Kings had an event recce all the way out here at one of the hotels nearby, so on Saturday, Ms Rockstar just having deigned to remain asleep for some 4 hours prior, we bundled in the car late afternoon. Kings is by now so traumatized by driving-to-the-squalling he says to the younger Rockstar, “So how long you going to cry this time hah?”
- Hey. This looks like the seat you use in…. CAR!
So we have a couple complaints but because of said 4-hour nap (which btw doesn’t happen that often either) she doesn’t say too much and so we make the hour-ish long drive with our eardrums intact.
- Photographic evidence everyone is still in one piece. Note Ms Rockstar’s miserable face.
It’s a nice little community of stalls, a Watsons, Market Place, a brief walk along the pier with lotsa craft shops (cartoonists who’ll draw you a portrait, balloon animal makers, cheap “disposable” toy stalls (Rockstar approves!), some eats and beer places, various other capalang stalls…)
- And what does Rockstar love most? Sigh…
Btw it’s like second nature for me to ask cabbies for a HKD 10 coin for whenever the occasion arises…
- We tether JD next to our cafe table
Wow JD’s eyebrows are white. But otherwise the umpteen passing locals and several foreigners (Caucasians I mean) all stop to give her a scratch and exclaim when I tell them she’s going on 10… The very local waitresses ask for permission, then start feeding her leftover plain toast…
- We were at the end table
- Like so… (The baby bottle is rarely uncapped, I literally put it down for the pic only)
The people at the restaurant are very friendly (the restaurant opp had refused JD though), amused to hear we can’t read the chinese on the menus.
Btw we ordered:
1 big bowl of noodles with loadsa chicken shared by The Mens
2 little plates of dumplings (4, per platter)
1 little plate of crispy squid
1 large bubble milk tea
1 large iced coffee
Bill came to HKD 125. Quite cheap, by HK Island standards. I want to order a bottle of mineral water for Rockstar and the waitress discourages me, “For him? No need to buy the whole bottle la, I’ll get him a glass of cold water…”
- Rockstar posing with dog
- Rockstar doing………. something
- Me trying to pose with Ms Rockstar
- Kings doing a better job now my hands are free to hold the iPhone properly
I don’t immediately notice that the 3 Schnauzers and 2 Poodles who pass by are being carried, until one of those guys wearing That Uniform Which Allows Them (Kind Of) To Have Giant Sticks Up Their Butts calls to us to “finish eating faster.” Kings makes no comment and I don’t get it at first.
- I was trying to re-visit that old project I used to have of JD in unlikely places
Rockstar is in this many pics (because he loves exploring new places and as such was in a jolly good mood)
- See?
- JD returns the favor
And then Uniform Guy is back. “Dogs aren’t allowed here, please leave.” Reluctantly, I herd Rockstar and JD back the way we came. He follows us. Catching up, “Please leave by the most direct route. That would be the entrance here.” Interestingly, when Kings was around he was way not that persistent. (Later, when I relate it to Kings, he will also explain that when he recce-ed to bring us here he had not seen a single No Dogs Allowed sign, which is why he’d kept telling me we could bring JD.)
I snap at Uniform Guy in English, “You know we came with a baby. At least let me get back to our table where my husband and baby are.” He disappears. I really think if I had responded in Cantonese he would’ve given us more problems. Local friends have in the past told me to stick to English. One time when I did in Sai Kung, the uniformed person called me “Sei Gwei” (erm…. is that Bastard in Cantonese?) I HATE BULLIES.
Would’ve taken a pic of him if I’d thought of it. May as well, for the post. No, this would not bother him – when we proved friendly in the past, other uniformed guys at the Peak for e.g. have asked us to pose for pictures with them while they hand out leaflets to us with things written on them like “please pick up after your dog,” which they explain are to prove to they employers that they “were working.”
So we pack up and leave, and show Rockstar the beach not 5 mins away (but they don’t allow dogs either and despite the amused and friendly faces of barbecuing locals, I spy another uniformed guard all poised to stop us if JD should set one paw on the sand).
Dis is entrance to BBQ area (took the pic cos I love the tree branches)
Dese are fish.
Dis is Ms Rockstar, nonplussed at her first view of the ocean (probably because she doesn't realize it's also water - she is obsessed with fountains)
Dis is Rockstar and the sunset.
And we ride off in the sunset, after a few pics.
Epilogue:
Dis happened. Of course.
All the way back. We cheered Rockstar up (after awhile the noise breaks through his most stoic resolutions) with the prospect of frightening away any potential future boyfriends of Ms’ with this. So Kings likes to film it (it’s LOUD).
What a fun family day! Hope you did not let that unfriendly uniform person spoil your day – at least you managed to get some photos of JD to add to her collection of “places I have been to” to show other dogs, hehehe. Rockstar also seemed to have a swell time exploring the place.
“Sei Gwei” means “Dead Ghost” literally.
Aaaaahhhh, breaks my heart to see Ms Rockstar looking so grumpy with a frown on her face in the first two photos and crying in the last photo. In the 2nd photo, she even pursed her lips in such a way to show her displeasure. But she looked happy enough in photo 10 and 11.
The tree with the branches like an arch looks ancient. Makes an interesting subject for a photo.
Hope Ms Rockstar did not get a sore throat from crying all the way home.
The Rockstars have super conflicting personalities – one is a homebody who loves water, the other hated water as a baby and well, always wants to check out new places.
Ms Rockstar can be tough – she has been exacting punishment all morning (hence my tardy post) because she realized I sent Rockstar to school ergo I was not around to sing, hold her up so she can “walk” everywhere, or mash her Farley’s rusk in breast milk this am. And I suppose she has plenty of practice with not getting a sore throat from screaming – but she makes this new sound now that isn’t very loud but is as though she is screaming so hard she is choking. I should be thankful she knows how to make that sound without choking I suppose.