I owe a lot of replies to comments – sorry. I also apologise if you thought I was ‘threatening’ to stop blogging yesterday. I am not. I have thought of doing so several times but that is when it becomes a chore and at present it is welcome relief from the dull ache of moving. I need Panadol Removals to sort me out. No, I was reflecting on what might lie behind our blogging facade. Am I really a 25-year-old ladyboy from Bangkok and not a retired banker with a camera addiction? I rush to reassure you that the only lap dancing in this house is Lulu squirming for a more comfortable position but you just never know who lurks behind the blogging wall. Remember that and as someone once remarked, be careful out there.
This morning I insisted on a walk before I headed off to town. I can’t even remember why I had to go to Central but I did. I have vague and painful recollections of standing in boutiques whilst Mrs. Ha looked for something to go with her new trousers. I wander off when we get to the bit where she asks ‘gei doh tcheen?’ (how much?). I would rather be blissfully ignorant. But be that as it may, I squeezed in an hour in the park. There I found the fan dancers. There seemed to be one, possibly two teachers and a covey of pupils. The teacher counted to ten and at each number the students adopted a new position. The teacher would watch, correct and encourage. Sometimes she encouraged someone with a kick in the calf. The age mix was broad and of both sexes. It is recreational fitness training. If you find fans too soft you can opt for swords instead. Today there were no budding d’Artagnans. No swashbuckling would-be Errol Flynns, thrusting their epées, no ‘en garde’ to defend the advancing fan, and I failed to spot a single lunge.
Anyway, without further ado here are the fanatics of Quarry Bay Park. I wish they had chosen cleaner backgrounds but it is what it is. And please observe how very like cricket is.
First up, fending off the bouncer.
Copying David Shepherd so the score must be 111.
A most graceful Gower-esque glance to leg.
Full concentration for the off drive.
The Barmy Army doing its imitation of Saturday Night Fever. Not sure what is going on in the left of the frame. Steady sir!
And these were my stars of the show. Smiling, enthusiastic, they would make a great advert for the Mandarin Oriental. Are you a fan?
All downhill from here 
I hope all is well Andrew, I’ve miss you and those posts of yours you bring a twist like no one else maybe it’s that dry humor of yours. Thank you for your well wishes. I will keep you in the loop
As always Sheldon
beautiful pictures!!! I love them
We’ve just watched the MET production of Turandot with massive and very enjoyable fan action. Re bloggers: in 2003 I was part of an online writing group and, after a year, a few of us decide to meet up in Brighton… (I stopped here not sure how to phrase my reactions to my fellow men and women)… Perhaps best to say I never repeated the experiment or stayed in touch. However I have recently had a very life-affirming meet-up with the good doctor from Australia to take away that memory. It takes all sorts.
I read your meet-up report and added a Follow as a result.
Delightfully colorful, smooth, inviting. But I stopped suddenly at your reference to the record held by David Shepherd. That’s my brother’s name, with Shepherd spelled that way (here in the States, it’s usually spelled Shepard). Anyway, imagining my brother somewhere in these picture really had me laughing…and looking closely. 🙂
“Off Drive”.. surely she’s a left-hander playing a leg glance ?
Just being pedantic, as usual.
Could be an on drive but she tries not to play across the line. The head position and that she is playing forward to the pitch of the ball suggested the drive not a glance. Maybe I should ask her what she intended.
Oh, groan. I can turn off the TV or radio to avoid cricket, but then you blokes pop up with your commentary. Summer is tough …
Bisogna sicuramente avere molta concentrazione per fare quei movimenti, che se non sbaglio sono molto molto lenti. Io sicuramente perderei subito l’equilibrio.
Lovely pics.
Yes, how do any of us know who the rest of us really are. It’s a thought that’s bugged me ever since I started this blogging lark. As I said once before – I could really be a sociopathic inmate in a high security jail with an over active imagination. Prove that I’m not.
I predict this to be the new zumba craze in America in a couple of years. Think they’re on to something!!
Nice series!
Thanks Stephen.
Love the expression of the two men who appear to know that you were taking their picture or not? At any rate the fans add an interesting concept and more grace. GIves the hands something to do. 🙂
I am indeed. Sort of like Tai chi with props. Maybe one could bring an umbrella…that would be interesting.
Also interesting is your thought of what lies behind our facades. Hmmm. Now you’ve got me thinking of a character I could invent to write another blog. Think of the fun you could have!
However your point is well taken, and I’m so gullible it’s lucky I haven’t been taken in. So far as I know, ladyboy 🙂
Some people searching for blogs with tags of Errol Flynn, ladyboy and lap dancer are going to be slightly bemused when they find their way here.
Are you suddenly finding you are getting tens of new followers a day on WP. All the new ones I am getting seem to have suspiciously long email addresses and not a single like or comment form any of this wave a hundreds of new followers.
It’s all a little bazar
But so far no stalkers like Lottie (apart from family members with the last name Stalker).
I have taken to making use of a VPN service to add a little protection to my location and computer address.
Beautiful fans
What lies beyond the bloggers wall, now those were not your exact words but you started them so l shall finish
I am curious as to where the concept of you being other than you are was occurring. Did someone write about you or use your identity?
In this country, fan dancing had an entirely different meaning in the day of burlesque. I must be getting old because this seems much more interesting now. Are they working it to”YMCA”?
It could be YMCA, Steve but they were not singing along so I can’t be sure. I also wondered about Grease is the Word. I kept looking for Oliver Neutron Bomb.
HA-HA-HA.Andrew you are too witty. I laughed out loud about YMCA, Grease and, Olivia N. John. Those were some real good ones.
Beautiful! I loved doing tai chi, but never tried with fans. It looks so exotic.
I did tai chi for 6 weeks. It was not easy. I finished the course but for some reason never made it to the second one. I fancy a go with the swords though.
Yes, the internet can be a disturbing place and sadly, sometimes we find out that out that people that we’ve trusted and confided in are not who we believed them to be. Worryingly, this has now happened to me twice this month. A couple of weeks ago I had to block a Facebook ‘chum’ as he was beginning to really annoy me and I felt uncomfortable with a lot of the stuff that he wrote about. I unfriended and blocked him but somehow he still managed to message me so I went through all my settings with a tooth comb – I then decided to google his name – Turns out that he’s a notorious stalker, has a police record and restraining orders placed on him by several women. I’m certainly not his first victim. There have been 100’s! ‘His target is mainly sensitive women in the 25-50 age range’ wrote one blogger. Not sure how I managed to slip under the radar then as I’m shortly about to be 52 – that said I was 49 when we first made on-line acquaintance through a mutual friend. You are right on the money, Andrew, we do all need to ‘be careful out there’. So with that on my mind, I gave one of my daughters a stern lecture this morning about the perils of the internet. She said ‘Mum, I’ve got a life, I’m rarely on the internet. It’s you that spend your life on it, your’e the one that needs to be careful!’ – I think she’s right!
LOVE the fan dancers and the commentary! and I hope the Panadol kicks in soon 😀
I suppose the situation will get worse, Lottie as the internet becomes all pervasive. The difficult choice will be to regulate or not to regulate, free for all or premium internet for those who can pay. Who we are dealing with is something on which we make a judgment. In most cases we will be right but not always. The internet can also be used maliciously the other way round too. How do you defend your good name once it has been wrongly besmirched? I am much more selective on whom I agree to accept as a friend on FB now. Mrs. Ha is even more careful. It took a while before she accepted my friend request 😉
I think I may have to have a go with the fans before we leave.
Yes, I am forlornly awaiting my FB notification that Mrs. Ha has accepted me. 😦
Just kidding. I appreciate all the likes she leaves for me. 🙂 It is best to retain caution as Lottie has unfortunately found out. I was sorry to read of your experience, Lottie. 😦
You MUST have a go with the fans before you leave – I’m not sure why, but I’m getting a vision of Morecambe and Wise in my head…..;)
as for Facebook friends, I put my hands up, I’ve played a bit fast and loose with accepting friend requests in the past – nowadays I’m A LOT more selective. Once bitten, twice shy.
Lottie, for goodness sake. That is the pits abou the stalker. You could not read between the lines , as they say? I have just opened a FB page (said that I never would) but really have little inclination to piddle with it. I got the FB thing so that I’ll know what is going on in the rescue community and maybe post some of my own animals on there. Love to Spare rescue/sanctuary put Zoey’s pic on there for me and that is how she got adopted.
I didn’t read through the lines Yvonne, until it was too late. He sent me a friend request and I accepted as we had a mutual friend and he was an artist so I thought he might share some interesting posts on his page. What I didn’t reckon on was his constant messaging me, hounding etc. and if I didn’t respond, he then became abusive. I should have blocked him months ago. Needless to say Pete was NOT impressed!
I can well imagine that Pete was probably livid. That FB person was siomething of a sick-0. What in the h! Becoming abusive to someone in a public plade sure took some nerve on the part of that person. I simply can not fathom that. Over-bearing and brazen and I suppose he thought he had a push over and could say what ever he wanted.
Definitely, A Fan. Delightful
Thank you Rhonda 🙂
You are very welcome Andrew. 🙂
Delightful and graceful, even happy looking.
Happy? Happy, Gerard? Explain the concept?