pandas!
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
Today we took The Boy to an amusement park called "Ocean Park" that, naturally, is situated on a hill.
We went for the pandas. And wow did the place come through. They have not one but two panda exhibits, set up with the right mix of vegetation and with the proper climate (very cool and middling humidity). The giant pandas were very active, healthy-looking and even seemed well groomed. Hmm, I'm not sure that pandas can be groomed, but they seemed to my inexpert eye to be in top condition.
The had some simple facts about the individual pandas on the glass wall of the open-air enclosures. One of them was born in 1978 and was described as "quiet, affable, and with strong maternal tendencies". Date notwithstanding, that could be a description of Mari!
There were red pandas, too, which we saw in the second enclosure shortly before the end of our six-hour visit. The red pandas are fascinating creatures in their own right if not the rock stars that their cousins are. Again, the enclosures seemed very nicely designed and the animals healthy.
Way to go, amusement park!
Pandas aside, the theme of the place is the ocean, and we took in the inevitable aquarium, dolphin show, and .. cable car? I'm not sure why Mari thought that she'd enjoy taking the cable car over the small mountain that separates the two halves of the sprawling campus, but when we were stalled at the summit with the car shaking in the wind she could only mutter "Oh God!" and keep her eyes closed.
Just like me at the snobby expat patio scene where we'd had lunch the day before.
Returning to the cit, we went to Hong Kong park and had a coffee. I read to The Boy from the books we'd picked up at an Anglophone book store the day before. One was on dinosaurs, the other on learning to use the toilets. Happily, he seems interested in both.
From there we took the tram up the peak to meet everyone else. We got there at around 16:30, perfectly timing our arrival for catching the "golden hour" lighting.
For dinner we went to a sea food place. The food was excellent, but it was the owner's hospitality that set the place apart. At the end of the night he showed up with some tiny tea sets, and challenged us to successfully pour some tea into the teensy cups.
The challenge was this: if four of us could pour the tea near to the top of the cup—without spilling a drop—we'd win a prize. If not, we'd have to wash dishes. We wrote our names in order, and took the challenge. We had to hold the small tea pot with only one hand and get the cup as full as possible.
First up was Yaguchi-san. She spilled a fair bit of tea. Then Mari, who also spilled some. Then it was my turn.
I guess my big hands helped, because I managed it. Our host offered me a job because I'd not spilled anything, and also managed to get the cup filled to the top.
Then Eva managed to not spill any tea, but she only filled the cup half-way and our host insisted that this was a failure as it was 'rude'.
Then it was Brian's turn, and he succeeded. Somehow, it was the men who were able to do it!
Then in succession we had a string of failures. Kieran, Tomomi-san, Yosuke-san, Susie. With just three people left, we needed two more successful pourings.
Jonathan flubbed his attempt immediately. It wasn't a single spilled drop like Tomomi-san's barely visible drip on the tablecloth, it was a wide swath of a spill. He didn't even hit the tea cup immediately.
Which left Manami-san and Andrew. Manami-san poured her cup without a spill, and made a big show of facing down our host as she drank her tea. Our host told her that she was among the best he'd ever seen. And he offered her my job. The sword of Damocles had fallen on my brief reign.
Which left Andrew to save the day. He'd come over to me to get a quick pointer or two, and then .. did it perfectly.
We returned to our hotel with The Boy while everyone else set out for more adventures. I was asleep within minutes of our return.