It’s not every day that I take shelter and am joined under the pergola by five ox, an elderly HK man and Mr Shallot.

Yesterday we went to investigate an area where we are considering living. It’s on Lantau Island and the area is called Tong Fuk. Last week we had seen a village house that we quite liked but given we had never been to this area before; we thought it would be best to check it out thoroughly before committing to a two year lease.

We missed the ferry to Mui Wo so we caught a bus to Tung Chung and then another bus to Tong Fuk. As we began walking up the street, the rain started to lightly fall. My umbrella was then called into action as the rain began to fall harder. And harder, and harder. Just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. Not even five minutes later, it started again and we found ourselves undercover.

The pergola was right in front of the village house that we are considering leasing. The pergola is an old-fashioned concrete construction with concrete bench seats around the three sides with the front fully open to the elements.

This pergola was accessorized with partly washed away ox poo. This clearly was a sign and was one that we had chosen to ignore. Within minutes, an elderly HK man joined us under the shelter as it was now bucketing down. In a mixture of Cantonese and hand gestures (my charade skills have improved ten-fold since living here) he indicated that he was wet. Really, he just had to point at himself and I could have figured that one out.

A few minutes later, three ox began to approach the pergola. As they were getting closer, we realized that they use it as shelter too. The thought seemed to scare the elderly man as he jumped up onto one of the bench seats. I was more scared about having them poo on my foot – I was in my reef shoes. As a welcome, two decided to wee and thankfully, no poo. There were two females and one male. Yes, he had horns.

We were then joined by a calf and what may have been its father. He had even bigger horns. I was pleased they were facing the other way but it did leave my feet vulnerable to any excrement.

After what seemed like ten minutes, the rain appeared to ease so Mr Shallot and I left the rather worried elderly man in the shelter with his five new best friends. Mr Shallot went to check out the beach as I began to walk back to the bus stop. It started to rain again. I was in between the shelter and the bus stop so continued to walk with my umbrella intermittently turning itself inside out. I think it just likes to see how I’ll react.

As the monsoon season continues, I’m curious to see what else I may end up sheltering with.

* Thanks to George Strait for the title to this post. Read the lyrics for a bit of a giggle.