Subject: Po Toi 2010 Christmas Quiz [Print This Page] Author: wgeoff Time: 22/12/2010 06:48 Subject: Po Toi 2010 Christmas Quiz
In response to huge demand, here is the absolutely final final Po Toi Christmas Quiz. I’ve had such difficulty thinking up new questions that some of these are repeats of my favourite questions from past years.
As usual, the Grand Prize is a free night on Po Toi in January (excluding dinner) and the title ‘Bird Brain of Po Toi’, to be held indefinitely.
Questions about birds
Q1. There were no Hong Kong First Records reported from Po Toi this year. When was the last year that happened?
Q2. The Po Toi list currently stands at 301. What is the commonest Hong Kong species that is not (as yet) on the list?
Q3. Which East African endemic species of Turaco named after a famous German ornithologist from the 19th Century has never been seen on Po Toi?
(This question is asked in the vain hope that the individual who seemed obsessed by the species in last year’s quiz will get the answer right and therefore qualify for the Grand Prize. Knowing the individual, I’m not sure it will happen)
Questions about Po Toi history
Q4 (from 2006). In which well-known English novel does Po Toi feature?
Q5. In which year did Po Toi win the title ‘Hong Kong Village with the Greatest Sense of Environmental Protection’?
a. 1989
b. 1999
c. 2009
d. never – I made the whole thing up
General Questions about Po Toi
Q6. If you were a Po Toi resident, which would you rather have
a. solar panels on top of the toilet block in order to light the ladies toilet during the day? (cost HK$300,000)
b. a water tank to ensure you have ready access to water during the dry season? (cost HK$200,000)
c. a free torch, a bottle of water and HK$50,000 each from the Government?
Q7. Sea-watching can sometimes be a bit boring, and in these moments I turn to ship-watching. The Bhum Shipping Line from Thailand is my favourite with ships like Ratha Bhum and Wana Bhum and it’s always a special day when Supa Bhum comes past
But what does Supa Bhum mean in the Thai language?
Answer True or False
Q8 (from 2007 and very much a personal favourite of mine). The old lady who lives in the house near the jetty has a more impressive list of Hong Kong bird species than Paul Leader.
(I am hoping that the only person who got the answer wrong in 2007 will get the answer right this time)
Q9 (also from 2007). Po Toi seaweed is as effective as Viagra.
(Contestants should note that the Testing Panel for this question are now three years older so the result may be different to that in 2007)
Tie-breaker
Q10 (from 2008). What is the best way to see a rare bird on Po Toi?
Judges decision is final.
As this is the last Quiz, there will be a winner, but the number of correct answers needed to win will not be declared until after the results are in.
Answers and final results in two weeks time when (if?) I return to Hong Kong from UK.
[ Last edited by wgeoff at 22/12/2010 07:47 ] Author: John Holmes Time: 27/12/2010 00:10 Subject: Po Toi Christmas Quiz
Geoff,
Putting my Turkey sandwiches aside, here is my entry from whitest Worcestershire UK
Q1: The last year there were "No Firsts" from Po Toi - 2005
Q2: Commonest HK bird unrecorded on Po Toi - Moorhen
Q3: Hartlaub's Turaco (Easy answer !)
Q4: The Honourable Birder
Q5: d - you have definitely made this up !
Q6: Er... b
Q7: In Thai it means "Supa Bhum" - in English it means "Pearl of the Seas"*
Q8: Personally, I find the bird list of the pier lady more impressive than PJL's list - she has seen Hartlaub's Turaco, but has kept quiet about it.
Q9: Not so - the dried squid is more popular than the seaweed, because Po Toi seaweed causes hallucinations involving East African bird species.
Q10: Ten minutes BEFORE the ferry departs.
* - I might be inventing this translation - "BHUM DIDDY BHUM !"
Merry Christmas, Geoff and everybody and all the best for 2011
John Author: wgeoff Time: 3/01/2011 22:09 Subject: Answers
Questions about birds
Q1. There were no Hong Kong First Records reported from Po Toi this year. When was the last year that happened?
2004 was the last year without a Hong Kong First Record. Japanese Cormorant was seen in 2005, Orange-breasted Green Pigeon, Sulphur-breasted Warbler and Ruddy Kingfisher in 2006, Common Cuckoo, Red-breasted Flycatcher and Hodgson’s Redstart in 2007, Masked Booby in 2008 and Red-throated Thrush in 2009
Q2. The Po Toi list currently stands at 301. What is the commonest Hong Kong species that is not (as yet) on the list?
Hwamei. It’s a real puzzle why there are no Hwamei’s on Po Toi whereas it is relatively common on nearby Hong Kong Island, Lamma and Cheung Chau. Any suggestions gratefully accepted.
(PS Moorhen is already on the list, from 2007 and 2010)
Q3. Which East African endemic species of Turaco named after a famous German ornithologist from the 19th Century has never been seen on Po Toi?
Harlaub’s Turaco. Rather surprisingly, John Holmes got it right.
Questions about Po Toi history
Q4 (from 2006). In which well-known English novel does Po Toi feature?
John Le Carre’s spy novel ‘The Honourable Schoolboy’. The second of the Smiley/Karla trilogy was set in Hong Kong and the final chapter is on Po Toi. John Le Carre must have visited Po Toi because his description of walking across the top of the Island is quite authentic, although he does refer to ‘screaming gulls’ (probably Black Kites) so his bird knowledge is a bit weak. ‘The Honourable Schoolboy’ died at the end of the chapter so his body must still be somewhere on the far side of the Island.
Q5. In which year did Po Toi win the title ‘Hong Kong Village with the Greatest Sense of Environmental Protection’?
a.1989
b.1999
c.2009
d.never – I made the whole thing up
1999. I could never have made this up and there is a framed certificate in the Community Centre to prove it.
General Questions about Po Toi
Q6. If you were a Po Toi resident, which would you rather have
a. solar panels on top of the toilet block in order to light the ladies toilet during the day? (installed 2009, cost HK$300,000)
b. a water tank to ensure you have ready access to water during the dry season? (installed 2010, cost HK$200,000)
c. a free torch, a bottle of water and HK$50,000 each from the Government?
a is of no use whatsoever and they are quite used to coping with little water in the dry season, so without doubt the ten remaining residents would take option c if it were offered. Although if it was, I suspect the number of ‘residents’ might magically increase.
Q7. Sea-watching can sometimes be a bit boring, and in these moments I turn to ship-watching. The Bhum Shipping Line from Thailand is my favourite with ships like Ratha Bhum and Wana Bhum and it’s always a special day when Supa Bhum comes past
But what does Supa Bhum mean in the Thai language?
I am guessing a bit, but I think ‘Bhum’ is actually pronounced ‘Bhumi’ in Thai and is a Bhuddist word meaning ‘foundation’. So I think it means ‘good foundation’- much the same as it does in the English then.
Answer True or False
Q8 (from 2007 and very much a personal favourite of mine). The old lady who lives in the house near the jetty has a more impressive list of Hong Kong bird species than Paul Leader.
True. She gave up sending in her records in 1953 when her Ruddy Kingfisher was rejected on the grounds that it might be an escape. It took another 53 years before the RC realized their mistake. Over that time she has recorded another 22 species yet to appear on the Hong Kong list including Swinhoe’s Rail and Northern Wheatear in her garden and her cat once brought in a Gray’s Grasshopper Warbler.
I’ve not heard her mention Hartlaub’s Turaco but then I’m not sure what it is in Chinese.
Q9 (also from 2007). Po Toi seaweed is as effective as Viagra.
True. A different test result to 2007, but regrettably for the wrong reasons. This year, the panel reported that neither was effective, obviously an unfortunate effect of the passage of another three years.
Q10 (from 2008). What is the best way to see a rare bird on Po Toi?
10 minutes AFTER the ferry has left is certainly one way. Another is the same as that given in 2008, which is
‘On Po Toi, everything is controlled by the Goddess of the Sea, Tian Ho. Her representative on earth is the old lady who lives in the house next to the ferry pier. She cleans the temple and looks after Tian Ho twice each day, at 6.30am and 2pm, whatever the weather.
So, as all the birds on Po Toi are controlled by Tian Ho, if you want to see a really good bird, you have to make a small offering, which is best given through the old lady. A $20 note usually produces something good, Hong Kong firsts have been known to appear for a $50 note. But please don’t go any higher – you may spoil the market and also risk a hug and a kiss from the old lady, something not to be contemplated lightly.’
Unfortunately, inflation has taken its toll over the last two years and the sums have now increased to $50 for a good bird and $100 for a Hong Kong first. But the warning about going above this is still very much in force.
Results
Although there were several admirable attempts. the judges have once again decided that nobody reached the standard necessary for the title ‘Bird Brain of Po Toi’. Paul Leader would have made it but unfortunately he was disqualified for getting the answer to Q8 wrong once again.
However, the judges have looked closely at the performance of John Holmes and have noted that his scores have increased each year, from ½ point in 2008 to 1½ points in 2009 and 2½ points this year. They feel that this should not go unrewarded and have decided to award him the honorary title ‘Most Improved Bird Brain of Po Toi’. Unfortunately, this does not come with the free night on Po Toi in January but at this rate of progress, he may achieve the full first prize in 2017.
Ah well, that’s 2010 gone. Let’s hope for a great 2011, on Po Toi and elsewhere – best wishes to all.
[ Last edited by wgeoff at 4/01/2011 07:30 ]
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