Hotpot in Yau Ma Tei
Yesterday was one of the most exceptional experiences in this long cold winter. Thanks to Chi Hang who took me and 3 others to Yau Ma Tei for having "old HK local grassroot style" hotpot. The gimmick for the place is cooking by hot charcoals rather than the usual butane gas stove. Definitely it's the wildest thing I did within this month.
Dressing in very formal business suite, I sat on a shabby stool on the road side in open air simmering my food on a filthy short table (just right for the high charcoal stove). Other customers in tables around us all dressed casually, chatting in foul languages and smoking heavily. We, though standing out very different among other tables, enjoyed ourselves catching up and eating. Under the dim lighting, blurred by the steam, filled with air of charcoal smell and cigarette smoke, we could switch off our criticism on hygiene & decoration for the time being and turn the spotlight onto the food and the contents of our conversation.
I liked Anita's figuring different personalities to different hotpot styles e.g. hotpot at road side, hotpot at home and hotpot in restaurant 小肥羊. And she described just perfectly when matching the new Isaac fellowship committee members' style to hotpots' : "Chi Hang" of road side, "Maude" of home, and "Mankin" of 小肥羊. So funny!
What an enjoyable night! Thank God for the friendship we shared in the fellowship.
Hiking at Pak Sin Leng 2008-2-10 (年初三)
If anyone asks me what was the craziest thing I did during this Chinese New Year holiday, without hesitation I would say hiking at Pak Sin Leng. Why? Firstly, it's freezing cold. Secondly, I was the only female among the group of 5 while 3 of them just completed the trail walker race. Thirdly, it's a tough (sloping ups and downs) and long journey (estimated 6-hours). Besides, my flu and spine base pain jointly doubled the challenge to my physical "weakness" (not fitness). Well, being a woman of my month, I kept my promise to take part in it, though after quite a struggle.
Pak Sin Leng is in the Northeastern New Territories. Therefore, we had to take a minibus in Tai Po Market to the starting point. Along the journey, we went pass the eight peaks, each named after a fairy in
Chinese mythology (as "Pak Sin" means "The Eight Fairies"). Our destination was Hok Tau Reservoir where I went wild camping over 10 years ago.
Praise to God. Although He didn't give us fine weather, we had a pleasant atmosphere and delightful conversations. Even though
He didn't cure my sickness, He provided enough strength for me to finish the entire trip and sped up my recovery (probably due to better blood circulation after the exercise). Despite advanced years relatively, I felt younger after finishing the trip. Counting all these, once again, I experienced how God turned challenges into blessings. The sole criteria was not to back out but to embrace the challenges.
P.S. After conquering the eight peaks, we soon noticed there was another bigger challenge waiting for us : climbing the stairs on our way back to the railway station. The muscle pain was really killing us.
Digging up some old pictures of my hiking at Pak Sin Leng on 2006-12-03, I found the sceneries so different under the sunny weather and I felt so much younger back then. Can I be fit enough to finish the eight peaks after 10 years? I hope so.
