Day in Tai Po

Since seeing it on TV for the first time I don't remember how many years ago, I've wanted to visit the wishing tree in Tai Po. The chance finally came up yesterday when I attended a not so traditional "basin cuisine" lunch I wasn't invited to. "Not so traditional" because endless pieces of taro were found in our basin where a fair share of avian flu carriers should have been. Other than that, it was good old traditional village cuisine. Where else would you be served 20 separate types of food in the same dish? More importantly, where else could 20 separate types of food all taste the same?

The wishing tree experience would have been more fun if we hadn't been lucky enough to run into Hong Kong's tATu. For a minute the digicams and flashlights had me think our prosperous tourism industry was really rebounding Hong Kong. The flock of fans and press was probably the tree's worst nightmare, of course after nearly getting burnt down last month.

The whole idea of the wishing tree is to write down wishes on a thin stack of what felt like rice paper material, which is then rolled up and tied to an orange. And the wish maker is then to toss the whole thing up the tree. For the price of a pineapple bun, I had the time of my life tossing again and again with what little arm strength I had, up to what looked like Oscar the Grouch's idea of a Christmas tree, while staying alert for flying Sunkists from every which direction. I finally made it at the third attempt, when my wish twirled around and clung onto someone else’s wish without ever touching the tree itself.