Tai Tam Hike & Road Runner

My excuse for not writing much last post was an upcoming hike. I soon shall reveal photographic evidence of said hike, but first, my new friend, Plato, with his creation: me (in Cantonese): What's your name?

P: Plato.

me: As in...The Republic?

P: Yes, yes, the Republic! The Republic!

I think it's a great idea for people to name themselves--since doing the interactive show where I brief a group of 10-15 students and get to know their names--I've met Money, Ghost, Chicken, Uncle Leung--

me: Uh..."Uncle" Leung...is that really your name?

UL: Yes, yes, of course.

me: Can you do that?

UL: Why not?

Me (to other students): Is that his real name?

everyone concurred...

I also met a Kinky. Not to mention old forgotten favorites such as Oscar and Agnes.

But enough of that...back to the hike. Karen (my usual hiking partner) and I planned to go on a fairly difficult hike. Turned out, I invited my friend Lawrence and his cousin to go with us and they had never been on a hike. We still dragged them along for "The Twins" or "The Thousand Steps". It's been foggy/smoggy lately, as you can see---here's a view of Stanley, our final destination after 4 hours--on the south side of HK Island:

Karen, looking pensive in the glorious hills:

The World-Famous Tai Tam Reservoir! Jealous? : The view directly behind me: May and Lawrence. May is visiting from Manchester and Lawrence is my grocery store friend. He's from Northern Ireland. I asked if it were dangerous growing up there and he gave me the same look and response I gave to the kid who asked if I had an AK47. :

It's a sign! :

Probably my favorite discovery during the hike; here we have the "Trigonometrical Station". They urged us not to deface or destroy it:

on the rocks:
I think this is a view backwards to the first peak from the second one. "The Twins" says it all:


I had dinner with Elvis the other night. He's not dead, after all. And he's also Chinese. And speaks French. He's a magician, juggler, and in marketing. You know, on top of being the King of Rock 'n Roll.

At the last juggling night, I went up to my friend, Joker, to tell him about it.

"Hey, Joker, I went to dinner with Elvis."

"I know."

"What? How could you know that?"

"There are no secrets in The Club."

I haven't drunk any Kool-Aid...I don't think.

Elvis' real name is Mark, but his hairstyle is much akin to that of Mr. Presley. And he often wears white pants.