June 30:  3 Million Hits/Month

The traffic on this website surpassed 3 million hits again last month, 3,057,803 hits, to be exact! It hasn't been that long ago that we broke through the 2 million barrier. 58,000 visitors downloaded an all-time record of 55 GBytes in web pages, pictures and a few videos last month. These visitors came mostly from HK, but also from a total of 96 different countries:

Sorted by number of hits from outside HK: US, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada, United Arab Emirates, China, Japan, France, Singapore, Germany, New Zealand.

The number of website visitors has doubled within the last year. But the low advertising rates have remained stable, making this website one of the best bargains and best values for money for online advertisers wanting to reach a very wide and affluent audience all over HK.

It's also become the #1 in Google for all searches for "Lamma" and "Lamma Island". So we'll be increasing the advertising rates after the summer holidays, reflecting the huge, continued traffic growth of this site.

Advertising is the only thing keeping this website alive financially - everything else is free, even the Classifieds, Events Calendar and Yellow Pages. We hope that you can help to attract a few more advertisers. We still offer 33% commission for any new advertiser that you can introduce to us. Easy and quick money!

To sweeten the deal, we even offer complete, free web sites and advertorials for one-year advertisers and we'll do everything for them, even create and update the ad banners and the free website as often as they like. Get these ads and freebies for the old rate till end of July!

Check out our English and Chinese advertising ratecards for details. Call us!

June 29:  Sick or Injured Native Wild Animals

Submitted by Senior Inspector Woooo-Woooo:

June 23, 2007  (all shot from L-G's rooftop):

Imagine having no mobile phone, no email account, no permanent address and no way of being contacted by anybody. Imagine being totally independent, no job, no responsibilities, no commitments, no appointments, but being able to travel the world wherever and whenever you like without a worry, stay for as long as you like, leave anytime and continue your travels, making new friends wherever you go, free like a bird. It sounds like a dream to someone like me who cannot afford to travel anymore.

There's one man-about-the-village who lives like this on a permanent, long-time basis, a frequent, long-term Lamma visitor, well-known in Lamma pubs and as the late Pinky Chan's longtime boyfriend. Let me call him Ian the Wanderer. He actually likes this new nickname.

Happy and content with his lifestyle and station in life

Having known Ian as an acquaintance for a few years, Lamma-Por and I settled down with him a few weeks ago for a little interview and a fine Chinese dinner in Lamcombe Seafood Restaurant. It strikes you immediately how relaxed, low-key, friendly, unassuming and easy-going Ian is, always dressed in his trademark blue jeans, jeans jacket and baseball cap. We can't be sure if it's always the same ones or if he's got a suitcase full of identical outfits.

At age 48, 11 years ago, he retired and started his full-time wanderings around the world. He's still keeping his home base near Vancouver, a loyal housekeeper taking care of it and trusted hands who take care of his business interests and properties.

As a landlord, he's in a very similar situation to Pinky Chan, his long-term companion whom he loved dearly and is still in mourning for. Both independent landlords, they traveled the world together. He met Pinky in Spicy Island, of course. She came in, threw some shopping bags on the seat besides his at the bar and told him, "Watch these!", before leaving again. On her return, he chatted her up and they've been together much of the time till her untimely, tragic death 1 year ago. It was obviously a sometimes stormy relationship, where Ian acted as the gentle, understanding, always supportive partner, easing Pinky's emotional rollercoasters.

Ian is making a point forcefully

Canadian Ian started his travels seriously already before University, traversing Europe for one month with an antique Volkswagen car he bought in Frankfurt, Germany. Studying in Canada and the US, he got a Civil Engineering degree and worked in the field till his retirement at 48 years of age. With an engineer's income, he saved up parts of his salary and invested in the booming property market around Vancouver, finding it quite easy to turn tidy profits and grow his portfolio.

He has been married for a long time, but his wife left him, getting tired of his more and more frequent wanderings. He was already a restless spirit back then and just vanished for months at the time, often without telling his family. But they're still good friends and their two children are his pride and joy, both of them having attended university with excellent grades.

Having left Lamma once again a few weeks ago, Ian is wandering through Australia these days, visiting his daughter, staying for a few weeks or a few months. Then he'll be traveling on, maybe stopping over on Lamma again for an undetermined time, then maybe Brazil next or anywhere else his fancy might take take this free spirit. He usually travels solo, declaring himself race-blind and easily makes new friends of any nationality wherever he goes. He says that there are kind and fun people everywhere he goes and he's got a real knack of making new friends.

Good luck in your wanderings, Ian, and we hope to see you again soon on Lamma and hear about your new travels and adventures!

Guess which of these pretty ladies shows Pinky Chan in her heyday?

Yes, she's the one on the left, shot when she was Regional Advertising Sales Manager for Asiaweek magazine.  (Photo courtesy of Edwin, click to enlarge)

It's been exactly 1 year since Pinky Chan's tragic death, burning to death in her bed during a visit in Mainland China. She was only in her fifties and a true Lamma Legend, known to almost every current or former Lammaite. Her death was announced in our forums and the Lamma-zine and many people posted their personal memories.

As it took a long time to confirm her death and getting her affairs sorted out, it took her huge number of friends also a long time to come to terms with their loss and collect their memories. Many of them wrote heart-felt tributes for their friend in the months afterwards, submitting them to the Lamma-zine for publication, on my request. I've collected all of them and now seems to be the best time to finally publish them, on the first anniversary of her death. Here they are, sadly mourning Pinky's death, but even more they're joyfully celebrating her extraordinary life that made a deep impression in so many ways on so many people. RIP, my friend.

in progress... check back here on July 22 evening...

June 25:  Emission of Excessive Smoke

One more ship-related story in our trio of ship stories these last three days:

These photos of a Marine Police boat off Pak Kok Village was taken on June 15, 6:30am by early bird, alert Lamma-zine reader and regular contributor, Tracey the Pak-Kokian.

Why is this boat police smoking so heavily when people aren't even allowed anymore to smoke a cigarette on the outside deck of a ferry? Has the captain of this police launch been fined with the maximum smoking penalty allowed under Hong Kong's new anti-smoking legislation?

Or has the police launch been hijacked by an angry protest mob of Lamma's die-hard smokers? They seem to be all puffing away at the maximum of their remaining lung capacity, generating these clouds of tobacco smoke in the photos?

Or are they training for a high-speed police boat drag race down the Lamma East Channel, one of the hundreds of planned events to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our Happy-oh-so-happy Reunification with the Dearly Beloved Motherland?

Or is this simply the boat engine's after-burner during a high-speed pursuit of an outlaw speedboat smuggling "Made in China" cans of spam directly to Lamma?

Or is the boat, its engines overheating, on the run from an angry revenge mob of mainland gang members, friends of the infamous Pak Kok burglar arrested quite a while ago?

Or did the boat's crew lose a gun-blazing standoff with a tree-smuggler's well-armed boat?

Or, even worse, did they lose a Pirates of the Caribbean-style sea battle with cannons ablazing against modern-day Chinese pirates invading to pillage and plunder our peaceful island (No, I'm not talking about the weekend hordes of tourists, some of them wearing Pirates of the Caribbean tees!)

Tracey explained the smoke in much simpler terms:

"They clearly show a Marine Police boat spewing the most awful pollution I've seen in a long time - no wind this morning so wonderfully captured - but horrific whichever way you look at it."

This utterly fearless lady dared to contact the Marine Police directly to complain and find out what happened. This is the short and concise reply she received.

From: policedev@police.gov.hk:

Subject : Re : Marine Launch 630am 15th June 2007 Dear Madam, Thank you for your e-mail message in relation to the captioned subject. Please be informed that the police launch in question experienced mechanical problem on that day which caused the engine to emit excessive smoke. The commander of the police launch immediately took actions to rectify the situation and engineers repaired the engine afterwards. You can be assured that the police will take all necessary actions to avoid the emission of excessive smoke from police launches. In case you need any further information, please contact me, Senior Inspector Anthony LAM Kwok-chu at 2555 4438.

P.S. But this polite explanation sounds way too rational, simple and logical, not strange and imaginative enough! Who can shout COVER-UP! the loudest? Will the true story of this mysterious incident ever be revealed and THE TRUTH be known?

Tracey's home, phone, email and whereabouts might be under intense scrutiny and 24-hour police surveillance from now on, maybe, perhaps, mayhaps...

P.S. To read more about this topic from other rush hour ferry passengers, see our Lamma Ferries forum.

Realistic Lamma-Por, who's often taking the same 8:15am ferry, advises Freelancer to arrive early when there are still enough free seats available, avoiding the seating problems above. But then her creative rant above might never have been written...

Lamma-created and -produced HK Copy News has made another great leap in quality, just getting better and better. For the first time this week, Daniel MomentEye is combining the deadpan, straight-faced, strait-laced delivery of his bubble-headed, helium-voiced pipsqueak newsreader with his own wild-eyed antics and physical comedy. Lamma's very own standup comedian!

This provides a wonderful, satirical contrast, kind of like the difference between official government spokespeople and the fear-mongering, sensationalistic HK tabloids. A contrast that works here to great effect and impact, making HK Copy News even better. Check it out for yourself, while I go back to laughing out loud while watching it again and again!

June 21:  Lucky Louie's Last Lunch

Official Court Glutton:
Ok... it is a little late for a food review of my Easter meal, but I did not get the pictures into a usable format until last night. What's a food review without pictures, correct? Our group of 5 consisted of 3 Canadians, 1 Spaniard and a HK Chinese lady. I am the only Lamma resident so I had some influence in food selection. Normal Canadian Easter meals would have lamb or ham as the main dish. But, being on Lamma, and somewhat adventurous, seafood extravaganza was the plan. My suggestion of  lobster sashimi as the main dish was met with initial silence as the idea sunk in. Then all agreed. Obviously they never read, or forgot, the part in the travel books that said you should never eat raw shellfish. As far as Yung Shue Wan is concerned, Man Fung restaurant (first one from the ferry with the nice fish tanks) has a license to prepare and serve lobster sashimi. It seems that it is a regulated dish due to sanitary requirements and training. Other restaurants are not allowed to prepare and serve lobster sashimi. So we sat ourselves down at a table and asked for the lobster sashimi. Prices vary due to market pricing, around $500. A suitable candidate was brought forth and looked to be a lively and healthy fellow, suitably dubbed "Louie the Lobster" by one of our table. I am not sure if there was a reference to an uncle named Louie that bore a resemblance. After the photo op, Louie was taken off to the kitchen to get ready to join us. Then a discussion took place about where his claws are... Canadian/American lobsters have claws. Louie is not defective, just a different passport. Not that long later, a reconstructed Louie arrived at our table. Very nice presentation. Thin strips of lobster tail, laid down on ice covered with plastic cling film. A nice soy sauce for dipping was strategically placed around the table.	Fresh and alive from the tank Lobster Sashimi on ice Delicious up to the last bite
You ask, "And how was Louie?" Delicious! Smooth texture, very gentle flavour enhanced by the chill of the ice, excellent mouth feel. No problems with being overly chewy like squid or jelly fish. I had to exercise substantial self control not to gobble it up making me look like, well, a glutton. Writer's note: Vegans should skip this paragraph. My previous lobster sashimi was in Hangzhou quite a few years ago. Very memorable meal also. The lobster was dark brown in colour, and quite large. Memory that sticks with me is that halfway though the meal, the front part (torso, head, legs) got up and started to walk in my direction. The lobster (un-named), actually got onto my plate before one of the staff scooped him and placed him atop the ice boat. Disconcerting? Definitely! Fortunately, Louie had better table manners  than the Hangzhou lobster, and kept his station. When we finished the sashimi, what was left of Louie was taken to the kitchen to make a soup while we had other dishes of steamed veggies, fried rice, black bean sauce clams and fried tofu cubes with chili peppers. When Louie returned, he was in bits and pieces, fully cooked and still very tasty in a rice soup. Yes, he gave us "his all", and we enjoyed every bit of it! Certainly a very memorable Easter meal that will not be forgotten very soon. I definitely would recommend it for a special occasion, tasty and memorable!

June 20:  Paws on Planes: Lamma's Globe-Trotting Pooches

Jay Scott Kanes - Official Court Pet Correspondent:

Lamma-Gung and others chatter about trying to establish a Guinness World Record to gain fame for Lamma Island as "the most cosmopolitan village in the world", a small place that's home to people of the most nationalities [Editor: 60 so far...]. Some of Lamma's best known dogs may yip and yap in amusement. Many of the pooches can match the people home-city-for-home-city, country-for-country. If Lamma dogs did much more flying, they might sprout wings. Former Lamma Islander Amanda Veitch, an IT manager in the finance industry, discussed pet travel when visiting Lamma on June 17. Four months ago, she moved to London, together with a human partner, Julie Bell, three dogs, Laura, Sasha and Sammi, and two cats. She returned to Hong Kong on a business trip. "Our dogs miss playing on Power Station Beach and seeing their Lamma friends like Eric, Gail and Mika," said Amanda, but they've adapted to British life and found new doggie friends named Ruby, Dora, Jerry and Robbie. "Strangely enough, our dogs love the UK," Amanda said. "They prefer not being hot all day, all night. As an alternative to playing on the beach, they have fox-chasing. They're good at challenging foxes, but not at catching them. They like squirrels too, but those go up trees, and the dogs can't get near them. We have yet to come across rabbits. It's a big worry what happens then." Dogs often travel between Lamma and overseas. For example, a popular beagle named Eric arrived from Berlin. He left behind a girlfriend and disliked the trip, but enjoys Lamma. A small dog named Freddie jetted to the United Arab Emirates. Lamma dogs Rita and Sadie returned after stints together in England and Spain. Two others, Lucky and Hebe, moved to Slovenia. Shadow, an amiable black dog, arrived from Ottawa. Mika, a long-time regular in the canine crowd at Power Station Beach, once tested life in Vancouver. Tolly, a familiar, four-legged stroller along Main Street, may move to Australia and reunite with Mojo, a poodle-pal who left earlier. For Laura, Sasha and Sammi, daily life has changed. "They adjusted well to the cars and other traffic, although Laura did hide behind Julie the first time a big bus roared by," Amanda said. She and Julie escort the dogs on long walks. "With three dogs in London, you need two people to manage them. We take them on picnics every Sunday." Unlike on Lamma, the dogs stay on leashes when walking. They're unleashed at home and in a nearby park. The Lamma trio encounters mostly pedigree animals, not mongrels like themselves. "The UK is full of pedigree animals," Amanda said. "People take an interest in our dogs because they're not recognizable breeds. It's a big conversation point. There are lots of greyhounds, chocolate labs, this, that and the other. We enjoy having very different dogs." On Lamma, Laura was considered "the fastest creature on four legs". She could sprint along Power Station Beach within seconds. "Our neighborhood has a lot of retired greyhounds," Amanda said. "Laura sees them in the park, but they're a bit mellow and don't go in for big races anymore. Of course, our three dogs still have their own races." Immigrating with pets can be a hassle. Amanda and Julie express gratitude to veterinarian Hans de Vries, Lamma residents Mayette, Mario and Richmond, Sai Kung-based Ferndale Kennels, London-resident James Cargo and others who helped. Canine shipping documents and health papers, the latter reflecting checkups and injections including blood tests and rabies shots, must be in order. Normally, the dogs ride in crates or plastic boxes in an aircraft's pressurized cargo hold. From planning and preparation to reality, moving to Britain with pets takes six to seven months, even with advice and co-ordination by a pet-transport company. "We worried about the dogs being upset on the journey. They didn't like riding on the ferry to Central. They weren't used to it. Laura gets all shaky on ferries. She's a big dog who can go 'ruff, ruff' at anyone, but the moment you put her on a ferry, she's like jelly." Laura, Sasha and Sammi traveled for about 24 hours. "We don't know how they did once in the hands of the shippers and British Airways," Amanda said. Relocating the animals cost considerably more (about HK$10,000 per critter) than moving all of Amanda and Julie's personal possessions. "We had made-to-measure crates built after trying to measure the dogs. It's hard for them to stand still, but the crates saved us money because they occupied only the necessary space. "By the time the dogs reunited with us, they were angry. Due to delays with our house, they had to stay in kennels. A few days passed before they saw us and knew they weren't abandoned. When they spotted us, they went mad, as they always do. They were very happy and relieved. Until then, I'm sure they wondered: Why are we in this cold country? Where's Mummy? Where's the beach?" Despite the stress and expense, pet-owners should relocate with their animals. "You have to take them," Amanda said. "You can't keep pets for a few years and then get rid of them just because you're moving. That's unfair. You wouldn't do that to a child. Why would you do it to animals?" So a better Lamma world-record bid might be for "the most cosmopolitan canines". Everyone in favor, say "Woof".

Amanda Veitch renews old friendships at the Green Cottage. Blurry-fast, Laura, Sasha and Sammi hit stride in a British park. (Photo courtesy of Julie Bell) Showing a taste for travel, Eric poses with the box he rode in from Berlin. Labels like this "give wings" to Lamma dogs. Freddie, a little guy, jetted to Dubai. Lucky settles into an easy chair in Slovenia. (Photo by John Newson) After trying Vancouver, Mika prefers Lamma. Sadie reflects on her European past.

June 19 - Dragon Boat Festival:
Two Stanley Gold Cups in a Row!!!

The very first action shots from the Stanley Dragon Boat races, fresh from Prof Red Star's camera, published here at 8pm today! His recent promotion to EEE (Excellent Education Editor) of the SCMP hasn't lulled him into complacency, it seems, and his photos are as great as ever.

See his action shots below and a close-up of one of the cutest Lamma Ladies on the right. Just look at that winning smile! Soooo pink! For an email from the captain to the winning team, scroll down.

Click on the photos to enlarge them.

P.S. I got this reply from the Lamma Ladies the next morning, June 20:

Gina Meana - Lamma Ladies captain, addressing the team by email:

Congratulations, Ladies! What a wonderful performance in the boats yesterday! And look at the results: TWO STANLEY GOLD CUPS in a row!! Here is a short history (that we can remember) of the Lamma Ladies at Stanley: We've won the gold in 1997, 1999, 2001, (we were in Penang in 2002), 2003, (we took silver in 2004 and 2005), 2006 and now: 2007!!! The Hand-over year. How brilliant is that?? 1997 and 2007! And - just to count (as Penny told me last night), we have won 6 gold cups from a total of 9 years entered. Those are damned good statistics by my reckoning. And I am very, very relieved that I get to email this morning because my voice is shot from roaring in our first final and screaming through the street party. (Having set my own personal best record for losing my voice in the 20 seconds it took to scream my tonsils out during a race). And what an excellent race it was; the Lamma Ladies were in 4th or 5th place after the long start, and we began to claw our way up the course during the 10 strong, took approximately 5 long strokes again and they advanced and blasted to first place (decisively!) at the finish! I would love to see a video of that someday. Yesterday was, possibly, the toughest competition we've ever faced at Stanley across the board. The IPC, Stormy Ladies and Boracay were all there; the X-women have generally performed extremely well at Stanley, and Buzz is often a power team. Special thanks to Ivan for steering us through the race again! Two years in a row he's helmed us to victory. Thank you, Ivan!!! What more can be said? It has been a l-o-n-g, rough year, and it was not easy to for anyone to have a real sense of how we were doing based on the delays between races and the months in between, when we sat about gazing deep into our navels wondering about advanced physics, the hull shear of the boat, whether paddling backwards might be faster than forwards and other boat mysteries, but sheer energy, strong training and PINK POWER pulled us through! Thank you everyone for being such a fantastic team, and thank you to all the ladies who came and supported the race! And finally: PHOTOS. We NEED photos! (Except yours, Georgie. I will never forgive you if I see that disgusting photo of me again. No offense, but I hope your camera was eaten by sharks!) Speaking of which: How come nobody told us there had been shark sightings at Stanley yesterday? Hung Hom is directly across the bay... good thing there were no real boat swampings. As for the street party afterwards, I think the Lamma Ladies have proved again that we OUT PINK, OUT PADDLE and OUT PARTY still! So, now that THAT is out of the way, bring on Singapore! Well done and CONGRATULATIONS to everyone. It was a brilliant team victory and a wonderful way to end the season in Hong Kong.

P.S. Here's a nice Stanley Races video from www.HipHongKong.com. It has a little footage of the Lamma Ladies on the podium receiving their trophy.

June 19:  Cloud of the Day

We have (almost) daily Lamma Photos/Wildlife/Artworks.

We've had Lammaites of the Day, even daily birds, sunsets and events.

Why not have a Cloud of the Day for a change?

That's the kind of place Lamma still is, a refuge, a safe haven, a place where you can find time and peace of mind while watching birds, sunsets... and clouds!

Shot from Lamma-Gung's rooftop, today, 12:12pm.  (Click to enlarge)

6 minutes later and then 40 minutes later, the cloud had changed shape dramatically already. So fleeting yet so beautiful...

June 18:  Elizabeth Briel – Cyanotype Artist of the Month

Elizabeth Briel - Lamma Artist of the Month - June 2007. View more of her Cyanotypes, Paintings and Photos on Flickr.

Did You Ever Make Sun Prints? They're a common craft activity for children in schools. It's a simple process: take a piece of pre-coated paper, place leaves, flowers or a favorite toy on it, then expose to the sun. Afterwards, blueish-white silhouettes appear on the paper, surrounded by a field of darker blue. As with any photo process, it's resistance to light that creates these images. Sun Prints were once used by architects to duplicate their drawings; they called them Blueprints. Photographers and artists call them Cyanotypes. When I discovered cyanotypes, I began making art again. During university I explored a dozen different drawing, painting and printing media, and received a grant to study the ancient art of encaustic.  I worked nights to afford summers spent studying sculpture in Italy and public art services in the UK. Shortly after graduation I joined the Di Stilo collective of artists and artisans. We created a gallery in our warehouse space, and shared work as scenic painters and sculptors. During the next few years I moved from state to state, from country to country, and made no space in apartments or workdays for making artwork. I'd painted myself into a corner. In 2005 I moved to Cambodia with a bagful of cyanotype chemicals for myself and cameras for local kids. Soon afterwards I began teaching street kids with the Angkor Photo Festival, and printing cyanotypes on silk and paper during the hottest midday sun. I produced scarves, silk hangings, and a series of photos of Bokor Hill Station - an abandoned French resort from the early 20th century that had seen more than its share of Khmer Rouge violence. In other work, I printed local flora and imagery on hand-woven Khmer silk. My work is primarily about place; it's a reflection of the region in which I make it, both in the imagery and materials used. Since moving to Hong Kong I've been hunting export stores for clothing, and using the silk and linen for cyanotype photograms and photographs. The varied fabrics give infinite possibilities and surprises, like the city itself. The series I'm currently working on is a newcomer's impressions of Hong Kong. One striking trait I've noticed is how many Hongkongers' formative years are spent abroad, and many others claim dual citizenship. How do they resolve being from many places? What is home when you have more than one? How do any of us define our allegiances in this shrinking world? While artists and photographers occasionally experiment with this 19th-century photo process, I have concentrated on it for several years. During this time I have employed a wide variety of printmaking techniques and surfaces, combining this traditional medium with modern technology. My work is in private collections in Kuwait, England, France, Korea, various parts of the US, and Norway.

Elizabeth enjoying a "Cyanotype Cocktail" during the opening of her new Cyan Studio/gallery on Yung Shue Wan's Back Street

Elizabeth's new Cyan Studio (2/F, 21C Back Street, vis-a-vis Thai Thai Rest., see her great map below) is open every 2nd Sunday afternoon of the month for visitors, displaying her own artworks, but also works by other Lamma artists. Next time: July 8. Contact her to attend and/or exhibit!

June 17 - Father's Day:  Sunday Excursion to Cyberport

Our ferry driver on the way from Yung Shue Wan to Aberdeen, safe and reliable.
We took a minibus from the bus stop outside Aberdeen fish market to Cyberport.

Will the "Lammarina" ever be completed, after ten years in the making already?
It's been announced that "Lamma-1" will get an on-demand, 24-hour private boat to Cyberport. From their website: "Less than 10 minutes from Cyberport = Bliss!

"We designed and built 11 one-of-a-kind, luxury homes for families...
The location, size and facilities of Lamma-1 homes are unparalleled in Hong Kong, making this one of the top locations for family living in the SAR."

We'll see if they'll find enough buyers willing to spend $15-25 millions on these standard-sized Village Houses with 17.5m swimming pool, gym, spa and security.

The so-called "Lamma Forest" seen from Yung Shue Wan side, top half of the hill.

The Lamma Forest , seen from the Pak Kok-side, top of the hill.

The monthly Pok Fu Lam outdoor market between Cyberport and the new Le Meridien Cyberport hotel. Quite a few Lammaites are visiting the market and the hotel today, especially Pak-Kokians.

Ordering a "Lamma-zine" T-shirt from ex-Lammaite Arthur of Giftumore.com.

Looks like a lot of families having fun drumming?

Yes, it's "Lamma Legend" (SCMP) Kumi holding yet another free Drum Jam!

Never too young to learn drumming - Lamma-Por found something to her liking -
An RTHK video camera in the Cyberport shopping mall?

Main Hall of Cyberport, looking appropriately futuristic

A lion dance to open the "Robocon", a robotics contest, promoting the Cyberport.
RTHK was out in full force filming the event.

The fancy Broadway Cyberport multiplex cinema, usually empty except Sundays.
The New York Times wrote:
"'Rise of the Silver Surfer' is an existentially and aesthetically unnecessary sequel to the equally irrelevant if depressingly successful 'Fantastic Four.'"

I liked this phrase so much that it made me go see and enjoy the movie!
I might well be an existentially and aesthetically unnecessary and irrelevant guy myself, but I'm not "depressingly successful" yet, unfortunately.   ;-)

Lamma-Por, not given to philosophisin', simply liked the "heroic" Silver Surfer.

June 16:  2006 By-Census Statistics for Islands District

The detailed tables of the 2006 by-census have just become available on the govt. website. Very interesting statistics, but I had to sift through a 517-page online document to find them:

Lamma's population has further shrunk to 5,158 residents, from 5,550 in the 2001 main census. Lamma still has the smallest population of any of the Constituency Areas in the Island District. But, surprisingly, Lamma has the 3rd-highest monthly household income of $16,500 (down from $20,000 and No. 2 position in 2001) and the 3rd-highest education level, plus claiming the highest school attendance rate of 99.7%. The median age has increased from 34 to 39 - in only 5 years! - same as for all of Hong Kong. A quarter of men (down from almost 40% in 2001?) and a full third of women have never been married. Click below to have a closer look:

2006 Population By-census - Summary Statistics of Island District,
comparing Lamma Island to the other Outlying Islands  (click to enlarge)

2006 Population By-census - Detailed Statistics for Lamma & Po Toi
(click to enlarge)

June 15:  Awesome Grit, Determination, Teamwork, Camaraderie and Community Spirit!

Torrential rain and dangerous sea conditions eventually forced the cancellation
of the HeliAds Lamma International Dragon Boat Festival 2007 after the first round
of heats.  (Photo by Laurent Fievet, with HeliAds promotional umbrella)

Gavin - Director of HeliAds the title sponsor of the HeliAds Lamma International Dragon Boat Festival 2007.  (Photos below by Laurent Fievet)

Dear Mr. Gung et al, A spectacular event was witnessed at Tai Wan To yesterday and everyone was a winner. Awesome grit, teamwork, determination, community spirit and camaraderie stretched the full length of the beach. Only when lightning posed a threat to safety did our contenders decide to continue the games in the pubs and restaurants of Yung Shue Wan. A massive thank you to the organisers and their helpers, spectators and contenders, the Lads & Lasses who sweated to clean and rake the beach the day before, the fishermen that braved the five feet waves to return the dragon boats to safety, the caterers that fueled the paddlers, the first-aiders that patched us up, the police that kept us safe, the press that kept their equipment dry and the rain that prevented heat stroke. The Lamma International Dragon Boat Festival is now on the map, 2007 was most certainly an unforgettable event and HeliAds look forward to supporting next year. Things are looking up.

Mark Burns - Co-organiser and PR liaison: Photos below by Donna, Desmond and Leggova. Click on their names or their photos to view their photo galleries. More photos by Grahame Collins and Siuyu, linked from the Official Festival Photo Gallery.

Dragon spirit, Tiger strength in abundance at the 1st HeliAds Lamma International Dragon Boat Festival 2007 Despite heroic efforts throughout the day from the teams, the organisers, the sponsors, and supporting bodies  the race organisers finally and reluctantly had to pull the plug on the HeliAds Lamma International Dragon Boat Festival 2007 after the 10th race as a fresh downpour of torrential rain hid the starting line from view, lightning threatened and the sea became too choppy to allow racing to continue safely. Earlier in the day, an Amber warning rainstorm had done nothing to dampen the abundant enthusiasm and good humour. And the appearance of the addled & bedraggled remnants of an all night beach party from Saturday night, looking vaguely like extras from 'Lost' before they drifted away, added to the amusement! Sunday's race format provided a good deal of flexibility to catch up any time lost to bad weather, and the organiser's decision to press on with the event unless conditions became dangerous was taken early and proved correct, as the starting horn blew to get the first race underway at 10am, just an hour behind schedule. For posterity's sake the race winners of the first Lamma Festival were (in order of the events): IPC Mixed Team AIA Southside Massive IPC Ladies Royal X Mixed Team Hongkong Electric BGC Stormy Ladies Lamma Dragons Dubai Flying Dragons (Mixed) IPC Men Hong Kong Freedom Dragons Full race details can be found here. Following months of planning, 55 dragon boat teams had made their way to Tai Wan To beach, Lamma Island, early on the morning of the 10th June to compete in the Festival in Men's, Women's and Mixed Divisions. Four Dubai Flying Dragons teams had flown into Hong Kong especially for this tournament and, coming from a desert kingdom, hadn't seen rainfall for over five months. Nevertheless it was a wonderful and memorable sight to see the normally peaceful Tai Wan To beach packed with more than 1,100 enthusiastic and colourful dragon boat paddlers and supporters, and the sea sporting several junks and pleasure cruisers anchored along the length of the 500 metre course. Sponsor Heliads had made a brilliant contribution to the event, by handing out more than 500 personal umbrellas to competitors and boat handlers alike, which indicated their rain-or-shine, weather-savvy know-how. Heroism was the word of the day as organisers and teams fought the elements. The Lamma Fishermen had battled the early morning storm and rough seas to deliver the race boats from Chai Wan and Aberdeen in time to begin the events.  Later in the day, they performed greater feats by returning the boats safely in considerably worse conditions. Members of the Lamma Dragons, Lamma Fishermen and boys from the Hong Kong Sea School worked wonders in choppy conditions keeping the race boats in order, and helping paddlers in and out of the vessels. Race officials and support volunteers, despite the deluge, managed to keep a firm grip on the vital tasks of organising the races and getting the beach ready for action. The Island Bar and Shamrocks got their stalls up and running in dreadful conditions, and cheerily kept everyone supplied with 'fuel' throughout the day. And the teams were magnificent, as enthusiasm and good nature outpoured in far greater quantities than the rain, which was torrential for much of the day. On the water, racing was fiercely contested. In Race 3, a Women's Division heat, IPC Ladies just edged Lamma Ladies by 0.4 of a second to win the race. The IPC, always powerful contenders on the water, also won Mixed and Men's heats. Race 5 threw up another incredibly tight finish as winners, Hongkong Electric just pipped the North Lamma Fishermen by four tenths of a second. The sleeper team favourite of the year, the Lamma Dragons (Men), have clawed their way back to fighting strength and proved their chops with a three-second lead over their competitors to take first place in Race 7. The guest Dubai Flying Dragons – accustomed to glassy-smooth seas – proved their metal as they convincingly took first place in Race 8 in the Mixed Division. Despite the excitement of these races, by noon the weather gods had the upper hand. The second round of heats were delayed to await more favourable conditions. Competitors for Race 11 started up the course and had made their way to the start line as an enormous curtain of rain hid the boats from view, thunder boomed and the sea grew choppier. With the fresh, wild conditions, and reports from the observatory of no foreseeable break, organisers decided to cancel the rest of the Festival for safety reasons. It was a great shame to have to end the first HeliAds Lamma International Dragon Boat Festival 2007 prematurely, but the safety of participants was of greater importance. Despite suffering some of the worst rain and wind of the year, the Festival was a great success and demonstrated that Lamma can successfully stage a major annual dragon boat race meeting. The staging of the event also raised HK$10,000 for the Make A Wish children's charity, an incredible achievement under the circumstances and something that everyone who participated in the Festival can be proud of. And everyone is now asking, given reasonable weather just how fantastic is the 2008 Lamma International Dragon Boat Festival going to be?! Well, with the return of the caterers, beer tents, fresh-water showers, 16 remarkably clean toilets, soft sand, and brilliant competition in deep, fast water: come back next year to Tai Wan To beach, Lamma Island to find out....!

Photos by Donna, click to enlarge: Photos by Desmond, click to enlarge: Photos by Leggova, click to enlarge:

P.S. Here's a short Internet TV article about the event.

P.S. II  Any company or individual who would like to find out more about sponsoring the 2008 Lamma International Dragon Boat Festival (yes, they're already looking at it!) can contact Brad Tarr or Mark Burns.