesn't sounds like much. So I wanted to try and give you a comparison to work with...



This is from the front page of the Hong Kong Observatory website - always worth a look - very interesting site altogether. It shows lots of rain over us and the warning indicators.
Clicking on the links would give you the warnings and I'll copy them in at the end of this post.

Here are the radar pics for rainfall over the last 30 mins or so...



We are sitting right under the orangey-pink bit in the middle. This means that the rain is falling at about 100mm/h or about 4 inches in an hour.
Drenched is not the word for it. We cannot go to the car on the drive without being totaly soaking. I know now why we have eyebrows - otherwise we'd spend a lot of time blind.

For someone who loves summer storms, lightening and thunder, this is as exciting as it gets. My little girlness comes to the front and I still "aaww" and "aahh". It amuses the kids I'm teaching.

Think I'll hibernate for a few more days...


What the warnings mean...
STRONG MONSOON SIGNAL

The Strong Monsoon Signal remains in force. Strong winds
with mean speed exceeding 40 kilometres per hour are
expected from the southwest. Gusts will occasionally reach
70 kilometres per hour.

1. If you are not well sheltered from the southwest, you
are advised to take precautions against strong gusty winds.
Flower pots and other objects likely to be blown away
should be taken indoors.

2. Drivers using highways and flyovers should be
particularly aware of strong gusts.

3. Those planning for water sports activities and
operations at sea should take special care against high
winds and rough sea conditions. Conditions are particularly
rough over the southern offshore waters.

DISPATCHED BY HONG KONG OBSERVATORY AT 11:44 HKT ON 27.06.2009

---

THUNDERSTORM WARNING

THUNDERSTORM WARNING

THUNDERSTORM WARNING ISSUED AT 10:05 A.M. ON 27 JUN 2009
HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL 2:00 P.M. TODAY. OCCASIONAL SQUALLY
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO OCCUR OVER HONG KONG.

GUSTS REACHING 70 KILOMETRES PER HOUR OR ABOVE MAY AFFECT
HONG KONG.

MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE ADVISED TO TAKE THE FOLLOWING
PRECAUTIONS WHEN THUNDERSTORMS OCCUR:

1. STAY INDOORS. SEEK SHELTER IN BUILDINGS IF YOU ARE
ENGAGING IN OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES.

2. DO NOT STAND ON HIGH GROUNDS. KEEP AWAY FROM HIGHLY
CONDUCTIVE OBJECTS, TREES OR MASTS.

3. TAKE PRECAUTIONS AGAINST VIOLENT GUSTS. BEWARE OF FLYING
DEBRIS AND FALLING OBJECTS.

4. DRIVERS USING HIGHWAYS AND FLYOVERS SHOULD REDUCE SPEED
TO BE ALERT TO VIOLENT GUSTS.

DISPATCHED BY HONG KONG OBSERVATORY AT 11:41 HKT ON 27.06.2009

Never mind the work - here's some monkeys.

OK so It is silly and it is not mine - but the sound on makes it hilarious!.

Weather

I often get asked "What is the weather like over there?"
Hmmm, well the best answer is that there is lots of it.

In an earlier blog I described how we had missed having weather in Abu Dhabi. Hong Kong has more than made up for it.
Today it is 35 degrees C and 85% humidity. "A bit like the space at the top of your coffee" (thanks Fred).

Blazing sunshine, mist on the mountains (just like the Japanese paintings you see), and the joyous singing of the cicadas.

For the previous 2 days we have had torrential rain. It is hard to describe the rain here compared to the UK. Perhaps if you think "Summer Storm" it will help.
It is hot and steamy without relief, then lightening comes down all around (we are in a dip surrounded by mountains), thunder echoes through the valley...


Next the sky opens and the seas drop in.

Instead of raining until it is empty for a couple of hours, it comes down in bucket loads all night, the next day, the next night and so on.
The rivers fill up and water shoots out of the banks at the roadside from the pressure of the mountain.
Exciting like a summer storm but for longer.

I wonder what will be next.

Battle of the Books

Back in September we started on the long road to the Battle of the Books (BoB).
Kids in year 7 and 8 first read 20 books then learnt all the fine details. They sat through memory workshops and practice quizzes. The idea is they answer questions on the 20 books. The answer is always the book title and author and questions go from easy to obscure.
This year we had treasures such as: "In which book does the hero have a dress made in the same sea green as her eyes?" "In which book does a character have Arthuritis?" and so on...
The children have to identifiy which of the 20 books they have read fits the bill in just 20 seconds.
We took the best with us to the semi final which we won easily (6/6 rounds) and then onto the final which was closer but we still won with flying colours (5/6 rounds).
The trophy is now back with KGV where it belongs, as well as $1500 dollars worth of books which the children got to choose.

You can read more about this and other school happenings here...
http://www.kgv.edu.hk/news_&_events/docs/School%20Newsletter
/2009/KGV%20Newsletter%20-%20Jun%2009.pdf

On the way I read a lot of teenage books myself and got to appreciate the quality of writing. Teenagers are more cynical - you can't get away with clichés and platitudes. I loved some and heartily recommend Skellig, Skullduggery Pleasant and anything by Marcus Sedgwick.

Mea Culpa

I haven't posted for 2 months. I miss a week at a time and it soon adds up.
Well I have a lot of catching up to do then. So I'd better get a move on...