Temples of Hong Kong and Macau

One of the pleasures of Hong Kong is that often you'd turn a corner and there would be a temple in front of you, exotic mix of gold and red, smelling of incense. Its part of the mix of old and new I mentioned before that is one of the attractions of Hong Kong.

So here are the top three of those I saw, starting with the Tin Hau temple (above) that was just around the corner from my hotel, so was one of the first things I saw on my visit. Its not that large and surrounded by tower blocks (such as, er, my hotel).

It is dedicated to the patroness of seafarers (hurruh!) and initially wondered what it was doing hundred metres or so from the sea, but apparently it used to be water front before a round of land reclamation.

Next up is the A-Ma temple in Macau (below), which is opposite the Maritime Museum. Apparently when the Portuguese arrived they asked the name of the place and was told it was A-Ma Gau (Bay of A-Ma) from which they derived Macau.

A-Ma is known in Hong Kong as Tin Hau - so this another temple to seafarers, including fishermen.

There are various stories behind her, some of which are on in Wikipedia here, but the guide book also had another, based on how she wanted to travel to Guangzhou but the rich junks refused to help. A poor fisherman was prepared to give her passage: during the voyage a storm blew up and wrecked all the junks but saved the little fishing boat. On arrival after this miracle she ascended to heaven and the temple was built on the spot

Within the complex there is a large boulder with a traditional sailing boat embossed on it:

There are temples to many other causes than seafarers: for example this elegant temple was in the New Territories at Tai Po and is dedicated to Man Mo, and as such dedicated to the gods of literature and war.

To me thats an odd combination, but there's no doubt its a lovely building. There was another Man Mo temple in Hong Kong's Sheung Wan district I never got round to seeing (another next time) but I was in Tai Po on business so seemed a good chance to drop in.

It had this impressive drum and bell combination that wish had a chance to hear:

More on Tai Po later....

Boats of Hong Kong

Some pics of the boats saw while in Hong Kong.

First up, above, is the most spectacular, which saw gliding through Victoria Harbour one evening as sat in my room working on the laptop. I'd love to have been on board, but just looking at it gave a lovely feel for Hong Kong of the 19th century.

Having done some googling think its a reproduction of The Bounty that is based in Discovery Bay on nearby Lantau island. Unfortunately the only side to Lantau had a chance to see was the airport, so the sights there like this remain on my "next time" list.

Below of course is the iconic Star Ferry that are continually crossing the harbour:

For longer distances there are the fast cats - like this TurboJet preparing to leave Macau:

On the way there and back passed a couple of these fishing junks - wonder if that's where my sardines came from?

Back in Hong Kong had a chance to see the junks up close moored in Causeway Bay. It was glimpse of a traditional way of life, a bit anachronistic amongst the gleaming towers of steel and glass, but that mixture is part of the attraction of this city.

I think they can make their money taking tourists out for tours, and in which case maybe the more grimy the more "authentic".

Of course this being Hong Kong, where there are more Rolls Royces than anywhere else, there are also fleets of shiny Sun Seekers:

Three Macaus

On Saturday I took the fast cat over to Macau - or at least two of the three Macaus.

The first Macau, and for me the main draw, was the old Portuguese settlement with churches, some ruined like St Paul's above, barracks, offices clubs, forts and the like. The connections with Europe go an awful long way back - 1557 according to my guide book.

And it was a major early trading base with the whole of south east Asia, connecting countries like Japan Indonesia and India. It was also a base for the Jesuits who took a significant role in the settlement, including one of the order firing the cannon that saw off an invasion of Dutch!

It was at a Portuguese restaurant I stopped for lunch - Afonso III - where had some lovely sardines.

Increasingly though the old Macau is being lost within the second city. Just as if we humans were to disappear our cities would soon be lost within the undergrowth, so the colonial buildings are islands within the Chinese city it really is:

The streets were packed with shoppers and tourists buying foods and gifts that meant nothing to me. They were also crowds in front of the huge screen in the main square following the Grand Prix that was being held here this weekend.

There is a third Macau, one which left me cold. For its a great gambling centre and there are these huge casinos that intrude on the sky line and suck money out of those that come over.

Hello from Hong Kong

The view from Hong Kong peak is as spectacular as you might expect. Hong Kong radiants wealth and a dynamic energy as it enters the 21st Century.

It brings a bit of city envy - in London we had docks, now we have Docklands, but here there is a huge working port. London might have the longest underground railway in the world, but the MTR is air conditioned, has wireless coverage, and animated route maps showing the train location as a flashing light.

But after nearly 3 weeks away beginning to long for the cold wet streets on old London town. But have a presentation to give in the New Territories tomorrow, so time for a short stop over sight seeing.

The island whose handover in 1997 marked the formal end of the British Empire, with Britannia sailing off into the South China Seas as the heavens opened and the rain came poring down, was won under the most inglorious of ways.

Its hard imagine now the circumstances that led 19th Century Britain to go to war with China in order to have the right to sell heroin, but they did, and not only did the gunboats succeed but also they gained this superb harbour into the bargain.

But the city has moved on, English is spoken much less (taxi drivers and restaurant menus have both proved a problem) and the city is most definitely part of China.

So anyhow took the tram to the top:

... and took a Star Ferry across the harbour:

Dinner is served

When Tillerman announced this month's group writing project was "Guess who's coming for dinner", to select the one sailing-related guest you would invite to a dinner party, for me there was only one choice.

It wasn't that it was allegedly my great-to-the-n-th uncle, he is also a real legend, but a legend about whom as an individual there would be so much more to learn.

We know he was the first person to sail twice round the world, and then topped that by doing it a third time. And that was in late 17th and early 18th century, the days of real sailing - square rigged, oak and tar, scurvy and rats.

There were no grib files to forecast the weather - it was unknown all the way round. But he was a pioneer that helped change that. He wrote the book on oceanic weather systems - literally in this case, the "Discourse on Trade Winds" that was used by the British Navy for two hundred years and read by Captain Cook on his explorations years later.

He wrote many other books, including his "A New Voyage around the World" which was again literally a best seller, making him a celebrity of London. He dinned with Samual Pepys and knew the world of restoration England, again a time I'd love to hear about.

I'd like to hear more about his life - how he met his little mentioned wife, why he left her for so long, of the friendships and romances he had on his journeys.

And also he must be a source of endless stories. Of his piracy days and the pirates he knew. Of sailing adventures across the Atlantic to Africa, around the Horn, across the Pacific, the far East, landing on Australia (the first Englishman to do so), to India (where he was in charge of the guns at a fort) and on to Cape Town. Of how he was part of the expedition that marooned Selkirk on the one of the Juan Fernandez islands and also on the one that picked him up, and how that led to the story of Robinson Crusoe.

Pirate, buccaneer, slave trader, Naval Captain, navigator, writer, explorer, scientist, hydrographer, husband, friend, and much much more.

I'd like to hear about all of those, and fill in the gaps he left out in his published books.

I'd open my door and welcome him in, that old sailor, William Dampier.

Goodbye Canberra

Being a tourist

Some more pictures from Canberra, doing "the sights". Its funny how it felt less fun than simply going for a random ride around the lake!

On the go again

I am now the right way up having crossed the equator again.

But also not home yet - indeed visiting somewhere new to me.

So will post a couple of Canberra pics before moving on and also answering Tillerman's group writing project.

Visiting the Canberra Yacht Club

Next stop was the Canberra Yacht Club - after all how could I with time on my hands and a bike to get me around not have a try having a sail?

And they had a whole rank of Hobie cats just itching to be taken out:

So I hired one and headed out. They say Hobies can sail even in the slightest whisper of a breeze and that's just as well as it was one of those still days when its more a case of drifting than zooming across the lake.

I'd be looking at the flags go see if they'd tell me where the wind was coming from and er, that didn't really help:

But it was fun as always. I got to practice my steering with my feet while lying flat on my back staring at the blue sky, and found out what happens if you let go of everything and let the boat find its own way.

Every now and then there'd be a gust and there'd be that wonderful trickling sound under the hull and hopes would be raised but then it would disappear.

But hey! it was sailing and about a million times better than working on that document and I'm now a bit sun blasted.

So I did a bit of tacking then some gybing and then headed back in.

Biking to the National Museum of Australia

The original plan was for a six day presentation but luckily the client seemed happy with "just" the five so had a day off. Even better the document was meant to be working on next was lost somewhere back in London so really nothing to stop a free day seeing the sights of Canberra.

So I headed down to "Mr Spokes" bike hire by the edge of Lake Burley Griffins. Actually it was Mrs Spokes who fixed me out with helmet and gear speaking slightly quietly as little baby Spokes was sleeping out the back. It was a very friendly, family run business and they also serve excellent ice creams, so big thumbs up.

First up was the National Museum of Australia (above and below) just along the lake. The best bits were:
- Circa, a multi-media story of Australia in a rotating theatre (cool)
- Aboriginal artefacts and history
- the Garden of Australian dreams (below)

This picture below is "the map" - weaving together a standard map of Australia, Horton's map of Aboriginal boundaries, vegetation, soil, geology, electoral boundaries, exploration and road maps all together in a huge plaza in the centre of the museum:

I always like maps, and having one in an art installation where it takes time to work out exactly what you are looking at was fascinating. Actually you can see it most clearly on Google Maps - click here.

This photo and the one above are taken from the "top end" of Australia looking south:

Outside there are these huge modern sculptures curling into the sky like a surfer's dream wave:

I was a bit disappointed there wasn't more on the early explorers and first fleet, but more on that (and other sights of Canberra) later.

Captain Cook Water Jet

I have done five days of presentations.

I have been up at dawn to email and IM the UK, and then worked as the sun set.

I have struggled to get the internet service provided by an awful company called interTouch to work and spent hours on the phone to their call centre somewhere.

I am very tired.

But its done, and the Captain Cook Water Jet (above) in Lake Burley Griffin is lovely in the twilight.

Fun in Canberra

I am in a good mood even though the run through this morning of tomorrow's presentation was particularly disastrous (It! Doesn't! Work!)

Having got chucked out of my room by house keeping again (alas I'm getting to know the ones here too) decided to enjoy myself for a short while.

So popped over the footbridge to the edge of Lake Burley Griffen and hired a bike and did the West Basin Loop - about 17 km or an hour's worth of peddling. And jolly, jolly nice it was too.

The track is well laid out through park land like below, and the sun was out but not too hot with cooling breeze and the moon riding high in the sky. I found myself singing the Girls Aloud latest (sorry all) and even going "Give me an O, a B, an A, a M, and an A and what have you got? A president elect!"

Its a great way to see the city which is quite spread out and full of funky modern architecture like this - the National Museum of Australia:

After doing the loop and having a cooling ice cream headed out for part 2 of the afternoon's entertainment - a hour on the water kayaking.

It has been two months since been out on the water and boy was it fun to be out there again! Paddled into the central basin and admired the line up to the Parliament House before heading back.

Alas not enough time for sailing - but the picture below shows the Canberra Yacht club were in serious race mode this afternoon so might not have been the best time to borrow a boat anyhow.

Now back to that laptop.....

Dawn, Canberra

That's it! Show's over!

Even Vista powered laptop will have booted by now - so its time to check those email from far off London.

President Elect Obama Speaks out on Sailing

I have a dream (cheers) I have a dream in which the great people of America (cheers) whatever their colour, whatever their background, not just work together but sail together (more cheers!)

I want to see a new America! To change course, to see America no longer the terror of the seas, but shining bright, the light-house on a hill, to plot a new, safe course for not just for our great country (cheers) but also for the world (big cheer).

And the Americas Cup - can we win it? (shouts of yes we can!) - should we reach for it? (cries of yes, yes!) - yes we can, yes we should and yes we will win! (huge cheers!)

For this country to stand tall again, tall as a tall ship, give me your support, so we can sail together out of the storm into calm waters sparkling under the warm summer sun (cheers)

Thank you! (cheers! and chants of yes we can! yes we can!)

Early morning, Canberra

Its the weekend which means half way through the 6 day single handed presentation / examination process here in Canberra, so lots of getting up to work and IM the UK at dawn (above).

Hence lack of posts.

But I guess there have been other events in the last couple of days that have been much more interesting to follow than the ramblings here.

And in honour of those historic events I might re-post a blog entry from way back in March

Sydney Tower

I was rather looking forward to the daily visit from house keeping yesterday.

I had a plan and when she turned up (ok, the 2nd time she turned up as 1st time round was in the middle of something) dashed out of the hotel, crossed the block, and headed up the Sydney Tower. If all I had was a lunchtime hour to see the sights I better cram as many in at once and from the 305m high top you can see pretty much all of Sydney.

And it was a great break - could see the Harbour, the Bridge, the Opera House, Manly, Bondi, ferry boats, sailing yachts and dinghies (sigh), Botany Bay, the airport, and all the way to the Blue Mountains.

You could even see into the swimming pool at the roof top of the hotel which decided would be the 2nd treat of the day after the afternoons slog. And that too was great swimming amongst the towers of Sydney CBD, looking out over the harbour.

Sydney Harbour

No prizes for guessing where I am!

Alas as can be seen weather is not that great so might as well get down to work - though did have time for one of my favourite ferry rides in the world which is the Circular Quay to Manly ferry and back to clear the head of airplane air.

Its a great - and cheap - way to see the sights of the Bridge and Opera House, but also admire the wonder which is Sydney Harbour itself. As the ferry crosses the opening just before Manly you get for a short while a taste of the Pacific swell and boat rolls from side to side. But further inside it is almost always calm enough even for those little Lasers to race.

Now its time for either supper or breakfast depending which time zone my stomach thinks its in.

G'day!

In honour of the southern hemisphere where I find myself now the picture above has been inverted - or made the right way up, take your pick.

More later as have alas to work

How clean is the Thames?

Earlier this year had the dubious pleasure of rolling a kayak in the Thames, and getting much river water up my nose, in order to show I knew enough rescue technique to get a BCU two star qualification. Two of the group refused, having heard bad things about the water.

However nothing bad seemed to come of it (that I've noticed anyhow) so wondered if the Thames has been maligned and left it at that.

On a separate tack had also been wondering what the tourist boat commentary is as they go up river to Kew. They go past and all one can hear is "On you left waw waw waw", so intrigued I decided to pay the ten quick or whatever it was to get a bit of education.

However I seem to be very unlucky. Having got on Westminster, we headed up past Parliament, on to Vauxhall without a single "waw" let alone more useful instruction. On asking it turns out to be a voluntary task the crew can do or not do as they wish, and in this case they "couldn't be arsed" in the colourful phrase of the chap who served coffee. In their defence a particularly noisy bunch of school kids meant very little of what would have been sent would have been heard.

Was therefore forced to pay another 10 quid on another weekend and pretty much the first thing on getting onboard I did was to ask and yup due to public pressure we got a most excellent commentary - well at least for the first half of the trip.

So to date still don't know what the "to the left waw waw waw" is for the river around Putney and no doubt will have to wait till next year.

But one gem they said was about the river and how clean it is. "Just get a bucketful of water" we were told "leave it overnight and all the mud will drop out leaving sparkling clear water"

This I had to try. Buckets being a bit heavy this scientist went down to the slipway by The Boathouse jam jar in hand to get his sample and took a picture the day before and the day after (above).

And Yes! it is clear that most of the murk is indeed due to mud that will settle given time without the constant swirling of the Thames.

Alas that's not enough to recommend partaking in this particular brew. Because anyone who was been on the river for more than a little time will have spotted the odd condom floating by, or wondered where the sewage waste goes from all the house boats dotted along its banks.

But it doesn't seem to harm the very plentiful fishes or the river birds that feed on them (as posted earlier). And I've twice now heard stories about rowers drinking the stuff in the days before water bottles.

So if pushed to drink Thames water (and I would have to be pushed) my choice would be to let it settle overnight, skim off the clear upper bit, and then boil it like there was no tomorrow.

The pirate gets the girls

Interesting story about the reality of the life of the modern day Somalian pirate here on the BBC web site.

The motivations are the same for many a man anywhere "They wed the most beautiful girls; they are building big houses; they have new cars; new guns".

Though to be honest that about new guns isn't that common here in blighty land.

How to fish in the Thames on a wet Sunday

Step 1: Get your mates in a line across the river with a falling tide so the fish come down river to you:

Step 2: If you see something move in the water below you, duck down and grab it:

Step 3: Make sure you don't do this if its a bit of man made rubbish (such as this discarded plastic chair):

Step 4: Repeat from Step 1.

VOR Game

I was really looking forward to the VOR game. In case you haven't seen it, the on-line simulator allows you to match your offshore racing skills against the wider sailing community from the comfort of your arm chair. You can choose course and sails, and plan your tactics to beat the real boats to Cape Town.

Alas last few weeks have been firstly sick and then having to catch up at work and then have a forthcoming return business trip to Australia for a rather scary 6 day single-handed presentation (for which really must stop blogging and start preparing).

So the good ship Dampier (my ship's registered name) never got its instructions and is now heading straight into the St Helena high and certain doom of coming in last if at all.

But have enjoyed hearing about those that having been doing it right - such as over on EVK SuperBlog, who's dedication has led to interrupted sleep and meetings.

Good luck to all of those competing - especially those doing it solo.

Corporate IT sinks Volvo Viewer

Previously I posted how the wonderful Virtual Spectator software (above) used in the Volvo Ocean Race 2004-5 isn't being made available for the current race, and what a shame that was as it was simply brilliant.

Well I emailed VOR HQ and got the following response:

"We require a browser-based flash raceviewer for this race, because one of the most constant complaints we received in the previous race was that race fans were unable to download and install the Virtual Spectator programme at work.

Virtual Spectator have supplied us with their latest 3D product, which unfortunately has been experiencing technical issues and it is taking time for the VS technicians to work out the problems and make fixes and improvements.

In the meantime, TracTrac have provided us with their 2D viewer as a back-up raceviewer while we find a solution to the raceviewer difficulties, and you may have noticed that new features are being introduced on this 2D raceviewer as the race progresses. "

Now there's no problem downloading and running VS on my work PC as I've given myself Admin rights, and anyhow we're a small company. But we've heard of cases where users of our software not only can't install it themselves but get an internal charge from their IT department to do something they'd rather do themselves.

Its a shame that such a good piece of s/w should be hobbled because of over controlling corporate jobs-worths.

Of course not getting access to a race viewer (which BTW surely is two words not one) or having an inferior one means higher productivity at work and less time spent following the action, but you wouldn't have thought that was something VOR would like to see.

And even if the Volvo site had an improve web based viewer, surely that wouldn't stop the old software still being available?

Do you dream of sailing?

Last night I dreamt of sailing. For all those amateur dream psychologists out there, this is what happened.

Together with my brother-in-law and a few friends we had chartered a yacht and were having a fun afternoon sailing around the Solent or somewhere similar. Then we found there was a spinnaker on board and so decided to give it a go. I showed them how to rig it, found the guys and sheets, and was all ready to give the go for a hoist.

But the water was so busy, not just with boats but even swimmers, we were always dodging around them and never got a nice clean run downwind in which to hoist. At which point, frustrated, I woke up.

So what's that all about? The daily sardine packing in London's commuter system finally getting to me?

So how about you? Any sailing dreams that have got you wondering?