Citrus and With what do you like to travel (This week's Photo Hunt themes)

When I see or hear the word citrus, I tend to think of citrus, particularly orange, trees and groves in Mediterranean countries and places with a Mediterranean climate like Southern California.  But for this week's Photo Hunt theme chosen by Sandi, I found myself thinking of fruit stalls and Buddhist and Taoist temples as places with citrus connections.

While hunting through my photo archive, I was delighted to find the image at the top of this blog entry -- one of fruit stalls whose offerings include oranges and other citrus fruits, abutting the temple in Sai Kung town that's dedicated to Tin Hau (the Hokkien maiden who became the goddess of the sea) and Kwan Tai (the Han Dynasty general immortalized as the God of War).

Although I didn't venture into the temple that day (since I only happened to be in the vicinity because it was near where I was meeting up with a friend to go hiking!), I'm going to assume that there'd have been offerings of citrus and fruits at the separate altars to Tin Hau and Kwan Tai in that temple.  This is because it's pretty much the norm at Taoist and Buddhist temples -- be they in Hong Kong, Malaysia or, as in this entry's middle photo, Macau. 

More than incidentally, the former Portuguese enclave's is thought to owe its name to Tin Hau (who's called A-Ma in Macau).  In addition, Macau is where I took the final photo in this entry -- one chosen to answer Gattina's Photo Hunt query this week of: With what do you like to travel?  And should it not be clear: the answer is -- my camera, a willingness to try the local delicacies (in this case, Lord Stow's Bakery's fabulous egg tarts!) and -- of course -- my beloved big-eyed traveling companion, Puppet Ponyo!!! :b

R.I.P. Lau Kar Leung (1936-2013)

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin was just one of 

the many cinematic gems Lau Kar Leung directed

On May 1st of this year, I went to the Hong Kong Film Archive to take in an evening screening of Eastern Condors, a 1987 movie that could be described as Hong Kong's version of The Dirty Dozen. Starring Sammo Hung (who also directed) and his wife Joyce Godenzi, it's one of those entertaining Hong Kong movies with great action and an amazing cast -- that, in this case, included legendary filmmaker Lau Kar Leung (AKA Liu Chia Liang). 

On that happy evening, I had zero inkling that less than two months later, Lau Kar Leung would pass away after losing a two decade battle against leukemia.  So I was truly shocked to find out this sad news of his having died earlier today.  

Even as we mourn the man's passing, we still will have many wonderful films to remember Lau the filmmaker and film personality by.  We're talking, after all, of an individual who action directed 164 movies, directed 25 films, produced 1 movie, scripted 5 works and made appearances -- many of them pretty memorable -- in 186 different feature length films.

Among my favorites of the films that the fourth-generation direct disciple of Wong Fei Hung directed are Heroes of the East (AKA Shaolin Challenges Ninja), The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Legendary Weapons of China and The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter -- all of which star his (adopted) brother, Gordon Liu. And although Drunken Master II is largely seen as a Jackie Chan movie, Lau Kar Leung officially has directing credit for it as well as makes a memorable appearance in that superb martial arts comedy that had Jackie Chan essaying Wong Fei Hung.

I know I'm really fortunate to have been able to have viewed a number of Lau Kar Leung's films on a big screen, in Hong Kong and also the USA.  Indeed, one of my favorite film viewing experiences ever involved viewing The 36th Chamber of Shaolin with a super enthusiastic full house crowd at the Philadelphia International Film Festival a few months before I returned to Asia.  

Thank you for the memories, Mr. Lau.  And thank you also for helping make me as big a fan of Hong Kong cinema as I've become.  As the Brits would say, you've had a really good innings.  May you rest in peace.

Along Stage 5 of the Lantau Trail (Photo-essay)

Hong Kong's largest island is home to the 70 kilometer Lantau Trail that's divided into 12 stages of varying lengths, a few of which can't be done separately.  For example, Lantau Trail Stages 7 and 8 need to be done together as Kau Ling Chung, where Stage 7 officially ends and Stage 8 begins, is several kilometers away from the nearest road, never mind human settlement.  And the same is true of Lantau Trail Stages 5 and 6, which meet at Man Cheung Po.  

Although Stages 5 and 6 of the Lantau Trail is shorter in length than Stages 7 and 8 which, when done in reverse, takes one from Shek Pik Reservoir around to Fan Lau and then eventually to Tai O, it's actually more demanding -- seeing as it goes up and down a few hills, including one that's 490 meters high and another whose peak is 465 meters above sea level. 

But even when done on a less clear air day than my hiking friend and I would have liked, we still really enjoyed the 11 kilometer length excursion -- and, at the end of it, agreed that it's a hike we'd like to repeat at some point in time, albeit on a clearer air as well as cool day, because it's really quite enjoyable even if also on the challenging side! :)

Right from the start of the hike, we were made

well aware that this would be a arduous one,

with many hills waiting to be scaled up!

 Fortunately the trail really is well constructed 

and maintained -- and the views often scenic! :b

Yes, that's just one of a number hills 

we'd be going up that afternoon!

 Even with less than optimal visibility, one can 

see the trail stretching into the distance

At times, it felt like we were far away from civilization

but at other points, we could see traffic on the road

and one of Lantau's many monasteries and temples

One of many feral cows spotted hanging out along 

or by the side of the trail that afternoon

 Trigonometrical station and sign on the summit of 

459 meter high Keung Shan, Hong Kong's 64th highest hill

Still one peak over from the end point of Stage 5 -- 

so, yes, still some ways to go to hike's end

To be continued! :)

Excercising mind as well as body -- and being sociable in the bargain! :b

High rise Hong Kong can be pretty attractive

 

 ...but I truly appreciate that after a half hour ferry ride 

and a couple of hours of hiking, one can be this far away 

from the high density sections of the territory

...and walking on paths that, even while paved, 

have so little traffic that they are safe for a beautiful butterfly

like this one to land on and rest for a bit

For various reasons (including weather conditions and hiking buddy availability), I didn't go hiking last Sunday.  While not venturing out into the Hong Kong countryside for one week was okay, I found myself really yearning to be out in the greener parts of the Big Lychee this Sunday -- and thus was pretty happy when a friend who hardly ever goes hiking agreed to head out to Lantau Island with me this weekend.

I had a bit of a scare though earlier today when she phoned to say that we should call off the hike as rain had been reported in the part of Lantau that we were planning to go hike.  Fortunately I managed to convince her that if it was raining at that point in the day, by the time we headed over to our hike starting point, it'd no longer been raining -- and I happily was proved right when no rain drops were falling when we got to Discovery Bay and, also, when we then headed over to Mui Wo via the trail that passes by the Trappist Monastery before going over an unnamed hill from where one can get some excellent panoramic vistas!  

 

If my friend had pulled out of today's planned excursion, I'd have gone ahead and hiked on my own -- so desperate was I to temporarily get away from the urban jungle, even if for just a few hours.  For while I remain a believer that one shouldn't hike alone for the most part, I'm now willing to make exceptions for those trails, many of them largely paved, that aren't only on the easy side but that I know from experience are fairly well trafficked.

 

Still, I really do feel that it is significantly more pleasant to be out hiking with a friend (or two or even three) than on one's own.  Indeed, as I've told more than one person, hiking actually is one of those rare activities that I prefer to do in the company of others. (In contrast, I'm actually pretty okay with going -- and prefer, in many cases to go -- out to a restaurant, bar or cinema by myself.)  

 

One reason is for safety -- in that it's good to know there's somebody else around should an emergency occur and you need someone else to go look for help.  But it's also true that I favor a more social style of hiking -- one that involves engaging other people in conversation while one's walking.

 

Back when I was in school in Penang, I'd walk up and down the school field -- all the while talking nine to the dozen with friends -- during recess.  Later, when I attended college at Beloit, at least one friend and I would do something similar and walk from one end of the campus to another after dinner while discussing those topics that concerned and interested us at the time.  

 

In a way, I guess that many of my Hong Kong hikes are but extensions of those walks I'd take with friends at school and college.  So it might be said that the hikes I go on in Hong Kong help to exercise the mind as well as body -- and also generally get me to be a more social being than I otherwise would be inclined to be! ;b

Daydream and Sculptures (This week's Photo Hunt themes)

Ever since I was a kid, I've dreamnt of visiting foreign lands and having wonderful experiences there.  In my younger days, I tended to look West and daydream about visiting many places in Europe and North America.  But after having ended up spending the majority of my adult life thus far living in Europe (specifically Britain) and North America (more specifically, Wisconsin and Philadelphia), I guess it's inevitable that the past decade or so has seen many of my daydreams centering on the Eastern part of the world -- in particularly, living in Hong Kong and visiting Japan.

Over the past couple of years, I've been based in Hong Kong and made three trips to Japan.  The most recent -- almost a year ago now! -- included a visit to Hakone, with its beautiful Lake Ashi, various cool modes of transportation (including a "pirate ship" and cable car), sulphurus Owakudani, and wonderful Hakone Open-Air Museum which I would love to revisit at some point in time.

I've already highlighted some of the art (particularly sculptures) in a photo-essay that can be found here but this week's choice of Photo Hunt themes by Sandi and Gattina give me the opportunity to draw attention to a few more, including British sculptor Antony Gormley's amusing Close and Hungarian-French artist Marta Pan's Floating Sculpture 3 which I felt had Zen-like qualities, particularly when viewed in the surroundings in which it's been installed at the Japanese museum whose grounds and art cannot but invite daydreaming.

Speaking of daydreams or just dreams in general: I'm sure it's beyond the wildest dreams of many to imagine a museum that's equipped with its own hot spring foot bath.  But the Hakone Open-Air Museum really does have such a facility -- one which I, of course, took advantage of to soothe my footsies made sore by the kilometers and miles of tramping about I did that day and other days on my most recent Japan trip. :b

Donguri Republic comes to Hong Kong! :)

Opening very soon!

Get ready to grab some goodies...

To be precise -- some Studio Ghibli goodies

 

 ...because starting this June 21 (i.e., tomorrow),

Hong Kong will officially be home to a branch of

Donguri Republic!!!!! :)

And for the record: of course this doesn't mean I won't want to visit Japan anymore -- not least because there are more places to get my Studio Ghibli character goods fix -- but... it really does make me pretty happy that Donguri Republic's chosen to locate its first store outside Japan in Hong Kong! :)

From Chuen Lung to Shing Mun along the Lung Mun Country Trail (Photo-essay)

In the southern foothills of Tai Mo Shan, there lies a village famous for its dim sum restaurants.  I've been to Chuen Lung a couple of times for dim sum brunch.  But when three friends and I headed there one Sunday afternoon, it wasn't to eat but, instead, to begin a hike along the Lung Mun Country Trail that I had previously been on with two other friends one rainy afternoon.

This time around, conditions were considerably drier and made for a much more pleasant trek.  It was just as well as this turned out to be the real farewell hike with my erstwhile regular hiking companion -- ironically, in the company of my first good friend who left Hong Kong along with a third friend who, happily, has since become a permanent resident and remains here in the Big Lychee... 

Near the start of the hike, we were presented

with a number of optional destinations

Any which way, blue skies beckoned :)

We didn't forget to occasionally look down though -- 

and were rewarded with such as the spotting of 

this interesting critter! :b

A somewhat surreal sight out along the hiking trail

-- it seems that some bird lover takes his pet birds 

(complete with cages!) out for walks in the countryside! ;b

Bamboo growing wildly -- 

in more ways than one! :)

The rare horizontal landscape shot I took along the hike ;b

After arriving at Shing Mun Reservoir, we were still in 

a hiking mood, so strolled over to its Jubilee Dam

where at least one fellow was having fun kite flying

Shing Mun is infamous for the monkeys but that afternoon, 

we also noticed that tortoises abound in the area! :)