Rugby Sevens 2009

One of the biggest events in Hong Kong is the Rugby Sevens. By way of background (thanks again to wikipedia):

Rugby sevens was initially conceived by Ned Haig, a butcher from Melrose, Scotland as a fund-raising event for his local club in 1883. The first ever sevens match was played at the Greenyards. The first ever officially sanctioned international tournament occurred at Murrayfield as part of the "Scottish Rugby Union's celebration of rugby" centenary celebrations in 1973. Due to the success of the format, the ongoing Hong Kong Sevens was launched three years later. In 1993, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, in which the Melrose Cup is contested, was launched. Three of the best known sevens competitions are the Hong Kong Sevens, Wellington Sevens, and the Dubai Sevens which now make up parts of the IRB Sevens World Series.

Now that you are adequately educated,see pics below!

Game Time!






Pre-Game Warm-Up




Kenyan Team - Quite Good and a Treat to Look at Too!




And now . . . some of our new friends


This young man got his hat from the Deutsche Bank box - braids and all!




The Littlest Guinness Drinker




Punny




Cool Dudes




What a Vision - made us wish it was Xmas everyday! And we saw them ordering KFC!




And Finally, Words to Live By!

Hong Kong Wetland's Park

We went to the swamp. . . sadly we missed a lot of the migratory birds, but we did see a lot of flora, fauna, and swamp critters (mudskippers, crabbies, and Mr. Snail).

















Fortunately, the swamp is within yards of China so you all can get your first glimpses of the PRC as well (that would be the nice skyline behind the swamp).



Perhaps we can offer more interesting pics when the birdies migrate this November.

Triad Park

From the 1950's until 1993, the Triad was based out of the Kowloon Walled City, an area of approximately 0.026KM. M calls it a human termite mound but squattersville is ok too. The area was within the part of British area but under Chinese jurisdiction. In 1993, the area was torn down and converted into a park. Doesn't look very threatening, does it?

Fire Prevention Carnival

As luck would have it, we walked right by the Yau Tsim Mong District Fire Prevention Carnival cum Tsim Sha Tsui Fire Station Open Day . . . a totally unexpected treat!

Complete with Canto-pop singer . . .



Fire prevention Motorcycles (yes, it has a small tank and hose)



And angry, balloon bending clown

Belated Dragon Close-Ups

Ok, these are from a mall during Chinese New Year and we are a bit later posting . . . but they are really cool!

Historic Macau

It's occurred to us that we haven't shown you all the nicer side of Macau, with its Portuguese influenced architecture and pretty temples . . . we really need to try harder

Insane Shopping Experiences

In case you haven't realized, the shopping malls in HK are:

1. everywhere
2. crazy

Here's one in the poorer parts of town with an indoor roller coaster . . . its at the top of a 20 story mall and looks over the atrium to the ground floor.

Thailand Snacks - These Ain't Just Any Ole' Chips