Plod’s Pagoda, Sai Kung

_{Plod’s Pagoda, Sai Kung}

I was recently visiting Sai Kung from where I live in Hong Kong Island and my friend who is resident in Sai Kung suggested that we meet before lunch in the square. Uncertain where that was, I asked him to “drop me a pin” on Google Maps.

This is what he sent: 22.381184, 114.271540 Plod’s Pagoda, Wan King Path, Sai Kung, Hong Kong

So off I set from home with my trusty iPhone telling me to MTR it to Hang Hau and then board a green minibus to Sai Kung Town. I alighted in good time in the main street from where it was just a short walk to Plod’s Pagoda. 

Expecting to find something like the old Tiger Balm Gardens pagoda in Tai Hang, I was disappointed to find a concrete structure in a small garden with my friend sitting inside it quaffing a Guinness 00.

^{Tiger Balm Gardens pagoda}

We greeted each other and then crossed the square to a nice bistro for lunch where I asked him what Plod’s Pagoda was all about. 

He told me that he had only recently discovered its history in a book he had bought from a retired Hong Kong cop at Hebe Haven Yacht Club – “More Tales from a Barren Rock”, a collection of stories by  expat Hong Kongers about life in colonial Hong Kong.

One chapter was about “Hash House Harrying in Hong Kong” and described a group called the Sai Kung Saturday hash and their founder, one Gunpowder Plod who had apparently persuaded the local council to demolish a disused salt water pumping station formerly serving the resettlement buildings around the square and create a garden. 

The council discovered that the structure’s walls were brick so they demolished the walls leaving a four pillared shelter which they provided with seating and surrounded it with a garden.

The hash group then took to meeting there once a month on a Saturday and started referring to it as “Plod’s Pagoda”. 

Old Gunpowder Plod then stepped down as Grand Master in favour of one Piss Perfect and promoted himself to Grand Master Emeritus.

However, he basked in meritorious glory but a moment as the new GM instantly demoted him to GM Demeritus. Not to be outdone and being a humble fellow at heart, the GMD decided to register Plod’s Pagoda on Google maps and so it has remained, long after the demise of the Sai Kung Hash and the grovelling departure of Piss (Off) Perfect.

^{Plod’s Pagoda – Gym and fitness centre in Hong Kong}

“This is a free public amenity open to everyone at all hours every day of the year. It has a small garden and trees and covered seating with wheelchair access. It used to be a salt water pumping station until Plod persuaded the government to convert it into “Plod’s Pagoda”, a frequent start and finish point for the Sai Kung Hash House Harriers, shared with the elderly and domestic helpers relaxing on their days off.”