Lamma Island

It’s hard to believe we’ve been in Hong Kong almost 3 months and we still haven’t seen so many areas of Hong Kong. Of course, going to the grocery store is still an adventure for us. However, Sunday was a perfect day to explore something new. The weather has cooled. It’s now only in the 80’s instead of 90’s. So we decided to head off to Lamma Island.

Lamma Island is the 3rd largest island in Hong Kong. It has a bohemian reputation and is known for it’s fishing villages and for the fact that no cars are allowed on the island. There is ferry service to the island, but we opted for a more adventurous route. We took a taxi to Aberdeen to hire a personal sampan. You don’t need to look for a boat. They find you.

Before we had even crossed the road an old Chinese woman had cornered us. We knew that $100 HKD ($13 U.S.) was a fair deal for the ride. So it was a quick negotiation. She led us to a middle aged woman, who led us to their dock. From there we boarded the motorized fishing boat with a man driving and set off for Lamma. It was a thrill ride passing everything from huge cargo ships to small rowboats with a single fisherman. When another boat would pass we would sway up and down. It was more exciting than a Disney ride. Since our driver didn’t speak English, we hoped that we would get to Lamma and we hoped we would get to the fishing village. We didn’t realize this is a popular thing to do and we had no worries.

We got off at Sok Kwu Wan fishing village. It’s a small village of only 300 people and is famous for it’s floating fish farms and it’s seafood restaurants. The main alley is filled with restaurant after restaurant on the waterfront. The restaurants have tanks filled with live seafood for customers to pick from. After walking the alley we chose a little coffee shop and ordered fried rice and fried noodles. I know it’s was a sin not to get seafood, but we knew the kids wouldn’t touch it and we didn’t want too much food. The food was amazingly cheap. We paid about $3.50 a dish.

During our meal we heard the beating of the familiar Chinese dragon drums. The kids got up and danced with anticipation of seeing the dragon. Sure enough, 5 minutes later a pink dragon and entourage came dancing and drumming through the main alley. Ally and Austin jumped and clapped along. We ended our meal by grabbing an ice cream cone from a cart vendor – our first mint chip ice cream since coming to Hong Kong and walked back up the way. Our senses exploded as we stared a strange sea creatures, smelled drying fish and felt the ceiling fans blow the fishy ocean air our way. We had hoped to walk to a temple at the end of the way, but realized the Central Ferry was to leave in a few minutes. So we rushed for the ferry as it was blowing it’s horn. They saw us running and held the boat for us.

We definitely need to go back to Lamma. Not only to see the missed temple, but we didn’t realize we were right next to a Fisherfolk Village Showcase that had exhibits, demonstrations and activities.

We rode back to Central on a bumpy ferry ride. From there we caught a taxi to Morrison Hill were I was able to purchase two light fixtures for the apartment. From there we walked up to Queen’s road. Just when the kids were ready to collapse we made it to the bus stops with promises of juice boxes from the backpack. We caught the No. 6 bus to Stanley. Sitting upstairs on the double decker bus, we winded up through Magazine Gap Road and the hills of Hong Kong back towards home. Exhausted and dirty we got off at Repulse Bay where we bought food to BBQ for dinner. In the store we ran into one of Steven’s colleagues who had spent the day with his family taking a sampan to Lamma and eating at a seafood restaurant!!

From the store we tried to catch a taxi, but couldn’t find a free one, so got on the bus again to Stanley plaza. From there we caught a taxi home. Home to wash our hands and sit down without moving!

Big Wave Day at Big Wave Bay October 14, 2006

We had been talking about getting out to Shek O or Big Wave Bay to check out the beaches for a week or two. They are two beaches that are a bit more remote on Hong Kong Island and have a reputation of being a bit cleaner. So the timing was perfect when we got the email invite for breakfast at Big Wave Bay Saturday morning. There is nothing as nice as finding a new area in Hong Kong with people who have been there before.

We meet up with our friends and went to the taxi stand. The two families jumped in two cabs and it was the first time I could say, “follow that cab” and really mean it! Cab riding is worth a whole blog entry by itself. There are no back seat or car seat rules for kids. It scary and freeing at the same time. But that’s for a later time. Our cab driver was very nice and actually spoke some English. He was able to point out some of the sights on the way. We wound up around the peninsula that we see from our apartment. At the end of the road we got to a parking lot. The cab left us and we walked down a road filled with surfboard rentals and soft drinks stands.

At the bottom of the hill the beach opened up into a pretty bay with rock outcroppings and green hills on both sides. A small river ran down the side. We pulled tables together at a shack that turned out to be a nice café. Walking up to the counter I had no idea we would be eating pancakes with fresh strawberries and café lattes. There were three families together. But the expat community is small. Soon Steven ran into two co-workers and Austin and Ally ran into a friend and his family.

The area is a Hong Kong paradise for escaping the feel of Hong Kong’s concrete metropolis. There are rock tide pools with small fish and waves just barely big enough to surf. We played for several hours catching waves and digging in the sand. I caught a great video of Dad and Austin boogie boarding together. We’ll post it online soon. The boys also started to make a sand castle with a moat, but the girls soon invaded and through some kind of strange beach imminent domain law, re-zoned the territory as “Fairy Island”.

Of course, it is still Hong Kong and still China. There was trash everywhere. I tried to pretend I didn’t see the dirty diaper on the beach. It would have ruined my day. But I couldn’t resist taking a photo of a modern art project some expat kids were making with their trash treasures. It included old gloves and a dead fish.

We wore ourselves out playing in the waves and building sand castles. Not to mention we were all getting a little pink. So we packed up. After cleaning up in the showers, we took a short hike to an ancient rock carving. It’s over 3000 years old from the Bronze Age. I don’t know what were expecting, but I have to admit it was a tad bit disappointing. Maybe it was the McDonalds wrappers and juice boxes strewn around the site that took away from the wow factor or the broken railing near it. But it did make me look back at the bay and wonder how it looked 3000 years ago. I am sure the water was clear and sparkling and the skies blue and haze free.

The kids were hot. The kids were tired. We were near core meltdown. We hiked back up the hill to find a cab. While it was easy to get a cab near our busy apartment, there wasn’t a cab in sight in this remote beach area. Finally a minibus to Shek O came. So we decided to pile on that hoping to find more cabs in Shek O (another beach down about a 5 minute drive away). We got to Shek O, which is definitely bigger and more bustling, but still no cabs. Some parents watched the kids while the others ran around the town in search of the allusive red cars. After searching for a while here, we found one and said, “screw it,” let’s just all pile in. So we piled 9 people into a cab and headed home. Of course, seeing hungry tired kids in the car we decided to head directly to the club for a quick meal.

Big Wave Bay will be on our list to do again. It was a hidden golden nugget of Hong Kong. We got home with just enough time to shower and go to a classmate’s 5th birthday party. Only to rush home for Steven and I had dinner out with another couple. Sometimes it feels like we need a day to relax after our weekends!

It's always Greener on the Other Side

When you think of Hong Kong, you think of crowded, condensed high rises. So it’s surprising that “70 percent of Hong Kong’s total area is rural, including about 40 percent designated as protected country parks. This means Hong Kong has one of the world’s highest ratios of designated parkland.” (Hong Kong Tourism Board).

We chose to be on the Southside of Hong Kong Island because of these parks. The feel is greener; is quieter; is cleaner. Our back view is of green hillside. Even though we stare at these mountains daily, we had yet to explore them. Two simple reasons… heat and hills. So we were excited when neighbors described a flat walk nearby. So Sunday, we borrowed a bike pump and got the kids bikes ready to go. We piled into a cab with the bikes hanging out unable to shut the trunk all the way for a 5 minute drive up the road. We got off at Tai Tam Country Park, where there were cars, a snack cart and people milling around.

Chinese are known more for their focus on academics not on sports. Horse racing is the most popular spectator sport and hiking is the most popular participant sport. So we expected it to be busy. And it was. But large open space has a way of making that ok. The kids started peddled down the paved path. The path skirts several reservoirs that supply drinking water to Hong Kong. Tai Tam actually means big pool in Cantonese. Even though I think big pool refers to the ocean bay that Tai Tam is on, it is very appropriate to describe the four reservoirs too.

We passed many people fishing in the reservoirs. One of the first had caught a fish almost as long as Ally. You could look over the sides and see fish and turtle swimming everywhere. After passing several bridges we came to another fisherman. This one was using large frogs as bait. We became fasinated watching him hook the frogs and cast them over the side. After using his two poles. He tied fishing line to sticks and cast them too. Then his wife and him sat down to wait and eat. We watched so long, we realized we were hungry too and sat at a nearby table for a picnic lunch. It wasn’t long after that Austin declared he was hot, too hot to go on. So we thought it was as good time as any to head back. It was just as well as we had about hit the end of the flat part of the trail before the steep ascents began.

Somehow the road back always seem shorter, so we were back to the gate in no time. From there we grabbed a cab and went straight to the American club for a cool swim in the pool.

Hiking in Tai Tam County Park