Back in Hong Kong

Nothing much of note has happened in the past few months (the life crises I've touched have all been other people's), but now I am back in Hong Kong till mid-January and there may be more days worth a diary entry.

I left Auckland in the early hours of Thursday 20 December, and arrived in a windy, grey Hong Kong morning. I was home by 8 a.m. - unfortunately I had to wait more than half an hour for a bus, or it would have been sooner, as I was off the plane and through formalities in less than 20 mins.

Thursday was spent posting Mary's and Eileen's Christmas cards, and arranging a China visa for me. We got the passport in just before close-off time of 12 noon, and then went to HK side to see about lunch. Slim pickings there, especially after we waited for a long time at a stall in dai pai dong with no service. We left after nothing seemed to happen to our order and we were running out of time for an appointment at Jardine Flemings.

After meeting our adviser we came directly home, where I heard of the death of a long-time friend, Andrea French. It was not unexpected news, but saddening nonetheless, as we will not be able to attend her service on Monday. I was pleased to have seen her several times this year.

On Friday we went to see an old school friend of Eddie's who is retired and living in a village near Fo Tan station (Lok Lo Ha village). Apart from the 'Everest steps' one has to climb to get to his house - 114? I lost count at 10 and was out of breath at 30 - it's a very pleasant spot, with a good outlook, a hill behind for good feng shui, and not too many people around.

We went to help him with his computer - I did what I could and he seemed happy enough with the results. I hadn't worked with Vista before, but it wasn't too difficult. Anyway, he had done most of the work installing his own copy of Office and once I removed the second copy he had installed in frustration, it worked well.

The day was fine and warm, but not too humid, and we continued on to TST East to collect my passport and visa, had scraps from the supermarket for lunch, then came home for early dinner and sleep.

Saturday was spent at home, tidying up, and sleeping. We were both wide awake and busy from 2 am to 4 because of the early night, so we went back to sleep for a while, before doing some washing that became a marathon as more and more items were found to wash. Unfortunately the humidity was high, and with little wind and no sun, nothing dried.

Eddie fished out his portable clothes drier, figured out how to assemble it, and we had everything dry by bedtime. It was so much easier than waiting for the sun to come back out. The washing would have been mouldy first, although the forecast is for finer and drier later next week.

Sunday has slso been a day at home - we listed Eddie's books and he has spent more time scanning stuff before junking it.