Storm Danas in Hong Kong

Heavy rainfall in Mui Wo, Lantau

A friend in Hong Kong told me about the "crazy thunder and lightning" where she was in Mui Wo, on Lantau Island, and the incessant rain has resulted in the authorities announcing there would be no day school tomorrow, Friday.

That's a first -- usually local officials don't decide until the morning of, leaving parents bleary-eyed watching the storm updates until late at night in a bid to anticipate if there's school the next day or not.

Storm Danas is moving across Guangdong, causing heavy rains and thunderstorms. This morning there was an amber rainstorm warning posted at 8.35am, which turned red, then back to amber at 10.40am, then back to red again two hours later.

"The active southwest monsoon to its south will generally affect the vicinity of the Pearl River Delta [on Thursday and Friday]. There will be torrential rain and squally thunderstorms over the area," The Observatory said.

It warned residents outside to seek safe shelter as soon as possible.

Hopefully there won't be too much flooding or severe damage in the next 24 hours, but it does sound like rain coming down in Biblical proportions...

Picture of the Day: Harvesting Peanuts

Mui Wo farmer holds bunch of fresh peanuts

A friend lives in Mui Wo, a rural town on the east coast of Lantau in Hong Kong. Every morning he walks around with his dog in a bid to avoid the midday heat.

He recently took several pictures and videos of his neighbourhood to show me.

Aside from showing off his new blue bicycle, the path he walked on was very clean, as in it was cleared of debris. Another was a doggy parlour, where the dogs posed post-spa/haircut to show them off.

And then one of the pictures showed a hand holding a bunch of peanuts that were harvested from the earth. 

It turns out Lantau is a good place to grow crops like rice, sweet potato, taro, red onions, and peanuts!

Peanuts are grown under the ground, similar to carrots.

When the peanuts are ready, they are harvested from the ground and then dried before they can be shelled by the consumer, or they are dried and then shelled before being sold or processed into products like peanut oil, peanut butter, or seasoned with salt to package into snack food.

Getting HK Priorities Straight

Diners are flocking to Tung Po Kitchen for the last hurrah

The famous or infamous Tung Po Kitchen is closing today (September 2 Hong Kong time) after 30 years. It's a dai pai dong in the Java Road Municipal Services Building, in other words, the North Point wet market. 

It took over a big area of  the cooked food area of the wet market, its owner Robby Cheung a charismatic frontman, who entertained guests by opening beer bottles with a chopstick, and joined them in drinking beers in ceramic bowls, along with singing and dancing.

Owner Robby Cheung (left) is a lively character

The Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department cracked down on the eatery, saying that in an investigation since May 2021, Tung Po was suspected of having illegal subleases by four tenants, and in fact they did not operate as sole proprietors, and therefore in breach of their tenancy agreements.

Tung Po tried to appeal, but it was rejected and now must close.

I have eaten there twice, the first time with a group of colleagues and enjoyed the delicious claypot dishes like braised tofu or vermicelli with melon and dried shrimp, as well as claypot rice, along with steamed razor clams, and clams stirfried with black bean sauce.

The second time I went with YTSL and I ordered braised eggplant with minced pork. I should have waited for it to cool down and managed to burn my throat -- very painful! I left the next day for New York and even went to the hospital emergency to get it checked out. All I could do was keep gargling some green medicated liquid to keep my throat clean. The only thing I could eat pain-free was ice cream for a few days. 

Seafood dishes well known, lotus-wrapped rice

So while I don't miss the greasy floors and plastic stools, it is infuriating to see the government has suddenly decided to enforce laws now, when Tung Po had been violating it for years.

The same goes for illegal kaito ferry boats, some of which, it has been discovered, are operating without licenses. Some are rented out for outings by customers, others service outlying islands and transport people to and from Hong Kong Island mostly in the evenings.

Apparently the Marine Department conducted over 45 special patrols between 2017 and 2020 and says the number of inspections has to be stepped up to crack down on illegal kaito services.

Does this sudden crackdown on services and businesses using colonial laws have to do with the fact that a former cop is now Hong Kong's leader?

HK can't splurge on BioNTech jabs for kids?

People have complained that groups of police officers are on the prowl for any groups of more than four people on the street together to fine them HK$5,000 each, while four robbers got away with over HK$10 million in luxury watches after robbing a Causeway Bay shop.

What kind of law and order is happening in Hong Kong these days?

Meanwhile the government doesn't seem to value its next generation and won't procure BioNTech vaccines for children six months to three years old because it's "too pricey". Children can only get Sinovac shots.

On Thursday the number of Covid-19 cases jumped to 10,586, the first time since late March when the cases hit over 10,000. 

The percentage of vaccinations in children aged six months to three years is only at 11.7 percent of the total age group, and health officials are urging parents to get their children jabbed as school starts.

Over HK$330M for quarantine camps in Lantau

But why are these kids being treated different from adults, who get to choose between Sinovac and BioNTech?

It's not surprising some parents are cautious about vaccinations and having a choice would motivate them to get their children inoculated.

Meanwhile the government spent HK$330 million on three Covid-19 quarantine camps near Disneyland, and over HK$500 million on PCR tests since July 1 this year.