30 March 2025
Old and grey
Nan Lian garden
Both me, and Hong Kong are old and grey. I feel old today, stiff, sore, making groaning noises when I bend over or get out of a chair etc. 3 flights has turned me into a senior citizen.
Also it is raining, not surprise rain, I knew it would rain today, the forecast for the next week is no more rain and quite a bit of sun, I have my doubts about sun. But I was surprised when it was only 14c and stayed that temperature all day. I was fine in my shorts and t-shirt in the misty rain that soon became no rain, but the locals have of course opted for the full length puffer jackets, welding gloves, and umbrellas you could cover a car with.
All of this added up to it not being a hiking day. I think that was wise despite the rain disappearing at least at sea level by lunch time. I also think my joints are all swollen far worse than previous journeys, again proving that all the marketing nonsense for newer style carbon fibre passenger jet aircraft keeping the cabin pressure higher to improve passenger comfort is something they completely made up.
Anyway, eventually I got to a garden, and it was surprisingly excellent... and free!
Here is a photo of wet streets. Nathan road to be precise. My hotel is on Nathan Road and named after it.
I decided to walk to the garden, and got lost on the way a few times. I am frequently told to stay in my lane and yet I rarely drive.
Hong Kong has many great overpasses for an easy photo opportunity.
Not much open early on Sunday, but the traditional markets were doing well with their blood coloured lighting.
Streets are still wet, stores are still closed.
A typical Hong Kong residential area.
Eventually I made it to the water. That is the new stadium just left of centre where the rugby sevens tournament is on today. It is a sellout and the biggest thing all year in Hong Kong according to airline advertisements, so I was a bit surprised to get my accommodation for the price I did over this weekend. I will avoid that area as it is full of drunken westerners.
The local 'sitting out' area as they are called is a fancy one with a pond full of fish and terrapins. Today is Filipino slave day off, so due to the risk of rain, they erect tents in parks like this and sit inside with karaoke machines. I do not photograph them.
There was a sign saying do not feed the terrapins, and I saw some but they are too hard to photograph without a zoom. Which raises the age old question of, what even is a terrapin and how is it not a turtle or at worst a tortoise?
Some distance away from the above 'sitting out' area park is today's official garden, the Nan Lian garden, complete with no entry fee, so no matter how disappointing it is, I will approve of it.
At first I went into a museum inside the garden grounds, a museum on the history of wooden architecture. I learnt about the history of various ways of joining beams without nails.
The garden was not at all disappointing, I thought it was excellent.
There is a large Buddhist temple and nunnery.
Lotus ponds are always a highlight.
Great trees and an extensive compound for Buddha on prime real estate.
The gold statues inside were some of the largest gold coloured Buddhas I have ever seen, but they do not like you taking photos of those, in case people find out about them on my website and form an elite team of thieves to steal them.
Kyoto, basically.
Last garden pic.
A nearby shopping mall has a donki. So with mini Kyoto in the garden and a donki over the road, there is no reason to ever go to Japan again.
In the bottom of the mall, which I believe was named 'Plaza Hollywood' is the young innovators fair. It seems to have a tent for each school, and they all seem to be innovating in the world of plush toys / trading cards with an online AI component hosted on the block chain. So a fair to come up with new scams that involve various forms of gambling basically.
And it being a non hiking non travelling day, I had time for a real lunch. A great lunch of Sichuan beef cheeks with dry noodle. Very much like Biang Biang but with more numbing than spicy. I was very pleased with my choice. Also it came from a food court literally next door to my hotel, so I will probably go there again at some point.