Dear Vicky: Pipe Dreams I

Today’s title photo:

Hong Kong sub-tropical, which means it’s only got two seasons in a year: summer, and cooler summer. It does not get cold. Cold weather(mid to low single digit is the coldest one can expect) is so rare that whenever it happens, some idiots would hike up to Tai Mo Shan, Hong Kong’s tallest mountain, to see frost, wearing the least appropriate outfits imaginable for such an activity in such weather: heels, flip flops, summer clothing, you name it. They’d end up stranded on the mountain due to frozen trails and poor choice of hiking gear. Firefighters have to be sent for evacuation, even helicopters. Ugh! I always wonder if these people have never opened their freezer and looked inside.

Warm weather also gives Hong Kong some interesting architectural choices. Many houses have pipes installed on the outside: some nicely laid out, some so convoluted that they are almost artsy. Here are some pipes.

Hong Kong has two types of fire hydrants: red and yellow. Water from the red ones is drinkable. I will not be held accountable for any consequences that might occur due to this piece of information.

That does it for today. There are more pipes in the pipeline.