Party on the pier

What's happening on top of Pier 6? They've been setting up what looks like an outdoor disco for ages but there doesn't seem to be any signs giving us a clue as to what it is.

More importantly, why are we not invited?

Kit the baker is back!

The Kitchen has stopped baking fresh baguettes (in fact, it's stopped baking most breads) – which I think is a pity because that's what distinguishes it from the other restaurants in Mui Wo.

But never fear... because Kit, who used to bake bread for The Kitchen, is back after a stint at Michelin-starred restaurant Cepage.

She is setting up her own shop, The Village Bakery. It is on the quieter side of town, opposite the Jockey Club, but I'm sure it will be making its mark soon. Kit says she will start in August but you may have to wait a month before you can get your hands on her yummy baked goods.

Stay tuned!

Perfect drying weather

Now that the typhoon has gone, it's back to hot and windy weather again – just perfect for drying stuff, including fish. 

The smell takes a bit of getting used to but when dried, these will taste heavenly!

After the storm

How did that bicycle end up in the sea? Blown by the winds?

 Clean up op.

Typhoon Doksuri approaches

The warning bell had gone and I was rushing to get the ferry before the Typhoon Signal 8 was hoisted but I couldn't resist getting this photo.

Yes, I know typhoons can be terrible and scary but they can be so beautiful too.

Just look at that sulphurous yet luminous light you get when (in Hagrid's immortal words) "there's a storm coming, Harry".

Barefoot in Central

The problem with only just breaking out my summer shoes is precisely that – they break. Having been kept dormant in the shoe cabinet for the past six months, soles come unstuck and sandals fall apart.

One fell apart just as I was leaving the ferry at Central and it made me suddenly realise what a long way I walk each day to reach civilisation. Imagine having to trudge up the overhead bridge and along the vast expanse of walkway on shoes that threaten to break your ankle every three steps.

It was way too early for any shops to be open and even if they'd been, the nearest place was IFC mall. I wasn't about to spend HK$500 on a pair of emergency Geox or something from Pedder Red.

To make things worse, this was a day of "special deployment", which meant the ferry docked at Pier 5 instead of the usual 6. So it was hoppity skip, hoppity skip to the Star Ferry pier... where I decided that if I wanted to get anywhere at least by noon, I was better off ditching the shoes and going barefoot.

It was a strange experience walking barefoot along the Stock Exchange and Jardine House, passing the suited or stilettoed office workers. Not something I'd want to repeat in a hurry.

I finally got my shoe fixed – temporarily – at the cobblers at Central MTR station.

But that experience set me thinking. Normally, if a shoe breaks, you can just turn round, grab a taxi and go home to change your shoe... but not if you're a ferry commuter.

So why don't they have emergency slipper vending machines at piers? And come to think of it, a couple dispensing umbrellas wouldn't go amiss either.

Or has the whole trauma of walking barefoot in Central addled my brains?

No joined up thinking

I've often wondered why they bother to put a roof over the ferry pier if alighting passengers still have to run that uncovered distance. How much more would it cost to just extend the roof just a few meters? Or maybe open the gate to the entrance lobby so we don't get caught in a downpour?