Hong Kong - Nov 21st 06

I write from my all white B&B room in Cheung Chau.

CC is so radically different from HK (oooh, get me).

Even within one day of being here people were saying hello to me on the street, recognising me, and knowing me as a friend of Sean & Bonnie’s.

Across the street there is a very good restaurant ran by a charming older lady called Jenny. It’s so good, I even tried some fish. Just don’t tell anyone. It looked so tasty in its lovely fluffy batter, I, well, I… kind of liked it. But sh! I’m a die hard non-piscatarian!

Beside the B&B is a Japanese Tea room, ran by an eccentric old Japanese lady, who seems to have a bit of a vendetta against the restaurant and the B&B, but who’s tea is very tasty. We’ve already had a stinted conversation about Japanese literature.

The street is populated by various stray cats and dogs, who are all exceptionally friendly.

Within 24 hours of having got here, I’d swam in the sea twice, walked a couple of miles and played badminton for an hour. It’s a great place!

Returning to HK is a bit of a sad contrast to the calm pace of life here.

The boat ride is rather enjoyable though, and it gives me a chance to read and learn lines and so on.

Talking of reading I’ve moved from Flashman on to Edward Said’s Orientalism. I think that kind of balances things out a bit. (But I’m still racing away with the second Flashy book – Royal Flash, oh he’s such a rogue!)

Weather today has been the worst since I got here. Thunder and lightening (well cool!) since the start of the afternoon, and rain pretty much all day in a fairly dramatic fashion.

During a hiatus I went out for a stroll, and on my travels encountered a funeral. It was a very simple affair, with a coffin at the back of an open stall like space, and a crowd of mourners assembled, dressed in white, with white hoods, whilst a man played on a chanter, direct into the reed.

I’ve also come across my nightmare beasties here – Horseshoe Crabs! Oh God! I’ve been terrified of them ever since I saw them on the telly as a wee boy. And now I’ve seen them in the flesh, in a local fish shop. Argh!!!! A couple were lying on the ground, almost like they had escaped, but had fallen on to their backs. The poor things, by an evolutionary flaw, can’t turn over when on their backs, so there they lay for ages. What happened after that I don’t know, nor want to know.

Right, well I’m off to bed. I’m going to try and sleep, but who knows how I’ll get on, as Thor (or his Cantonese counterpart) continues to hammer his anvil right above the B&B.