Tai Mei Tuk and Sai Kung with the parents

We enjoy Hong Kong and have made wonderful memories and have met some of the loveliest people. Being able to share it with visitors from home is such a blessing to us. Nathan's parents came for a visit in November.




We took the parents out to Tai Mei Tuk, we rode the bikes and had Thai food.

A tour of the New Territories isn't complete without a visit to Sai Kung.

Stop off at Paisanos

We hired a Sampan that took us out for an hour.

One gets the impression he takes this route quite a bit. It amused Nathan that although he had an ash tray next to him and attempted to use it the ashes never quite made it in. The ban on smoking is in full effect in Hong Kong, in buildings, pubic transport,parks etc. So it was almost shocking to us when he lit up. These boats are privately owned and operated, so of course it doesn't really apply to them.

Ma on Shan Tsuen again and again

Fall has come to Hong Kong. In our family we refer to it as a Michigan Summer. We took advantage of the lower humidity and cooler temps and ventured to Ma on Shan Tsuen again.

 

Hoi Ha Sai Kung

We decided to head out to Hoi Ha to do some kayaking. We took a taxi from University to get there and took a red mini bus from Hoi Ha to Sai Kung bus terminus. There are a handful of locals renting out equipment selling snacks and drinks along the way down to the beach. We decided upon a two person kayak which cost 280HKD snorkel equipment 50HKD. This was only my second time in a kayak. Pictures taken with the Gopro. It has a fish eye lens so they can look a little distorted.

We kept having bees fly around us, here I caught one in the camera near Nathan's head.

Also spotted sea urchins and a jellyfish. Nathan was able to get a video of the jellyfish.

Sheung Yiu Folk Museum

We made a recent trip to the Sheung Yiu Folk Museum in Sai Kung. We begin our journey at University Station and took a taxi to the Sai Kung Park visitors center. The museum was less than a half hour hike from this point.


Jennifer and the older Whitford girls Brookelyn and Savanah joined us.




Beautiful Turtles on display at the visitors center.


The kids next to the old lime kiln



Rooms inside the building are filled with artifacts from traditional Hakka people.










The hike back to the bus stop




Hong Kongers love their pets. We saw this poster with a $30,000 reward for finding this lost dog.


We then we were to take bus#94 to Sai Kung. We were not happy to find after 20 minutes of waiting the #94 was full. We were able to get a taxi to take us all to Sai Kung, we paid a little extra.

Walk by the sea front and then dinner at Paisanos

Ma On Shan Tsuen

ma on shan tsuen from outypants on Vimeo.

We spent a warm December day hiking along Ma On Shan. We took a taxi to the BBQ area and took us about 3 hours to reach Sai Kung. There is a plateau with tall grass that the kids enjoyed playing hide and seek in. There were people paragliding on the spot as well. A clear view of Sai Kung and surrounding islands is seen from the top. The way we took down was a little rocky and steep. We made our way to Sai Kung to get pizza from Paisanos. A great end to a great hike.











Ma On Shan Country Park

Yim Tin Tsai

It was a day before my 33rd birthday
I went to Sai Kung with my friends Jodie and Lori and caught a boat ride to Yim Tin Tsai, Meaning "little salt field."

A mission was founded on the island and St. John's Chapel's was built in 1890.

When we walked around we saw that there were volunteers cleaning up around the church.

We needed to have scheduled a visit to enter in the church. So we could only walk around. People visit it at least once a year on St John's day.

Salt mining was the sustainable living for the villagers, but the fields are abandon now.

As a result of the Mission founded on the island it has a Christian heritage. It isn't common in China to find graves marked with crosses.

We ideally wanted to walk the full length of Kau Sai Chau. The Jockey Club spent millions of dollars to build a golf course on part of the island. The only public golf course in Hong Kong.

This is the gate keeping us from walking to the other side of the island. We called to see if we really couldn't get across. Lori is fabulous at getting information and results. But we were told it was not possible to hike along the island.

Something about safety as a result of flying golf balls, I suppose it was legitimate.

Mangroves

I had heard there were mangroves to be found on the island, but being unsure of what exactly was a mangrove I was afraid I would leave the place never knowing. We kept pointing at various flora saying maybe that is a mangrove, or is it that? Finally a sign with an arrow lead us to this place. We safely deduced we had found the mangroves.

We stopped at Honeymoon Dessert, just to take pictures. Honeymoon Dessert is a chain of restaurants that specialize in Asian style desserts. The first one was opened in Sai Kung.

This photo shows the sign Durian district. Durian is a strong smelling fruit, loved or hated by many. Due to its pungent aroma a special section is allocated to where it will be served.

I have yet to try it, but I am very familiar with the smell.