Eshin Direct

Yesterday eighteen folks piled onto a boat to do me the courtesy of celebrating my birthday. It wasn’t a small thing though since most were forced to get up at some ungodly hour like 0730 on a Sunday morning after what seems to have been a Saturday night of celebrations, particularly birthdays, all round Hong Kong. I guess that August must be a popular month for getting jiggy with it since April seems to be a boom month for birthdays.

In any case, most people managed to get up on time and we only had half an hour delay in getting underway from Queen’s Pier. Anyway, I had no sympathy for those who knew that they had to get up earlier and still got themselves wasted. Brenda and Gottfried even had the time to turn themselves into pirates for the day. Seriously, with scar on face and beard to match.

The good thing about departing early on a Sunday morning is that you set off to the backdrop of Filipino domestic workers, whose day off it is, singing and worshipping God through song. I’ll admit it did grate a little at the time since I was a little stressed about timings but it was a nice touch that I imagine adds a uniqueness to Hong Kong.

Queen’s Pier is probably the best location for everyone to catch a junk but it can make for a very choppy ride while the boat sails out to more calmer waters. A few people were prone to motion sickness, some were naturally prone to it, in others it was more hangover induced. Luckily I had some Dramamine that I carry for diving with me so I distributed that like the drug dealer that I am. I think it did wonders for those who were seasick au naturel but it less so for those were sick courtesy of a high alcohol content level.

It seems to me that boat rides always have three distinctive parts to them in a day. The morning usual is filled with quiet. I think for those of us who spend most of our time in the city, the journey out is always a small time of wonder for us. A way to unwind and being surrounded with water just returns us to a natural state. Of course, it might have been the case that people were still half asleep or hung over that it is a quiet part of the journey. Today’s journey was to Tai Tam where I did some wakeboarding with Jason and Charles.

By about mid-day, people start to wake up and get hungry. I think that having the common goal of eating and sharing food together does bring people together. I find that the lunch times on boats are perhaps the most social times where everyone gets chatty and sheds the lethargy of having to wake up early. We had the option of going somewhere for lunch but this particular junk had the facilities on board to BBQ. They provided a meat lover’s banquet for us at the damned good rate of 30 bucks a head.

Although I hogged out on the chicken satay look alikes, to be honest I didn’t eat as much as I should have. Partly it was because the food disappeared as soon as it was served and partly because I spent a lot of time fending off people from trying to through me into the water. Ora, Amy and Greg managed to successfully push me in the water. I naively thought that the corner that the BBQ was on would protect me from that fate but apparently it didn’t and in I went.

The water wasn’t so bad once you got into it and started to briskly swim. From what I remember, I know that Gottfried, Daniel, Laurence, Kit and Yan all managed to swim before lunch. Although if I listened to the Germans, they told me it was cold but pleasant. I think the two gals were slightly less eager about the water’s temperature.

At about 2pm, a small party went to collect Steve from the pier in Tai Tam. It included James, Amy and Ora initially. Amy and Ora were leaving the boat for their own protection and to prevent themselves from being thrown in the water by me. The group also included Anton and Hilary who also were leaving since Anton was feeling a little rough.

I successfully fended off another attempt to get me into the water. It was a better feat of accomplishment because there were more people joining in the “fun” and they still failed to get me to let go of the boat. We tried to get a game of Twister going since James had suggested but that failed miserably. I think it was the constant references to Baby Oil and nudeness that dissuaded people from partaking in it. And no, the references were not constantly from me. Tina did a great job of helping to set it up the board despite the wind trying to blow it away all the time. I managed to play one round by myself and Elsa and Brenda were good enough to play one round too albeit without me in the middle which was a shame.

The afternoon seemed to be quite short for some reason. I guess it was because the BBQ was drawn out over the afternoon it seemed that it was shorter. In what seemed no time at all, we were happily chugging our way back to Hong Kong island. It’s a shame that we could not extend the trip for a little longer but these junks are only allowed to stay out on the water for 9 or so hours.

The journey back saw a mah jong game played. Brenda, Amy, Kit and Yan were all busy gambling away with the old tiles. I think Brenda was having too much luck over the other three girls that they ousted her and replaced her with Greg.

The weather had held out for the entire day. To be honest, the day before had seen some heavy rainfall, lightning, and thunder. The junk trip would have been no fun if these had happened a day later but as it was it turned out to be the start of two really great days in Hong Kong. Some junk trips are great when the weather is bad but in this case, given the early start and the alcoholic tendencies of a Saturday night, it would have just ended up with seasickness all-round.

The great weather saw some people underestimating the strength of the sun and getting burned (me included although I should have put some lotion on as opposed to none at all). It also brought out the SLR freaks. James, Eyal, Brenda and myself were just going a little crazy with pointing our cameras in everyone else’s faces. Gottfried got the video version of the junk trip sorted out too. At times, I don’t wonder if my guests felt that the trip was one big photo shoot. Given the scant bikinis that were being worn by the gals, I think I will have to respect their wishes and decline to post certain pictures up in a public forum.

Once we docked at 6pm, we lost two more people to other commitments. The rest of us went on to Ball in Lyndhurst Terrace. They have a nice patio setup and the early evening dusk just added to the chilled out environment. And there was another BBQ waiting for us there too. Ora kindly volunteered her culinary skills and ended up doing the BBQ herself. Surprisingly enough people were still munching away. It all wound up at around 930pm since I think we were all exhausted.

I’d just like to say to those that managed to come, thank you for spending the day with me to celebrate my birthday. I certainly enjoyed it and hope that you enjoyed it too. Thanks to those of you who got me presents too, I really appreciated them. A very big thank you to Amy who not only organised most of the trip but who also baked an excellent mango meringue pie which I wish there was more of. Till next year folks and thanks again!

(Oh, if anyone has seen my silver Zippo lighter, can you let me know since I can’t find it it.)