Long time no see! In case you are wondering what I have been doing (or "submarine-izing" [潛水] as said in Hong Kong colloquial terms), my answer is I DON'T KNOW! 
That's how my life has been recently. Poor me!
Encouraged by my friend, Lesile, who told me to "Get a life", I bravely went on for a hiking in Sai Kung last Saturday (Nov 12). You might think Hong Kong has nothing but concrete forests and free particles in the air. Well, you will change your mind after paying a visit to Sai Kung, especially the area where no transportation can reach.
As a short intro, Sai Kung is perhaps the only unpopulated area in Hong Kong. The hills, trees, water and sky have been reserved very well. See the picture for yourself.
This is the Man Yee Reservoir (萬宜水庫).
Still not convinced? How about this one?
Ham Tin Bay (鹹田灣)
Amazing, isn't it?
The "Survivor" team on that day consisted of 6 people (from left to right): Lesile (the guy who told me to "Get a life"), Meiyea, Emily, Amy, myself and Andrea. We were supposed to have two more, but one couldn't get up that morning and the other twisted his ankle the day before.
Anyway, we first gathered at Choi Hung at 8:45am. (Normally, I would still be in bed at that time.) Then took a minibus to Sai Kung downtown. Got some food & supplies. Took another bus to 西灣亭, which is what you see in the picture. See how smiley and fresh we were when we began!
It took us only 40 mins to arrive the first checkpoint - Sai Wan (西灣). This is an incredible beach. The sand is very fine and the water is super clear. The water is so clear that you would think it is coming out from the tap. I bet the quality of the beach is even better than most of those in Phuket!!! You can never imagine Hong Kong would still have such an unspoiled beach. (Even though this is my third time to Sai Wan, I still find it exciting.)
I wouldn't want to waste the chance to have an intimate touch with the nature. So after only 5 mins, I decided to take off my shoes and jump into the clear water. It is hard to describe the feeling when you immerse yourself into the fine water. An old but wise saying: a picture is worth a thousand words.
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| Before | After |
About 5 mins later, my fellow teammates also decided to join me and taste the water with their feet. Not a bad choice at all.
We spent around 40 minutes in Sai Wan taking pictures and then proceeded with the hiking. 20-30 mins later, we came to yet another gorgeous beach - Ham Tin (the second picture of this blog). The first moment I saw the beach, my memory of driving along the coast of Oregon (highway 101) resurfaced! Couldn't believe there is something so similar in Hong Kong.
With that kind of marvelous scenes, we decided to take a break ('hae' in Hong Kong colloquial terms) in the shop right beside the beach and do nothing (well, we did have some drinks & snacks). Beautiful beach, clear water, light breeze, cool weather, quiet neighbourhood, nothing to do but 'hae'. Now that's LIFE!
We could have spent the whole afternoon there (who couldn't?), but we decided to get up and exercise our leg muscles. After Ham Tin, the trail was much into the hills and forests. Not much oceanic view but, nevertheless, a nice hiking trail. Fresh air, sunshine, trees and flowers!!! We also came across one or two villages and found papaya trees, orange trees, abandoned houses and even a coffin!
It wasn't a difficult trail (two-star rating by official) and it took us about 1.5 hours to finish. By the time we arrived at our finishing point, it was only 3pm.
Someone started the topic of camping in Sai Wan. That became Headline of the Day and we kept discussing when to do it in the whole trail. Unfortunately, we couldn't find a time in Nov or Dec to go for a 2-day camp. Are people these days really so busy or what?
After the walk, we went to Sai Kung to have an early dinner (it was only 4:30pm). Guess what we had? Of course, it was the most famous food in Sai Kung - seafood! YUMMY! Don't ask me what dishes we ordered, because I didn't know all their English names. I only knew my belly got along very well with the seafood.
Oh, what a day! I just wish I could do this more often. Do you agree?
