Tokyo holiday in Odaiba (2)

One unexpected plus from staying in our cool hotel in Odaiba was the proximity to famous celebrities.   Although they seemed stiff at first, they were in fact very approachable and we were even able take some photos together.  

Hannah-Papa with Julia Roberts.

Julia Roberts:  "If you could have just one wish come true tonight, what would it be?"
Hannah-Papa:  "New knees"

Hannah in a cool bar with George Clooney.

Hannah with Maida Atsuko from AKB48

Hannah Pap with his holiness the Delai Lama

And President Obama

Hannah doing sit-ups with David Beckham

and arabesques with Mao Asada

Singing karaoke with Michael Jackson

and Michael Jackson

Hannah having Breakfast at Tiffanys with Audry Hepburn

Riding the flying bicycle with E.T.

Kung fu with Bruce Lee

Hannah-papa with another of his heroes, Sakamoto Ryoma

In case you hadn't guessed already, Odaiba also has a branch of Madame Tussards.   It was a lot more fun for me than I expected, although perhaps a less fun for Hannah as she didn't recognize many of the celebrities.   Luckily we had watched ET together a few weeks earlier, which she had really liked.

Tokyo holiday in Odaiba (1)

On Thursday we flew to Tokyo to start our summer holidays

It was great to be back in Japan and see the old familiar landmarks.

We stayed in a Hotel in Odaiba on an island in Tokyo Bay just on the other side of Rainbow Bridge with great views of Tokyo and the port of Tokyo

On Friday Rika needed to prepare for the Craft Fair, so Hannah and I went sight-seeing together.

First stop was Legoland in the Decks mall nearby in Odaiba.  Hannah joined a lego 'master-builders' class.

She followed the instruction diligently...

... and made this wonderful dragon.

And this is the Dragon  from the elite 'otaku' class

Legoland had a large playroom for the kids, which Hannah enjoyed very much.

It was thoughtfully designed for Dad's with napping  benches outside.

The Decks complex  also had an amusement arcade where Hannah could play

She is becoming and adept of 'Taiko no Tatsujin' which she also plays on her Rika's I-pad

And the Old Tokyo floor in Decks had some interesting shops and some good caricature artists

This was the artist's impression of us:

Auntie Bride's Pool

After we reached the end of the Pat Sing Leng Nature Trail, we crossed the road to walk the Bride's Pool Nature Trail and see the famous waterfalls (wiki link) which were engorged by the mornings rain.

I wasn't at all surprised to see the inevitable groups of Aunties picnicking.  I must say I admire the way they seem to make the most of living in Hong Kong on a budget.  More than the locals, they seem to get out to enjoy Hong Kongs parks and picnic spots.  They socialize in good natured and relaxed groups, with lots of food and always lots of laughter.   (And I wonder how much of this can be related to their christian faith which is also often in evidence).  

Large groups of Aunties can be incredibly noisy as dozens of them squawk with laughter at the same time - like comedy-hour in a parakeet house.    And gathered in their hundreds - like Sunday afternoon in Central - they can be almost intimidating.   (Its an odd thought, but sometimes I imagine that a mob of Aunties could just pounce on someone and tear them apart without leaving a trace - like seagulls with a crust of bread).

As we approached on the path to the falls I was surprised to see increasing numbers of Aunties frolicking in the streams and taking photos of each other.

Frolicking and taking photos of each other.

Nearing the Bride's Pool, the Auntie-density increased to the point where we simply could not proceed any further.   Literally every rock and every pool was overflowing with reclining aunties  in various stages of undress.   The noise of laughter and throbbing of streams cascading over the rocks was deafening.

It was like we had intruded into the ladies' section of some gigantic Tahitian hammam.  Unfortunately I couldn't get a photo of this amazing sight, as my iPhone was all fogged-up in the moist air.  

So we retreated to the bus stop.  And apart from this distant view from the car park, we never actually saw the Bride's Pool.

Pat Sin Leng Nature Trail

On Tuesday it was a public holiday and I'd planned to go hiking with Hannah to let Rika get some time off.    As a concession to the humidity I chose the Pat Sin Leng Nature Trail.  This is on the far side of Tolo Harbour above Plover Cove reservoir.   It is only 4km with a steady climb up to 380m through woodland along the side of the Pat Sin Leng range ('Ridge of Eight Immortals').  It  normally takes 2 hours although we would be a lot slower.

I wanted to check-out this area because I plan to eventually do the Wilson Trail over the top of the ridge which has a string of 500m peaks (the '8 immortals') with terrific views.  (wiki link)

I'd planned to leave early to avoid the worst of the forecast heat but we were delayed by a series of thunder-storms, and set out around 10am.   It was initially a fairly cool 27 degrees but 95% humidity and forecast to reach a sunny 33 degrees.

Hannah at the start of the real preparing for for some strenuous hiking.

It was  nice path with good footing despite the rain and we climbed steadily above the reservoir.   At the first bamboo grove we met a small 30cm green shake (bamboo snake?) on the path.  Soon after that we reached the Spring Breeze Pavilion built in memory of the 5 teachers and students who perished in a hill-fire on a school hiking trip in 1996.

View looking south across Tei Mei Tuk village and Tolo Harbor towards Ma on Shan mountain (in cloud).  The 2km dam of Plover Cove reservoir on the left.

It stayed dry for most of the hike with only few showers.  We crossed a number of lively mountain streams with the water up following the morning storms almost covering the stepping-stones.

Hannah getting ready for some strenuous hiking in the rain.

View looking East across Plover Cove Reservoir.

The path eventually joined stage 10 of the Wilson Trail and near the top emerged briefly from the tree-line to give nice views across the hills.  The weather stayed cool with a pleasant breeze and just a little sun.  Very pleasant hiking weather.

View from the top of the trail looking east over Plover Cove Country Park to Double Haven and Crescent Island.

And looking North across Starling Inlet (below).  The back-gound hills on the left are in the Hong Kong SAR  but the grey buildings in the middle and the far hills behind-right are in Mainland China.

Detail looking North:  Yantien, an eastern suburb of Shenzen.   This is only the second time I'd seen China since arriving in Hong Kong 2 years ago.

Looking east across the valley to some old villages and one of the waterfalls of the Brides Pool area.  The decent through the forest was gentle and Hannah walked nicely.   We saw lots of butterflies including a large black-and-yellow butterfly who seemed to fall in-love with Hannahs black-and-yellow shoes, and a big stick-insect that rode for a while on the Deuter.

After a total of 3.5 hours hiking we finished the trail at Brides Pool Road near the famous Bride's Pool.   (of which more anon).   All in all a very pleasant hike.

Heat Stroke

When we got back from Disneyland I felt quite strange - disoriented, unusually exhausted, and a little nauseous.   And not just from the bill! (HKD 3,000+ for taxis, admission, Elsa dress, food and ice-creams).

I eventually concluded that I had mild heat-stroke.  Which was an unexpected first for me, since I'm normally immune from these sort of 'girlie' problems.   I realized that I'd started the day quite dehydrated from weekend exercise, and although we'd drunk lots of liquid it was water not sports drink, so I'd failed to replace the missing salts.   Although it was 'only' about 32 degrees, it was sunny and rather humid at about 70% humidity, which made the 'effective temperature' much higher - equivalent to a dry 39 degrees in the shade (102F).

From my background in southern New Zealand I know quite a lot about hypothermia., but nothing about heat-stroke.   It was obviously time to get educated, and once my head cleared I did some research.

One key point which I'd not fully appreciated is how the combination of heat and high humidity can overwhelm the bodies ability to cool itself.   High humidity reduces the effectiveness of sweating, which dramatically increases the 'effective temperature' - 30 degrees at 80% humidity is like a dry 38 degrees.  On top of this bright sunlight can add a further 8-10 degrees.

From these levels, one can enter the danger-zone in much sooner than I'd realized.  At 80% humidity, raising the temperature just 3 degrees to 33 increases the effective temperature by 10 degrees to 48!   Raising the humidity from 80% to 100% (at 30 degrees) increases the effective temperature by 6 degrees to 44!  All this before any additional heat from sunshine.   Attempting strenuous activity in these conditions can quite quickly dangerously overheat the body.

Warning signs at the start of a hiking trail

With that in mind I reassessed our plan for Tuesday's public holiday.   Hannah had wanted to go hiking  to ride in the Deuter.   I'd hoped to do a 5 hour track up Tates Cairn (538m) and on to Lions Rock,  using the approach route up near Buffalo Hill that I'd done on my own when it was 33 degrees and 60% humidity (effective temperature 40 C degrees).

But the forecast was for temperatures 29-33 C with humidity 80%-100% and broken cloud.  So effective temperatures 35+ to 57+ degrees!   Plus no shade for most of the route along the ridge (+8-10), and carrying Hannah for most of the way up.

So what might have been doable at 60% humidity looked dangerous at 80+ humidity.    Instead I chose a more shaded and less strenuous hike, and took care to rehydrate overnight, and pack lots of sports-drink and some frozen water-bottles for emergency relief.

A Recipie for Heat-stroke

1 dehydrated Daddy
33 C degrees temperature
80-100% relative humidity
30kg load to carry
4 hours hike up 1 rocky hill

Mix together well and roast for 1-2 hours, or until moist and flaky.  

Lookalike (10)

Hannah-Papa and Olaf the snowman from 'Frozen' must surely be related

              Hannah-Papa                               Olaf