|
|
Davidicus -
Pak Kokian:
(photos by L-G) |
|
Dear Lamma Friends,
I wanted to pass on sad news about Keren Goldman's
two adopted pet pigs: Sumo and Peggy. If she
cannot find a home for them soon the frustrating saga
that occurred several years ago may repeat itself (see
story below).
Please pass on this to anyone who you think might be
able to help since she only has 11 days left as of
today. Also, please have a look at the 2007 news story
below (PDF) for more background.
I've reposted from my Facebook here:
UNHAPPY NEW YEAR
 FOR PAK KOK PIGS [Dec.30]
[tragic story again unfolding on Lamma Island].
After
single-handedly caring for her two adopted pigs--Sumo &
Peggy--for 8 years, Keren Goldman has been cruelly
threatened with a short-term eviction from her Pak Kok
home.
The threat comes from the Lands Department and her
landlord who have given Keren less than 2 weeks notice
to get rid of her two piggy friends.
URGENT!
Last time around Keren approached SPCA, Kadoorie and
other animal rescue groups but no luck. If anyone has
any leads on spaces or places that could take in Sumo &
Peggy, please let Keren know:
goldkeren@hotmail.com or call 9668 7736. See background story, click below: |
P.S. Also,
click here for numerous related Lamma-zine stories and photo
galleries.
What could this photo be showing? A mellow,
golden-amber sunset reflected in a mirrored surface,
perhaps? Well, let me give you a little hint. It's late
morning right now and I'm enjoying a fiery, warming sip of
this amber nectar right now while typing these words. It's
supposedly good for rheumatism and will "energise my blood",
being "30% vol". It's also claimed to contain four different
species of snake - not sure exactly which parts of the snakes.
Yes, it's Snake Wine!
 It's
just a little "souvenir" from our Snake
Banquet for Lammaites, organised every year by
Lammadonna's office and her very friendly & talented
power duo of assistants, Joyce the Joyful & Ting Ting
the Cheerleader. There were 23 tables of up to 12 Lammaites
this year, occupying two entire floors of a private club besides
Central Market.
These people represent the Silent Majority, the
vast majority of local residents; traditional, Chinese families.
But amongst these 250+ Lammaites, representing such a wide
cross-section of the Lamma Island population - housewives,
retirees, postmen, property agents, Power Station workers,
white-collar employees, HSBC employees, waiters, etc. - why am I
the ONLY Westerner attending this traditional yearly event
today? Acting as the "Token Gwailo", I'm happily giving a bit of
Face to these local tours and events, guided by my Ah-Por (wife),
Lamma-Por, acting as my interpreter. Westerners are really just
a small, usually well-tolerated, but often not well-integrated
small minority on Lamma and by far not as important as some of us
think we are or should be.
This oh-so-traditional and noisily cheerful banquet features almost the same 8 courses
every year (see menu on the banquet ticket above, in Chin.
only). But the tastes this year were even better than last
year's, according to my expert gourmet companions. The fried
pigeon and lamb hotpot were my personal favourites, besides the
always delicious snake soup, of course.
 
 And
imagine this, a table full of Lammaites, and NOBODY on our table
was touching the booze included with the dinner:
1 bottle of
Snake Wine for each table! Hard to believe, I know! Except for
me slowly enjoying a single glass, my personal maximum these
days.
After the banquet, everybody was
stuffed and rushed for the also stuffed 9:30pm ferry. Instead of
returning the already opened and paid-for bottle, and nobody
else eager for it, I swiped, eh, saved it and took it home.
Well, several Lammaites brought their own Tupperware boxes to
take home the snake soup and other tasty leftovers, leaving our
table completely clear of any wasted food (see above.)
This snaky bottle I sneaked will provide
fiery inspiration for several more Lamma-zine stories for the
next week or so, I hope. Maybe even some slightly poisonous, eh,
cynical ones. Sometimes (but not too often) it's just sooo easy
to churn out these (almost) daily stories....
Dragon(boat) Lady Metamorphic Jess writes that they'll be going
Scottish for the New Years Eve (or Hogmanay as they call it in
Scotland) party this year. Dress in your finest Tartan and join
their
Haggis
Hunt, with all hunt proceeds go to
Operation
Santa Claus.
Have a look at the VERY Scottish
Haggis
Hunt website to get into the right spirit beforehand,
especially for us ignoramuses not well versed in Scottish lore.
It features Haggis webcams,
Haggitat ("Golden Haggis: Whimsical tradition has it
that 'the wee folk' paint one Haggis in every hundred and use
them as steeds during the celebrations for the birthday of the
Faerie King"),
hunt rules, a comprehensive
Haggisclopedia with Haggis Myths ("A haggis is just a
sheep’s stomach stuffed with meat and oatmeal.", "Haggii live
with the monster in Loch Ness."), Haggis recipes (yummy or
yucky?) and many drinks, of course ("Bloody Haggis", "Haggis
on the Beach.")
And if I have to type Haggis one more
time, my fingers will cramp up and turn into Haggis claws and my
stomach will start to feel like a sheep's being stuffed with
meat and oatmeal! But don't tell that to any of the Haggis
Hunters on NY's Eve during their "Race 'roond the hostelries
O' Yung Shue Wan", fueled by many "a wee dram." I
might become their target instead of me targeting them for yet
another candid photo shoot: the Haggis Hunters all dressed
up in assorted Tartan wear and kilts, outrageously misbehaving,
or not?
More photos of this tour for Lammaites in progress...
The discoveries you can make by simply
walking around Lamma's more remote areas (basically anywhere
outside the Family Trail) still surprise me occasionally,
even after hiking Lamma's hills for 9 years. Completing
another little hike on the Snake Trail from Lamma
Winds to the YMCA Youth Hostel, this is what I stumbled
upon: Archery practice outside the Youth Hostel!
The YMCA will soon be taking over the entire
nearby Lamma Quarry area, setting up an exclusive,
restricted-access YMCA WONDERLAND in there. Can we assume
that archery will be one of the Wondrous & Wonderful Wonderland
activities?
Let's hope that none of these female Robin Hood
Juniors above are practicing for a wild boar hunt! Quite a few
feral wild boars have been roaming around in the last few weeks
in our North Lamma forests, but they're very shy. I've seen the
unmistakable tracks myself a few weeks back inside the so-called
"Lamma Forest" above Pak Kok Village.
But only one person I know has seen one recently
with his own eyes,
Artist Dave Parker who lives below the Lamma Forest,
while he was sitting out on his back porch at night. He was so
startled and surprised, he called me right away, instead of
grabbing his camera to document this very rare sighting! So we
can't be sure, especially after him probably having had a beer
or two before the sighting?
For actual photos, we have to go back almost one
year:
Feb 17, 2010: Lamma Wild Boar - First-Ever Photos
Details of this (literally) cool event by Dawn & Lisa
Return to Power Station beach
Click to enlarge. More photos in last year's photo gallery:
E-Card by Anonymous Guy
(Crystal Ball
artwork, created for the Lamma-zine by
Sean Creamer of
Worldly Images)
(Yung Shue Wan
today, Christmas Eve, 6:30am, lowest tide)
(Yung Shue Wan
yesterday, Dec 23, 10pm, highest tide,
Old Jetty almost submerged, photos by L-G)
Operation Santa
Paddle on Boxing Day!
Click above for
details and check out last year's
Santa Paddlers Lamma-zine story and
photo gallery.
These beautiful bottles are a fine example of the Lamma barter economy at
work. Occasionally, I barter advertising & promotions on this website for
goods & services. For example, the Thirsty Horse ad banner at the top of
this website for one full month, bartered for one case of mixed wines from
Brad the Wine Baron, see above.
In the true Christmas spirit - getting all warm inside after attending Santa
on the Beach yesterday (maybe it was the free hot mulled wine?) - I'm
currently redistributing some of these fine bottles to our select few frequent and
highly appreciated Official Court Correspondents, including Nick the Bookman,
Alan, Jay Scott Kanes,....
But a few of these
Thirsty Horse Premium Wines will be reserved for a little
Christmas contest! Send me a little story (photos optional) about
Christmas/NY on Lamma and you can pick any one of these bottles above
for free! Except that incredibly smooth and oh-so-delicious Tawny Port
I'm enjoying so tremendously, but very slowly, right now while typing these
lines.
Email me!
P.S. If you don't want to go to the trouble of writing a few
sentences for free booze, you can always order these great Premium Wines, my
current favourites, from
bradtarr@gmail.com - direct import from Australia and free delivery.
You'll even receive the brand-new & free
Thirsty Horse Premium Wines Gourmet
Christmas Recipes. Click here
for details.
P.S. II: If you're also interested in bartering any of your
goods or services in exchange for advertising, advertorials, email
promotions or other Internet Marketing options to Lamma residents &
visitors, simply
email
me as well!
Click above for photo gallery
|
Sean Creamer
- Frequent Lamma
Photo of the Day Contributor: |
|
 Crystal
Castles
Two large tripods, one home-made crystal
ball tripod mount, one 2kg crystal ball, one large dSLR
and lens, and a whole range of accessories. That's what
is needed when taking pictures through a crystal ball.
It started off in Chatuchak Market in
the Thailand capital Bangkok. After walking around the
market for more than two hours and losing a large chunk
of my body mass to perspiration, something caught my eye
in a small stand tucked away in an alley dedicated to
exotic pets, T-shirts and fried squid. I saw a large
crystal ball sitting on a small red wooden stand. As a
photographer you train your eye to see images, or as my
wife says, "You walk around with your eye glued to the
viewfinder." The image in the crystal ball was inverted
but it was almost as if there was another world inside
it – hopefully not as hot as this place I hoped. After a
bit of a haggle with the shop keeper and what sounded
like "Not for sale", she sold the crystal ball to me for
about HKD300.
The first image I took with the ball was
a double portrait of my wife holding the ball and me
taking the picture through a mirror. I'm yet to explore
the full potential of the crystal
 ball
in people photography so if you ever see me on Lamma or
Hong Kong Island with my ball, stop me and I'll take a
picture of you in it.
Learning how to use the crystal ball was
a challenge and is still an ongoing process. This is a
basic description of the technique. I try to
create a world within a world, somewhere far but near,
trapped but free. Below are some of the images I have
taken using the crystal ball.
Click here
to view the photos! |
(Click above to enlarge)
Join us for a free photo tour this Sunday, Dec 19
to Lamma Winds, along the Snake Trail (the nature trail with the best
views on Lamma, IMHO) to the Youth Hostel and then on to the Lamma Quarry,
under Hans Andersen Club's Siuyu's expert guidance.
See our former Quarry one last time in its current "natural state", before
it'll be turned into the exclusive, no-access "YMCA Wonderland" very
soon; and then into public housing estates a few years later, maybe. LegCo
has just announced that they'll officially start next year to study the
feasibility of doing this.
Simply assemble on Sun, Dec 19, 9:15am at Hans
Andersen Club in Tai Wan New Village. Don't forget your camera(s)!
More photo tours on Dec 31/Jan 1, Feb 27, Mar 20,....
Just in time for the festive
season, Thirsty Horse is introducing the very first
Thirsty Horse Premium Wines Gourmet
Christmas Recipes.
Sara Gray (nee Jordan)
is a brilliant chef living on Lamma. She loves Thirsty Horse
wines and wanted to start cooking with them, totally her idea.
She has written over 20 recipes so far. Thirsty Horse has
released a sneak preview which will be included with their
current wine orders.
Megan Tanner
did a professional job formatting Sara's ideas and putting
together a very impressive, water- and wine-proof "Volume 1"
recipe folder.
Brad the Wine Baron
personally took all the food photos.
Lamma-Gung
has volunteered to promote Thirsty Horse Premium Wines, his
favourite tipple inspiring this Lamma-zine, bartering a case of
mixed bottles.
Thirsty Horse wants to produce a
full cook book soon, focusing exclusively on cooking with wine!
The recipes are fun to follow and they promise that you'll be
amazed with the refined & sophisticated tastes.
Featuring:
-
Porshimar Beef
marinade made with Tawny Port and Shiraz Cabernet
-
Sliced Porshimar Beef and Spinach Salad
with TH dressing
-
Perfect Port-Poached Pears with white
chocolate and toasted walnuts
-
Shiraz-Cabernet French Onion Soup with
cheesy crostinis:
-b.jpg)
The TH Christmas Recipes will be included in your
next wine order:
Thirsty Horse 2007
Shiraz Cabernet HK$90
A combination of two classic
grape varieties, with an aroma of
dark berry and plum, hints of raspberry and red current over
subtle oak –
excellent persistence of flavour with firm fine tannins, a good
length and a warm finish. Can be enjoyed with a wide variety of
foods now and well into the future.
Thirsty Horse
Sparkling White HK$100
Can't call it Champagne!! I wish
we could. This is very good. It is a
Non Vintage Sparkling Wine. Very pale straw colour with a
youthful green hue.
Fruity and fresh with a lemon sherbet essence of character. The
Sparkly offers a delightful fruity palate with flavours
persistent to the finish –
well balanced and a clean finish.
Thirsty Horse
Chardonnay HK$85
(Non-Chardonnay drinkers are
enjoying this one...)
Medium Straw in colour, this
Chardonnay exhibits intense aromas of
citrus blossom, melon and peach. Spicy and buttery characters
with are apparent with a slight, subtle hints of oak. This wine
is full bodied with a smooth mouth feel and great persistence of
length.
Thirsty Horse
Sparkling Shiraz $110
Deep red with crimson hues in
colour, this wine displays aromas of lifted ripe Shiraz berry
fruit, reminiscent of dark plums and vanilla- like oak
complexity. The palate displays huge berry flavours and sweet
oak. This wine shows a soft and round mouth feel with a
lively punch and a clean tannin finish.
Thirsty Horse
Tawny Port $130
(see right)
Deep tawny hues, lifted raisin,
plum, prune, and citrus rind aromas are a feature of this wine.
Rich, round, luscious flavours of raisin, plum and citrus with
hints of chocolate are present on the palate.
The residual sugar and citrus are balanced to give a fruit
driven Australian tawny style which finishes soft and clean.
Email
bradtarr@gmail.com
or check out the
TH Facebook group or
TH photos.
Thirsty Horses at the recent Food
& Wine Expo in the C&E Centre
Brad after one too many of his
own bottles (Drink Responsibly!)
Click on any forum-related links at the top or left of
this home page!
 Due to massive spambot attacks - from a web server located in
the Ukraine and other countries - I've had to relocate the forum
temporarily. The attacks on our forum caused an overload of
website traffic, so our web hosting co. in the US shut down this
entire website for almost a day, without informing me before or
after suspending our site, or even telling me the reason why. I
could identify and fix the problem today, at least temporarily
till the automatic spambot programs will find the new forum
location.
The forum works OK for now and no messages or pictures have
been lost, thanks to my regular full backups. But there'll be
more service interruptions of the forum. Maybe even this entire
website might not become available for short time periods while
I'm upgrading the forum's phpBB Shareware software and maybe
even need to relocate it all to another web host.
This is a
tricky and very technical endeavour which might keep me busy for
several days.
Please bear with me and be patient during the upgrades.
Any help from phpBB gurus or programmers would be most
appreciated!
.jpg) 
Lamma-Por's and my personal favourite on the brand-new Waterfront menu,
since Dec 1, the Seafood Platter, above left (pic from Kumar, all
other pics by L-G.) It's the most expensive
dish on the menu but really tasty and delicious and well worth the prize of
$175 for so many types of seafood. Almost all other dishes are in the
double-digits only.
 
Chicken Dijon and Chocolate Volcano, two more of our all-time
favourites!
NEW
WATERFRONT MENU
(from Dec 1, 2010)
Click below to view
single pages, or view the
entire menu (PDF format):
|
Stash
- New Lamma-zine
Correspondent: |
|
The Lamma Ferry
The Runners are
my favorite.
Sensing the gate creaking open, they run through the
gathering hordes, panicked, lest the ferry was to
quickly pull away from its mooring leaving them behind,
stranded...forever. It's peculiar that they are able to
convince themselves so surely that the ferry will
inexplicably, and randomly, depart before all are
aboard.
I do hope that logic continues to escape them.
Logan and Jessica were the best of the inept Runners,
always getting caught. Running away in search of
Sanctuary with Sandmen [a graphic novel series
written by Neil Gaiman] in relentless pursuit.
Sandmen had cool jumpers with a big stripe on the front
and stun guns which froze people. Neat. Our Lamma Ferry
Runners look like they are being pursued by Sandmen.
John Walker is also quite a famous Runner, which is
quite ironic considering his name.
Next we have the
Survivalists. You can't miss them. Always at
the tuck shop getting their coffee, Coca Cola, Shu Mai,
instant noodles, fish balls, a Mars bar and those
outrageously over-packaged Pringles. The Survivalist
stocks up heavy for what is essentially a 25 minute
journey. I suspect that the hoarding is for in the event
we were to suddenly lose our way and find ourselves
stranded on a lonely deserted island in a far flung,
forgotten corner of the South China Sea. Which is
probably an apt description of our own beloved island
anyway.
Just in case that does occur, I always ensure I keep
a Survivalist in close proximity, lest I need to
befriend them quickly.
Then we have the Uprights.
You know them. The moment the ship sets sail they are
ready, infinitely poised to pounce up to the exit door
lest they lose a precious second when disembarking. I
suspect that the uprights are those same people that
race between closely gathered traffic lights when they
live in lands inhabited by cars. 10 points for keen
enthusiasm, though, for this motivated lot.
I propose we give Uprights a ticket discount seen as
they hardly occupy a seat.
I do imagine however, if we were to hit an iceberg on
our journey that the Uprights would be generally
reluctant to give up their seat on the lone life-raft
for the woman and children. Let's just say that I can't
see too many of them pulling out trombones from their
backpacks, perching themselves outside on the balconies
and playing Auld Lang Syne as the ship tips upwards and
slowly plunges into the hidden depths of the murky blue
sea.
There is a dark, long lost cave in the deepest
jungles of Papua New Guinea. The painted walls, a rich
tapestry of bold oranges and striking greens
interspersed with hues of blues, depicting a scene akin
to Armageddon with the stark warning scrawled in a
vicious red, "Watch out for the Quiet Ones".
Wise words indeed from a long lost pygmy.
Which brings us to the Pod
People.
The most ominous and borderline frightening of all
ferry travelers are those Pod People. You can recognize
them by the telltale tendrils emanating out of their ear
sockets, silently nodding to an anonymous beat. They
blend seamlessly into their surroundings and tread
softly. Their numbers are creeping, slowly and surely on
the rise. I dread the day when in a sudden moment they
are all listening to the same beat at the same time.
When a crazed Steve Jobs flicks a subliminal switch
under the table and the Pod People are suddenly
awakened. Boy, I wouldn't want to be alone on the ferry
when that goes down.
So love it or hate it. Curse and shake your fists to
the gods in protest at its socially inhibiting time
schedule and strange smell of cheap detergents and half
eaten curries. It is our Ferry. It is our super highway,
our lifeline and our conduit to the mainland. Or, at the
very least, the main land before the Mainland.
Where would we be without it. |
P.S. I just noted that I actually
fit into two of these groups, being a Survivalist
Pod Person! {*Big BLUSH!*} Anybody who fits into 3 or even
all 4
groups?
Give feedback to our newest correspondent via our
ferry forum or
email
Stash.
If YOU would like to become a guest
blogger, correspondent or columnist for the Lamma-zine,
contact me!
 Visitors
to Lamma's most famous beach in Hung Shing Yeh might have noticed Lamma's
only full- service hotel,
Concerto
Inn,
relaunching their beachside terrace restaurant,
Palm Tree, with a new chef and a
brand-new, international menu.
Lamma-Por and I have personally tested various new menu
choices over the last few months and we can warmly recommend them. It's a
great hangout for an afternoon snack or even a romantic, candle-light
seaside dinner, especially during this Christmas season. You could also get
away from the family and kids and
stay for a night, kind of a
mini island vacation.
 For the Christmas season they're pulling out all the stops in
promoting this cheerful place with all kinds of parties and special offers,
starting with a
Pre-X'mas Buffet Party with over $10,000 in Lucky Draw prizes! We'll
be there - Lamma-Por just loves Lucky Draws - not wanting to miss this fun
party, and giving (a smiley) face to Lamma.com.hk's newest premium
advertiser, of course.
 Here's
the rundown, features and lucky draw gifts:
5 - 6:30pm: Gingerbread
cookie making class.
7 - 9pm: Buffet Dinner
with BBQ Grill & Lucky Draw:
-
15 prizes worth over $10,000,
including complimentary room plus candle light dinner package, 3D
birthday cake, fabulous wine gifts (such as Leoville Poyferre 2004),
coffee machine, X'mas cookies gift set, dining coupons, and more!
-
Live Cello performance
-
Make-a-Wish Tree:
Guests can write and place their wishes on the X'mas tree. We will draw
one lucky winner and realize their wishes!
Promotions valid only till Jan 7, 2011,
email them or call 2982
1668.
Check out their pretty, animated, musical
website
and
colourful newsletter.
It all started with this taunt from our
Flora & Fauna forum moderator Zep
(of Birdo Breakfast fame) to Lamma's best wildlife photographer,
Anonymous Guy:
"There's no way you would ever get an adult male Red-Breasted
Flycatcher here. It's never ever been seen in Hong Kong before, never
mind photographed."
Never one to resist a wildlife photo challenge, no matter how difficult and
time- consuming it might be, Guy got down to it and proved Zep wrong, once
again:
"Well, Zep, it seems the unlikely does occur sometimes.
First adult male sighting for HK. Set of photos of
adult male Red-Breasted Flycatcher taken 06/12/2010 on Lamma Island...
Full set of photos, video & sound bytes at
this link."
 
 
|
Anonymous Guy -
Official Court Wildlife Photographer
of Lamma.com.hk: |
|
Zep
wrote:
"Well well well - one for the record books! Trebles
all round.
I imagine the HKBWS (HK Bird
Watchers Society) twitchers will be beating a
path to your door."
Yes... it is quite a find.
The twitchers... don't think I have to worry too much
about them.
Apart from a few hard core ones, most of them would have
difficulty dealing with the adventure of it all:
First, they will need to iron their designer
camouflage kits and pack their photo expedition gear in
time to get the early ferry...,
Slurp
down a Purple Cow frozen yogurt and coffee
combo...,
Sail the roaring
seas round the Cape of Pak Kok...,
Walk the terminal
plank...,
Hang around waiting
for a taxi that will never turn up...,
Dodge
the kamikaze VVs...,
Have an early
morning pint with the locals at The Island Bar:
chat with Zep
about any great potential local birding spots for rare
and unknown birds,
get expert photo advice from Bob Davis,
while away a few minutes with L-G about
the glories of Lamma...,
Navigate their way through Main Street...,
Don their facemasks
to dampen our local scents...,
 Barge
their way through the mindless meandering tourist flocks
and window shoppers...,
Haggle with Fun Day
ticket touts...,
Scoff their "fishballs
on a stick"...,
Fight off the
triads...,
Distribute "Little
Red envelopes" strategically...,
Battle the drug
lords...,
Grapple with our
hooligans & graffitists...,
Manoeuvre past our
buskers...,
Donate to LAWC...,
Accommodate our
flower sellers...,
Inch past Bookman's
pack of dogs...,
Tiptoe through our
dog sh*t minefields...,
Pay the temple
keeper...,
Traverse our
mosquito infested swamps...,
Leap across our
open sewage system...,
Sneak past our
natives...,
Smoke a spliff...,
Get harangued by
Chicken Linda...,
Climb my
mountain...,
Crawl through
undergrowth...,
Slither past the
snakes...,
Stay upwind of the
wild boar pack...,
Scale my fence
ringed garden...,
Placate my savage dogs...,
...all the time carrying
their 40kg of telephoto lenses, wearing their Weekend
Warrior grins,
 just
to buy a ticket for next year's Red-Breasted
Flycatcher follow-up tour, 'coz the birds didn't
make it for the afternoon matinee yesterday... they may
have already moved on to warmer climes.
Don't think I have to
worry about the twitchers too much.
Although they will be able to buy a ticket for this
lady's bathing performance if they get here by
07:30am... (female Magpie Robin) |
P.S. Are these the people Anonymous Guy is writing about? I
shot these Twitchers in the Wetland Park on Nov 7, while they were zooming
in on their prey:
After the 12th Annual Operation Santa Claus Island Bar Treasure Hunt,
Sunday, Dec 5, 2010:
Exhausted but happy from all the walking - an approx. 3-hour round trip via
Tai Peng, Heart Attack Hill, Pak Kok Villages, Lammarina, YSW - following
129 clues and questions, many of which had to be answered by taking a photo
or even singing a Christmas Carol over the mobile phone!
Congrats to all participants for their endurance and charity, and the
organisers and support staff for all their hard work on another well-organised
yearly Hunt, already the 12th, a real Lamma Tradition by now!
Santa Claus and his elves joined into the traditional post-event group shot,
a unique, once-yearly photo opportunity, always covered in the Lamma-zine.
Mrs. Santa Claus writes:
"The Treasure Hunt went very well! The
best prize as the Concerto Inn's
overnight package and it was very well received by the lead
team.
L-G took some great photos of the teams
en masse outside The Island Bar, but unfortunately we ran late
and people were anxious to find out who won prizes and move on
home, so we have no photos of the prize giving.
The event raised about $10,000 or so
and there will be more opportunities to raise more. We still
have lots of activities to come....
So HO HO HO."
Click below to enlarge my pictures:
Ferry from Aberdeen is arriving at YSW pier,
seen from The Island Bar
The post-Treasure-Hunt party continues in
inside and outside The Island Bar
|
 |
Shirley the Nightingale, a
journalism student at HK Baptist University, has been visiting Lamma today,
a peaceful Monday. She has been following up on her very hectic and busy
first-ever Lamma visit last Monday when she got up to lots of interviews
with Yours Truly, Lammadonna, Emily the Ice-Cream Lady, Ah-Por Tofu Fa,
Gavin & Gary the Herbolanders, and Alice the Italian.
Shirley
contacted me over this website, overwhelming me with questions and chasing me
repeatedly for an interview, even calling me on a Sunday morning at 10am!
Well, my phone number is at the top of this website and my readers are
ALWAYS welcome to call me about anything Lamma- or Lammaite-related, all day
and evenings, 7 days per week.
Well, usually shy & semi-retired L-G finally gave in, not able to resist
her relentless, but charming curiosity and persistence. I was happy to show
her around last Monday and introduce her to a number of Lammaites to
interrogate, eh, interview them in her cheerful, egregious & always-curious
way, perfectly suited for a successful future, professional journalist.
Here's her beautiful, well-written story with lots of pictures, from her
"Nightingale - Ode
to The Joy of Life" blog. She's painting a quaint, almost idyllic
impression of North Lamma on a weekday, almost devoid of visitors, when the
place belongs to us residents:
Somewhere in Time (Monday,
Dec 6)
If you're interested in Nightingale's interviews last Monday
with many Lammaites:
The Root (Monday,
Nov 29)
Photos by Shirley (click to enlarge):
 
 
|
Sean Creamer -
Official Court Cricket Correspondent
-
Wordly Images:
(The Cricket Sixes advertise in the Lamma-zine every
year. As part of our deal, I bartered two all-access
weekend media passes for Sean & his photographer friend,
Anthony, in exchange for Sean's story and photos.
A deal with extra benefits as Sean won $500 on the final
day. Congrats!) |
|
An international line up including
England, Australia, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Hong
Kong, South Africa and New Zealand - the tournament
promised to deliver its money's worth of exciting action
and incredible talent.
For most countries influenced by the
British Empire, cricket is an extremely social game. In
South Africa, cricket is accompanied by 'braais'
(barbecues) and 'biltong' (dried meat), in England it
can be quite a formal affair and in India it's a way of
life. Cricket in Hong Kong is becoming increasingly
popular with more than 29 teams and clubs playing
regularly against each other – this includes our very
own Lamma Cricket Club run by Brad the Wine
Baron.
While normal cricket is usually one game
played in one or over a number of days, the cricket
sixes or short form cricket comprises of a number of
teams playing each other in a round robin format. The
batting team is required to score as many runs as
possible from about 30 balls, which are bowled by the
team which are out in the field. After watching a few
matches it becomes pretty clear what needs to be done by
each team in every game – bowl the ball as hard as you
can so no one can hit it and hit the ball as hard as you
can so no one can catch it.
After a whole week of relatively clear
conditions, in true Hong Kong fashion the real winner
was the weather. The much anticipated tournament faced a
rather upsetting setback – rain. Saturday started off
with the first game being postponed to 10am. However, it
got off to an explosive start with the home team facing
their rival and last year's winner, South Africa.
Despite the rain interrupting the second innings of the
game, the two teams marched on with huge hits into the
spectator stands, setting the tone for the rest of the
weekend.
Walking into the Kowloon Cricket Club
grounds on Sunday, you were blasted by the spicy aromas
coming from the Jashan sponsored food stalls. Biryani,
chicken curry, samosas – an Indian food lover's dream!
For those that were not spicy food fans, there were
sandwiches, sausage rolls and pastries too. Ice cold
beer was being served by the barrel load as well as the
weather appropriate Pimm's.
India and Sri Lanka were well backed by
a group of rowdy (all in good fun) supporters; at least
they were situated on adjacent stands to each other so
that no fights would break out! Armed with megaphones,
vuvuzelas, drums, trumpets and any other instrument of
eardrum destruction they could find, they were behind
any team that played well and any team that hit the ball
in their direction.
The organizers were handing out HKD500
in cash for caught balls; one lucky Lammaite, Sean
Creamer (yours truly) was fortunate to be in the way of
the ball when it was struck into the West Stands.
Unfortunately it struck another spectator on the
shoulder, flew into Sean's chest and bounced into the
air to be caught by him, one handed, while the other
hand was occupied by a beer (no spills) and a bruised
chest. The rule is that if it touches the ground it
doesn't count – it didn't touch the ground so it did
count and he won himself the cash prize!
Most of the Lammaites could be seen
taking up a good portion of the 'South Stand' on both
Saturday and Sunday; relaxing and cheering their
favourite teams on, while their young ones scuttle about
trying to get as many signatures as possible from their
favourite cricket stars.
Sadly, game play had to be shortened, to
accommodate all the teams, due to the previous day's
gloomy conditions which prevented game play for more
than half of the day. This didn't stop the players from
putting on an impressive show for the spectators as big
hitters like David Warner from Australia, smashed balls
over the stands and into the trees and roads beyond –
the ball boys really had their work cut out for them!
From a spectator point of view the
favorites of the tournament are usually the underdogs,
in this case Hong Kong, India, and Pakistan. Hong Kong
and India were unfortunately knocked out in earlier
rounds, leaving Pakistan to face Australia in the final.
The game began with Pakistan handing out a crushing 132
runs all out, a total that would be difficult to follow.
Australia stepped up confidently but were marred by the
Pakistani's superb bowling efforts. However their luck
changed when star bowler, Nazir made critical errors
causing extra points to be scored – delivering the
impossible to the inevitable in a matter of minutes for
Australia. The tension in stands was nerve racking,
almost everyone was on their feet waiting for the final
delivery - The Aussies needed one run off one ball. The
final ball was delivered and hit for four points. For
the first time in cricket sixes history Australia won
the cup in which can only be described as a nail biting
finish to a fantastic day of thrilling and entertaining
matches.
The field was almost instantly covered
with spectators, sprinting to shake the hands with both
the Pakistanis and Australians, and retrieve the pink
stumps left at the wicket. Some loyalists and die hard
fans waited around to cheer on the winners and losers at
the award ceremony, while others stocked up on buy two
get one free cricket shirts and samosas for the 18:30
ferry home, but one thing that everyone had in common,
was the smile on their face from having a completely
awesome weekend and perhaps a little sunburn too. |
.jpg)
 |
P.S. SMS from Brad the Wine
Baron today:
"Lamma Cricket Club has WON the HK
International Club Sixes!"
Wow, outstanding! Warm congratulations from the Lamma-zine!
Another eclectic and unusual mix of Lamma Events tomorrow,
Sunday, Dec 5:
Christmas Fair:
Sun, Dec 5, 10am-5pm:
Banyan House
Kindergarten:
"Face Painting, Children's Activity, Crafts, BBQ, Bake Sale, Tombola,
Storytelling, Handmade Crafts and Christmas Gifts, Hot and Cold Food and
Drinks, Mulled Wine, Second-hand Toys and Books."
Poster.
Treasure Hunt:
Sun, Dec 5, 12noon:
Island
Bar: Team
registrations 12noon-1pm. Bring along a camera, trail not buggy-friendly, plenty of prizes.
Poster.
Father Christmas on his sleigh, parading
through Main Street, from The Waterfront to the YSW Ferry Pier and
back, stopping at The Island Bar for photo ops: starting around 4.30pm.
Should
Lamma be more civilized?
Sun, Dec 5, 7-10pm:
Bookworm
Café: Lamma Spirit Branch of HK Philosophy Cafe.
Topic:
"Should Lamma be more civilized? - The pros and cons of modern
civilization". Presenter: Christopher Dyck, Moderator: Tavis du
Preez.
Forum.
 Congrats
to one of Lamma's most famous, beloved and longest- running bands, The Curs!
Their song, Praise the Lord! - performed to rousing applause and a
wildly dancing audience at the recent
Cultural Melting Pot Festival
in the YSW Football Pitch - has just been featured on
HolyYouTube.com, a site full of "Religion based videos"!
  
"John the
Reverend is administering to his flock"
Dancing in trance is
highly encouraged during the sermon
Frazer is trying to
"heal
the immoral and fanatical amongst us."
This honour raises some interesting questions that need to be answered ASAP!
The Curs renamed themselves from their formerly quite sinful, even blasphemous
band
name of Yung Shue Wankers. Did this happen after they all converted wholesale
to the One True Faith and started Praising the Lord in public?
Shall we see The Curs parade through Main Street, like a Salvation Army band,
in Santa Claus costumes, collecting funds for charitable Christian causes?
Shall we see The Curs perform in some local Nativity plays and Christmas
Pantos this month, with all the religious fervor and passion of recently
reborn Christians?
 Shall
we see The Curs perform Christian Christmas Carols at weekend
services in our Catholic Portiuncula Monastery (above the Catholic
Kindergarten),
The Hangout (1 Back Street), the Lamma Mission Centre (above Hung Shing Yeh),
or the newly established branch of the fundamentalist Canaan Church (Sha
Po Old Village), or even in that well-established local centre of religious, deep-thinking
discourse, The Island Bar (late at night, after many a pint consumed)?
Band member Holy Harry Harrison has just commented on Facebook about
this HolyYouTube video above, joking:
"That's dreadful. Those sound guys were crap."
P.S. Here's
Nick the Bookman's review of the Cultural Melting Pot Festival. Even
our Official Court Music Reviewer is writing about the religious song titles
of The Curs:
"John the Reverend is administering to his flock. A double dose of
"Praise The Lord" and "Plastic Jesus" to heal the immoral and fanatical
amongst us.
It's working, too. Drunks are attempting to walk. Dancers find their inner
stumble rhythms."
|
Mrs. Santa Claus
- Co-owner of
Island Bar and The Waterfront: |
|
The Island Bar Annual Treasure
Hunt
this
coming Sunday, 5th December
What a Great Way to spend Sunday!
Come along and join the fun by making up
a team for the 12th Island Bar Annual TREASURE HUNT!
The Treasure Hunt is held in support of
Operation Santa Claus, which, as most of us know, is a
charity event held jointly by SCMP and RTHK with support
from companies and individuals throughout Hong Kong. The
contributions raised go to help needy people and
organisations in Hong Kong.
THE TREASURE HUNT
 I
think it says something that this will be the TWELFTH
YEAR that The Island Bar has organised the Treasure Hunt
and it therefore goes without saying that IT MUST BE
FUN!
Witty clues to follow, silly questions
to answer, bring your dogs, bring your children (ok, not
necessarily in that order) and be prepared to enjoy a
great trek around parts of Lamma you have probably never
seen before.
WHO's IT FOR?
All of us FUN lovers!
WHAT IS IT?
Teams of four, made up of friends, families or just
a few individuals who would like to get together,
following a trail that might, just might, bring them
treasure! The trail takes between 2-3 hours (depending
upon your effort and cluelessness). It's all in good fun
and all in a good cause!
 HOW
IT WORKS:
-
Simply
register between Noon and 1:00pm at The Island Bar
in Yung Shue Wan (straight off the ferry, first bar
on the left) and pay your HK$500 team registration
(which you can personally put straight into the
Operation Santa Box).
-
Receive
your instructions (very brief) and a trail pack
(with clues, often very funny), relax for a few
minutes while you think up a really intriguing name
for your team (you win points for the best name) and
then set off following your clues.
-
 Follow
the clues, answer the questions in the booklet you
will be given (IT HELPS IF YOU BRING A PEN) and find
your way back to The Island Bar tired, happy and
extremely ready for a FREE bevy which you will enjoy
whilst we mark your papers.
-
Listen to
the teams results and enjoy receiving your prize!
 YES,
it's that simple.
PRIZES are given for the team to finish
the trail fastest, with the most correct answers, the
best dressed team etc, etc. Loads and loads of fun
things to win, from ice cream coupons (Emily), festive
fruit hampers, coupons for restaurants (Cath's Banyan
Tree Café amongst others), yummy cheese cake and as a
really great prize – a night in the CONCERTO INN
complete with dinner for two!
HEY - Forgot to mention! FATHER
CHRISTMAS will be coming through the village on his
sleigh at about 4.00-4.30 to wave at all the good little
children. He'll be distributing sweeties to the sweet
ones and a bit of coal to the really bad ones (no, he
won't 'cos all the children on Lamma are good). There'll
be an opportunity to have a
photo-take with Santa. Watch out for his elves
and reindeer. They'll be there too!
For this special one day only, children
will be welcomed into The Island Bar.
PLEASE COME AND SUPPORT THIS GREAT
FUNCTION FOR A GREAT CAUSE! |
Click for photo gallery of a former Treasure Hunt
P.S. Just in from Frazer McGilvray,
a photo of the very
first Island Bar Treasure Hunt in 2000. Click to find out who's who:
|
