Symbolic and Power (This week's Photo Hunt themes)

In the last six months or so, thanks to the convenience that has come with having been issued a one-year multiple visits Japan visa, I have paid two visits to the Land of the Rising Sun. In early 2012, two friends living elsewhere in the world and I got together for an Okinawa rendezvous. A few months before, I had gone on my own to Tokyo and points nearby, including the sacred space(s) of Nikko.

The city of Nikko is the gateway to an area of considerable natural beauty, much of which lies within the borders of Nikko National Park. On this visit, however, my focus was checking out cultural sights -- with the Toshugu Shrine that is Nikko's most famous attraction being on the very top of my "must see" list.

Built as a mausoleum for the second head of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Hidetada, for his super powerful father, Ieyasu, whose last will and testament expressed his desire to be enshrined and rest forever in Nikko to serve as a guardian of Japan, and further expanded in the reign the third Tokugawa shogun, Iemitsu, the Toshugu Shrine was a building project that involved the construction by 4,540,000 people of 35 buildings (many of them lavishly decorated) in 17 months at a cost whose contemporary equivalent has been estimated as amounting to 40 billion yen.

Some four centuries on, there is no doubting the symbolic power of the place, then and now. And there also is little doubting that the Toshogu Shrine stands as testimony to the power, symbolic and otherwise, possessed by the Tokugawa Shogunate, especially during the rule of the first three men who headed it.

For those who think that the actual tomb of Tokugawa Ieyasu looks on the modest side, do consider that what's visible in the photo at the very top of today's entry for both Sandi's and Gattina's Photo Hunts lies in a physically elevated area deep within the shrine grounds -- and that to get to it, one first must climb a number of steps as well as pass by many other structures (all of them undoubtedly worked on by master craftsmen) like the ones in this entry's two middle photos.

So no wonder Puppet Ponyo looks on the bewildered and overwhelmed side there -- and this even though at that point of our visit, we hadn't even been through the middle compound of that pretty sizable shrine! ;O

Spotted while hiking last Sunday...

Please focus your attention on the yellow spotted
creature -- and yes, it really is not a leaf!

Can anyone tell me what it is? If so, I'd be most grateful! :b

P.S. Please feel free to click on the photo in order to view an enlarged version of it!

Update: Positive ID made by tngan -- see more on this entry's comments thread! :)

Along Stage 3 of the Wilson Trail (Photo-essay)

Last week, my previous photo-essay about my hike along Stage 3 of the Wilson Trail ended with photos at the redoubt atop Devil's Peak. Although for some people that might seem to represent the high point of the hike, the truth of the matter was there more cool stuff actually lay ahead -- including a few more peaks... some of which were more challenging than others to go up and also down -- and yes, it really is true that I often find it easier to go up than down...! ;b

The superstitious might do well to avoid this trail
because it really does pass very close to this giant cemetery!

Upon descending from the redoubt at Devil's Peak,
it was with some relief that one finds that
Wilson Trail Stage 3 does not go up to the summit
of neighboring Black Hill, just around it!

On Tseung Kwan O Road, my regular hiking companion
and I gleefully witnessed life imitating road sign! ;b

More proof (if needed) that the city
really wasn't that far away!

Of course being close to the city doesn't mean
that this trail would be a breeze!

Indeed, I found this to actually be a challenging hike
with more than one peak to ascend (and descend)!

Often times, when on a hike with many ups (and downs),
I tell myself that the views are what makes it all worth it...

There also is a sense of accomplishment from being
up "there" looking down at the scene down below... :)

To be continued! :b

Sham Chung surprise

A picturesque spot on the Sai Kung peninsula
that's accessible only via foot, mountain bike
or thrice daily (at most) ferry

A place with the kind of vistas that it can be
difficult to believe are to be found in Hong Kong!

A part of Hong Kong that still is home to a rare
-- and still in use -- building dating back to 1936!

Earlier today, despite the weather forecast including mention of "rain patches" and "coastal fog", two friends and I decided to press ahead with our plan to go on an around 13 kilometer long hike in the Sai Kung Peninsula that is home to three Hong Kong country parks (Sai Kung East, Sai Kung West and Sai Kung West (Wan Tsai Extension)).

The first couple of kilometers or so from Shui Lung Wo to Yung Shue O were familiar territory to two of our party. But all three of us had not previously ventured along the sections of the trail that led north out of Yung Shue O, a now rather quiet village that used to be home to a large farming settlement, and hugged the coast for a few kilometers until it reached the even more remote hamlet of Sham Chung. So it was quite the surprise when we rounded a corner and found ourselves being greeted by a idyllic scene that appeared like something in between a beautiful mirage and idealized movie set!

To begin with, we beheld large ponds filled with calm water, green fields of what appeared to be very well kept grass and old (by Hong Kong standards!) buildings -- at least one of which dated back to before the second world war even! -- in a basin-shaped plain bordered by the coast on one side and fung shui woods and a ring of higher land on the other. Then, as we entered into that alluring space, we heard music -- someone playing a guitar and a few voices raised in song -- and realized that it was coming from a group of people sitting on the grass and looking like they were having an enjoyably mellow time.

In addition, for a hungry member of our party's delight, this neck of the woods turned out to be home to Sham Chung Manor, an eatery set up in his old family home by a Sham Chung native named Tom Li who has lived and worked in restaurants in England and the USA! Hungry for information about the secluded spot, upon returning to my apartment, I set about finding out more about this photogenic part of Hong Kong I hitherto had only known as a location on a countryside map.

Thanks to the internet, I've discovered that Sham Chung's story is actually a rather sad one -- not only including the by now familiar New Territories tale of a once thriving even if physically isolated community that saw many of its sons (and daughters?) leaving to go and work in Chinese restaurants in the United Kingdom in the latter part of the 20th century but, also, a saga involving a ridiculous, ill-fated scheme to "develop" the area by doing such as draining its freshwater marsh and building a golf course (with the expectation that golfers would be attracted to a spot that, to date, is without road access!).

Considering the environmental damage done in recent times to the area, it's truly a wonder that the place actually has remained as physically attractive as it has. But sometimes nature really does have a rather miraculous way and ability to deal with -- and overcome -- what humans do to it. In any event, the sights and views that I beheld at Sham Chung earlier today struck me as pretty awesome. Alternatively put, they made for a pleasant surprise indeed -- and so much so that my visit to this hamlet definitely ranks as one of the highlights of the day's generally very enjoyable -- not least because it turned out to be rainless! -- hike. :)

Drop and fluffy (This week's Photo Hunt themes)

As regular visitors to this blog know, it contains no small amount of photos I took while out hiking in Hong Kong (with my blogging routine tending to include weekly hiking photo-essays (like this one) as well as my also being prone to offer up exultant post hike entries on Sunday evenings (see an example here)). But, in truth, the Hong Kong hike photos on view on this blog are but a mere drop in the ocean in terms of the number of photos taken while out hiking that I have in my ever-growing photo archive.

And it is to this now considerable hike photos collection that I find myself frequently turning to when faced with the challenge of combining the often majorly disparate themes chosen for Sandi's and Gattina's Photo Hunts!

This week, a photograph with a purple Morning Glory flower and green leaves on which rain drops had fallen caught my eye -- as did an image of something fluffy -- or, at least previously was so until it got thoroughly drenched! -- amidst similarly raindrop-covered leaves. Still, it was to another day's worth of hiking photos that I turned to for a snap of something really fluffy.

I have to admit I'm not quite sure what it is that I captured in that last photo though. Are there flowers which first look fluffy before becoming less so in the manner of birds that are fluffy at the baby stage but less so when they become adults? Because that's what that photo looks like it has captured to me -- i.e., something that's popped out of a pod but has yet to reached actual flowering stage! ;O

A Chinese garden in southwest Lantau

One of my first glimpses of what turned out
to be Lung Tsai Ng Yuen

View of a pavilion and part of a zigzag bridge
within that which is also known as Ng Yuen Garden

Although clearly in need of better maintenance,
there's (still) a romantic aura to the place

Less than a year after I moved to the Big Lychee, a friend living in Malaysia e-mailed and asked if I had seen everything there was to see in Hong Kong yet. As I recall, my response was a pretty emphatic "No way!" And I have to say that I still feel that way some years on -- even as I also do reckon that I have indeed gone about exploring quite a bit of the territory's nooks and crannies in my time as a resident of Hong Kong.

One reason for this is that the more one wanders about Hong Kong, the more one realizes that both its countryside as well as its more urban areas are home to many interesting sights and sites. In addition, reading books such as Jason Wordie's Streets: Exploring Hong Kong Island and Streets: Exploring Kowloon and/or checking out online resources like Martin Williams' Hong Kong Outdoors or Phil's Hidden Hong Kong (and Macau) gets on learning about and knowing to look out for still more interesting places, spots and locales in the territory.

Thus it was that prior research had told me that I'd be passing by a traditional Chinese landscaped garden when going along the same southwest Lantau hike which would sights of a flying dragon (statue). Even so, when I finally glimpsed this scenic spot that looked like it came out of a wuxia movie, it was quite a thrill to do so -- not least because Lung Tsai Ng Yuen really does appear to be such an improbable sight to come across after hours of trekking through kilometers and miles of uncultivated countryside!

More than one person (including as late as 2010) has written of having been lucky enough to find the gates to Lung Tsai Ng Yuen open when they passed by it -- and their consequently getting to go in and wander about the garden. I, alas, was not so fortunate. Even so, I saw enough from along Lantau Trail Section 5 -- and, even better, when standing on a small dam nearby -- to get a sense of how beautiful this former retreat in the Lantau hills still is after what looks like years of sad neglect and decay.

Is it too much, I wonder, to hope that this place will one day get restored to its former glory -- or, at the very least, regularly (re-)opened to the members of the public who would be able to walk safely on its zigzag bridge again? At the very least, I really do hope that Lung Tsai Ng Yuen will not suffer the fate of such as King Ying Lei Mansion or, even worse, Hong Kong's Tiger Balm Garden any time soon -- and, instead, remain a lovely sight for passersby to pause and admire for a few moments before going along their merry way once more.

Up Devil's Peak to its summit and now ruined redoubt (Photo-essay)

More than a year ago, my regular hiking companion and I went along Stage 3 of the Wilson Trail. Now that no small amount of time has passed since that we went on that excursion, I can look back and remember enough good things about that hiking experience to actually think that it might be worth taking other friends along that particular section of the 78 kilometer long hiking trail named after David Wilson, the 27th British governor of Hong Kong at some point.

On the day of the hike itself, however, I was more prone to rant about the problems encountered along the way -- specifically with regards to the poor (placements of) signage on what is, after all, a major Hong Kong hiking trail. And to put things in context: This really was the worst sign-posted trail that I went along of the 120 hikes that I've now gone on in the Big Lychee!

At the same time though, as I hope that the following photo-essay will go some way in showing, a hike along Wilson Trail Stage 3 does yield some scenic vistas, cool sights and -- if one allows for a short detour up the first hill encountered on the trek -- a visit to a ruined early 20th century redoubt up on Devil's Peak!

Unlike the two earlier sections of the Wilson Trail,
Stage 3 is located across Victoria Harbour
from Hong Kong Island

A sign post along the way that has
no mention whatsoever of the Wilson Trail

A view that shows how close city and countryside
are to each other in Hong Kong (with few,
if any, suburban areas existing in between)

Although the ruins of the redoubt at the top
of Devil's Peak is not officially part of Wilson Trail
Stage 3, we couldn't resist detouring up to it

One of many treasured snaps of a trigonometrical
station that I now have in my photo collection ;b

View from the former military site that takes in
part of the huge Junk Bay Chinese Permanent Cemetery

As improbable as it may seem, someone (or more)
has decided that the top of this 222 meter high peak
-- including the sections that are a former military
facility -- is a good place to cultivate a garden!

For the record: Carving noting for posterity
that the redoubt was built by the 40th Company
(of the (British) Royal Engineers) in 1914