Looking across the harbour

Veronica had taken me for noodles in the Jordan district and we wanted to get a drink afterwards.  I had heard the view at the top of iSquare was nice so we decided to walk over to have a look.

What I had heard hadn't been wrong.  It was lovely.  What surprised me was the colour though.  It wasn't just "bright" in the way that many of the great metropolises are.  There was this incredible rainbow of colours which seemed to bounce off the water.  For those coming from darkened evening skies, it's easy to understand why Hong Kong can be such a captivating place.

Coronavirus and the new getaway

One of the great pleasures that living in Hong Kong has provided me is the ability to travel, and to travel extremely frequently.  I've been lucky to have experienced a lifestyle that I had longed for since childhood, which involved a level of jet setting few are able to enjoy.  I appreciate it's something very special that not many get to do.

This year has changed all of that completely.  With the global restrictions on travel and the difficulties (and uncertainties) of dealing with testing and quarantine, I've not even attempted to leave Hong Kong.  Like many others, I've found myself in Hong Kong for the longest consecutive stretch of time I've ever experienced.  That hasn't been a entirely terrible thing.  Compared to many other places around the world, Hong Kong has been quite good.  The virus is largely under control and life has been able to go on, even if in a slightly different way to normal.

With the BBQ in Cheung Sha, I decided to take advantage of some of the cheap holiday accommodation available in Mui Wo.  It would be my first "staycation" in Hong Kong, and I even had the benefit of other friends joining me for the adventure.

The hotel itself was bit old and tired, but the feeling of sleeping somewhere different for the first time in many months was more exhilarating than I expected.  I went to sleep with the happy feeling of being in different surroundings which I had clearly missed far more than I realised.  When I woke up, I had a lovely and unfamiliar view to greet me. 

The room was very simple, but the ocean view and the lack of any of the usual city noises had given me a lovely restful sleep.   I felt incredibly relaxed and quite happy.  I was close to home, but I could have been a world away from the densely packed streets of downtown Hong Kong.  

I walked downstairs to see what the complimentary breakfast on offer was.  With virus restrictions, there was no buffet and I was brought a pre-made plate.  It wasn't exactly what I wanted, so I politely ate some of it before excusing myself.

A change is sometimes all you need.  Living in Hong Kong, I have become so accustomed to the constant travels and opportunities to see something new.  It was a blessing to be able to keep doing that, even if on a more localised scale.

A day out in Cheung Sha

The BBQ at Cheung Sha beach would be on my list of "must do" experiences living in Hong Kong.

I had been lucky enough to go to one of the BBQs earlier in the year and so when I was given the opportunity to go again I jumped at the opportunity.  

It's a lovely day out for everyone, with the beach to one side and a large spread of delicious food and free flowing drinks helping to ensure that everyone is happy.  Some of the friends who had come for this special day had even brought their dogs and so the dogs were given the extra special treat of some of the left over bones from the BBQ.

One of the special experiences of Lantau are also all of the wild cows and buffalo that wander around.  They never seem to cause any harm and always create small crowds of excited onlookers whenever they make an appearance on the beaches.

As evening fell, it all became a bit much for one of them as it settled down on the beach for a rest.

It's such a common sight to see for us living in Hong Kong.  These gentle animals just chilling and enjoying the surroundings like the rest of us.

City waterfalls

It's been a bit of a strange year with the whole coronavirus.  With nowhere to go, I had built up a lot of annual leave at work and I had to clear this before the end of the year.  This seemed to be a issue being faced by many Hong Kongers.  Given the situation being faced by many, it seemed to be a very good problem to have.  I decided to take off a few Mondays for the rest of November to clear some of that leave.

I didn't have anywhere in particular to go, so I decided to go and explore some parts of Hong Kong I had never been to.  I jumped on the bus and went out to the far Western side of the island.

Nothing is really all that far in Hong Kong.  The bus ride was less than half an hour, yet in that short ride it felt like I had travelled to a different country.  It was a calmer, more relaxed part of Hong Kong, it felt almost suburban.  The cafes were the old style Hong Kong shops with lots of tiling everywhere and everything was just a bit more retro in terms of the architecture.

I had come out this way for a specific reason though.  I wanted to go and look at Waterfall Bay.  I had seen other people post some photos of it and it seemed worthy of a quick visit.

It was a very short walk from the main residential areas around Wah Fu.  The waterfall itself was more impressive than I expected.  It was taller and larger than I thought it would be, but beyond that it was also its location.  This waterfall looked out of place next to the tall high rises and buildings.  It looked like it belonged in the middle of a tropical forest in some remote location (which I guess it would have been long ago).

Instead, it sits like a preserved reminder of what was once here.  A protected little memory amongst the concrete and the buildings.  It is so starkly out of the place, yet this seems to make it even more unique and special.

I looked closely at the water as I contemplated dipping my feet in or swimming.  Sadly the water did not look anywhere clean or clear enough.  The water had pooled up in small unmoving areas and there was a slight layer of detritus floating on top.  I took a few steps back and decided that it was best to just admire from a distance.  After a while, a group of school kids appeared.  They were loud as they started throwing rocks into the water and trying to skim stones.  The peacefulness of the place was gone, but it was another reminder of just how close this place was to the busy streets of Hong Kong.

Coronavirus and fashion

Has it only been months?

It feels much longer.  Maybe because we in Hong Kong had also been dealing with the protests for so long.  Life has felt completely out of kilter for well over a year now as a result.  Things will go back to normal (or some new form of normal) some day, but it's hard to tell or even contemplate when that will be.  I used to read histories, and think about the wars that would go for years.  It didn't seem "as long" when isolated on the pages of history, but now, experiencing this passage of time and the impact it has on lives, I'm starting to get a better understanding of the mental impact of having your life put into this bizarre stasis for so long.

Things are changing in a more unexpected way as well now.

We don't have any vaccines yet, but we certainly have the new ways of dealing with the virus which are more practical and fashionable.

It's an odd thing to see, this rise in "Coronavirus Fashion".  Is it a form of exploitation?  A profiting off of the misery and suffering of others?

Or is it rather, as I suspect, just an example of how life has now changed for good.  Is this the new normal that we will face going forward in our lives?

Skyhigh goodbye

The tragedy of Hong Kong really must be in the all the goodbyes.  I've felt incredibly fortunate for all of the great friends I have made, but I will never get used to having to say goodbye.  I think I have gotten better at how I go about the goodbyes.  I try not to be too reserved anymore and instead I embrace the event, I try to be as open as possible in expressing just how much I will miss them and what they've meant to me. It still stings nonetheless though.

The current departure was a particularly difficult one.  My good friends Charlie and Sian were reluctantly leaving Hong Kong.  Charlie had arrived in Hong Kong around the same time as I had and we had met whilst we were both gone through the pain of the OLQE classes.  That shared bond of suffering had held us in good stead and he has ended up becoming one of my closest friends in Hong Kong.

Very sadly, all good things come to an end.  Charlie and Sian weren't leaving quietly though and arranged a big farewell lunch for everyone.  They had arranged lunch at the lovely Aqua, but with a slight twist.  Rather than being served the usual fare of Japanese or Italian, the folks at Aqua had agreed to put on the English roast dinner from Statement, just for Charlie.  It seemed like a fitting meal for us to enjoy together, a gentle reminder of what was to come for them back in the UK.

Looking out over the harbour from our seats, we could see well into the distance.  It was a beautiful and clear day and you could see all the way to Lantau Island.  This type of activity seemed to be the perfect example of the extravagant expat lifestyle we had all experienced in Hong Kong.  Too much food, too much alcohol, all in stunning settings.

As lunch wound down and finished, we were not finished.  Not even close to finished.  Instead, we decided to go for a short walk to TST and we ended up at a bar on the waterfront.  As the sun set and the lights of Hong Kong started to shine, the night got rowdier and louder.

We were now hungry as it was late into the evening, so we caught a ferry across to the harbour back to Hong Kong for a late night dinner in Soho.  I gave Charlie and Sian one final hug as I said goodbye.  It was tough to see them go, but the send off was a long and memorable one.

Chasing waterfalls

So many people seem to be leaving Hong Kong lately.  Times have changed a lot and it seems that those changes are starting to pull more and more people out of this place.  Hong Kong has always been a bit of an itinerant place, with people coming and going, but this year seems extreme even compared to the other years.

We had a farewell organised on a small boat.  The usual junk trips we took often had more than 30 people on board, but this was a smaller and more intimate affair with only 6 of us heading out.  We all gathered in an Uber one morning and we set off for the pier at Sai Kung.  We arrived early and quickly boarded the boat once it reached the pier.  A bottle of champagne was immediately opened and after a very short cruise were clear of the harbour and sailing through the clear waters around Sai Kung.

The smaller and faster boat was a different experience to the large and slower junks we normally went on.  The wind felt fresh and the salt water whipped up harder and faster than usual.  There was a feeling of refreshment as we sped out, as though the wind was clearing out our lungs and minds.

The captain took us to a small island that is more well known for golfing than anything else.  Hong Kong is a strange place sometimes and I find it odd that with all the difficulties people face with housing that the government thought it was appropriate to give up half of an entire island to be used as a golf course.  At the southern end of the island, there remains more of the untouched forests and here we were brought to an isolated little waterfall to explore.

We jumped into the water and swam over to look at the waterfall more closely.  Up close it was more beautiful than we could have imagined.  The water was clear enough to see the bottom of the little pools that had formed and we waded through as we climbed up and down each of the different sections of the waterfall.

After the stop at the waterfalls, we sailed towards Millionaire's Beach.  It is an aptly named beach, with incredible views which give you a feeling of luxury befitting of a millionaire (probably where the name came from).  We carefully dragged one of the coolers out with us to the beach so we could enjoy ourselves with some drinks.

As the day started to end, we all dragged ourselves back onto the boat.  The sun started to set and the weather started to cool as we sailed back towards Sai Kung.

Farewells are always sad, but this was one was definitely one of the best I had been to. 

Lion Rock

The weather has been holding up relatively well, so a group of us guys decided to arrange a hike.

One of the most famous locations in all of Hong Kong is "Lion Rock".  It sits overlooking Kowloon and stands with a distinct profile seems to come out of the hillside.  It is a spectacular looking rise that gives you a lovely focal point when looking up along Kowloon.  It's also a famous hiking location which is meant to give incredible views of all of Hong Kong.

We all met at Wong Tai Sin MTR station and even from the exit, we could see our destination in the distance.

We started walking up the hill towards the start of the hike.  The road up towards the park itself was incredibly steep.  The four of us powered up the hill, looking with a touch of surprise at some of the elderly people who were also slowly walking up the hill.  After what seemed like a long time, we walked past a large temple and then onto the walking trail of the park.

Eamon had been up before and he told us that the hike was short, but steep.  Within a short time, had risen up very quickly.  The steps and the walk were indeed very steep, but it did meant that we were quickly looking out towards sweeping views of Kowloon and Hong Kong.

This hike was by no means a long hike, but there were definitely parts of it which were a bit more challenging purely because of how steep it was.  Other friends had told me they had wandered up with their kids, so it's definitely doable from that perspective, but if you want to go up quickly it'll be much harder.

Once we got to the top, we found ourselves looking out over Hong Kong.  The views from this peak are some of the nicest I've seen in Hong Kong.  The peak rises up so sharply, it means you are very "close" to the city itself and so you look down on everything rather than just looking at everything from a distance.

At the top of the peak, you can walk along the ridge, moving from vantage spot to vantage spot.  It gives a more panoramic view of the skyline along with some enjoyable sections of boulders and rocks to scamper over.

We had gone up in the late afternoon, so we were given the lovely views of the setting sun as we stood and looked out across the horizon.  It's always incredible to see Hong Kong from these views, you get to appreciate just how small the residential parts of the city are compared to the vast areas of forests that form part of the HKSAR.

We kept wandering up and down the different rocks, tired but still trying to find a better spot with a better view.

As night fell, we started the slower walk back down the mountain.

We walked slowly in the dark with a few headlamps and torches to guide us.  About half way down, we all stopped as we reached an opening in the trees and saw out towards the golden lights of the Hong Kong.  Matty declared we were stopping as he pulled out his camera equipment to take a photo of the glowing image in front of us.

Out on the jetty

I've read that the Sai Wan Swimming Shed (or the jetty at the shed at the very least) is one of the most instagramed locations in Hong Kong.

It wasn't hard to understand why it was such a highly photographed location.

It was an exceptionally beautiful location which combined the natural beauty of the water and its surroundings with a strangely isolated and rickety structure.  The jetty didn't seem to quite belong in this place, and yet it was this juxtaposition of something so delicate, artificial and out of place which seem to make the whole scene that much more picturesque.

I had somehow managed to find myself here on a day when there was almost nobody in the water.  A few elderly swimmers were leaving the water just as I was entering and they all began to do their loud breathing exercises up on the hill.  They let out loud bellows as they cleared their lungs and sinuses, each like a horn being sounded.  Again, it was such a strange contrast.  The calm serenity of the water and surroundings being interrupted occasionally by the loud whoops of the elderly.  It didn't seem out of place though, it almost seemed to make the whole experience more alive. 

I walked back to Kennedy Town after that experience.  I felt refreshed and awakened by the swim and was hungry.  I found my friend Jon who had finished his workout and he took me to a local cafe.

I ordered a matcha latte and a smoothie bowl.  Looking at the different colours arrayed out in front of me, it all seemed a very far cry from my youth.  This incredibly hipster meal in front of me was didn't seem to out of the ordinary anymore as more and more people moved towards an increasingly healthy diet.  I still wondered though whether bacon and eggs would have been more satisfying.

Moo

I like the hike from Mui Wo to Pui O.  It's a good length, with some challenging parts and most importantly of all, the lovely payoff at the end of stunning views and some beach opportunities.

It had been a few years since I had first done this hike with Ed.  It was a strange feeling to be doing this hike now.  Ed was gone, back to France, but I was still here and now quite a different person to what I was back then.  I remembered that halfway through that first hike with Ed, I had to tap out as I was so unfit.  I was much better now and powered through the whole walk with only a few brief stops to rehydrate.

When we got to Pui O, everything was quiet.  It was too hot for there to be much outside activity, but we were lucky enough to see some of the Lantau water buffalo wandering around happily eating the grass.  I showed the pictures to one of my friends and she immediately thought they looked like some amalgamation between cow and rhino.

The walk from Mui Wo to Pui O had been long enough for me.  Given the heat, I didn't want to go any further on foot.  We grabbed the first cab we saw and went straight for the beachside restaurants at Cheung Sha.  These restaurants on the beach are some of my favourite in Hong Kong.  Sitting along side the water, people move in and out of the water, to and from the tables, as they enjoy their days with food and drink.  It is a lovely lifestyle that is so close to the business of Hong Kong.

With all of the coronavirus restrictions in Hong Kong, the beach was "closed", but all this seemed to mean was some ineffective tape which had been stretched across a small section of the beach which would have otherwise been supervised by the lifeguards.

Instead, people just swam to the side.  The water was warm, almost bath like, when I jumped in to wash off the sweat and dirt of the hike.

Oink oink oink

I'm working from home a couple of days a week these days.  I find it to be a good balance between the social interaction of going into work and the additional freedom of being able to have a bit more time to myself.

Others were now in full work from home and going a little bit stir crazy.

On those days when I was working from home,  took advantage of the extra time afforded to me and work up early to join some friends on a short hike.

We went up into the hills behind Quarry Bay.  I'm constantly amazed by how accessible the city of Hong Kong is to nature.  It is something I have tried to embrace more the longer I live here.

It's the middle of summer in Hong Kong, so during the day it is almost unbearably hot, but early in the morning it's far more comfortable.  It still feels humid, but the sun isn't up yet and the temperatures are a bit lower.  It's a nice walk through the hills and we normally end at a mountain stream.  We cool off a bit in the waters, as further upstream we see other morning hikers collecting fresh water for their daily tea.  There is something incredibly peaceful about the whole scene and the collection of different people enjoying it.

As we started walking back down the mountain, we came across the hilarious sight of three sleeping wild pigs.  Living in Hong Kong has made these animals so tame that they no longer seemed to care at all about hiding or protecting themselves.  Instead, they happily slept in the open, snoring and farting for the whole world.

Back in Quarry Bay, we completed our excursion with a quick breakfast at a local cha chaan teng.  The congee, noodles and fried dough sticks were oily and satisfying.

I've been in Hong Kong for a few years now and I'm feeling more and more local.  I feel like I'm moving past the mere expat phase of my time here and becoming increasingly immersed into what life is like here for most others.

Walking the East side

Hong Kong is such a small place and yet there are so many parts of it that I rarely visit.  One of those places is the Eastern side of the metropolitan part of Hong Kong island.  It's not far, and it's not in anyway deserted, but it's definitely not the part of Hong Kong that draws the tourist crowds.  The expats tend to live around Central and to the West of the island, as well as in the further-out parts of Hong Kong.  The Eastern part of Hong Kong is more local.  It's still densely packed and full of people, but it certainly doesn't have the usual draws that most visitors to Hong Kong would want to see.

I went out to meet my friend early one morning.  We decided we would walk along the waterfront of Quarry Bay towards Heng Fa Chuen.  

It was a beautiful developed area of waterfront.  The paths were clean and open and it wasn't anywhere near as crowded as some of the areas towards Central.  The crowd felt a bit older and far more local.  There were few (if any) expats and Westerners out walking. 

It's worthwhile to come out here more.  As I become more localised to Hong Kong, I think more and more about where I belong and where I want to establish myself culturally.  Many of my old expat friends have left or started to leave, and I find myself increasingly with those more stable relationships which tend towards the local.  Maybe it's just part of a natural progression that was always meant to happen.