The clouds gather around the Peak.The clouds darken.The rain starts to fall around Central.
From across the harbour, on the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade, the scene is almost surreal. While the rain is obviously pouring in Central, it is still clear towards the east of Central, in Wanchai, Causeway Bay, North Point and beyond. And over this side on Kowloon, the monstrously tall new building taking shape on the waterfront is still crystal clear.
But in a matter of minutes, the rain sweeps east along Hong Kong Island, engulfing Wanchai, then Causeway Bay, and then North Point. Worse. The hand of rain reaches across the harbour. The monstrous building almost disappears. Soon I am drenched in rain, soaked from head to toe, inside and out. Fortunately my smartphone is still working. But I cannot turn it on to take a photograph. Neither the touch keys nor the fingerprint app work.
This photograph was actually taken more than a month ago. But the same scenario has taken place many times. The last time was only this morning, when I was out running before going to work. And it was great fun! Such is the joy of running in Hong Kong in summer.
My wife and I went to Iceland to be to see glaciers, whales, hot springs, waterfalls, wide spaces, …, nature.I did not expect to learn about education.But I did.
Our tour guide from Hong Kong is a young lady by the name of Si. Si is very bubbly, enthusiastic, helpful, and knowledgeable. She took care of the group very well. She explained to us how to use the facilities at the Blue Lagoon Hot Spring.
She told us about the Icelandic horses, why people treasure them, and how they spread all over the world.
She told us how sheep and horses were introduced to Iceland, how too many animals depleted the resources and degraded the environment, how the animals are carefully regulated nowadays for sustainability.
She told us about Icelandic sea cucumbers, puffins, …
She told us about the geography of Iceland, the volcanos, the glaziers, the waterfalls, rivers and lakes formed from the melting waters from glaziers, … She told us about the volcano eruption that interrupted air travel for a large part of the world, thousands of kilometres away.
She told us about the history of Iceland, how the Vikings came here and stayed, how they governed themselves, how Iceland came to be independent, …
She told us about food, nature, economics, history, government, trade, …, and how they are inter-related. It is obvious that she enjoys doing it - it is more than just a job that she has to do.
Little did we know that she was not interested in studying and did poorly in secondary school in Hong Kong. That was why she was sent to New Zealand. It was much later that she became interested in travelling, and became a tour guide. Now she realises that she actually enjoys studying all these. Not only is she doing it for her job, she is studying because she enjoys it. She is even able to create linkages across disciplines.
There is a lesson there for us people in education. Very often the problem is not in the students. The problem, most often, is in the education system and us teachers who fail to help the students see the enjoyment and the satisfaction inherent in learning.
Thank you, Si, for giving me such a lesson in education.
The surface of the Earth is said to be covered by a number of (tectonic) plates that move against each other.Iceland sits on the fissure where the North American Plate meets the Eurasian Plate. At one point, the North American Plate sits on top of the Eurasian Plate.We walked through the fissure at one point.When we looked north, the North American Plate was on out left, and the Eurasian Plate was on our right.
Further south of the fissure, a huge crack opened up, apparently when the two plates pulled apart, several years ago. Now we have to walk on an elevated walkway, which was built after the crack opened up.
It is awe-inspiring to be there. The earth looks solid enough. But it is undeniably moving and changing shape. It is said that the plates are moving apart only at the rate of 2 mm per year. Yet enormous power is released in the process. It is hard not to feel small when faced with such raw power. It is also very hard not to feel that intention and design are involved.
Iceland being such a cold place, covered with snow and ice most of the year, what do people eat over there?
I am afraid I am not an expert on that. But we did get a glimpse from our 8 day experience over there. First of all, they surely eat a lot of fish: trout, cod, halibut, … Very good fish, relatively mild in flavour.
They also eat a lot of lamb. Very good lamb, tender and strong lamb-like flavour - which I like. By the way, they can run very fast, which may be surprising to some. I once saw a flock nibbling calmly in a grass field and tried to approach them to take some photos. When I was still quite some distance away, they started to run and cross a road, and I couldn’t catch up. Fortunately there were no cars on the road, otherwise they could have been a traffic accident.
Reindeer pate. Very strong liver flavour - which I like also.
Smoked puffin meat. Puffin being those comical and colourful - orange and black - birds the size of a small seagull that live in holes on cliffs. The meat is dark red, smoky and tender. They are very cute. Apparently they are still quite abundant. And people use it for food regularly.
We once ate some roasted pork which looks and tastes very much like Chinese roasted pork. A pleasant surprise for us.
At a small fishing village, we saw some fish drying on a rack in the sun. Initially i thought they were salted fish. Upon close inspection, they were all bones and tails.Not quite sure whether they were intended for food or otherwise.
London is wonderful, if you can afford it.It is true many museums are free, for some of the exhibits.Some rooms at Tate Modern are free.But to see the special Picasso Exhibition, you have to pay 22 pounds, which is 220 Hong Kong dollars.
At Covent Garden, there is quite a bit of entertainment. You don’t have to pay the performers if you do not want to. although you will probably feel uneasy if you don’t, after watching them work so hard.
Royal Albert Hall provides world class musical performances. But each ticket sets you back 30+ pounds.
Sumptuous food abound. Succulent steaks aged dry or wet, for a specific number of days.
Fresh fish that look as if they are still alive.
Cakes that look like colourful caterpillars.
If you really like your cat, you can buy her organic beef. Really.
Jamie Oliver’s kitchens. He is an amazing person. It has been fun watching his rise from a young chef with some fresh ideas into an institution, making an impact into areas such as school lunches.
But only if you can afford it.
Right in the middle of all these, in front of underground stations, outside of monuments, just a few steps from posh restaurants, …, sitting in the rain, are beggars and street sleepers.
There are older white males, young white males, female south asians, and young white females.
They must have their own stories. But they all have something in common. They cannot afford it. And there are many of them.
Three hours after flying out from Iceland, my wife and I landed in London.This is not the first time we are in London, and we decided that we would just take it easy here.In the past 2 days, we have been to Tate Modern Gallery, National Gallery and British Museum.All of them offer free admission, with so much to see.
Van Gogh.
Picasso.
Dali.
Rembrandt.
Andy Warhol.
Gustav Klutsis. He was a artist in the Soviet Union. In a poster made in 1931, he showed members of Stalin’s politburo leading the world’s workers in a procession. By 1939, two of the politburo members were executed, one was assassinated and another committed suicide. Klutsis himself was arrested and executed by Stalin’s orders in 1938.
And so much, all for free.
My wife said this is “大國風範”. Which other countries offer admission to their best museums and galleries for free?
“Nial’s Saga” was written by “anonymous” in the 13th century.
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Hallgerda, Hauskuld’s daughter, was good looking, tall of stature, and fair-haired, but she was also lavish and hard-hearted. When her father accepted, on her behalf, a marriage proposal from Thorwald, Oswif’s son according to the custom, she was upset because her father did not consult her.
Hallgerda was prodigal and grasping, and there was nothing that any of their neighbours had that she must not have too. When the spring came there was a scarcity in the house. When she complained to her husband, “thou and thy father have made your money by starving yourselves”, Thorwald got angry and gave her a blow on the face and drew blood.
Hallgerda complained about it to Thiostolf, her foster father, who went on to kill Thorwald. Hallgerda sent Thiostolf to seek refuge with Swan, a great wizard and Hallgerda’s mother’s brother.
When Oswif led many men to go after Thiostoff, Swan took a goatskin and wrapped it about his own head, and said, “Become mist and fog, become fright and wonder mickle to all those who seek thee.” A great mist then came against Oswif’s men, they could see nothing, fell off their horses and dropped their weapons.
When Oswif confronted Hauskuld and his brother Hrut to seek atonement for his son, Hrut make an award of two hundred in silver - that was considered a good price for a man - Hauskuld did so and Hrut gave Oswif a gift of a good cloak.
Later on, Gunnar, a great fighter proposed to Hauskuld to marry Hallgerda. This time, Hauskuld made Hallgerda betroth herself.
Hallgerda compelled a slave/servant to steal food and cheese by threatening to kill the servant. When this was founded out, Gunnar got angry and gave her a slap on the cheek. Hallgerda said she would bear that slap in mind and repay it if she could.
Gunnar is a great fighter and won many fights. At one point, Gunnar was travelling with his brothers Kolskegg and Hjort. They were ambushed by 30 men. They killed 14 of the men and wounded many others. But Hjort was also killed.
Many chiefs joined in praying for an atonement, and so it was brought about the twelve men should utter an award in the matter. As a result, Gunnar was sentenced to go abroad for three years. Gunnar agreed to the award. However, when he started his journey, Gunnar’s horse tripped and threw him off, and he decided to stay home.
At “The Thing” the following summer, it was officially announced that Gunnar had become an outlaw.
A very large group of men attacked Gunnar at his home. After killing many, Gunnar was wounded and ran out of weapons. He asked Hallgerda for two locks of her hair to be twisted into a bowstring for him. Hallgerda said, “now I will call to thy mind that slap on the face which thou gave me.” At the end Gunnar was killed.
The leader of the attackers, Gizur the white, said, “We have now laid low to earth a mighty chief, and hard work has it been, and the fame of this defence of his shall last as long as men live in this land.”
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There were a lot more to Nial’s Saga.
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It is said the Sagas inspired the works of J. R. R. Tolkien.
We drove 6+ hours to the northern port of Husavik to go whale watching.
The day that we traveled was sunny. But it turned dark, cloudy, windy and then it started to rain. On the morning that we sailed it was still in the balance whether the winds and the waves were too dangerous to sail. Eventually we did go out, but it was really windy and raining throughout.
Almost everyone took medicine to prevent seasickness. But many still could not handle the big waves. Many big guys threw up multiple times. It seems being big and strong is not protection against seasickness. Fortunately I was OK.
There were several boats out there. Many of them were smaller than ours. Watching them made us realise how such pitching and rolling was happening to us in the open sea north of Iceland. That puts us inside or at least very close to the Artic Circle.
The smallest boat, a blue one, was the most nimble. Every time we encountered a whale, it was the closest to the animal.
We did manage to encounter 3 whales. I caught a glimpse of the back of the first one. The second one I missed completely. The third one was very kind to show her back a few times and finally its fluke. I think they are humpbacks but I am not sure.
They were too quick for me to take pictures of them. Our tour guide sent us a picture that she took last year, in the same area. Perhaps it is one of those that we saw?
We were out there 3 hours. Many thought it an ordeal. As for me, once I realised I was not going to throw up, it actually was quite exciting and enjoyable, pitching up and down, forwards and backwards, rolling left to right, in the open sea. As long as the boat does not capsize, of course.
Iceland is 100 times the size of Hong Kong in area, but only less than 5% of the population.And more than half of that population live in and around Reykjavik. Once we get out of Reykjavik, there is hardly anybody anywhere.
My impression so far is it is so green. I was told that there has been plenty of rain this season. So the grass is growing well, and lots of them have been cut, packed for the winter, and sold to other countries.
There is also plenty of water, from the rain, run off from the glaziers, etc.
So there is plenty of space to raise those horses, sheep, cows, etc.
And hot springs to give you energy in the form of heat. It seems the moss has grown adapted to it.
I was also told that the land is not particularly fertile. There was once so many horses and sheep (more than humans) that the land cannot support them. Now the number is more manageable.
It would seem that one can choose to live in small groups apart from others, on grassland at the foot of your mountain.
Or you can choose to be completely alone, with on once else in sight but grass, water, and mountains.
It looks somewhat similar to my image of Norway, and northern Canada.
Beautiful. And would surely be enjoyable for a get away.
