Lost Horizons

Judges xvi

Yesterday, being the first month in the year that does not contain the letter 'R', there was great dismay amongst the girls in Hong Kong, who thought my beard was sexy. To mark the arrival of spring, and doubting that any reports of cuckoos would be published in the local newspapers, I decided that the May Day would become my clean shaven day. Of course, the true meaning of May Day has been supplanted by Labour Day, and people have forgotten the true meaning of Beltane, where the Celts used to turn their flocks out to summer grazing and the gods were invoked for their protection until Halloween, by dancing around maypoles and the crowning of the May Queen (mind you that sort of thing may well have taken place in Fenwicks, I don't know).
After admiring my fresh, baby faced look for about ten seconds I headed out with the camera. First stop was the bird garden at Yuen Po Street. I found this disappointing: the "sweet sounds of the birds" was a cacophony, and the smell wasn't entirely pleasant. To rid my nostrils of the avian odour, I strolled through the flower market - now, this was much more pleasant, but soon I was back in the clamour and bustle of Fa Yuen Street market. After this I had had enough of Kowloon and photography for a while and headed back to Wanchai, which was dead. I managed to bump into some friends at the White Stag and a very boozey afternoon ensued. I finally dragged myself out and strolled back through Hong Kong Park as the sun was going down. The light is quite good at this time of day so I got the camera out and took some more photos.
Well I don't know if it was the afternoon's drinking, the climb from Kennedy Road to my apartment block, or whether, like Samson, after Delilah had shaven seven locks from his head; but, after all that, my strength had gone from me. Oh, well I will grow the beard again in September, because I had forgotten what a pain it is to shave twice a day.

posted by Luke @ 12:30 PM