It was the best of times...

I write this from an internet cafe that I have found near the apartment. The entire place is full of sounds of gunfire, explosions, screams and grunt sounds that are booming out of the computers because the entire place is full of 10-year old boys. I am definitely the only adult, foreigner, and woman here and also definitely the only person doing anything other than playing Halo3.

Yesterday afternoon I decided to chance the T1 typhoon warning and take the bus to the south side of the island to Stanley. Stanley is much like I remember it and aside from visiting my favorite shops in the market and my favorite juice bar, I also tour an English tour of the Hong Kong Maritime Museum. This museum is in a historic Edwardian building that used to be in downtown Hong Kong but was packed up and transported to Stanley. The guide was terrifyingly knowledgeable and had a phenomenal memory for all things nautical. It was a treat because in addition to bringing our attention to the various models of ships through the ages, he also told us stories about how the pieces were protected during the second world war, Japanese invasion, and bombing of Hong Kong. There is a fantastic 18 metre long scroll depicting a battle where the pirates ( like the mafia on ships ) were defeated. The scroll used to be encased in a coffee table belonging to some bourgeois in Paris and was protected from all damage for the longest time. Madame Defarge, eat your heart out.

It's hard to believe that this leg if the trip is almost finished. I hope to see some of the New Territories tomorrow (weather permitting) and also spend the late afternoon and evening down in Amberdeen.

That's all for now and thanks for visiting.