Sightseeing #3:Lamma Island

First of all, to state the obvious, Hong Kong is great!On the one hand, this vibrant metropolis has that many highlights and advantages that I dont even dare to name them because I would probably forget some of them. However on the other hand, the noise and the pollution are reason enough escape the grasp of the city on the weekend. One famous sight for a short trip is the car free Lamma Island.

It is located on the south of Hong Kong and can be easily reached by ferry in about 40 minutes via the main ferry pier in central.

Lamma Island has, besides some sights and beaches, two small settlements where one can enjoy local seafood and take a break from everyday life. For this trip, I decided to start at the settlement on the eastern side of the island, Sok Kwu Wan.

As the Island is not very big one can cross is in about 90 minutes if  one is eager to taste some seafood on the other side or enjoy the various sides on the way there and take a lot longer. Along the trail up the hills there are beaches, small temples , shrines, even smaller settlements and a few shops which sell refreshments. In addition to these things one may expect to see, there is a more uncommon one, too. The Lamma Island power plant. A coal-fired power station which was build in 1982 but enlarged over the years. The total power output is said to be 4MW.

Who would not love to enjoy the sight of this fabulous landmark when laying at the beach? Oh and in case someone wonders, these people with the big hats, blue cloths and the rake are hired cleaners to clean the beach every day to attract more tourists from Hong Kong.

Even though the power plant kind of dims the mood, I actually like this small village along the coastline with a few diners and a nice beach. Especially because it is not exceptionally crowded like all of the other beaches on Hong Kong Island and because the diners offer free WiFi giving guests the option to sunbath at the beach and relax while skyping with friends and family from Germany who complain about the cold rainy weather.
Truely amazing

Somewhat later one arrives at the Yung Shue Wan at the western side of the island where seafood can be enjoyed as well. The restaurants have a huge variety of locals and oversee ingredients which are presented in tanks in front of the restaurant. One may even chose the lobster or crab for oneself or just order from the menu to not trouble the conscience ;)

So far I have tried all kinds of crabs, lobster, a few local types of fish, scallops and some veggies out of the see on my previous trips to Lamma Island and they were without exception really good. The advantage of having seafood on one of the Island is not only the guaranteed freshness of the ingredients but also the lower price as the restaurants do not have to 

pay such a high rent for the space they use or even own it.

The trip to the islands is really worth it and it is a lot of fun to sit at the waterfront, eat seafood and chat with friends while watching the fishermen and small boots passing by. If you have the chance, you should go during the week though as it tends to get a little busier on the weekends.
The lush green hills and valleys in between  are a welcome change to the urban canyons of the city.


There are probably a lot more things to see and to discover if one is brave enough to leave the well
beaten tourist-paths.
In addition to the not so forward-looking coal-fired power plant, Lamma features the first wind turbine in Hong Kong as well. One can even walk up to it and wonder: "How could a turbine possibly be a tourist attraction"?
Back in Germany people are complaining that there are too many turbines being erected and over here a single one is so extraordinary that it becomes  a sigh for tourist. Hong Kong really has a long way to go when it comes to renewable energy and recycling!

 Even saving energy seems not to be part of  the every day vocabulary in Hong Kong. Due to the high light pollution in the city, I assume that one of the many things some locals have not ever seen are stars besides snow and Christmas trees.
Oh, and most do not know how to swim, ride a bike or drive a car either. Cultural differences I guess.

This is the sight I enjoyed while eating my lobster in one of the various restaurants in the end of the "across the island" trip. The advantage of a side trip to Lamma is that it can range from 4 hours of time up to a whole day depending on the mood and need for some quiet time.

A trip to either Lamma or Lantau Island should be one excursion if one stays in Hong Kong for more than three days. The sea food is definitely worth it!

  

Amazing day

Yesterday, I spent another amazing day with friends and friends to be. The day started with Dim Sun for lunch at a famous place in Sheung Wan. We shared about six dishes and all of them were delicious. Other then food we talked about Cantonese traditions, manners in Hong Kong and of course Cantonese itself. I do not have the time yet to put a lot of effort into it though.
After lunch we headed out to Repulse Bay beach and had a good time relaxing at the beach and going for a swim in the warm water. So far we only missed one Sun/ Sandyday at the beach and it was always worth the trip. Repulse Bay does even feature free government WiFi giving us the possibility to skype next to the water.
Some photos will follow up ;)

In the evening we went out for a traditional dragon dance to Causeway Bay. The actual dragon dance was not too exciting as it was exceptionally crowded including many many tourists so one could only barely see the dragon. Good thing that we went there with some Couchsurfers! We spent the time after the festival at a restaurant talking about life and work. It is all about meeting new people, getting to know their life's work and making new friends. In addition one always learns something new e.g. that there is a language school close by our place where one can take lessons almost for free.

Later on  we will go to the beach again and celebrate the Mid Autumn Festival with traditional Moon Cakes, good food, friends and hopefully a clear sky. The last part could be a problem...

Getting used to it

After a few days of absence, our Internet connection is back up and I can blog again! On Saturday we went to Macao to activate Cornelius's visa. As we were short on time we could only visit the famous casino Venezian. As the name implies, it is a replica of the venetian architecture with channels, gondolas, a Bellini Lounge and of course the "old" Venetian buildings. It sounds amazing and partially looks amazing as well but indeed it is just artificial. The gondoliers (Asians) sing venetian songs, the floor is made out of plastic, Mac Donalds and other shops appear to be miss placed in this setting, the lighting is factitious and the sky is only painted. In conclusion I was more deterred than amazed by this tourist attraction, or more precisely, by this non sustainable money factory. Oh, and of course the whole place was cooled down to about 18 degrees Celsius.

Here is another view on one of the many halls of the building! Due to curiosity I looked up some facts about the building. It was finished in July 2007 and cost 2,4 Billion $ but fills about 980,000 m2 with 3000 suits, 3400 slot machines, 800 gambling tables and a 15,000 seat arena for entertainment/sports events. It is vast!

Saturday evening; I have been here for almost a week now. Jet lag, if I even had any, is gone and it became absolutely normal to stroll around a few corners to find an yet unknown place to eat. As a prefix, I did not want to go to the same place even once for the first month. In addition only Asian food is an option for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So far I have tried a lot of different food from a few Chinese cooking styles, Korean, Japanese, Thai cuisine and Malaysian. I will not add everything I have tried to my diet but there were   many tasty things I discovered. Eating spicy food became a habit, too.

On Sunday we decided to go to the beach, to Deepwater Bay. Unfortunately we had to change plans as Deepwater Bay had red tide on Sunday, so we had to take a detour and go to Clearwater Bay in east Kowloon. Not only was the water actually clear but it was not as crowded as we expected! In addition, most of the Chinese guests preferred to stay in waist-deep water so we could swim around freely.

After a nice bath in 26 degree Celsius water we went over to some locals and joined their game of volleyball. They were really friendly and we had a great time with many laughs, even without communicating much. Over here, you are always welcome if you carry a smile on your face and treat everyone the same.

In the afternoon we went by some shops to get an impression how much money we will have to spent for our daily food and for outfitting our apartment. In conclusion, furniture is cheap, as well as local food. Meat, fish, milk and all western products are as expensive as in Germany or even more expensive. Our choice of supermarket was Wellcome, which is comparable to a German Rewe. I guess we will find a cheaper way to acquire food though.

Today, we opened our very own bank account at the HSBC bank! Not only was it another step to settle in but we were able to get a direct contact through our head of accounting department which made the process a lot easier. In a bit we will head out to our first couchsurfer meeting nearby. A language study group based on learning English and Mandarin from each other. I am excited and look forward to meet new people!