As it’s been awhile since I lasted posted, I thought a summary of happenings would be useful:

1. Best Woman’s Engagement Party

As a surprise, I arrived from HK in Sydney to help prepare for that evening’s festivities. Tears and champagne all round before the role reversal occurred. As though I had never left, I was standing in our kitchen where Mr Shallot, Best Woman and I had been preparing a number of years ago for our surprise engagement party.

I was exhausted from the flight, work the previous week and had caught up with another couple (one as a surprise) and their child before arriving at the party destination. Great opportunity to meet their other friends and amazingly, I did manage to have a few coherent conversations in spite of my lack of sleep!

Flew back to HK the next morning and back to work on the Monday. Great to have done though it took me a week to get back in sleeping sync.

One of the beneficiaries with half of my team

The following weekend we raised money for the feral cows and water buffalo of the area.

A 5 km fun-run where each kilometer, at least one member of your team has to drink a beer. Being a team mainly of Australians, we thought one of the team was a little soft so at least three drank before moving on.

The teams tend to dress up and at the end, there are prizes for the winners of the event and the best outfits. Highlights this year were the Smurfs and the Japanese Geishas. We won a prize too for our blue outfits.

3. Hong Kong Sevens

The biggest rugby tournament in HK. Tickets are typically difficult to come by as the supply is very limited for the general public. We tend to get our tickets from corporates which also means we are able to sit in their corporate boxes. The plus side of this is the food, alcohol and view. The downside is that you don’t see much of the rugby and miss some of the atmosphere.

The atmosphere is found in the South Stand, which is where I was on the Saturday. This is the area where people dress up in all sorts of outfits. This year I saw Sponge Bob, piano keys, prisoners, black swans (movie characters are popular as are political figures), flamingos, Fred Flintstone and more. We dressed as female jockeys in white skirts, silks of different colours, matching hats, boots and a whip.

The game is watched, cheering is loudest, there’s a lot of alcohol consumed and songs are sung during the breaks in the game and the tournament. There are even mini-events happening in the Stand eg. Drinking competitions, ball throwing etc.

It was a bit tame this year probably due to it being a little cooler than usual, not so much alcohol was drunk. The Stand reached capacity at 9.30am even thought the games didn’t start until 10am.

Sunday I was back with corporate seating and respectable clothing. After eating my fill in a couple of boxes, I went high into the stands so I could watch the finals properly. I met Mr Shallot again after the fireworks, went out for dinner and slept for ages the next day.

4. Taiwan Cycling Trip

After a weekend off for me (Mr Shallot went surfing and I had a haircut), we went to Taiwan with Mr Shallot’s triathlon club.

Downtown Kenting on party night – no agro, just fun!

I had been dubious given they’re triathletes and I’m a runner (at best!) that cycles on occasion (though not much in HK so far). The Club President had assured me that it was a tour, not a race, and the ride would be fairly leisurely.

The first day suggested my instincts were more accurate than the President’s. What did they expect when you get a bunch of competitive people together – none of them would be likely to say the pace was too fast!

I’d expected to by cycling by myself most of the time given my leisurely speed so I wasn’t particularly phased by it but I was worried that on parts of the ride where there may be a deadline, that I would be the hold up. I sat in the van on these legs with my bike on the roof which they got down for me whenever there was a good spot for me to cycle again.

I was very impressed. The scenery was beautiful, the service we received was fantastic and the food was also really good. Our first dinner saw us inhale the boiled rice before the main dishes had even arrived.

We had accidently timed our event to be in line with a Spring Festival so there were a lot of people in Kenting and a fabulous party atmosphere. The only downside was the selling of fireworks at the night markets which people felt the need to light at all hours of the evening / morning – what are you going to see at 5am?

5. Hen’s Night

Dress-up time again in a Mad Men theme. I haven’t seen so many pearls in one place in my entire life.

I had bought a new frock (that really is the best word to describe this dress) for the occasion – a classic cut, in dark brown, sleeveless with scooped neckline, flared skirt (complete with netting) and brought in at the waist with a matching sash. It says ‘party’ to me. With pearls and gloves, it then became Mad Men.

Another fun evening out and a sleepy Sunday ahead – I’m not as young as I use to be!