Up in the heavens, Venus was traversing the noon-day sun, the last such passing that will be visible from Earth for the next century. Down on terra firma, a bunch of men - most definitely from Mars - were gingerly throwing a rugby ball around.
The BGC APBs - formerly the Asian Pacific Barbarians - were having their first workout at So Kon Po as a unit since arriving in town for Saturday's Chartis Cup against English side Saracens. They had a 'team bonding session' the night before after arriving from various parts of the world, and it was one big convivial gathering, said All Blacks legend Mils Muliaina.
'Hong Kong is not a good place to be,' laughed Muliaina, who along with Richie McCaw is the only All Black to reach 100 caps. 'Last night was a decent night of team bonding to get to know each other, some of the boys we have never played with and a few we have played against. It was like being back in the old days. You never get to do this sort of stuff nowadays.'
The 25-strong APBs, with only three survivors from the side which triumphed at the GFI HKFC Tens this year, are heavily weighted with big islanders and New Zealanders. Among the latter All Blacks are backrower Jerry Collins, lock Troy Flavell and backs Rico Gear, Sitiveni Sivivatu and Muliaina.
Samoan hit men include Henry and Alesana Tuilagi, while Fiji's representation is led by Vilimoni Delasau and Seru Rabeni. Locks Finau Tupa and Sione Timani lead the Tongan brigade. England No8 Nick Easter and flanker Martyn Williams (100 caps for Wales) were the only Northern Hemisphere presence in the mix yesterday, with Welsh legend Shane Williams still to join the squad.
Apart from getting to know each other on the field, the heat will be the other major factor facing the APBs as they bid to stop Saracens, the first English Premiership team to visit Hong Kong, from winning at Hong Kong Stadium.
'The heat is going to be a massive factor. We asked for rolling subs but Saracens didn't want it. A lot of water is going to be taken on the weekend,' Muliaina said.