começa mal

o meu regresso começou logo da melhor maneira... perdi a ligação! 6 horas de espera pela frente! ai, ai

philippino sunday

oh my! from all i've heard about sunday afternoon in central hong kong, i was not prepared for this!

hundreds of philippino, mostly woman, gather around statue square, to spend the only free afternoon they have. they, sing, dance, chat, do the hair, the nails and smile a lot! there are concerts and preachers. people sing and pray. lots and lots of people!! sitting everywhere. great atmosphere around there.

making time for my plane now. i'm too tired to walk around. my right foot is killing me.

see you soon

(06:03 PM, HK time)

and it's over!

allready checked out from the hotel.

went out for a great lunch - fresh made noodles with vegetables and fried pork buns (yhummy) - and now i must go get my bags (oh, soooo heavy!) and go look for the in-town check-in, so i won't have to carry them all afternoon.

after that i'll try to find statue square, where the philipino woman go on their only afternoon out, to chat, have their hair done, meet people, relax.

and then... back to portugal!

so... see you there, if you're there!

(03:15 PM, HK time)

wan chai market

i finally found the market, of straight, sober lines, and then went for a stroll around the convention center, an impressive building by the water.

this was a really nice morning! the wind was up a bit, the sun a bit shy, so it was cool enough to walk around without getting totally exhausted!

see you soon

(01:21 PM, HK time)

lost in wan chai

i continued my walk, lost in the small streets of wan chai, filled with butchers and fish sellers - which, i must say, are the most incredible! fish are kept in water tanks so they're still alive when you want to buy them!

(11:17 AM, HK time)

opening up new business

went out pretty early this morning, in search of wanchai market, which is supposed to be in bauhaus architecture style. on my way there, allready lost, i could hear drums... went towards the sound and was lucky enough to encounter a dragon dance for the opening of a new business in nullan lane. really beautiful ritual, with music and dragon dance, people all over, congratulating the owner. great! (promise some pictures and even a small film as soon as i get back to my laptop).

(10:36 AM, HK time)

nice hotel for a change

i returned to hong kong last afternoon, checked in to a nice hotel, for a change, went out for some chinese dumplin, walked a bit around wan chai, where all the gentlemen clubs seem to be, filled with philipino woman selling their bodies, and maybe even their soul, and all sorts of foreigners getting pissed in the pubs and discos of the area. got really tired and went to my room, just to relax a bit. well, you know me... sleeping is one of my favourite hobbies, so...

(09:11 AM, HK time)

gentes de macau

people of macau, 24th to 28th May 2005.

Lou Lim Iok

O jardim Lou Lom Iok é uma pérola no centro de Macau.

Encontrei-o por acaso, como tem sido hábito nas minhas viagens. Contornei os muros que o rodeiam à procura de uma porta, entrei e deparei-me com um belíssimo jardim de estilo Shuzhou, um bonito e luxuriante jardim chinês, com diferentes áreas, decorado com formações rochosas, um lago, pavilhões tradicionais chineses, pérgolas com mesas e bancos em pedra, flores lindas, bonsai de tirar o fôlego! Também de tirar o fôlego é o ar saturado, húmido, tão próprio das zonas tropicais.

É sábado de manhá e o jardim está cheio de pessoas que passeam, admiram as flores, conversam, praticam tai chi ou outra forma de arte marcial, ensinam as suas artes aos meis pequenos e... de um coreto começo a ouvir música. Aproximo-me e deparo-me com um pequeno grupo a ensaiar o que me parece uma ópera chinesa. Entro no coreto e sento-me num banco de jardim, para descansar e apreciar a música.

Afinal Macau ainda tem coisas bonitas!

(12:26 AM, HK time)

chaos is the word

what a chaotic city macau is. in a portuguese-chinese kind of way i guess.

construction sites everywhere, new buildings, old buildings, modern museums, american-style casinos, tiny roads, cars, trucks, people, crazy motorcycle drivers, portuguese style churches, chinese style temples, they all live together in macau, in a frenetic chaos, with heavy skies and the heat and the humidity.

i guess you can say it is an interesting place for this particular reason, but i have to say... not my cup'o'tea. although i'm glad i'm here and enjoying my stay, mind you.
coloane is a really pleasant place and yesterday we went there and had lunch at Fernando's (the name to give your restaurant if you plan to sell roast chicken abroad, hehe) a really nice restaurant, spacious, good food and a nice garden. after lunch we took a stroll along the beach and then realised we lost the car keys!! what an adventure it was trying to explain the chinese we were looking for it and if they've found it! we finally did and came back to macau, picked carolina up from daycare and came home.

see you soon

(10:47 AM, HK time)

hac-sa

a praia de hac-sa, em coloane, está vazia quando chegamos. o areal parece coberto de óleo, o que dá um efeito de luz interessante. "hac sa" significa "areia preta" e pode ser que a cor seja natural, mas desconfio do brilho.

vamos almoçar ao fernando's e quando saímos a praia está cheia de turistas que vêm da china. todos vestidos passeam pela praia, molham os pés e tiram muitas fotografias. por momentos faz-me lembrar a linda praia de palolem, em goa.

tradução simultânea

hac-sa beach, in coloane, is empty when we arrive. the sand seems covered in oil, which gives an interesting light effect. “hac sa” means “black sand”, so maybe the color is natural, but I have my suspicions about the glow.

we have lunch at fernando’s and when we leave the beach is full of tourists that come from china. fully dressed, they walk around the beach, get their feet wet and take loads of photographs. for a moment it reminds me the beautiful palolem beach, in goa.

(03:36 PM, HK time)

communist china

i'm flabergasted!!

from macau you can cross the border into mainland china, to zhuhai, which is a special economic region. and what does this mean? it means that capitalism is at its best around here! free commerce, probably special taxing, or none at all. a huge shopping mall with everything the chinese can duplicate. Dvd’s, cd’s, wallets, watches, trainers, shoes, shirts, etc. etc. and people cross the boarder to go shopping. and that’s what we did. (it was pissing down and the city is not exactly the most appealing)

and communism gives way to obsessed consumism

(11:05 AM, HK time)

small world

i arrived in Macau at around 7 PM and was looking for ze pedro, who is the sun of a friend of my friend Pi's mother (yeah i know, pretty confusing) i find him, go talk to him and from behind me i hear "it's you?!". i turn around and who's there?? Tatiana, an old friend from coimbra!!

oh i just love coincidencies!

:D

i'm now waiting for her so we go out and explore macau together!

(10:39 AM, HK time)

waiting for the macau ferry

the land between tour turned out to be quite nice. the new territories are still pretty natural, with green mountains, marshes, bird sanctuaries and... the weirdest new towns, as they call the social settlements, built by the government, with cheap housing for locals, in massive skyscrapers divided into tiny units, maybe 30 m2 each, were you can fit up to a family of 10, or maybe even more!

the yuen yuen institute is a sanctuary built to worship 3 of the most important religions in HK - confucionism, taoism and buddhism. it is quite interesting to see all deities in the same building. and the grounds are absolutely marvelous, with nicely decorated/carved buildings.

i left an incense stick in front of my chinese lunar year's god and light up 3 incense sticks for me - 3 is the usual number os incense sticks to burn here, meaning heaven, earth and god in buddhism, and past, present and future in confucionism.

the tour continues throughout the new territories, passing right by the chinese border, ending up in a nice chinese meal.

back in Tsim Sha Tsui now, i'm waiting for the ferry to macau. next time i'll be writing in portuguese (if they still have portuguese keyboards)

see you soon

(16:31 PM, HK time)

land between tour

luk keng road - running in parallel with the coastline of Mainland China, just across - a bird sanctuary

(11:48 AM, HK time)

fanling walled village

looking at the ovaltine can at this small shrine at the entrance to the village i can't avoid feeling that the world really is getting smaller.

Fanling Wai (粉嶺圍) is a walled village in Fanling built by the Pang (彭) clan. It is recognisable with the distinctive pond and layout including features such as cannons and watchtowers. All these elements were crafted to form an integral part of the village setting. Fanling Wai is the centre of the Pang clan who arrived Hong Kong from Guangxi [surely Jiangxi] province late in the Song Dynasty.

(10:37 AM, HK time)

early bird...

... catches the best worm! not that I fancy worms... not even here, where people are supposed to eat them, deep fried! :\

it's 7 am and the alarm goes off! i've heard the heavy rain all night and wish it way. i must leave my tiny room, to which i've become acostumed, and hurry up to the pick up point for the land between tour i'm taking today.

i do my fairwells (not that anyone will notive i'me gone), put my backpack on my back and head for the MTR. it's still raining. shit!

see you soon

(07:02 AM, HK time)

star ferry

star ferry, Hong Kong 09:22 PM, 23.05.2005

lamma peak

view from LammaPeak

lamma peak

i'm writing to you from an amazing house on a peak in lamma island. it belongs to Jo, a friend of Mark, and she was kind enough to show me around. right behind the computer screen, there's a window overlooking a green luxurient valley, all the way down to the sea and some green hills on the other side of the water. a huge kyte just flew by, this is soooo beautiful!!

thank you Jo, for the great afternoon!

see you soon

(05:19 PM, HK time)

rickshaw sale

alguém precisa de um rickshaw? não fosse a trabalheira de os trazer e olha, comprava um para vir fazer companhia ao ernesto! :)

(01:44 PM, HK time)

what have i done to deserve this?

from all the gorgeus, nice, trendy asian guys walking around hong kong, why the hell should i be arrassed by a big, white-trousered, fake-crocodile-skin-shoed big black guy from barbados?? why, oh why?!

my first night out in hong kong ruined! oh well, i'll just go out again next weekend :)

see you soon

(11:16 PM, HK time)

take birdie for a stroll

yep, you read that right! just imagine, you have a bird, in a nice cage, in your house. well, just take it for a stroll. if you're in HK, just go to Yuen Po St Bird Garden and you can show it off and discuss bird stuff with other bird owners. as well as buy anything you can possibly imagine for the confort of your bird! :)

(a not that nice HK man is sitting behind me waiting for me to leave the computer, so i might as well go and get ready for my first night out - trying to find a Reggae bar i've heard of)

see you soon

(4:53 PM, HK time)

if you like the type

i don't know about you, but i have this thing for the asian look. if you do, then come to hong kong and feast your eyes! they are beautiful, charming, dress really well and are sooo nice! both man and woman. unfortunately it has really just been a feast to my eyes. no encounters so far ;)

(pictures will be uploaded as soon as i find a computer to take them out of my digital camera)

see you soon

(04:52 PM, HK time)

kung fu corner

sunday afternoon, the heat is killing me. i've allready bought all i wanted (a tiny creation zen micro mp3 player, for about half the price), so i head down to kowloon park to check out the kung fu corner thing. and what a great way to spend your afternoon it turned out to be! :)

all sorts of marcial arts are being shown in the park, either as a demonstration or some kind of competition. such grace, balance and strenght. beautiful. watching this wonderful lady perform some taichi brings tears to my eyes. so peaceful!

(02:24 PM, HK time)

sun is shining

unfortunately, the weather is not sweet! :( the humidity is just killing me!

as it was not raining, i left the room real early this morning to get the Star Ferry to central - nice ride, with amazing view of Hong Kong Island! This fusion of tropical vegetation and ultra-modern skyscrapers does not cease to amaze me!

on arrival at central i take the tour bus directelly to the peak tram, doing it all like a real tourist should. :) i take the tram and reach victoria peak - WOW!! the view is breathtaking! all the green, the birds flying around the high buildings, great!

it's too hot to walk down, so i take the tram once more and go into Hong Kong Park and its wonderful walk through aviary. lots of locals walking around the park, various weddings, all practising the national hobbie - taking pictures to each other, alone or in big groups, but allways with a nice pose.

after this I head to central proper, have lunch at LKF (Lan Kwai Fong - the place to go out clubbing - have to come back at night), walk around and collapse at an expresso bar to cool down, rest a bit and use the free internet provided for costumers.

see you soon

(05:35 PM, HK time)

man mo temple

man mo temple, 16:39 PM, Hong Kong time

besame mucho

Hong Kong, 9 da noite. O calor e a humidade sao insuportaveis. Tomo um duche merecido no pequeno hotel e vou para a rua. Depois de umas voltas, sento-me num restaurante com mesitas ca fora. Peco uns noodles e uma tsingtao beer. Comeca a chover torrencialmente e ouve-se besame mucho por sobre os sons da rua e das televisoes. Que belo jantar!

Ate breve

(10:58 PM, HK time)

first impressions

Kowloon in the rain.

first impressions are really important!

i arrive in hong kong, the humidity and the heat are almost umbearable and it is raining. i catch the bus to kowloon and when i get there, the neon lights through the wet windows make this great effect!

i think it is a good start! :D

(06:02 PM, HK time)

it's me. if there's an extra ticket... would you go with me?

batuko

as lindas mulheres de cabo verde, sempre sorridentes, enquanto esperam pela chegada do peixe que os seus homens vão trazer do mar, tocam o batuko nos seus alguidares, para deleite das duas minina lá de portugal

batuko na tarrafal, cabo verde; dec 03.

"Nha guenti dento sedo
Alguen tchoma`n pa`n soma na poial
N`ton mi kantu n`sai oh,
Es fla`n ma Batuku sta na moda

Ba Rubon Manel es convidam festa casamento
Dixi pa Rincon es convidam batizadu
Na Kutelinho n`atcha guentis na rubera, iei
Batukaderas ta rapica torno ku tchabeta, eh

Eh nha kumadri di zimola Ka nha fla`n nada más
A mi dja`n odja ma batuku sta na moda

Primero N´ba di riba
Dispôs n`dixi baxu
Di modas ki n`ka guenta
N`toma panu na mocinhos

Oia,
Oi ia ia
Oi ia ia
Oi ia ia"

(Música e letra de Orlando Pantera; maravilhosamente cantada por Lura)

memórias do cairo

é difícil decidir por onde começar. mas aqui à conversa com a cate, a lembrança daquele dia maravilhoso que passámos perdidas no cairo torna essa decisão mais fácil.

o cairo é uma cidade incrível! enorme, linda, movimentadíssima. é fácil perdermo-nos por lá, mas daquela maneira maravilhosa em que nos sentimos verdadeiros exploradores. e foi assim que nos perdemos, de forma consciente.

o nosso taxista de eleição, o sr. Mohamed, depois de nos ter tentado enganar no dia anterior, como é hábito no local, levou-nos a um passeio fantástico até às pirâmides de dashour (estas sim, das verdadeiras... as de giza são uma verdadeira decepção, mas aí voltarei mais tarde). de volta ao cairo, pedimos para nos deixar no centro – ou pensávamos nós que estávamos no centro.

depois de muitas voltas, e muitas perguntas, um senhor lá se ofereceu para nos indicar o local do felfela, onde queríamos ir almoçar. Mas como estava muito calor, convidou-nos a esperar um pouco na sua loja de perfumes, só para conversar um pouco não para comprar! Depois de um belo chá e de muito cheirar, lá comprei algum koll para os olhos e uma essência de perfume nefertiti. enfim, sou muito fácil de convencer nestas coisas.

e lá fomos almoçar, no famoso felfela downtown, simpático, mas não me parece merecedor de tanta fama.

a tarde desse dia transformou-se numa das mais fantásticas que já passei. eu, a cate e o cairo todo para explorar!

e foi só loucura! começando no oculista onde comprámos uns fantásticos óculos espelhados, dignos das nossas avós. LINDOS!! passando pela loja de fotografia onde encontrámos rolos fora de prazo incríveis para as nossas máquinas, e depois, já bastante cansadas, a tomar um chá e a fumar sheesha num tasquinho de beira de estrada.

foi uma tarde pelas ruas fantásticas do cairo, com aquele incrível barulho de fundo, o do tráfico constante, dos apitos, das gentes na rua, com os nossos óculos novos e muitas gargalhadas. depois apanhámos o metro e voltámos para o hotel.

cairo taxi

antecipação

on the plane, originally uploaded by wandering_dune.

o nervosinho cresce cá dentro… a antecipação é grande! não vejo a hora de estar dentro do avião, ouvir os motores, o arranque, ganhar velocidade e subir… sentir as costas contra o acento e depois… planar!! é, confesso. adoro andar de avião. só é pena o ar condicionado que dá aquela sensação de secura, na boca e na pele.

voar, como os pássaros, e pensar nos novos mundos que me esperam quando aterrar! ai, haverá sensação melhor?

o nervosinho cresce… anda-me às voltas no estômago. e a recordação de outras viagens teima em vir ao de cima. acho que não vou conseguir resistir a começar a deixar aqui recordações de outras viagens, algumas já a fugir-me da memória, mas outras como se tivessem acontecido ontem.

tradução simultânea

this nervousness grows inside me… the anticipation is growing! I can’t wait to be inside the plane, to hear the engines, starting up, gain speed and takeoff... feel my back against the seat and then... glide!! yes, i confess, i love to fly, apart from the air conditioned that leaves that dry feeling, on your mouth and skin.

to fly, like the birds, and think of the new worlds that await me when i land! is there a better feeling?

the nervousness grows… revolves around my stomach. and the memory of other journeys keep popping in my mind. i think i won’t be able to resist starting to leave here the memories of those other journeys, some already trying to escape my memory, but others as vivid as if it was yesterday.

wandering_dune

wandering_dune, originally uploaded by wandering_dune.