Last night VA and I went to Sham Shui Po to serve midnight breakfast to SCAD students to give them a study break during exams. Not because we felt generous , but because it’s something the school does. Anyways, I took this picture walking back to the MTR on our way home at about 10:30.
The second picture is the view from my new job in Cyberport.
That’s Lamma Island in the distance. Too bad there wasn’t a huge container ship going by…
Filed under Lamma Island, SCAD HK, Sham Shui Po
Filed under History
I can’t believe it’s been nearly 2 months since I last updated the website. In that time, though, we’ve had our first visitors, VA got promoted, I got a job and was accepted into school, and we’ve continued to explore Hong Kong. As the weather heats up, the city seems to be coming more alive every week.
So, 4 or 5 weeks ago, we had visitors who had just finished teaching English in Thailand for a year. They spent the weekend in HK and we tried to show them as much as possible around the city. VA and I got to go on a hike that we had been excited about since we’d moved. We went out to Sai Kung and hiked Section 2 of the Maclehose Country Trail, which started at a bus stop and ended on the beach.
Tai Wan Beach, on Stage 2 of the Maclehose Country Trail.
We even saw a monkey on the way back up to the bus. I tried to chase it to take a picture, but he was swinging through the trees pretty quickly… We did find an abandoned sea-side village; someone from the village higher up the mountain was playing Opera, which made wandering through the half-collapsed houses extra creepy.
VA checking out an abandoned house
Inside an abandoned house
We also spent a Sunday afternoon at the Happy Valley Racecourse. There are only a few daytime races there each year, so we had to make the most of the opportunity. Plus it was buy 1/get 1 pitchers of beer.
Happy Vally on a Sunday Afternoon
VA went to Macau to represent SCAD for a weekend fair in April. I was sick, so I stayed behind with the dogs.
VA in Macau
VA in Macau 2
I guess this is just in case the Portuguese come back?
As I write this, VA is in the Philippines for a week. I hope she comes back with pictures! I would have gone with her, but it’s only my third week at the new job. I know it doesn’t sound like it, but we have been busy. We went to Shek-O, VA’s favorite beach…but didn’t bring a camera.
No pork.
One weekend I ran into a public demonstration to support immigrants’ rights. I had to wait 20+ minutes for it to go by before the tram would move. I am supportive of the demonstration’s cause, but it came between me and dim sum.
Get out of my way! I’m hungry!
And then Randy got a haircut.
Talleyrand Pre-Haircut
Talleyrand Cleaned Up
On Sunday, VA and I took the dogs out for a hike near the Wong Nai Chung Reservoir. It was one of the most clear, beautiful days since we’ve been in Hong Kong and… I forgot my camera. Monday was just as nice, if not nicer, so I went back out on the hike to share here. No dogs this time, either, because they were still pooped from the day before.
Wong Nai Chung Reservoir, at the very top of Wong Nai Chung Gap Rd, about 2.5km straight uphill from the racetrack. They have paddleboats!
The hike technically doesn’t start until the reservoir, but it is a 2.5km trek uphill from our house just to get here. The full violet hill hike stretches from this reservoir to the Tai Tam Reservoir and is 9km long. I only did a portion of it because I didn’t have the 6 hours to hike to the end and back. Maybe later this week…
The first mile or so of the hike follows a cement path next to a "catchwater" that collects water as it pours down the hillside during rainstorms to prevent flooding and landslides...hopefully.
Warning! Water levels may rise at any time! Flash floods can be a problem during typhoon season.
There are some incredible views throughout the hike of Deepwater Bay and Repulse Bay and of the lucky people who get to live above them.
I am supremely jealous of whoever lives here.
Looking out over Repulse Bay.
You can see out over Deepwater Bay to Ocean Park, the amusement park that sits above the water. Unfortunately, my camera is beginning to crap out. The lens is pretty badly scratched, so you’ll just have to trust me.
Violet Hill path
As the trail goes on, the concrete gives way to a dirt path. It gets pretty rocky and narrow further down, with steep drops just to the side.
On clear days you can see a dozen or so outlying islands and hundreds of container ships floating out in the distance. Of course, with my camera, you can barely see 15 feet...
This is our favorite hike so far. It’s close to home and still offers a good workout with spectacular views. I’m excited to go do the full thing to the end and back later this week or weekend.
Filed under Exploring, Happy Valley, Hiking
So, I feel like I have to post these from our few days in Sewanee. See you in a year or so…
Sewanee Cross
Sunset at the Cross
I joined the Hong Kong Hiking Meetup.com group to meet some new people and find some fun new hikes throughout HK. For the first hike, I met about 18 other people and hiked over High Junk Peak in the New Territories. It was a lot of fun, but it was a very cloudy day so the views were minimal. In fact, going over the peak we were in the clouds.
The fog near the top of High Junk Peak made it feel like we were climbing into the clouds.
High Junk Trail sign post.
The hike was about 8.5km and included a stop at the largest temple to Tin Hau in HK. Tin Hau is the goddess who protects fishermen while at sea. There are loads of temples to Tin Hau all over the territory, and, except for its size, this one is fairly standard.
Tin Hau temple
Here are some more hiking pictures:
Going uphill. It was steeper on the way down
Beware of pedestrians
I’m excited for the next hike!
Filed under Hiking, New Territories
VA and I recently returned from a brief trip back to the Southeastern USA. We drove 1200+ miles in 8 days to see friends in Savannah and Atlanta, GA; Sewanee, TN and Birmingham, AL. The trip was a lot of fun (except for our 15 hour “bonus visit” to Detroit’s finest airport Best Western, thanks to Delta), but it’s great to be back in Hong Kong.
The upcoming election for Chief Executive (kind of a mayor/prime minster hybrid for the HK SAR) race is becoming very interesting. I’m really enjoying learning about the political process here and how it is influenced by China’s central government in Beijing.
Time has an article on Hong Kong’s “non-election,” that is – the people don’t actually have much of a say in who gets elected. This, of course, leads to mass protests, several of which are planned for this Sunday. I plan on being there for all the action. More to follow.
Filed under HK Politics
