I spent a good part of last night feeling tense after seeing a Facebook post from a journalist friend signalling how upset he was and learning from another friend that the area where the Office for Safeguarding National Security is located was crawling with cops. Scanning Twitter and other news sources, I found that the police were indeed out in force in various parts of Hong Kong and that the Department of Justice -- not content with Jimmy Lai being under de facto house arrest and having bail conditions that included the media mogul deleting his Twitter account -- had filed for an urgent hearing at Hong
Kong's top court in a bid to return him to jail.
As it turned out, the Court of Final Appeal will only hold the hearing next Thursday (New Year's Eve), three days after the adult members of the "Hong Kong 12" are tried in a Shenzhen court on charges involving their having illegally crossed into Mainland Chinese waters. So Jimmy Lai was indeed able to spend Christmas at home.
As for me: I spent a few hours of this Christmas doing what has become a festive ritual of sorts for me (as well as have found to be a great way to relieve tension and stress): hiking; this year, on my own, unlike previous ones. With today's daily new case number at 57, I am hoping that Hong Kong's fourth Wuhan coronavirus wave will soon subside and I'll not feel obliged to socially distance so much. Hopefully, the new tougher quarantine rulings (which includes an outright ban on anyone coming in from South Africa) announced late last night also will ensure that there won't be a fifth wave coming anytime soon even while I do feel for those Hong Kongers stranded overseas after the Hong Kong government effectively closed the territory's borders to all but residents in Mainland China and Macau...
wild boar nosing through the contents of a rubbish bin it had upended!
still fresh enough in the middle of the country park
than I would have liked, I opted to go on the less well known
trails -- and was rewarded by quiet and calm scenes :)
mid hike to add a climb up Violet Hill to today's excursion!
and decided I didn't need to go up to another on another of Violet Hill's peaks ;)
of buildings that showed that I'd be returning soon to "civilization" :)
9 comments:
Hi There,
Wild boar indeed. Last Tuesday while on my way back from the second but unecessful attempt to view the Great Conjunction at the AOP at the end of Harlech Road (I made it on Monday though), I saw there are trash everywhere in the sitting out area in Harlech Road at the junction of Hatton Road\Lugard Road. Further walking towards the Peak Gallery along Harlach road, a big wild boar just managed to topple another rubbin bin. They are pretty smart doing such damage. It didn't give a damn to all the people walking by though. I wonder if it was the same one I took a photo or two the other time.
T
A boar, anyhow I'm looking for a boar skull.
Well just wishing all my blogger friends a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Hi T --
Congrats on catching sight of the Great Conjunction! I didn't even bother to try as I generally don't manage to see (m)any stars in the Hong Kong sky!
And ya, the rubbish bins don't seem to be any match for the wild boars!
Hi peppylady --
Seasons greetings and advance wishes for a happy new year to you too! :)
Hi There,
It was a surprise at the High West format Artilary Observatin Post. Except there are trees blocking some views, there are actually openings tha one can see the sky. The best thing is that there is no street lights there.
On Monday, we were also lucky. The sky become clear after 1900 hrs. Other than Jupiter and Saturn, we also saw Mars and the Moon. I only have my binoculars with me that day. No luck for Tuesday night despite took a bigger telescope with a tripod.
If I went up the AOP tonight I shoudl be able to see more stars as the sky is also clear. Even in Ap Lei Chau, if I use a telescope, I could see a bit more stars than my naked eyes earlier. But with the narrow angle of the telescope I was unabel to identify them anyway.
T
Hi again T --
Thanks for reminding me re the High West former Artillery Observation Post. And wow re your being able see stars in the sky over Ap Lei Chau. My best star sighting in Hong Kong came one evening out in Tai Mei Tuk. Upon seeing them, I got to realizing how rare doing so can be in Hong Kong thanks to the light pollution in so much of the territory!
Hi There,
Only with the aid of the small telescope (an al cheapo 3" diameter 25X-75X Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescopes bought in Apliu Street for eight hundred bucks) in Ap Lei Chau. If the moon is not out we may be able to see a little bit more. I really wish for a blackout whenＩ want to see stars. Using the Schmidt-Casegrain to view the moon is spectacular, however.
I may go up to the High West AOP again after dark if the sky is clear. The AOP is one of those places without street lights in the neighbourhood, easily accessible from public transport (Peak Gallery). I guess hiking up the High West maybe even better, but it might be troublesome after dark.
T
Hi once more T --
You sound like quite the dedicated stargazer! Even so, I sure do hope you won't be tempted to go up High West tonight or tomorrow -- as strong winds have been predicted that, together with the cold spell we're having, would make for physically uncomfortable conditions up there!
On a more positive note: happy new year to you! Take care, be safe, stay healthy!
Hi There,
If the sky is clear the planet Mars should be clearly visible towards the south west. I saw it last night with my bare eyes at around 2115 hrs high in the SSW sky while walking to the nearest supermarket. It is a bit reddish and quite bright so should be easy to identify.
T
Hi once again T --
Thanks for the tip! I must admit that I'm not much of a star gazer but I'll make a point to look up at the night sky more in the future! :)
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