Time runs fast, a week has gone since our last gathering, but it seemed yesterday to me. Is it we can retain time nowadays, or just only me ? Timothy's photos let us have a good memory of the day.22-2-2009 is a nice day. Everything starts with a good day. Temperature at about 20C,no rain, not shiny, but quite foggy. It has been long time we didn't see so foggy, soon we find ourselves on a Spring journey, and realised Wing Yee has sent us emails about how to drive on wet snow. We can see every car is driving carefully and slowly if not they would use a chain to tie up the wheels on the long slope down to Sai Kung, our picnic destination with our years long classmates & teacher and the joy which made me stayed awake all through the night before.
Sai Kung is now like a small town & like Cheung Chau Island, with shops & restaurants which travellers & visitors can easily find a place to eat and enjoy the sceneries. Stephen is doing the shopping of the sea food in Sai Kung Market. We stayed aside and looked around the stalls. There are fish like deep sea creatures, and I showed to Celine. Celine is Sau Wah's daughter. There are also rock side shells like mini oysters/scallop which I
think those fond of eating should be very exciting with these.
Soon we gathered all, 17 of us, and have our seats ready in a small room in the restaurant named Day Day Good. The first dish came, amazing, it looked like scallop, shell... something like this but I haven't ever seen in my life. It is a clam with a "mini elephant" inside. We don't know when Stephen bought this in the market, and we didn't realise this exists. Taste very good. Next came the favourite of the ladies, the local fish, simple and won good valuations.
Then came the Grouper. Koon Tai said they have yesterday eaten a Sumi, and wondered how they know that they will not catch the Ciguatera poisoning. Timothy freed them from the worry that if you don't have the
symptoms within 24 hours, then you will not be that lucky one. And that if you really caught this poisoning, you will have an opposite direction in your feeling, which is: when you feel this is hot, but this is cold in fact, and vice versa.
Then 2 big porgies came while we are talking about Chinese Tea Dragon Well. Soon I found that the porgies were eaten up remaining the bones in the plate, and I have not eaten any. Who ate it so fast ? I realised reading the book "Old Man and Sea". This book tells the ending of the fish finished with the skeleton of the bones only, same as now well displayed in the plate. I wondered if the author has had a meal with some of us before writing this book. Somebody asked me if the fish is good taste. I said yes, if not how come it was gone so quick.
We chattered along, and talked the gathering in last year. Nai Nai asked if Mr Ma will join to play mahjong game this year. While Ma Sir intended to give the reply, Koon Tai was so kind to make a stop loss for Ma Sir that Nai Nai should not make the win in last year, less but equally important that Nai Nai should not win them the day before. Nai Nai, being the real winner, humbly said that this is not his wish. Guess that if he can control the game, he would elect the opposite.
Ka Koo said that he has had a letter from the now President of United States of America, Barack Obama , signed by him, telling Ka Koo that he was just elected Presidency. We all share this joy with Ka Koo as this letter is really precious.
We finished the lunch with everybody filled up with so fine food. Walking down the praya, there were more and more people, and we proceed with our separate journeys.
Ralph
