Tempest7: Blogger

Boating in Aberdeen

Oh finally a day to relax and to have fun. I was so looking forward to this day. I have to say I'm not a morning person, and I'm slow. So sorry Karen for making you rush your morning routine just so you could come out to meet us early.

The background is Wincy, Ada, Gloria, and their Primary school friends were holding a boating trip out in Aberdeen. Originally it was for someone's birthday but I think they changed the whole theme afterwards to just a boat trip. I wanted to bring out my Toronto friends so I called Tiff, Karen, and Stephanie out (we also called out John who I met through Karen). It was really my event so I was pretty lucky to call them out, they've never been out on a boat trip before and I wanted to give them the experience. Especially Stephanine who was only here for a handful of days.

So I met up with Stephanie first in North Point and we rushed to meet up with Tiff, Gloria, Karen, and Johny down in Causeway Bay near the Hennesy Centre. We were introduced to their friends John and Kevin. Kevin had apparently lived out in Regina for a period of time. We all had a good laugh thinking about a HKer moving to Regina to live. They were really open individuals and fun to be around. We ended up taking a taxi out to the dock (which arrived about the same time as the bus, so that kind of sucked) and were thinking about getting something to eat quickly before we boarded the boat. We stepped into a small restaurant near the waterfront in a little plaza area and found a table around the back. As soon as shifted the table, a horde of small cockroachs can running out from underneath, climbing up along the walls and running into the cracks. Oh it was horrible, not that I'm afraid of them but more that it seemed so dirty.

We boarded the boat and the fun began. I have to say thanks to Henry right here, apparently he works for a law firm and this boat is one of the perks of working for that company. Total cost of the trip for the day including the food was $140 HKD. Out in the water the girls were laying out the food that they had worked so hard preparing the night before. Us CBCs found a place to hang out towards the bow of the boat and we just chilled enjoying the breeze. I loved it, it was time for me to relax, and there's nothing like a warm day and a cool breeze out on the water. Tiff has her usual busy busy schedule in HK and apparently was out late the night before. So she was sleeping towards the inside of the boat. We found our way up to the top of the boat and started putting on my oily seperated "Life" brand sun tan lotion. I suppose I should buy a new one, actually that one is only 4 months old but I think the last time I went on the boat trip it was so hot the chemicals were separating inside the container. Well we were sun tanning, kind of the sun kept coming and going during the day but we got a bit of it.

On our arrival Ada was the first out of the gate to go wakeboarding. We joined her and Oscar in the boat. I was so pumped this was what I was really here for. Wincy's boyfriend bill had partied all night as well so was too tired to start off. He apparently took up about 2 hours the last time they went out and Ada didn't even go wakeboarding at all. So Ada was out in the water first. I followed afterwards. I really improved this time, starting to do little jumps over the crests of the wake. I took one dive after a jump and lost my googles though. That sucked, I felt them float out underneath me but I guess because of the salt water they never fully surfaced.

As my Canadian friends know I love to take pictures, but I was lucky this time because Bill's brother Benson was the picture taker of the group. He has the digital SLR, the flashes, the filters, the whole 9 yards. The camera is amazing and he's a decent shot himself. I went out twice wakeboarding, the second time he was in the boat with me and got a decent video and a great shot of me in the air. Karen was still a bit drowsy, but I managed to push Stephaine and Johny out in the water to try wakeboarding. They did very well (of course they had a good teacher right?) and both were able to get up their first time. Maybe it is a Canadian thing but everyone was commenting on how well they did the first time. When I wakeboard it is pretty obvious that I've snowboarded, I guess I like to do "S"es in the water.

Heading back towards the main boat, Tiff fluffed up my ego a bit commenting on how the girls were talking about me on the boat. To bad she was feeling under the weather, I was hoping she would try wakeboarding as well. We ate some food, played some Hello Kitty UNO (WIncy's) and I spent a little time with Bill and his friends playing some Hong Kong games, or watching for some. Some time into the trip someone was asking another boat across the water to borrow some soya sauce. I don't even know what it was for but actually I ended up diving into the water and swimming over with an empty bottle to get it. Swimming back I was already tired though. I probably should have spent more time socializing with the Hong Kongers, but my friends weren't here for very long, especially Stephanie who will be gone in a couple of days.

Goria, Steph, Johny and I went out afterwards for some dinner and dessert. We had some Thai food, with some live entertainment and just chilled and talked. It was a fun but tiring day. The boat trip kind of affected me though, I keep noticing the world shift and bob up and down while I was sitting down eating. Again the price was amazing, the people were great, the pictures were great. Check'em out (oh nice shot Benson of the cutie on the other boat, the advantages of a nice SLR).

Yahoo Pictures
Clubphoto Pictures
Shutterfly pictures (password is my first name lowercase)

Oh, now that my imagestation account has been downgraded, can anyone recommend a good photo storage website? So far I think I might switch over to shutterfly.

posted by Tempest7 @ 11:00