Preparing for our honeymoon!! Hong Kong continued.

Day 2,759 since October 10th 2013: 194 countries out of 203. No flight, no return home, min 24 hrs in each country and 1 pandemic!

(The opinions expressed on this site are my own, and do not reflect the position or policies of the Danish Red Cross which I represent as a Goodwill Ambassador).

Yup! Our honeymoon is coming up!

pano

Sometimes I can’t remember what I did earlier in the day. I find it a lot harder to keep track of my memories across the 194 countries we’ve reached. I can’t remember all the people I have met. Sometimes I feel like I have reached my limit. And we’re still pushing…

Last week’s entry: How complex is the Saga? And: golf, Hakka + a birthday / Hong Kong

The comment function below the blog has been fixed by Rene at Kameli in Denmark. So now you can once again leave a comment if you would like. And so has the PayPal link if you’re the kind of person who wants to support the Saga with a coin or two. There’s plenty of love in this world to go across the milky way and back. I’ve experienced love and kindness from people across 194 countries which is a wonderful thing. If I created an entry where I thanked everyone then it would be a ridiculously long read. And if I visited people as often as I think of them then they would be overrun. The brain is a funny thing. We understand more and more about it but it remains a mystery. When the steam engine was a new invention, they explained the brain as a steam engine. Now we often compare our brains to a computer with memory and storage capacity. But it is not. It remains a mystery. Artificial Intelligence is moving forward but its far from ready to take over and beat us. We are not as fast as computers when it comes to calculations and we cannot remember as much as we can store on a hard drive. But we are humans. And we still have an advantage. Let’s keep it. Let’s stay human. Put down your phone once in a while and take a break. I cannot wait until I reach Denmark again someday. I have long ago planned that my phone will be switched off from 9pm in the evening. Boardgames, conversations, evening strolls…but for now I’m online fourteen hours a day. You wouldn’t believe the traffic on my phone. People asking questions, people cheering us on, interview requests, collaboration offers, friends wanting to meet up, family that misses me etc. My phone is an extension of me – or am I an extension of my phone?

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I was surprised to see this many people at Big Wave Bay. Apparently beaches opened up again a few weeks ago! The Hong Kong Trail ends at this beach.

Social media is a funny thing too. You post a photo and people figure that’s all you did that day. I often run a busy schedule with meetings, tasks and chores. There is always something going on. I’m really poor at recording it all and much goes lost. It is a shame. But not everything needs to be shared. And not everything needs to be remembered. I have several friends who have recently experienced personal tragedies. I feel deeply for them. I do not like to see my friends in pain. I wish I could carry their pain for them. When they speak with me, I feel we share the pain…or at least some of it. In Hong Kong a lot of people look at their phones for a lot of the time. I have always felt that it was more than other places I have seen in my life. But I don’t know how bad it might be getting out there. I have been in Hong Kong for more than 400 days. The world is in constant change. I just heard that China has successfully launched their core module of the worlds second space station: Tiangong. Congratulations China! Not long ago they landed on the moon and collected some rock samples. Brave new world. Michael Collins just passed away. A space legend and pioneer!! I very much enjoyed BBC’s podcast called 13 minutes to the moon. Michael Collins was 1/3 of the successful crew which landed on the moon in 1969. He piloted both the Apollo 11 and Gemini 10. He ended up having ninety years on earth and several days in space. Not many can match that.

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Happy birthday Danish Room!! 40 years!! Still younger than me :) This blilliant image was created by Kinny from DSV - thank you!

There’s no point for me to go into detail on why we are still in Hong Kong after all this time. I find that I covered that sufficiently in last weeks entry. But it is lovely to be stuck with the woman I love. She’s not stuck. Oh well, she is stuck with me ;) 8.5 years together, with me surveying planet earth for the past 7.5 years. It’s a fine planet we share. It has plenty of issues but it’s the best place we have. And it’s a lot better that what most people seem to believe. People are just people. And most people and very kind to strangers. I wonder how often I have approached burnout? I have a lot of loose ends I need to tie up. There is plenty on my plate. I often feel full. The centerpiece of my workplace here in Hong Kong is called ‘Danish Room’. It turned forty years last Wednesday. Something which we celebrated on the day and will celebrate today, Saturday, as well. This is called the Friday Blog but Friday was another full day and we have now crossed into Saturday. It is 00:07am here where I am. Saturday will be a full day with lots of guests. Naturally we are following the restrictions, however they are slowly being eased up here in Hong Kong. There are hardly any COVID-19 cases as a result of closed borders and all the safety measurements. It has been interesting to observe Hong Kong protocol through wifey. She arrived from Denmark where things are done differently. Here in Hong Kong, we basically wear masks all the time. The few exceptions are if you are at home, if you are eating or if you are in a national park. And some people even wear masks while deep in the forest. In Denmark they don’t wear masks when walking on the street but they put them on when entering a shop. In Hong Kong restaurants have more or less stayed open throughout much of the pandemic – but with loads of restrictions and safety measures. In Denmark they closed the restaurants and encouraged them to offer take away, In Hong Kong take away has also blossomed. Little differences. Here in Hong Kong, it doesn’t seem like people want to get vaccinated. A lot of people want to wait and see. I feel like most gweilo’s in Hong Kong have all received their vaccines. A gweilo is Cantonese slang for a foreigner. The urgency just isn’t here for people to rush towards vaccines.

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Final marker on the Hong Kong Trail. Proud of wifey!! Such a strong woman!! :)

Okay, it is now 00:17am. Ill round this entry up with some photos from this week. My wifey is a trooper!! I brought here out on the Hong Kong Trail last weekend which is a 47.5km (30mi) footrail which zigzags across Hong Kong Island. She clocked that baby in 9 hours and 40 minutes. More than 2 hours faster than my first attempt. Once we finish the fortieth celebration at the Danish Seamen’s Church (Danish Room) we will clean up after everyone and then head out to Lantau Island where we will attempt the Lantau Trail. It’s a 70km (43.5mi) which circles around the island with a lot of elevation. My first attempt on that was 22 hours together with Brett and Leon. I think wifey and I can shave a lot off that time. Perhaps get down to 17 hours. She’s a tough little cookie. We’ll mostly be hiking though the night. Wifey wants to do the MacLehose Train (100km / 62mi) as a “fun little couples project” so we’re getting her ready for it. On Monday we are checking into The Hari for two nights. A spectacular hotel in Wan Chai and just what we need. A couple of days off the grid with relaxation and luxury. It will be our escape and our honeymoon. Looking forward to it. It is now 00:28am. Here are some pictures…

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Someone lives up there! 

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Thanks for the donation to the Danish Seamen's Church! I had to go drive out to Kowloon Bay and collect a huge donation from Candy at Da Hing Co Ltd. She has always been kind to the Church. Most of the donation will be sold at the famous Christmas Bazar later in the year.

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I got to make a delivery to the crew onboard the good ship Maersk Savannah! :)

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After the weekly two-hour-urban-hike with the boys we ended up at Jesper's for some "hillbilly chilidogs"! Brilliaaaaant! The week before it was Poul's East Indian rice dish! Love this tradition!

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It was a great pleasure to meet Captain Christian again as the good ship Gerd Maersk called Hong Kong once again. I love a captain who pays special attention to his crew. The captain had requested some gifts for their bingo night. I also got to chat with Mads from Copenhagen who with a smile reported that he works eleven hours a day! Four crewmembers were set to disembark in Hong Kong and return home but had to stay onboard as their replacements couldn't make it in time due to COVID-19 regulations. In worst case that means three more moths for them onboard the ship on top of the months they have already served. I feel so bad for the brave men at sea during this pandemic. But they are troopers! Once Upon A Saga owes a lot to seafarers around the world.

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Wifey and I met up with Anita and had a great time! But I forgot to take a photo!! That doesn't make Anita less of a person though. We love her. But later the same day we got to meet up with Jessi and she was bright enough to take this photo and share it with me. SO you get to see the three of us hanging out at Shahrazad, a superb Lebanese restaurant in Hong Kong. And we definitely love Jessi as well.

 

I would like to thank our esteemed partners for their invaluable contributions to Once Upon A Saga: DB Schenker Denmark, Kameli, Red Sand Solutions, Salomon, the Danish Red Cross and Ross DK / Geoop

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Best regards
Mr. Torbjørn C. Pedersen (Thor) - not getting much sleep...

"A stranger is a friend you've never met before"

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