We have a long weekend starting tomorrow - first one since school started seven weeks ago - and Lee made plans for us. He told me not to worry about the weekend and he booked us a flight to Hong Kong with two nights at an upscale hotel in the swanky section of Kowloon, overlooking the Hong Kong harbor and skyline. We'll leave work at clock-out time, go home and pack, be on the plane at 7:00 and in Hong Kong at 8:30. Well, the Hong Kong airport at 8:30. They put the airport 45 minutes outside the city so we won't get to our hotel until a bit later but who doesn't want to arrive in the eastern city-of-lights when the lights are all a-sparkle?

Unfortunately, my camera, which also happens to be my phone, is showing signs of age and just isn't taking the photos it used to. We've bought ourselves a new camera, which happens to not be a phone, but it doesn't arrive until October 8. There are some things better bought in the US and this camera is one of them. There are certain brands that you just can't get here but, of course, delivery charges are astronomical so that can be a problem. But since Josh will be visiting soon we had Amazon deliver the camera to him and he's bringing it along with him. Josh bought his own ticket so it's like free delivery for us and we get a son as a bonus!

I bring up the camera issue because my pics from Hong Kong won't be great and I'm apologizing ahead of time. I guess that means we'll have to go again so we can't get the photos we want. This trip we're planning on checking out the hiking trails and Victoria Peak. The views should be spectacular. Mediocre photos to follow.

Today is Lee's day to have his tooth pulled. He is not a happy man. The price is right and it needs to happen but nobody wants to have it done. Whoever called these teeth wisdom teeth had a sorry sense of humor. There is nothing wise about teeth that don't have enough space in our mouths so they cause nothing but problems.

I'm planning on serving up soup and ice cream for dinner.

Cijin Island has become our bike ride of choice for our weekend morning ride and today was a great day for riding. Little by little it's beginning to cool off and this morning I could feel an almost-chill in the air as the air swirled by me on my bike. It felt a little like an August day at the beach when there's just a hint of Canadian cool air seeping down from the north.

On the return trip we stopped at a new cafe we'd seen along the harbor. The location was very nice - the balcony overlooks the Cijin Island ferry dock - and the decor was lovely.

We had a funny experience on the ride back home. We were downtown heading back to the bike path when Lee's back tire suddenly went flat. We stopped and I pulled out my phone to see if we could find a bike shop nearby that could fix it. I have discovered the obvious, that one's smart phone is only as smart as its user and I fail pretty completely on that front. After figuring out that there are no shops nearby we look up from the phone to discover that we are standing next to - right next to, mind you - a bike shop. The people there could not have been any nicer or more efficient, just like every Giant bike shop we've found in this city.

We have visitors coming so it's time to do some reconnaissance. We keep thinking that a hike on Monkey Mountain during the week is a good idea - exercise mid-week, a little less crowded than the weekend, a good excuse to leave week on the earlier side. Son #3 will be here for a short visit and we'll be away for the weekend he's here, so we have to show him our favorite haunts in Kaohsiung midweek.

So on Wednesday we left school right at 3:30, hopped on our bikes and headed to the trail head. We learned quickly that it's not less crowded mid-week. It's not that it's wall-to-wall people, it's just that there is no solitude in the woods. If you've done much hiking on the trails around Simsbury then you know how quiet it can be. Here, there's almost never a time that you are alone on the path. Often people are carrying small radios so you also get the sound of Chinese music or talk radio mixed in with the bird calls and insects buzzing.

We hiked about a half hour up the trail before we turned around and had only seen a couple of monkeys. It's pretty disappointing to go to Monkey Mountain and not be rewarded with lots of monkeys. Maybe it was that we saw more dogs wandering the trail and they were keeping the monkeys hidden. Or maybe it was the storm brewing and the sound of thunder. But, as it turned out, the monkeys were just waiting for us near the bottom. In the last fifteen minutes of our hike the trail was covered with monkeys. They were sitting on the branches chewing leaves, lounging in the middle of the path grooming each other, sprawled on the railings of the wooden steps. Success! You can go for a hike after school, get exercise, see monkeys and still be home in time to make dinner.

The thunder and storm clouds never developed into anything of interest. It's so disappointing to have the humidity and heat build in the afternoon and then get no release with a thunderstorm. That's just not how the weather goes here. Even if there is rain, the humidity doesn't drop after the shower passes.

The other day I got all ready for a swim, even Lee was coming along, but when we got downstairs the pool was closed. I assume one of the elevator notices informed us of this but, of course, they're no help to us. They're been washing the windows of our building and it turns out they were working above the pool that day. Window washing here involves a lot of water pouring off the building and that day the pool was where the water fell. I wondered what they were going to do about cleaning the pool water. After all, who wants to swim in dirty Windex water? The solution? Empty the pool and refill it with clean water.

I'm not sure if I've just been ill-informed about these sorts of things or if Taiwan does things differently but I'm constantly learning new things here. Don't walk under window washer without a large umbrella and if your pool water gets dirty just throw it out.

We explored a new spot in the city today - the old Sugar Factory Museum.

We took the MRT further north than we'd been before. As an aside, when the subway was first built about ten years ago someone had a brain burp and named the northern terminus of the red line "Gangshan South." It's confusing when you know you want to head north to get on the train going to the station labeled south. Duh.

Anyway, we went one station south of Gangshan South and wandered around the grounds of the old factory. It feels like they just shut down a few weeks ago and opened it up to the public the next day. In fact, it shut down in 1999 after 100 years of operation. Apparently sugar making was a big business for awhile, especially when the Japanese took over the country. It was interesting to wander through this big empty factory, even if we couldn't read much of the signage.

There are touristy spots that have sprung up around the grounds, including the required koi pond with lotus flowers.

There were also sculptures scattered all around. There was one sculpture that was made up of faces that people from the community made. The rest of the sculptures were made from factory pieces.

We bought popsicles at the snack bar and listened to a woman performing great classics like Grandfather's Clock (see the post from a couple weeks ago - I heard this in the subway too) and Simon and Garfunkel's El Condor Pasa on an ocarina. 

There's always such a mix of familiar and uniquely Asian when we go on expeditions like this. This place reminded me of a park I visited with my dad, sister and niece when we were in China fourteen years ago. There was also a koi pond, although it was much bigger, and the park had the same sort of shabby but funky happy feel to it. Families having a good time together but everything a bit run-down and unkempt. There is no Disney, squeaky-clean-ness to tourist spots around here. Some might call it more "authentic," less sanitized. I think there's just a different sense of beauty. 

An interesting item we found on the grocery shelf today: Ritz with lemon filling.

I've seen peanut butter sandwich crackers and crackers with cheese but this one was new for me. The verdict? It's a little odd. We won't have any trouble finishing the box but I doubt we'll buy it again.