52 books... stalling and walking

So there has been a bit of a hiccup over the past few weeks. What with illness, visitors, long days and of course the rugby ('MON SCOTLAND) reading has, alas, taken a bit of a back seat and it unlikely to get rolling again for some time. Hopefully summer will afford plenty of reading time, it being too hot to do much more than laze on a beach and read (and perhaps swim a bit too).

What did manage to happen this weekend was a hike - of sorts. The aim was to get to the top of mount parker. With no map and a partially signposted trail this didn't happen, but it was a really nice walk in the wilderness above the city anyhow - the best part being that it's right on my doorstep!

It was a strange walk in many ways with much of the path having been paved/concreted in place and where this hadn't happened it was so well worn you knew you were going in the right direction. Parts of it made me feel like I should be somewhere in Europe, but then you'd come round a bend or crest a hill and all of a sudent he skyline of Hong Kong is visible again. All in all, HK remains a crazy multi-personality place. Here are a few pictured from said walk...

Near the end of the walk we came across some wartime stoves that had been built after 1938 when the locals felt the threat of the Japanese being so close in Guangzhou. Measures for food rationing, air raid shelters and first aid were stepped up and these stoves and a nearby food store were built. In the end  Hong Kong fell into the hands of the Japanese after a mere 18 days, and the stoves were never used. Post war the area was left untouched hence their presence today.

It was quite surreal to stumble upon them and the atmosphere of the area changed subtly. It felt darker, a little lost and even a fraction spooky almost as if marked with the memory's of the fear under which they were built. There is also a deep sadness, most likely attributed to the fact that there were never used, which is a hangover of the swift pace and oppressive nature of the invasion. As the city develops at such a pace it is nice, in a strange roundabout way, to find something of such meaning hidden away up a secluded slope!

In other news, there is the excitement of an oven today!!! After ten months without one, I am rather excited at all the things I now may be able to cook - albeit on an incredibly small scale - and the next challenge is to get the sewing machine properly up and running... somehow I am going to become an incredibly technological genius.... perhaps! Here's hoping!

Nelly x