|
|
|
|
|
 |
Rescue From the
Windturbine
Aug 31
The entire Lamma Winds
area was closed off, so I had to do a bit of fast
talking to get in.... |
 |
Has Lamma Island Become
Crezy?
-
Aug 30
What's becoming "crezy"
here, besides our rents? The weather? The people? The
bars?
|
 |
Eating Smoke on Lamma
Aug 29
"Eating
Smoke, One Man's Descent into Drug Psychosis in Hong
Kong's Triad Heartland." |
 |
Drum & Dance @ The Beach
Aug 28
Lammaite Makha & friends
performing for free at this Lamma Fun Day-style event.
|
 |
Quadrocopter Over Lamma
Aug 27
Have you ever seen this
funky, alien object hovering above your head at night? |
 |
Stumbling Randomly
Aug 26
What's happening in a
typical day of the Lamma-zine writer/editor/
photographer?
|
 |
Just Green Lamma Soap
Aug 25
Look what I found in Just
Green, the "Organic Convenience Store" opposite Bookworm
Café: |
 |
Lamma-Gung Has Dog-Ears
Aug 24
Having recovered from my
exile in the Special Care Unit of Tung Wah Hospital....
|
 |
Congrats on NOT Moving!
Aug 23
We came within just a few
days of having to move out of our rented flat a few days
ago! |
 |
Winning Sand Sculptures
Aug 22
Over 150 volunteers
participated in the event, both from the local community
and foreign countries.
|
 |
Why Do You Like Living
on Lamma?
- Aug 21
A Lammaite was recently
bitten in Bali by one of those bright-green Bamboo Pit
Vipers.... |
 |
Countess Lamma-Por the
Shrewd
-
Aug 20
See what happens when I
get distracted on a lazy Saturday morning on my PC,....
|
 |
Helicoptering Feedback
Aug 19
My photo gallery of
Helicoptering Over Lamma got more feedback than any
other recent story,.... |
 |
A Failed Sunset Photo
Shoot
Aug 18
The sky last evening
looked ready for another spectacular display of sunset
colours....
|
 |
Trig Point Hike & Photo
Shoot
Aug 17
Let's go for another
pre-breakfast hike today, via Lamma Winds and the Snake
Trail to the Trig Point. |
 |
CRAZY BUNCH on Dolphin
Quest
-
Aug 16
Congratulations
to the Lamma Outrigger Club for completing the "Dolphin Quest".
|
 |
If You Lived on Lamma...
Aug 15
Artist Debra Morris
writes in her beautifully illustrated virtual booklet: |
 |
Helicoptering Over Lamma
Aug 14
I've just enjoyed the
good
fortune of tagging along on a
helicopter....
|
 |
Social Capital Carnival
@
PS Beach
- Aug 13
Care and Inclusion Sand
Sculpturing Competition &
Social Capital Carnival. |
 |
The Curs & Friends
Aug 12
In The Island Bar
tonight:
They promised that "It'll be a riot" on their poster,
but this looks....
|
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Trojans Detected &
Quarantined
- Aug 11
Thanks to Norton Internet
Security for keeping the Lamma.com.hk PC safe. |
 |
Lamma Gets Steamed &
Builds Sand Sculptures
Aug 10
While London Burns....
It'll be a riot.
|
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Electricity E-Bills
Aug 9
... customers who opt for
receiving e-bills can get $30 tariff rebate or donate
the amount.... |
 |
Getting Back in Shape
Aug 8
So you can expect to see
a lot more photos from Lamma's more remote & quaint
areas soon.
|
-bsq.jpg) |
Lamma Lasers! Beware!
Aug 7
... something ... that
makes you sit up and take notice, capturing your
imagination and making.... |
 |
Infrared North Lamma
Aug 6
Infrared aerial view of
Pak Kok Village, Po Wah Yuen and Yung Shue Wan.
|
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Banny the GPS
Mountainbiker
Aug 5
Well-known Lammaite Banny
and his GPS-enabled personal trainer and cycle
computer,... |
 |
Thank You, Purple Cow!
Aug 4
Today, let me relate
another one of my little misadventures in my daily
Stumbling RandomlyTM.
|
 |
Prevent Burglaries With
Police Premiums
- Aug 3
Yearly Burglary
Prevention talk today in the G/F of the Lamma (North)
Rural Committee bldg. |
 |
Unfulfilled Aspiration
for Ten Years
- Aug 2
You might have noticed
this new banner on the YSW Main Street fence opposite
Lung Kong?
|
 |
Shimmering Sunset Ferry
Ride
- Aug 1
Today, a brand-new,
beautiful and serene music video by Lamma Composer Adam
Gill. |
 It
all started with this little notice on the YSW City Hall. Curious about this
"temporary closure", I decided to check it out, mountain-biking to Lamma
Winds after 10am today. The entire Lamma Winds area was closed off alright,
so I had to do a bit of fast talking to several uniformed people to be
allowed to take close-up pictures, in addition to my panoramic shots from
both the hills surrounding Lamma's eco-landmark and premier tourist
attraction.
 I
tried to volunteer as a "victim" to be saved from atop Lamma Winds, but even
my (true) story of jumping off the Macau Tower didn't impress these truly
tough guys from the just recently (Aug 12) established
High Angle Rescue Team (HART) of the Fire Services Dept.
Lamma Winds could be such a great
location for mountaineering, abseiling, even a bungee jump attraction and I'd be the first in line to
experience that!
HK Electric had invited the team for this unique and most
unusual "high angle" rescue drill, even hiring a photographer and a
videographer to cover it, but for their internal purposes only as no media
was invited, not even the Lamma-zine. But it's quite rare for something like
this to happen on Lamma without me hearing about it. Our local firefighters
stopped by as well to have a good look, maybe even learn a thing or two,
just in case they have to rescue any of us Lammaites from the top (3rd)
floor of our Village Houses.
Chatting with senior team member Leung Wai-kong, he took pictures
with his iPhone, uploading them straight to Facebook, so his e-publishing
was faster than my own! He told impressive stories of training this new Fire
Services elite team and rescuing people from the Ngong Ping 360 cable cars
when they broke down mid-air a few years ago. Compared to that, this drill
was a fun day out and these fit & cheerful guys made the most of it, going
up and down solo or in tandem (with a "victim") quite a number of times,
from the side and even over the front of the (stopped) windturbine.
OK, Lamma Winds: done! Next week these lads (no ladies in
the team) will be dangling from the outside of the new ICC's 87th floor for
another rescue drill.
 
   
   
Click for photo gallery...
What's becoming "crezy" here, besides our rents?
The weather? The people? The bars? The
environment? The graffiti?
To find out, join our
Crezy forum discussion...
And if this would become true,
Is it time to leave Lamma?
|
Jay Scott Kanes
- Official
Court Book Reviewer -
Cairns Media:
|
|
FOR DRUGS, AUTHOR FAVORS
CHUNGKING MANSIONS AND LAMMA
Once a British military
man, then a Hong Kong drug addict and now an author,
Chris Thrall tells an enthralling and delusional
story in Eating Smoke, One Man's Descent into Drug
Psychosis in Hong Kong's Triad Heartland (2011,
Blacksmith Books, 418 pages). It's an autobiographical
tale of addiction, paranoia and near-tragedy for a
25-year-old gweilo who comes to Asia in 1995.
Early on, readers learn of
two prime destinations to buy and consume illicit drugs.
One is Chungking Mansions, a towering, run-down complex
of almost-everything on Nathan Road in teeming Tsim Sha
Tsui. "Ordinarily, the smell of curry and garlic
would have been inviting, but mixed with that of hair
ointment, cheap aftershave and body odour, as well as
urine, faeces, rotting food and pest life, it created a
miasma of suffocating proportions."
The second place -- for a
better-smelling, more out-of-the-way version of the
"high life" – is Lamma Island. " 'Fuck it, Pepi!
I was dying for a smoke.' I punched the mattress.
Pepi tilted his head back and chuckled. Then, bringing
his gracious laughter lines and deep tan closer, he
said. 'Well, you know what this means, don't you?'
'Nope. What does this mean, Pepi?'
'This means we're gonna have to take a trip to Lamma
Island."
What's Lamma like? "Together
with a sprinkling of locals, it's mainly members of the
Hippy Trail, artistic types and other free-spirited
gweilos who inhabit the tiny island – most working in
the city but wanting to withdraw from its chaotic
environment and relax during their evenings and
weekends. With its fair share of dope smokers, Lamma has
a bad name with the Chinese community, whose cultural
identity, I would learn, sees them despise drugs and the
people who do them."
So many Lamma Islanders
must be drug-users? "I saw people disappearing off up
the hill inland towards smart three-storey maisonettes –
three floors being the maximum build allowed on Lamma –
and wondered if they were nipping off home for a smoke."
Initially, Thrall moves to
Hong Kong for an ill-advised business venture. "I
definitely thought I was right. I belonged elsewhere… in
Hong Kong, the business capital of the world."
As always, Hong Kong makes
a powerful impression. "The sights, sounds and smells
of Cantonese culture and exchange bombarded my senses as
elaborate facades sold everything from Rolex watches to
dried tiger penis, steam poured out of noodle shops and
a cacophony of traffic noise complemented the vivid
clashing colours of signs…."
Some products that Thrall
tries to sell have flaws. "…the Quorum Bicycle Alarm
that everyone hoped would set off firecrackers in the
Chinese market cost eight times more to buy there than a
bicycle itself."
In the tropical heat,
business prospects evaporate. "Without the proper
merchandise, Quorum had as much chance of success as a
Siamese twin in a game of hide-and-seek."
Almost as fast, Thrall
falls prey to crystal-meth despite knowing its dangers.
"As I stood there on the platform at Tsim Sha Tsui for
the third time in a week, unable to stop myself going to
buy meth and not wanting to stop anyway, I knew I was
addicted."
When under the influence
of drugs, some routine Hong Kong activities turn
extraordinary. On the Mass Transit Railway, "My
fellow passengers slowly began to morph like some
bizarre mutation from passive commuters conversing in
subdued Cantonese tones into chattering chimpanzees. It
wasn't so much strange as intriguing. I found myself
staring at the couple across from me, wondering if the
shape-shifting would continue and how it'd be if they
started screeching, beating their chests and rampaging
up and down the carriage, swinging off the handrails and
chucking bananas at me."
Addiction and
disorientation create problems for Thrall to hold jobs.
Always soon dismissed, he works as a salesman,
night-club doorman, disc jockey and school teacher. At
work, he spends much of his time "sorting out jack shit
from bugger all".
A transient resident of
different neighborhoods (Admiralty, Mongkok and Wan Chai),
Thrall descends into delusions and erratic behavior.
"Living in the Not-So-Fragrant Harbour really spun your
melon at times."
Soon readers too must
struggle to decide what really happens and what wafts
from drug-induced illusions. Even the book's title has
puzzling origins. " 'Sik yin! Yat gun ho lok!' came
that bizarre shout down the stairs of the club, again,
as I sat behind the lectern enjoying a busy evening.
I'd been hearing it for days in both English and Chinese
accents. I knew what it meant. I just couldn't see from
down the stairwell who kept shouting it from the street
above.
Sik yin, literally, means 'eating smoke' –
'smoking' as in cigarettes. Yat gun ho lok means
'one can of coke'. But why people were shouting it at
me, I had no idea."
Maybe the exact dimensions
of reality hardly matter. More importantly, sometimes
the drugs deliver jolts of courage. Often they don't.
"By fuck, I was scared… absolutely fucking terrified."
Fascinating, disturbing
and even revolting, Eating Smoke won't please
anyone squeamish about Hong Kong's nasty side or about
illegal, self-destructive behavior. "Sitting on the
filthy concrete, I convulsed occasionally and whimpered
like a sick dog. I hadn't slept for days, the crystal
meth pulsing through my veins denying all refuge from
the madness enveloping me."
Despite Thrall's flights
of fancy, the book also has a rich candor that makes a
powerful anecdote for tourism-promotion videos. Here's
the real Hong Kong: "…I decided to (scoot) up a back
alley – a dark stinking shortcut that crawled with fat
rats thriving on scraps thrown out of the back doors of
restaurants. They weren't ordinary rodents, either.
These dirt-matted mutants only scurried out of the way
so they could watch with contempt as you passed through
their patch, jeering as stale water dripped down from
antiquated air conditioners."
Partial credit for the
book's strong points goes to its editor, Alan Sargent,
a veteran prose-repairman who handles many of the best
English books written in or about Hong Kong. By
coincidence, he lives on Lamma Island.
Readers familiar with Hong
Kong will recognize much, including the types of
triad-infested nightclubs where Thrall works. Even so,
many of the events come as surprises, as do the contents
of backrooms: "Tucked in next to the electricity
cables on the conduit overhead were two sawn-off iron
bars – about three inches long and perfect for holding
in your fist to add to the punch you'd give an unwelcome
guest. I found a length of metal rod on top of the
air-conditioning unit, a heavy chain behind the
refrigerator and a rusty meat cleaver underneath it.
'Wow! It's like something from a Bruce Lee film'."
Most visitors to Hong
Kong, and even many residents, never have experienced
the city's sinister core more closely than they will in
Eating Smoke. Thank goodness!
Born in Kent, England,
Thrall joined the Royal Marine Commandoes at age 18.
During a seven-year military stint, he served in
Northern Ireland and trained in Arctic warfare, the
latter being of limited value in sweltering Hong Kong.
The author remembers
enough from his Hong Kong days-of-haze to fill this
memorable, slightly disturbing book. Curious readers may
wonder if he can write equally well on drug-free topics.
For more information:
http://www.blacksmithbooks.com/9789881900296.htm
|
 The highlights of the recent Social Carnival Capital @ Power
Station Beach were, in my humble opinion, the West African drummers and dancers:
Lammaite Makha & friends performing for free at this Lamma Fun
Day-style event. They got the surprisingly international crowd clapping,
singing along and even got Lammadonna dancing, see below:
 
  
More pictures in the
Social Capital Carnival photo gallery...
Now you can learn these infectious moves and
drum beats yourself every Sunday on Cable Road close to Power
Station Beach. Show up and get a Free Trial Class!
Children's Birthday Drum Jam - a unique experience for your children!
 Have
you ever seen this funky, alien object hovering above your head
at night, moving around UFO-like, emitting whirring, humming
noises? No? You might have seen it if you live in Tung O Wan,
the new centre for quadrocopter enthusiasts. This is how this
thing looks like in daylight, a quadrocopter with 4 turbines.
Pretty cool, eh? I want one! What a nice tool for taking
secretive photos and videos, ideal for investigative journalism
and uncovering some well-hidden aspects of island life?
 They
even mount video cameras on their quadrocopters and upload the
results to YouTube! It all started with a reply email to my "Helicoptering
Over Lamma" biweekly e-newsletter (click for
free subscription) on Aug 15, sent to 4,500+ recipients
worldwide. The mysterious feedback email from LammaJoeYu
contained no words, just a single YouTube link. Spam? I almost
deleted it, but after checking the link quality, I opened it up.
Like "Open Sesame!" I entered a little
wonderland full of short videos shot automatically by a model
quadrocopter (see above, click for close-up video) taking off
from various parts of Lamma, rising high, looking around and
then landing again. It took me a while to explore and watch it
all, seeing Lamma in a way that you could only see when flying
low above our island. A quadrocopter is probably (?) cheaper
than one hour in a Heliservices helicopter (HK$25,000)!
Below are the best videos I found, sorted by
starting/landing points. I had to figure out some of the more
unusual locations myself as there are no descriptions, titles or
keywords; so no chance of finding these videos by searching. The
wildest ones are filmed with a
remote-controlled camera and a fisheye lens:
 
Lamma Winds -- Concerto Inn, Hung Shing Yeh beach
 
Ling Kok Shan
helipad, above Sok Kwu Wan -- Tung O Wan, South Lamma
(just uploaded by lammajoeyu, only 2 views so far!)
What's happening in a typical day of the Lamma-zine
writer/editor/photographer while I'm
Stumbling RandomlyTM all over Lamma? Well, let's use today as a
good example, another unplanned day without any appointments or schedules:
 1.
Alerted by this banner on the fence vis-a-vis Deli Lamma and a
poster (all Chin. only) at the Rural Committee Bldg. opposite HSBC, I
got it translated by my "summer intern", Lamma-Por. Picking up two tickets
in Lammadonna's office for one of the oldest Lamma events, the
National Day dinner, we learn that it's probably the biggest, not-free,
yearly
event for Lammaites.
About 500 of us will take special ferries to Aberdeen
on Sep 24, 6pm. We'll be on table #37, just in case you might like to join us on our
very first-ever
National Day dinner, including some tbc VIPs, performances,
Lucky Draws. Another great opportunity for a photo gallery, titled something like "Patriotic Lammaites at Play"?
 2. After several months of
being neglected outdoors - due to my two skin surgeries within less
than three months - my slowly rusting mountain bike is in desperate need of
some professional, loving care and attention by our reliable & cheerful Bike Lady.
Within two hours -
she even refused my tip -
I can ride my bike again through YSW for the first time in months. It's so
convenient for exploring what's happening all over Lamma, North and South,
looking for Lamma-zine news. Mo Tat Wan and Tung O Wan, here comes the
Roving Bike Reporter ... next
week.
3.
Depositing a mailed cheque from
Bookazine who'll continue their
occasional advertising banner on this home page till the Christmas season.
Expect to hear more from Bookazine in the next 4 months.
 4.
Hiking via the Snake Path to Hans Andersen Club in Tai Wan Village, dropping
of a DVD with all the high-resolution photos I took of their Social
Capital Carnival. Their PR lady liked them, requesting them for their
own use. Always happy to oblige.
Judging from their extremely well-organised
Carnival, HAC and their 150 (!) volunteers would be most qualified to organise
Lamma Fun Day in the future, after its cancellation
this year, lacking organisers.
 5.
While waiting for my bike maintenance, why not spontaneously walk over
to Hung Shing Yeh beach to enjoy one of
Concerto Inn's fabulous
Afternoon Tea Sets?!
Raymond the Master
Chef, Carl the Coffee Master and ex-B&B's Danny all
come over to my table to chat. When one of them misunderstands
my
 left-over
takeaway request and dumps my left-overs by mistake, Raymond
fries up some additional fresh samosas and spring rolls for me
to take home, without any problems. Great!
I'm getting the
15-30% Discount for Lamma Residents, tipping generously.
A really classy place with great service!
 They've
got a
brand-new website, new logo, and a wide selection of
Specials and Packages available now.
6.
On my hike back from the beach, I encounter our off-duty-casual Police
Chief, Philip Kwok, on Back Street. He greets me and we start chatting:
After a little encouragement from
 his boss (whom I've met at
the recent Public Forum about the New Police Station), he promised to write some advice
for Lamma-zine readers on how to avoid burglaries (received the next day!)
New Police Station on the first phase of the YSW harbour
reclamation, just behind the future Activity Room besides the Gaido Pier:
tendering right now, construction to start before end of this year,
replacing the Police Station above Hung Shing Yeh.
Murder case:
no confession from suspect, no major news, in Eastern Magistracy
now, to be referred to High Court for jury trial.
 7.
Returning home, I notice an email from LammaJoeYu, no words, just a
link. Checking it out, I find YouTube videos shot from a model helicopter
lifting off various spots all over Lamma. One of the videos takes
off inside the courtyard of Concerto Inn, literally a few feet away from
where I was sitting this afternoon. See separate story tomorrow....
8.
Calling a yard sale number, after seeing their poster plastered in dozens
of places all. Tomorrow, I'll pick up a Canon Pixma MG5270
color inkjet scanner/ copier/printer,
 replacing my 10+ year old
and dying HP
printer which can barely print black text anymore.
I'll be
connecting it to my Wifi router so Lamma-Por can print from her
gaming laptop. The Canon machine is only 5 months old, 60+% off at only
$500; another great bargain in a Lamma yard sale from a couple
leaving for Bahrain. They might stay in touch with what's
happening on Lamma via this website.
Look what I found in Just Green the "Organic
Convenience Store" opposite Bookworm Café:
 After
closer inspection, it turns out that this is a product from the Green Lamma
Group, using waste cooking oil from local restaurants, recycling it to
create biodegradable soap for charity. Wow, a most commendable initiative
and so easy to support at only $12/soap bar! More details on this flyer.
 When
buying for my little purchases - most items in just Green are not available
anywhere else on Lamma - I noticed on the sales receipt below that there's a
3rd location of just GREEN? Checking out
their website
at home revealed that Helen the Just Greenie
is opening up a 3rd store this month in Wanchai:
 Oh,
you haven't heard yet of the 2nd store in Soho either? It's been open for
quite a while now (1 year or so) on 52 Graham Street, pretty close to Life
Café whose co-owner/head honcho Moosa (pictured below) is also the
investor behind the just GREEN chain. This is Helen's neat, pretty and comfy
Soho store filled with colourful Organic Convenience food & healthy
things:
 
 
P.S. By the way, just GREEN is not a Lamma-zine advertiser, but they
have advertised back in the modest start-up days when they had only one
shop, on Lamma. Have you/your friends visited the new Wanchai store yet? Any
pictures?
We came within just a few days of having to move out of
our rented flat a few days ago!
Our landlord insisted on a much higher rent to renew our
contract. We tried to negotiate but to no avail. Pay up or move out, we'll
easily find some well-off professionals from town with two salaries who can
afford this new rent, seemed to be the implicit assumption.
He might be right, as there's very little rental property on
the market right now, agents' windows displaying just a single handful of
FOR RENT ads. Most landlords realise that it's the very top of a property
bubble and are eager to sell right now at maximum profit before prices will
retreat to saner levels, hopefully soon. In the currently craziest sale and
rental prices Lamma has EVER seen, the get-rich-quick mentality is becoming
starkly visible once more, demonstrating HK as the most capitalistic place
on Earth (or the
 World's Freest Economy as our Govt. loves to flaunt this
dubious yearly accolade.)
Friends who bought two floors in a new village house two
years ago for $4 million got offered $8 million by Mainland investors, but
didn't sell as their family loves the place. Strange, but then they're not
HK locals, valuing other things higher than money. Such weird people!
We have a pretty
 good off-island Chin. landlord, who pays
for everything that needs some fixing or maintenance, from cleaning aircons
to replacing the canopy. Lamma-Por and I and our friends really, really like
this place. It's also my comfy home office seven days a week, and we
spend a lot of time in here, sometimes not leaving our home all day.
So we relented in the end, remembering all the massive
hassle, cost and inconveniences of moving all our big furniture and stuff
two years ago, accumulated in almost 24 years in HK, plus my unmovable
Rooftop Jungle, and extended our lease. But it's high time to clean out,
simplify and minimise our worldly possessions dramatically. Then we could
maybe move into a smaller, much cheaper place next year. Lamma-Por just
becoming unemployed again recently adds to the bad timing of this drastic
rent increase. Well, I'll muddle through with some rare, hard-to-find
freelance projects like photo shoots and Internet consulting, we're
survivors....
A good friend who has just moved and found it a very tough,
time-consuming, frustrating and expensive ordeal congratulated us on NOT
moving. Thanks!
P.S. The two
rental ads above are from now and less than 2 years ago.
500 Volunteers and Families
Enjoy Social Inclusion on Lamma Island
"In the past three years, Hans Andersen Club was glad to be funded by
Community Investment and Inclusion Fund, providing social inclusion events
and after school care programmes for children and inhabitants living on
Lamma Island. The Care and Inclusion Sand Sculpturing Competition & Social
Capital Carnival was held on 13 August 2011 on the Power Station Beach to
conclude the success of this project. It was aimed that via the competition,
communication among people from different walks of lives can be enhanced.
"... witness over 150 volunteers participated in the event, both from the
local community and foreign countries, which was a good sample of social
inclusion and mutual help....
"Performances on African drumming, ocarina, teenagers' band, karatedo and
dance are included. 14 game booths provided various creative activities on
storytelling, face drawing, balloon twisting and snacking. To promote the
culture of environmental protection, recycle dream houses created by primary
school students were exhibited on the beach. These students joined the
"Fairy Green Home" project earlier this year, which included an eco-tour
around Lamma Island. On their way, they collected garbage and made use of
the materials to create their dream homes."
Read more...
 
Winner of Open Group (C12, Carson
& Friends Volunteer Group) --
Most Popular Award (C17,
Northern Lamma School)
 
Winner of Family Group (C2, Ma
Man Choi Group) - Tracy & Ewan - Andy & Chloe
(all photos above by
Hans Andersen Club Lamma Island, below by L-G)
  
Careful, dedicated & meticulous, Andy @ work --
It looks like Andy entered a Beach Fashion
Contest? --
Sand sculpture C3, the Great Wall of China's Badaling Gateway, inspired by a
trip.
Photo gallery by Lamma-Gung
Jointly Build a Joyful Lamma - HAC leaflet, page 1,
page 2
Finally, a little story from the Hans Andersen Club's
newsletter about the Windebank Family
and their sand sculpture above
(translated from Chin. and updated by HAC, thank you!):
"Tracy Windebank and her family started
living on Lamma Island twenty years
ago. Tracy considered that learning the Chinese culture was
essential in
Hong Kong. Therefore she sent Ewan, her elder son, to Lamma
Island Centre of
Hans Andersen Club to join the after-school care programme. In
the class,
Ewan got to know many friends from different nations, his
Chinese language
also improved a lot. In the past, Ewan was a bit self-centered,
but now,
with the long-term company of other kids, he is capable of
taking care of
others and is more cheerful and outgoing.
"On 13 Aug 2011, Andrew, Tracy's husband
brought Ewan and Chloe, his younger
daughter, to join the Social Capital Carnival organized by HAC.
Andrew
enjoyed the cheerful atmosphere in the carnival; children and
adults,
regardless of their race, working hard together for the Sand
Sculpturing
Competition. The Windebank family chose to make the Great Wall
of China, as
Andy had just been to Beijing this April. The family was
impressed by the
Great Wall as it contained a lot of history."
Pak Kok Old and New Villages,
seen from the Northern trail through the Lamma Forest - Aug 20,
2011
This photo demonstrates why many
Lammaites like living here as opposed to almost anywhere else in
HK (Pak Kok New Village seen from the "Lamma Forest",
HK Island high-rises in the background) -- Helicopter shot
of the same village
I have just been reminded again by another patronising
Govt. TV announcement that I seem to be doing almost
everything wrong when I go hiking. I usually hike alone, don't
wear long-sleeved, light-coloured clothing, rarely carry water
or snacks, never wear sunscreen or mosquito spray, don't stay
away from scrubby areas, and usually don't even wear a
sun-protective hat. But I haven't had any serious problems in
many years so far, no sunburn, heat stroke, twisted ankle or
snake bite yet and hardly any mosquito stings. Well, one
(harmless) centipede bite and one (very painful) wasp sting so
far, but they both didn't happen during hiking. Ah yes, a few
stitches inside one eyebrow from stumbling down a "Lamma Forest"
path a few years back, nothing serious....
Well, all of this probably shows my stupendous
stupidity and my sheer dumb luck so far? Or is it because Lamma
is relatively small and pretty safe for hiking and exploring?
It's almost impossible to get truly lost or get into serious
trouble, as you're always close enough to get help in any
emergency. Our subtropical flora & fauna is generally pretty
benign and harmless. There's (almost) nothing that wants to
chase, hurt or even eat you, as long as you remain reasonably
careful
 (for
example, don't step on any snakes). So even carefree and
footloose hikers like me survive relatively unscathed while
stumbling randomly through Lamma's beautiful hills.
 But
talking of snakes, there have been quite a number of local
sightings these last few weeks and months. Check out the pics,
including a Lammaite who was recently bitten in Bali by one of
those bright-green Bamboo Pit Vipers which are not uncommon on
Lamma (photos by Nancy the Frog Lady & Katie Flowers):
Lamma Snake Sightings
See what happens when I get distracted on a lazy Saturday
morning on my PC, not in the diligent & creative mood yet for another
Lamma-zine story? After updating my Firefox browser and the Flash plug-in, I
followed
Adobe's Flash Site of the Day recommendation (won't work if you're
using an i-something). It's a beautifully animated and interactive movie
site promoting the upcoming medieval romp, "Your Highness".
Like on some e-card sites you can upload your
photo into a scene and customise it, changing clothes and
accessories. "King Lamma-Gung the Silly" couldn't resist a test
and His Highness came up with this couple's portrait which has
become the wallpaper on my PC and Lamma-Por's laptop now. She
choose the title herself from a list of options, "Countess
Lamma-Por the Shrewd". So apt!
OK, enough goofing off, back to real work now,
finishing some Lamma-related stories and photo shoot, plus
collecting loads of input from many people for future stories.
In the meantime, you're most welcome to...
 The
sky last evening looked ready for another spectacular display of sunset
colours and shapes. So I grabbed my camera and tripod and climbed to the top
of my rooftop with a ladder, setting up the tripod for a series of photos
to create an "animated" sunset. Patiently taking the
pictures one by one every few minutes for half an hour, the sunset never
really developed into something colourful and worthy of showing in the Lamma-zine, beyond
this early photo.
When I was all ready
to pack up and enjoy Lamma-Por's dinner downstairs, the long
afterglow of the sunset caught my attention. I took a few snaps
- timer, several seconds of exposure time, standard Sunset/Night programme - and was quite happy with the results! So the failed
sunset shoot turned into a pretty successful night photo shoot.
If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
Then I rotated my camera on the tripod, taking a few more pics
in different directions. But my dinner got cold
in the meantime....
 
YSW Ferry Pier -- YSW, Po Wah Yuen in the distance
 
Sha Po New Village - Plane, several seconds of exposure
Tai Shan Village
 
Tai Shan close-up -- Sha Po Old Village
Flying in a helicopter around Lamma a few weeks ago has
dramatically increased my appetite and eagerness for more high-and-above
sightseeing during our current, incredible spell of amazing weather and
fantastic visibility.
Let's go for another pre-breakfast hike today, via Lamma
Winds and the Snake Trail to the Trig Point, the highest
point of North Lamma with the absolute best 360-degree views over all of
Lamma, my favourite sightseeing spot.
 After
having had to stitch up my falling-apart, profile-less hiking
boots recently, it was time to check out Final Sales. After a
lot of trying-on, I settled for a comfy pair of "Moab
Ventilator Grey/Rust Merrell Performance Footwear" with
"Air-cushion Vibram" and "OrthoLite Comfort Foam Insoles"
for just a few hundred bucks. They should serve me well for
several years of walking, hiking & biking. Today will be the
first performance test for my new Performance Footwear, Made in
China.
In one of my former lives, as the Regional
MIS/Telecom Manager for Reebok, I'd visit "athletic shoe"
factories all over Asia. Occasionally, I'd get free,
just-finished, latest models of Reeboks to wear, directly from
the assembly line, sometimes before they'd even become available
in shops worldwide.
Of course, I wouldn't go anywhere
as beautiful as my favourite sightseeing spot without my old but
reliable camera. As usual, you can "click to enlarge" most
photos in the Lamma-zine.
  
Get your behind up to our windturbine landmark first; it's
less than 15 minutes hike from Back Street via the concreted Snake Path past
the Kindergarten. Just before Lamma Winds, before the staircase to the
Pavilion, turn right into the Snake Trail.
My favourite trail runs almost parallel to the Family Trail
far below, but with much better views and usually devoid of any people. It's
a nature trail running along the hills' ridge lines all the way to the Youth
Hostel above the Lamma Quarry. Maybe a good half hour of leisurely walk, or
much faster when jogging or mountainbiking; quite a few Lammaites love to do
this, usually on weekends.
From there you could rejoin the concreted paths in all
directions, to Sok Kwu Wan, Luk Chau, the Lamma Quarry, or back onto the
Family Trail to Hung Shing Yeh beach and Yung Shue Wan. Today, we'll only
walk for about ten minutes on the Snake Trail, till we reach this little
plateau with sweeping views over the bays (Wan) of Lo Tik and Luk Chau:
  
Plateau overlooking Luk Chau
Island and the fish farms --
a friendly Lammaites left two chairs for us to rest and enjoy the view
(great spot for sunrise watching!) -- Lo Tik Wan pier (no ferries)
 
  
Turning right on the viewing plateau, let's walk uphill, not continuing downhill along the Snake Trail,
through a little, quiet Eucalyptus forest up the nearest hill.
Trig Point on the left, marked by
a geographical marker, a black/white pillar:
  
150m above sea level, but the
Power Station chimneys are 215m tall --
NOT a Gatorade ad! It's filled with (boiled) tap water -- Views to Lantau
Island
 
 
Fantastic 360-degree views (see
the header of this website,
also shot from the Trig Point)
Mobile phones do work up here, like almost everywhere on
Lamma, even atop Mt. Stenhouse. So I called Lamma-Por at home and asked her to
wave at me from our rooftop, a god test for my old zoom lens (Nikkor 18-200mm DX VR).
Zooming into the confusing maze of Sha Po Old Village, look there, she's
waving!
 
 
Tai Peng Old Village -- Hung Shing Yeh beach
  
Zooming in on Hung Shing Yeh beach -- Zooming in even more... --
Anybody home in this solitary forest home of a famous artist? It's so
secluded it won't even be connected to our Sewerage Works-in-progress.
 
Ko Long Village -- Po Wah Yuen and "Lamma Forest"
(Lantau and Green Island in the distance)
 This area
above, between Cable Road #1 and #2, directly adjacent to Power Station
Beach on the left, has recently been crudely deforested. It's zoned for up
to 100 Village Houses in the coming years. The free-standing house and the
brown block of houses on the right side have recently been
completed and sold/rented out at record prices. In a decade or so this area
might look like the centre of YSW....
Lamma Winds and the Trig Point on
the right edge of the picture,
shot from my rooftop, right after the hike.
Wrapping up this photo shoot, how about a 360-degree panorama,
stitched together from 8 photos: placing the camera onto the
flat top of the Trig Point for stability, pressing the trigger,
rotating it 45 degrees, pressing again,...
This is only the 5,000 pixel wide panorama, the full size is
20,308 pixels wide!
 After watering my Rooftop Jungle & Pond, descending on the
inside staircase, my new hiking boots, sole still wet,
slipped and I landed on my ass on the stairs, sliding down. Ouch, another
black, blue & yellow bruise!
Ascending safely to the highest point of N. Lamma, no problem
... descending a staircase in my flat, big problem! Most accidents occur
inside a home, not outside. Don't worry about getting hurt while exploring
Lamma's nature, worry about getting hurt inside your home!
Sincere congratulations to the
Lamma
Outrigger Club completing a 75-km (!) paddling
"Dolphin Quest - Round Lantau" on Aug 13. That's an amazing,
mind- blowing achievement on such a hot & sun-drenched Saturday!
OCCCaptain Claudia writes via Facebook:
"Just to let you know what's going on in Outrigger World.. We have all
gone mad. Yesterday, 10 members of our team joined with Lantau Boat Club to
take 2 outriggers with a support junk round Lantau on a Dolphin Quest.
Changing crews in and out of boats it took 7 hours and 30 mins to cover
the 70km distance. The experience was amazing - planes roaring overhead when
we approached the airport, beautiful scenery and pink dolphins everywhere!!
Another 3 members of our team are doing the same trip today but yesterday
they covered another 75km from Stanley to Clearwater Bay, through the
harbour and to Lantau. Photos to follow."
This seems to confirm that "Dragonboating is for wimps - 500m-only races!
- really tough guys go outrigging!" (quote from anonymous who doesn't
want to get into trouble with the also very tough dragonboaters; many
Lammaites are members of both clubs, being double-super-tough!)
Anyway, I was asking the OCC "Why would ANYBODY in their right mind do a
75km paddle on such a hot day instead of sitting in the aircon with a cool
drink?"
I got this proud and defiant answer from Julie Yao:
"[It's a noble] quest to preserve the origin of outrigging & its
spirits, paddling along the beautiful coastlines & be mindful of the
environment.
OR simply because there're no better days than now to venture into the wild
when there are enough of us CRAZY BUNCH!"
Well said, Julie! We'll keep an eye out for your CRAZY BUNCH paddling off
our coast, circling not just Lantau, but also Lamma and all of HK Island in
races every year! Ayeeah! Chee seen! But we'll do the cheering (and maybe
even watching the CRAZY BUNCH with binoculars) from within our nicely
air-conditioned flats while sipping a cool drink.... (Pictures by
OCCCaptain Claudia, click to enlarge.)
 
Jamie and Leo ready for a sea change -- Near the airport 2
  
Getting ready for a sea change -- Near the airport -- China ferry
 
Lantau and Lamma's outrigger quest to find dolphins -- Lamma crew after
More pictures & videos by Leo Chung... and
Liocc.
Artist Debra Morris writes in her beautifully illustrated
virtual
sketchbook above:
"If you lived here...
you could go for a morning SWIM and collect
shells ...
you might see a LANTERN BUG ... you could eat MOON CAKES ...
you'd see dancing DRAGONS ... and eat DRAGON FRUITS ...
you might see a PRAYING MANTIS on the balcony
... or a COBRA downstairs.
you might see a JUGGLER ... you'd see DJEMBE ...
you'd see KITES in the sky ... you'd see SPIDERS
in the trees ...
you'd see GECKOS on the walls ... and the ceiling ...
you wouldn't see any CARS ...
you'd have to get a ferry to get to work ...
you'd be happy to get home and ...
we could have a drink at sundown."
Flickr slide show
(view it full-screen by clicking the enlarge square in the lower right)
Debra's blog post (with 24 comments!) about the sketchbook cover.
I've just enjoyed the good fortune of tagging along with a famous
photographer on a helicopter photo shoot over HK Island and Lamma Island on
a beautiful summer morning. Heliservices even agreed to remove the doors for
us two photographers for the best views, letting us hang in our 5-point
seatbelts while shooting straight downwards. Starting atop the Peninsula
Hotel in TST, after completing the photo shoot assignment, on my special
request we circled Lamma Island 1.5 times, giving us the very best and
clearest views. From the air, I fell in love with Lamma Island all over
again, after my last
Heli Over Lamma experience in 2005.
If you'd like some high-resolution/print-quality files of
some of my photos, or get me to zoom in on your home or favourite locations,
or see many more of these "Heli Over Lamma" photos, or select from my
extensive 10-year archive of Lamma- related photos,
contact me.
It's free for our advertisers, sponsors & occasional Lamma- zine content
contributors, but modest stock photo fees apply for anybody else and any
commercial uses, of course. Click for the
subtitled photo gallery!
 
    
 
Click above for subtitled photo gallery!
In The Island Bar
tonight: They promised that "It'll be a riot" on their poster,
but this looks much more like a love fest to me!
Leigh, Harry & John in a threesome; Dan the Bastard looks on in amazement...
Andy Gemmell & Johnny English, 2 visiting
English teachers,
cooling down the house after all the hot action above? --
Harry Harrison & Frazer McGilvray, looking kind of ashamed & red-faced?
Nah, we still like each other (strictly in a
manly way, of course!) --
Leigh Eggins in meditation -- Harry soloing?
(all photos by
Chris
Hall,
all captions by Lamma-Gung who's taking full responsibility for them,
even though I might be made to suffer for my comments above....)
P.S. I've finally figured out, being a bit slow
sometimes, the name of that skeletonised dog, the mascot in so many of Harry
Harrison's wonderful posters (see below) for The Curs, the
ever-popular, fantastic, rockin'-da-house, de facto "house band" of The
Island Bar:
The mascot is
named Lobert, in fond memory of this
late, widely beloved, elderly dog who was a regular at
neighbouring Man Fung Rest. and The Island
Bar. You'll surely remember him (see
Lamma-zine eulogy for Lobert):
  
  
Thanks to Norton Internet Security for keeping the Lamma.com.hk's
"Green Mean Machine" PC safe and secure from all those nasty would-be
invaders - trojans, viruses, worms, tracking cookies, firewall attacks, spam
email, etc - without worrying or inconveniencing me in any way,
automatically detecting, removing and quarantining any potential and real
threats!
Just once a month the program likes to inform me via a Security History
reminder of what a good job it's been doing and bragging about how many times it has saved
my bacon this month by quietly and reliably protecting me from any virtual harm befalling my trusty,
hard-working, but vulnerable PC.
Thank you, Norton Internet Security, I'll gladly extend your modest yearly
charge for constantly keeping up with the very latest, new threats emerging
from Cyberspace, marking several years free of any infections or virus
problems.
Let me keep my fingers crossed and my protection always active and
up-to-date.
 A
nice promotion from HK Electric:
- From now until 31 October 2011, customers who
opt for receiving e-bills can get $30
tariff rebate or donate the amount to designated green
groups in Hong Kong (The Conservancy
Association, Friends of the Earth, Green Power, WWF).
Customer can register through the
HK Electric website or their
Low Carbon App anytime, anywhere.
- So far, around 27,000 customers have registered for
e-bill and don't receive monthly bills by mail anymore. Each
customer switching to e-bills can help reduce their carbon
dioxide emissions by about 620 grams a year.
-
More information
about the e-bill promotion can be found at this link:
 e-Bill
Registration
I've just registered our own electricity e-bill - a quick and
easy 1-minute online procedure - and will donate the amount, of
course!
For all you iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad fans out there, there's
a
"HK Electric Low Carbon App" to promote a "Green
Lifestyle", available for free in the Apple iTunes store. It
features "E-bill Registration", "Low Carbon Classroom", "Low
Carbon" recipes" and an "Energy Calculator" to estimate your
electricity consumption and carbon footprint. HK Electric
promotes this App in the iTunes store with this slogan:
"Be
cool, go low carbon. HK Electric Low Carbon App brings you
interesting ideas and smart tips to adopt a low carbon
lifestyle. Be a green citizen, download it now!"
View from the 1st Cable Road
over YSW on a pre-breakfast Monday morning
It's been almost 6 weeks since my 2nd
(successful this time) tummy skin removal surgery in public QM
hospital. My surgeon just gave me the all-clear to
return to moderate exercise, finally! No BoostCamps yet, but hiking and
biking is permitted and strongly encouraged, trying to get me
back in shape ASAP. Starting from today - on the auspicious date
of 8/8 - you might encounter me up in Lamma's hills, but usually
well before breakfast, when the temperature is still bearable
for outdoor exercise.
So you can expect to see a lot more photos from
Lamma's more remote & quaint areas soon. For example today: the
wild blue yonder of the remote tall hills of Tai Peng Village
where only Lammaites who actually dare to live up there in
Snake Central ever venture. Plus intrepid me who's always
looking for new sights to photograph while I'm Stumbling
RandomlyTM all over Lamma, getting lost not
infrequently, but deliberately. It's just one of my ways of
making new discoveries, even after almost ten years of living
here.
People rushing to catch the
7:40am Monday morning rush hour YSW Ferry,
best viewed not close-up but from afar, from atop the
1st Cable Road --
A quaint, secretive and well-hidden Home
of the Rich & Famous,
part of the Lamma Celebrity Homes Tourist
Trail?
One of North Lamma's two major
roads, 1st Cable Road, the only ones suitable for full-size
vehicles, only used by HK Electric (fortunately very rarely, it
looks like) --
A 1-inch-long bug having a snail breakfast -- One of many
shrines in Tai Peng.
Jenks
Memorial Lotus Pond, outside the
Tai Peng Community Garden --
The Water-Pumping Bike, one more
photo for our "Abandoned
Bikes Collection" photo gallery. Send me your photo(s)!
Newly paved path off 1st Cable
Road just above Tai Peng Community Garden
--
Tai Peng Sitting-out Area
renovation, "almost" completed.
Occasionally but rarely, you read something in the
newspapers (traditional or online) that makes you sit up and
take notice, capturing your imagination and making you
wonder what's behind the catchy, intriguing headline. Case
in point:
Lamma lasers to shoot winds
by Samson Lee
The Standard - Friday, August 05, 2011
Wow, what could that story be about? Over-active
minds boggle and fertile imaginations run rampant, dreaming up
wild imaginings of what this headline could possibly mean! Let
me come up with just a few myself, before you'll actually read
the story and get the explanations, the real, but probably more
mundane story behind these mysterious devices:
Lamma Lasers? Light show of a wild rave
party on a secret beach, lighting up the sky and clouds till the
secret beach is not so secret anymore?
Lamma Lasers? "To shoot winds", meaning
somebody (WHO?) might use lasers to shoot Lamma Winds,
our beloved, cute, little windturbine up on the hill, the 2nd
major landmark of our home island? That could be an unmitigated
disaster for our local tourism-dependent economy!
Lamma Lasers? Low-powered hidden lasers
used by some annoyed Lammaites to zap obnoxious tourists, tour
groups, pedestrians and bikers on Main Street?
.jpg) Lamma
Lasers? A clandestine police initiative to secretly measure
from a distance the alcohol levels in the breath of patrons
exiting Main Street bars after midnight?
Lamma Lasers? A new meteorological test
project by the HK Observatory, using lasers to test wind
patterns during severe thunderstorms and typhoons?
Lamma Lasers? Just another promotional
gimmick by Lamma.com.hk to promote the Lamma Fun Day calendar
which features "Lamma Lasers" over YSW harbour on its August
2011 page (photo by K. Liu)?
OK, now you're welcome
to click on the headline below to read the full story:
Lamma lasers to shoot winds
Infrared aerial view
of Pak Kok Village, Po Wah Yuen and Yung Shue Wan -
14 Jan 2010, © Lands Dept., courtesy of Bobsy (click to
enlarge)
Lamma is still a very
popular mountainbiking destination, despite the recent
cancellation of the yearly Lamma Enduro races on the Project X
course around and over Pak Kok Shan hill. Many of the very best
mountainbikers are Lammaites - Siuyu of Green Lamma Group, Andy
the Computer Guy, Tom, Mitch,... - and some are using the latest
technologies to assist their expensive hobby: speedometer, GPS,
heart rate monitor, all linked up to Google Earth, generating
charts of their rides around Lamma like this automatically.
As a great example:
well-known Lammaite
Banny the Basketball Champ and his
Garmin Edge 305, a GPS-enabled
personal trainer and cycle computer, showing timing,
distance, speed, elevation, even his heart rate reaching 182
beats/min during this exhausting ride starting at 6:06am on Tue,
Jun 21, 2011, covering 5.61 miles on the "Pak Kok Light
House-Wind Turbine Loop" in 47.13 minutes, achieving a maximum
speed of 24.8 mph, burning 606 Calories in total. It's all been
recorded in exhaustive detail and uploaded for all the world to
see and admire at this
website of the cycle computer maker. Very well done,
Banny, most impressive, congratulations!
  
It's time to dust
off, pump up and oil-change my own, long-neglected (Doctor's
orders!) mountainbike! But I'll definitely refrain from
borrowing one of these fancy cycle computers. It would surely be
very embarrassing to record and upload my own Stumbling RandomlyTM
cycling adventures, my heart rate going through the roof while
slowly pushing my bike uphill....
Today, let me relate another one of my little
misadventures in my daily Stumbling RandomlyTM on-
and off-island:
 Returning
home from a shopping trip for my favourite coffee beans and an
early morning, half-price cinema show (HP 7.2), I made my
customary stop at Central Ferry Pier 4's Purple Cow
coffee/wine/frozen yogurt/snacks/books/ newspapers/etc. shop for
my favourite double-shot medium Americano. Getting my customer
loyalty card chop (8 chops and you get a free coffee or frozen
yogurt!), I was accosted by a loyal Lamma-zine reader and
friend. We chatted happily, entered the turnstiles and boarded
the ferry together. Only when the ferry arrived in Yung Shue Wan
did I notice that I had left my shopping bag in the Central
Pier!
Without my fresh coffee bean supply, the future
of the Lamma-zine would be in serious trouble! What to do but to
return to Central on the next ferry back, hoping that somebody
had turned in my bag to the ferry staff? Arriving back after my
3rd ferry ride of the day, I rushed to the Purple Cow shop
first, retracing my steps. Approaching the shop, the saleslady
immediately recognised me and pointed out my bag which she had
saved for me inside the shop! With a big smile she returned it
to me and after many thanks I rushed to catch the return ferry 2
minutes later.
A big thank you to Purple Cow and their very
friendly and helpful staff! Here's a little free advertising for
their latest promotion, even though they're currently not an
advertiser: Half price coffee before 11am! Their coffee is way
better than Starbucks, In My Humble Opinion. Stop by on your way
to the office, just take a right turn after exiting Central
Ferry Pier 4, recharge with 1-2 additional shots of caffeine and
get ready for that morning meeting.
 Yearly
Burglary Prevention talk today in the G/F of the Lamma (North) Rural
Committee bldg on YSW Main St. (opposite HSBC). As it was only announced 1
day in advance on the building, no other promotion and they didn't inform
the Lamma Events Calendar, few people knew about it; so only a few elderly
ladies attended, plus Lamma-Por & -Gung. They even got an interpreter for
the only non-Chinese attendee (thank you, Francis from the Marine Police
Community Relations Office!)
Interviewing my interpreter, he mentioned only 4 burglaries on Lamma this
year so far, 1 non-local burglar caught, no robberies or any other violent
crime (besides the recent homicide: nothing new to report about that).
They warned the present ladies of phone scam cases, even though none has
happened on extremely-low-crime Lamma yet. The Cheung Chau police division
(to which Lamma belongs) is proud of their far-above average success of
solving police cases (60+% as opposed to 40+% SAR-wide). But there were 20+
officers from off- island tactical police units patrolling Yung Shue Wan
today, as they seem to do frequently, checking especially bar patrons on
weekend nights.
The youthful speaker gave us some good and well-intentioned
advice on how to prevent burglaries in our home and what to do when spotting
a suspect: Don't confront them, but look close at their faces, clothes and
shoes and take note of where they're escaping to! The advice is nicely
summarised in the leaflet below.
But what really impressed me was the range of cutesy police souvenirs, handouts and
premiums they were giving out to us eager attendees who had sacrificed half of a
very hot weekday morning to listen to this talk:
We got
loads of leaflets, "Lock up - Protect from Burglary"
fridge magnet and a mini-burglary alarm with a very loud siren
(see above, batteries
included) and a too-cute, strawberry-shaped "We Serve
With Pride and Care" shopping bag):
  
Presenter of the burglary prevention talk -- Freebies! --
a big
strawberry unfolding into a plastic shopping
bag:
P.S. In case you haven't update your Police Hotline no. yet,
it changed a few months ago to 3661 1714.
For top-urgent emergency matters, use 999.
For more emergency phone numbers on Lamma:
Emergency Hotlines
(also linked from the left side of all Lamma-zine pages, Quick Info
section).
You might have noticed this new banner above on the YSW Main
Street fence opposite Lung Kong, the Szechuan rest.? It's featuring
Lammadonna trying to lift off the ferry pier "runway" like a plane
(remote-controlled by the DAB?). The poster seems to address the ferry pier
bikes issue? But as it's in
Chinese only, I asked the District Council office to email me a soft copy
for translation. To my big surprise, they already had a full English version,
but haven't published it yet:
The campaigning for the District Council elections in Nov is
starting early this year. There was no opposition at the last election, but
it looks like there might be 1-2 candidates standing against Lammadonna this
time, but not declared yet. One of them might be from the People Power party who split off from the
Pan-Democrats. They've become known for their much more "aggressive" approach to
politics and campaigning. Will we see colourful, noisy protest marches and
bananas flying in Main Street soon?
Surprisingly, the provisional political platform of
the People Power party for Lamma is pretty close to the DAB's, for
example they also
promise to fight for the Bike Park between the Library and the Ferry Pier!
One of the rare examples where the DAB and People Power seem to agree. So
enjoy this rocky foreshore till it might finally be covered by a bike platform on
pillars, similar to the current walkway.
Looking at an ancient "YSW Layout Plan" from 1993 below, this
area was originally planned as a Parking Area for VVs on reclaimed
land. This fascinating historic plan (click to enlarge), just recently provided by the Planning
Dept. to Living Lamma, also shows the Library to be relocated and merged
with the Policebox and an Activity Room and the originally planned, much
larger harbour reclamation. These plans have changed
dramatically now and finally, 18 years later, the new Policestation and
Activity Room are starting construction pretty soon on the existing 1st
phase of the harbour reclamation. But the
"existing library to be relocated" below is still there and no new location
has been found yet.
P.S. Responding to this story, Alan has posted a comprehensive
summary of the Bike Park opposition, including photos and figures:
Politicising the "Cycle Parking Platform"
Today, a brand-new, beautiful and serene music video by
Lamma Composer Adam Gill, uploaded to YouTube on Jul 31, 2011 (17 views so far):
"An experimental video combining one of my compositions with video
footage of sea and distant hill horizon with setting sun. The hill and
islands in the distance are Lantau Island, Hong Kong.
The video was taken on 24 July 2011 on the 18:20 Aberdeen to Yung Shue
Wan (Lamma Island) Ferry. The music has a relaxing mood to it and the
instruments are piano and flute."
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Lamma-zine
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