送 薑 茶 / Ginger Tea Delivery

2007 Q4: first time to learn that Mr. Wong Ginger Tea story on Tony Tsoi book on Trailwalker.

2008/7/15: came across next magazine archive about Mr. Wong Ginger Tea Story

2008/7/16:
- submit holiday request on Nov 7 for Trailwalker
- share the idea with a frd of being Ginger Tea volunteer & received her full support

2008/7/17:
- decided to register as volunteer in Mr. Wong Ginger Tea assignment
- thinking of using 2 Red-A 20L water bucket with self made bamboo knapsack. Expect to deliver 20L at a time & 75 times delivery (assuming 350 ml for 4400 guests --> 1540L)
- invitation was sent to 9 people
- blog was posted

2008/7/18:
- response on the invitation is not good.... looks like it is going to be a lonely assignment

2008/7/19:
- register with Mr. Wong
- earlier estimated route was correct (1 km, 1/2 hr walk)
- hv to walk downhill to collect water, according to Mr. Wong, water there is better
- not all walkers would drink ginger tea, so my estimated volume is the max vol

2008/7/21:
- Red-A water bucket query email sent to Red-A company.
- still wondering where to buy bamboo for the knapsack.

2008/7/22:
- received the call from Red-A about water bucket
- change mind to use useless home material to make knapsack
- 2 more invitations sent via FB to Scouts frds

2008/7/23:
- Red-A 20L water bucket costs over $800 & will seek other alternatives
- no reply on 7/22 invitations

2008/7/28:
- bought two16L water bags

2008/9/3:
- started the walking home program, 1 hr 15 min non stop uphill walk, let's c how long it takes before i can use less than an hour

2008/9/11:
- started the walking home program with increased weight (16 litre of water)

2008/10/1:
- check out the route. Downhill 15 min.  Uphill would be 1/2 hr. Big stone uneven upslope.

2008/11/7:
- 0800: gather @ Prince Edward (Mr. Wong, Ms. Lau & myself)
- 0930 arrived Sai Kung Po Lo Che Wong Chuk Yeung Village
- 1030 arrived Mao Ping via Sai Kung Old Rd
- 1406 1st team "GS4 PowerBar Great" passed
- 1515 3rd team "Convoy Cosmoboys Team 1" passed
- Setting up stoves, transport water from creek nearby (downslope 10 min; upslope 20-30 min)
- Served Ginger Tea after 18:00
- Peak hours starting from midnight

2008/12/8:
- Served ginger tea till 0600
- 0600-0800 Break
- 0800-0900 Clearing & packing
- 0930 Wong Chuk Yeung Village
- 1030 Prince Edward

A few note:
- 8 big pots of ginger tea (estimated over 900 litre) served to walkers as well as guests
- Mr. Wong is still the main "carrier" (8 times); Ms. Lau (4 times); myself (twice)
- Transporting gears uphill is not the major challenge (estimated a total of 200 lb gears including pots, stoves, gas can, kerosine, tent, food, ginger tea ingredient, ......).  The real challenge lies in water transport.  As there are not enough water storage cans, we cannot store all the water needed at one time & thus requiring constant refill which is a problem at night time.
- long sleeves wear & trousers are desirable as there are mosquitoes
- cheap cheap big storage water bags tend to leak easily.  Better use empty bottles instead.
- A more ideal logistics would be:
-- 3 separate teams to help out: morning uphill delivery team, afternoon water delivery team & midnight boost up team.

-- setting up a chain with 5 members along water transport route.  Each member carries water in a less than 5 min interval which is more energy conservative & long lasting.
-- Big PVC foam boxes are to be used for water storage (light in weight for carrying uphill).  Store all the water we need in the afternoon preparation period & focus in tea serving at night time.
-- a second shift of volunteers could come by midnight to serve during peak hours.
-- water bucket prove to be better as big water bags tend to wore out & leak.
-- use tape recorder to broadcast

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