Conquering the Dragon

Back to Hong Kong. Back to the heat and humidity. Back to the wet season. But after 4 days of being inside our apartment from a typhoon, it was time to get outside, despite it all. Austin was anxious to see his friend Jacob, so we set up a "family playdate" with his family. We were meeting at the club at 9:30 am to grab taxis to hike the Dragon Back trail. Afterwards, heading to a small beach village for pizza, then back to the club for a swim. We decided to leave Ally at home, which is probably the smartest decision we've ever made. The hike is known as one of the most beautiful in Asia. You hike along a ridge with sweeping views of the Southside and China. But alas, ridges are uphill (and in Hong Kong down and uphill) and the weather is hot and the hike is long, 10K).

The start of the hike was really nice. The heavy rains created lots of waterfalls and small streams to cross. After winding up the mountain side, we reached the ridge line. We were all drenched in sweat. Austin, Jacob and Sydney moaned and bellowed from the ridgeline on. Austin was ready to quit. Giving our best parent cheerleading efforts, we got them to the end.

From the road we caught a double decker down to Shek O. Ally and Evelyn joined us at the restauarant. At Shek O we ate lunch at the Black Sheep. The Black Sheep was fantastic. It's a tiny restaurant tucked in an Alley and only open half days on weekends. It looks like a Jamacian disco or the room of a college roommate who smoked pot. But somehow they pulled out fresh tomato salads, large artichokes and wood fired pizza. We will be sure to go back.

Afterwards we grabbed cabs and went to the club. It was Alantis day, where they have a blow up obstacle course in the pool. That pool was better than any nestea plunge!