Of course, Robin. Even crime-fighters must eat. And especially you. You're a growing boy and you need your nutrition. - Batman*

one of the big BIG BIG things i'll miss about hk is it's ability to make me feel far far away from everything. mostly, i just like going to the beach.

saturday, jon and i spent 2 hours wakeboarding in lamma next to the fishfarms. the water was kinda choppy (it was raining in big wave bay where we normally wakeboard), but sitting at the boundary of rain and sun (slightly in the sunny side of course (stay on the sunny side, always on the sunny side, stay on the sunny side of life--TWO THREE FOUR!)) was awfully pretty. and i managed to give myself whiplash (and maybe a mild concussion?) by forgetting how to wakeboard, sigh. after a big breakfast at frying pan, we met with a few others at the mui wo ferry terminal for a 9km hike to pui o. as far as hikes go, it's not very challenging, but it's one of the more scenic ones i've done here (which i think is saying a lot). we saw lots of strange flowers and huge butterflies and stick insects (!!) and mating bugs (we interrupted a pair who had chosen the footpath as a romantic hideout. they flew apart as soon as we approached). we even found a hidden helipad. i postulated that it was a secret spy helipad for chinese gov agents or drug lords or something, but tim said it was in case someone got hurt on the hike (deduct 10 pts for lack of imagination). oh, and apparently, the top 5 things jon would take if he were stuck on a desert island are 1) tv 2) playstation 3) shotgun 4) power generator (for the tv+playstation combo) 5) something else frivolous. notice anything missing on that list? AHEM. AHEM. COUGH COUGH HACK! yes, thanks for bringing your betrothed. love you too dear.

we got to pui o just in time to start a second beach game (it wasn't really a coincidence that we were hiking there...the issue with pui o is that you feel so cut off from everything...that, and the sand). the sand is very firm and fine grained, which is to say, bad for laying out on, very very good for running on. and very very good for sticking to everything. i played a couple of points before deciding my time was better spent in the water (which incidentally, has a very good (read: low) salinity level and bigger waves than most hk beaches--they hold surfing clinics here too, which i guess we can do if we ever get bored on the weekends).

sunday was way more chill, altho i woke up with what felt like a hangover and a very sore neck (i blame the wakeboarding). we watched dark knight (finally!), and it definitely wins the award for the best batman movie so far. altho, if you think about it, not much of the plot makes sense, which i guess is why you shouldn't think about it too much. for those of you too busy/poor to visit me, i live 2 blocks away from where they shot that scene of him standing on the escalator. all of those places are right outside my house, and those tall buildings he's crashing thru are right near my office. it makes me feel mildly important and very special. like, i could've met him wandering around! and then i could've shown him some damn good eating places.

one HUGE complaint about the mcl-jp cinema in cwbay: it doesn't have any bathrooms!!! what kind of theater doesn't supply bathrooms on the way out?! i've been sitting in a dark room for over 2 hours, sipping on caffeine, crossing and recrossing my legs b/c i don't want to miss anything, and you reward me with...NO BATHROOMS?! the theater exit doors lead straight down a flight of sketchy stairs that deposit you into the main lobby outside of the paid area. even on the way into the theater, the bathroom next to the concessions sucked. it only had three stalls, none of which flushed, AND the floor is so shiny and black that you can actually see the person inside of the stall (not that i spent a huge amount of time looking, but i did notice). needless to say, as soon as the movie finished, i dragged jon thru the crowded streets by his arm until we reached a suitable sushi restaurant with a suitable pee place (quote: "OW").

we spent the rest of the weekend finding 2 new bookstores (not new new, but new to us, which is uber exciting b/c one of them is pretty comprehensive and the other one is an outlet, where everything sells for ~$39--the downside being that everything is grouped by price so not even fiction vs nonfiction categorizatons). i bought 3 new john irvings plus 2 saint exuperys and 1 terry pratchett (i know i know). the bookazine outlet is 2 blocks away from my flat in an old sketchy building with THE sketchiest elevator i've ever been in. it's a very small box a bit larger than a telephone booth with a folding door--you know, one of those doors that you thought weren't legal anymore. when the thing moved, you could see the walls moving outside. the outlet was only on the third floor so we eschewed the elevator in favor of the stairs, which btw, had uneven landings (as in the floor sloped and dented).

on the fifth floor, there's an absolutely lovely (and very hidden) nepalese restaurant (lovely horizon or something). it's behind an unmarked red door (no signs or ads for it outside the building either). it's gotta get all of it's business from word of mouth b/c god knows it's not getting anyone wandering in off the street. it has very good momos (himalayan dumplings) and curries, plus the added incentive of everything on the menu being less than $50. i had 3 lassi's for a total of $45!! that's unheard-of for a restaurant in central. the serving pace is leisurely and the courses came 1 by 1 (which is not necessarily my preferred way to enjoy a meal), but it gave us plenty of time to relax on the cushions and watch the bollywood music videos on tv. and that's my weekend in not quite chronological order.

* quote courtesy of http://greatsayings.blogspot.com/2005/03/batman-and-robin-quotes.html