Hike sights between Tsuen Kam Au and Ho Pui (Photo-essay)

The hike I went on with two friends one afternoon began at a place (Tsuen Kam Au) which I've been to lots of times already and ended in another section of Hong Kong (Ho Pui) which I've become pretty familiar with.  However, none of us had previously been on much of the trail we went along -- marked on the relevant Hong Kong Countryside Map as a clear line (denoting that it'd be easy walking) but turning out to be steeper and more slippery than I had thought it would be!

Worse, we actually were going downhill on that trail rather than uphill -- and while it does take more energy to go uphill, my experience is that one has to exercise quite a bit more care when going downhill.  As a result, this was one of those hikes where I took way fewer photos than usual. Indeed, it wasn't until we got to Ho Pui Reservoir that I felt able to go into major camera clicking mode, which was just as well since it really was the most photogenic area we passed through during our trek... ;b 

Early on in the hike, we were provided with a reminder of there being 

village enclaves in -- not just bordering -- Hong Kong's country parks

What appeared to be wild banana trees 

grew on the hillslopes along with other vegetation

This watery section was actually far less scary looking

in real life than it appears in this photo! ;b

As weird as it sounds, it's pretty much guaranteed that

you'll get good views near graves in Hong Kong's country parks!

A number of streams run into the reservoir at Ho Pui

For the most part, the water in the reservoir's fairly calm,

with the breeze causing just small ripples on the surface

 Some vegetation stay green throughout the year but others don't, 

and consequently help make the scenery look more colorful :) 

In addition, there is foliage in Hong Kong that

don't need the fall to come along to be noticeably red! :b

Martinis and wanders down Memory Lane at Bar Butler

The cocktail that got me hooked on

going to Bar Butler

The cocktail bar's decor and atmosphere has grown 

on me with each visit too :)

Years ago when I lived in Philadelphia, a friend and I had a ritual of going to a neighborhood Japanese restaurant and ordering sushi to eat and vodka martinis to drink.  These days, I much rather drink sake when eating sushi (and/or sashimi).  But martinis have remained my favorite cocktail.

Not surprisingly, then, the very first drink I ordered at Bar Butler was a vodka martini with olives -- and I honestly think that it was the best vodka martini I've ever had in my life.  After I finished the drink and contemplated what to have next, the bartender at this Japanese cocktail bar over on Kowloon-side asked me if I had ever had what he called "the James Bond martini".  Although 007 has been known to drink vodka martinis and gin martinis, the most "James Bond-ian" of martinis appears to be that which contains vodka and gin as well as a French aperitif wine called Lillet.   

After I decided to go ahead and try this martini that I have to admit to previously not having heard of before (which goes to show how little I know about James Bond's world), I was presented with a glass of what I came to know is actually called the vesper martini.  Amazingly, it was even better than the best vodka martini I ever had -- and because of that one drink, I've been going to Bar Butler quite a bit more times in the past few months than I'd expect to go to a bar in a part of town (Tsim Sha Tsui) that I don't usually spend that much time in!

Everytime I go to Bar Butler now, I have to start the evening with a vesper martini.  But whereas the first night that I drank there, I had stuck to vodka-based cocktails, I've since expanded the range of cocktails I'm willing to try and happily imbibe; this especially after discovering that Bar Butler also makes cocktails using chartreuse, mezcal and absinthe!

While absinthe is one of those alcoholic beverages that I had long heard of but never tried until recently, I was introduced to mezcal and chartreuse at earlier points in my life -- both of them pretty memorable.  When I lived in Philadelphia some time back, I had a few friends who were Latin American specialists in their field.  At a party one evening, one of them brought a bottle of mezcal with a worm and volcanic ash in it.  Although that would render it undrinkable in the eyes of many, we went ahead and tried it -- and I, for one, found this smokey tasting (even without the volcanic ash!) distilled alcoholic drink to be quite palatable!

Years before I moved to Philadelphia, I went to boarding school on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean in England.  One exeat weekend, the family friends I was staying with took me to dinner at the home of a couple who were good friends of theirs.  After we finished our meal, we chatted a bit and had some after dinner drinks.  That was when I was introduced to the 110 proof liqueur made by Carthusian monks since 1737 -- and also heard our female host disclose that she originally hailed from France, was Jewish, and was a concentration camp survivor (with a tattoo on her arm as proof).  

Almost needless to say, I think of her and the occasion that I had my first taste of chartreuse whenever I drink that herbal green drink.  And I think of my closest Latin Americanist friend -- who, incidentally, was the friend I used to go have sushi and vodka martinis with! -- whenever I have some mezcal.   And I love that I've been able to taste those alcoholic beverages again after all these years, in Hong Kong, thanks to Bar Butler. :)

The wonders of nature on view at Kadoorie Farm & Botanical Garden

A sleepy owl spotted one afternoon at the 

Kadoorie Farm and Botanical Garden

Uncaged as well as caged creatures abound at this facility

located on the northern slopes of Tai Mo Shan

So do a variety of flora, including these bleeding heart flowers :)

Some years back, when hiking in Tai Lam Country Park, I spied the distinctively shaped Kwun Yam Shan in the distance and decided that it was one of those Hong Kong hills and mountains that would be too steep for me to climb up.  After consulting an area map, my hiking companion that afternoon pointed out that there were toilets located near the summit of the mountain (that's been variously listed as being 546 and 552 meters high) and remarked that surely that was a sign that Hong Kong's 33rd highest peak wasn't that difficult to ascend!

Consequently, she, another friend and I went about going up to the very top of Kwun Yam Shan one winter day in 2011.  What with the hill being located within the boundaries of the Kadoorie Farm & Botanical Garden, that day also marked my first visit to the fabulous 148-hectare-sized conservation and education center that I tell myself I should visit more often every time I go there.

On that first visit to Kadoorie Farm & Botanical Garden, our main goal was to venture up to Kwun Yam Shan and enjoy the panoramic views from there -- and we did go ahead and do so, and not only from that mountain but also the even higher up, at 602 meters above sea level, Kadoorie Brothers Memorial Pavilion.  But before we did so, we also spent time in the lower area of the facility, where such as a raptor sanctuary and a wildlife pond (which is home to flamingos, turtles and crocodiles) are to be found.  

On my most recent visit to this New Territories locale with a different friend, I didn't trek up to the upper section of Kadoorie Farm & Botanical Garden -- and still easily found enough to keep us occupied for much of the afternoon.  Also, in view of how steep many of the paths on the hillslope facility are, we were glad that we had on our hiking boots, even though we technically did not go hiking that day! 

As before, the fauna found at this conservation and education center left me enthralled.  It's not every day, after all, that one gets to behold the live sight of a leopard cat and barking deer, even though they are indeed native to Hong Kong!  And although I have spotted kites in the wild, it's not usually up close -- so there is a thrill to being able to do so with those magnificent birds, related predators, and owls that I know are wild but also think are so cute that, when they stay still, could easily be mistaken for huggable plushies!  

In addition, the flora on view are often beautiful and interesting too.  More than once, I found myself saying to my friend that if a child drew a picture of this flower and that leaf in an art class, I could imagine him/her being told by the teacher that what they had drawn was not realistic because it was too unusual or unlikely looking!  Put another way: a visit to Kadoorie Farm & Botanical Garden will get one marvelling at the wonders of nature, and exulting over how incredibly creative Mother Nature can be. :)

A rare Tsing Yi hike (Photo-essay)

Tsing Yi is a Hong Kong island which I pass over far more often than I visit; this not least because the MTR's Airport Express as well as Tung Chung lines go through it.  In fact, I could count on the fingers of one hand how many times I've actually been to Tsing Yi -- and on my first visit there, more than two years after moving to Hong Kong, I actually didn't venture outdoors even for a minute as I had gone there to hang out with Hello Kitty and co at the temporary Sanrio Village that had been installed in an area mall!  

Even after hearing of the existence of the Tsing Yi Nature Trails, I didn't think much about doing any hiking on the island since that official trail is just 4 kilometers long.  But one weekend after recovering from a cold, and my hiking buddy from problems with his knees, he and I figured we could go there for what would be a fairly easy excursion, even after we tacked on a stroll along the waterfront promenade from the MTR station to the official trailhead at Cheung Shue Tau... ;)

A view of Tsuen Wan (including its Nina and Teddy Towers)

from Tsing Yi's waterfront promenade

 

Signage that's more artistic than usual? ;b

 

This short hike gives a bit of a workout

since there are many stairs to climb along it!

 

One of the three pavilions in the area marks the 

northwestern end point of the trails

Not the usual sight one expects to see (or photo one expects

to take) while hiking on a designated nature trail ;)

 

Some day, I'll go back there to get a better view of

the Tsing Ma Bridge than we got that hazy afternoon :S

 

As things stood, conditions that afternoon made one of the oil depots 

on the island appear more visually attractive that day!

 

 Still, lest there be any doubt, there were indeed some

interesting natural sights (such as those thin-trunked trees)

on view in Tsing Yi that afternoon ;b

She Remembers, He Forgets -- and we dream? (Film review)

The iconic geological formation known as Lion Rock

is visible in the background of more than one scene in

She Remembers, He Forgets

She Remembers, He Forgets (Hong Kong, 2015)

- Adam Wong, director and co-scriptwriter (along with Saville Chan)

- Starring: Miriam Yeung, Jan Lam, Cecilio So, Ng Siu Hin, Neo Yau

Although I've checked out my share of Hong Kong movies in the past few months (especially if one includes Hong Kong-mainland China co-productions like Mabel Cheung's A Tale of Three Cities, Johnnie To's Office and John Woo's The Crossing II), it wasn't until I viewed this latest offering from Adam Wong (The Way We Dance) that I got to remembering how it feels to love a new Hong Kong film I just saw.

She Remembers, He Forgets opens with panoramic views of Hong Kong shot from above that are so breathtakingly beautiful that the viewer might find it difficult to take in the credits appearing atop of them.  Pretty much from the get go then, the signs are there that the makers of this film have a love for their native territory; this even when there are those who maintain that "Hong Kong is not a place for dreamers" and others want to leave the Fragrant Harbour, believing that better futures are to be had elsewhere in the world.

Part of this sentimental dramatic offering takes place in the present day, with the focus in those scenes being on a not particularly happily married middle-aged couple.  Travel agent Gigi (Miriam Yeung) has not gone on a holiday with her designer husband, Shing Wah (Jan Lamb), for five years now.  This wouldn't matter so much if they didn't spend so little time together at home that Gigi seems to talk more to her pet cockatoo than her spouse and often doesn't know what the latter is up to, and even where in mainland China he's been for business.

A high school reunion dinner gets Gigi thinking back to those days at school when she (played as a teenager by Cecilia So), the more fun-loving Shing Wah (played as a teenager by Neo Yau) and another student, the brainy Bok Man (Ng Siu Hin), were well nigh inseparable.  Inevitably, she gets to wondering what became of Bok Man, who had aspired to become an airline pilot, and whom both she and Shing Wah lost contact with years ago -- and whether she had made the right choice of man to live her life with.    

Considering what a superstar she actually is and how much of an entertainment industry veteran he is, Miriam Yeung and Jan Lamb are utterly convincing as an everyday Hong Kong couple, with unfulfilled (in Gigi's case) and seemingly plain forgotten (in Shing Wah's case) dreams and ambitions.  But She Remembers, He Forgets soars less because of their performances but due to the younger trio of Cecilia So, Neo Yau and Ng Siu Hin -- the latter two of whom were making their feature film debuts in this movie -- having so very ably shouldered the responsibility of being the heart and soul of this admirably sincere offering.

Put another way: the main events in She Remembers, He Forgets are those set in the past and give a good sense of what it was like to grow up in the last few years before Hong Kong was handed back to China.  Beautifully shot in such a way that even those who didn't live in Hong Kong in 1992 will be swept by a wave of nostalgia, the scenes depicting the adolescent Gigi, Shing Wah and Bok Man's schooldays are filled with lots of interesting details, and imaginative inventions credited to the two boys.

But while there's much to look back with fondness, it also can be painful to see what was thought possible then but has turned out to not be, both personally but also politically.  I'd wager that the more you love Hong Kong, the more She Remembers, He Forgets will come across as a bittersweet work, albeit one whose makers remain hopeful that some childhood dreams can be rekindled in adulthood even while others have to be left as memories of what could and might have been. 

My rating for this film: 8.0

A Hong Kong Island hike with plenty of sea views

There were lots of people out in the water at Big Wave Bay

this unseasonably hot November afternoon!

 

Over at Tai Tau Chau, a woman and her two dogs enjoyed

the sea breeze and the sight of a boat sailing in the blue sea

  

This afternoon, a friend and I set off on a hike from Siu Sai Wan.  The original plan was to ascend from sea level there all the way up to 312-meter-high Pottinger Peak.  But after we got up to a view compass about 100 meters below the top of the hill that provided us with panoramic views of the sea, we decided to get closer to the water and proceeded to make our way to a couple of seaside locales over on the southeastern end of Hong Kong Island.

First up, down on the other side of Pottinger Peak, was Big Wave Bay.  Long before we got close to sea level, we could already see that there were lots of surfers and swimmers in the bay's waters as well as lots of sunbathers frolicking and sunning themselves on its sandy beach.  Close to the site at Big Wave Bay where prehistoric rock carvings can be found, we also got to noticing a few paragliders floating in the sky post their having jumped off Dragon's Back!      

 

At Big Wave Bay, we saw the temperature being posted as being 27 degrees Celsius (80.6 degrees Fahrenheit) but honestly felt like it was even hotter than that!  Rather than call it a day as far as our hike was concerned however, we pressed on -- this time along a paved road to Shek O, then across a bridge over to the nearby island of Tai Tau Chau, where we spotted still more paragliders making their way down to Shek O's Rocky Bay Beach from Dragon's Back. 

 

Most of the time at Tai Tau Chau, however, our eyes were focused on the beautiful blue sea (and the bigger waves that splashed around the water's edge than over at Big Wave Bay), and also Tai Tau Chau's rugged and interestingly shaped rocks.  And while it was the surfers' antics that made for enthralling watching over at Big Wave Bay, over in this area, it was sailing boats and other watercraft passing seemingly tranquilly by that tended to catch the eye.

 

Unlike a previous occasion when I visited the area, the waters off Big Wave Bay actually didn't look polluted this afternoon.  Still, I was content not to venture into the water but, rather, just enjoy views of it, preferably from higher land.  If nothing else, today confirmed that I really do prefer the hills to the sea -- but definitely do appreciate views of the sea while out hiking. :) 

Surprises abound at King Yin Lei, the Chinese Renaissance style mansion in the Mid-Levels

I finally visited King Yin Lei earlier today :) 

Color and decorative features abound at King Yin Lei

Ornate decoration on the ceiling of one of its rooms

Did you know that there's a swimming pool

within the grounds of King Yin Lei? :O

Pretty much every time I take a bus up to Victoria Gap or Wan Chai Gap (almost invariably for a hike), I make sure to look out for the distinctive mansion known as King Yin Lei.  Built in what's known as the Chinese Renaissance style (like St Mary's Church in Causeway Bay) in 1937 and originally given the name Hei Lo, it was designed by a British architect (A. R. Fenton-Rayen) and became one of the first residences in the Mid-Levels to be home to an ethnic Chinese family (with a woman named Li Po Lun as its owner).

In September 2007, there was much public outcry when it looked like King Yin Lei was going to be demolished so the land it was on would be redeveloped.  By the Hong Kong government stepped in to prevent this happening, windows and doors had been smashed, the roof had been stripped of its glazed tiles and quite a bit of other destruction had been wreaked on the building.  Belatedly declared a monument in July 2008, restoration work on the mansion commenced in September of that year and finally completed in December 2010.  

A few years ago, King Yin Lei began being open to the public -- but only on a few designated days in the year.  A few weeks ago, I finally got a ticket for one of its Public Open Days and earlier today, paid my first ever visit to this mansion that's a prime example of Hong Kong-style "East meets West" architecture.

As I walked through King Yin Lei's main gate, almost the first thing that caught my eye was a swimming pool -- which I previously had no idea it had, since it's not visible from the bus!  Also not visible from the bus was King Yin Lei's subsidiary buildings, including a small pavilion and a subsidiary building whose ceiling decoration reminded both a friend I was with and myself of the Long Corridor of Beijing's UNESCO World Heritage-listed Summer Palace. 

The surprises continued after I entered King Yin Lei's main building.  Among the features that stood out as unusual was the modest size of the master bedroom (especially in the context of the large size of the mansion as a whole), the one bathroom we got to see having a disarmingly pink and lavender color scheme, and the antiseptic looking kitchen being placed on the middle floor of the building rather than the ground floor, as would seem more normal!

I'd love to have gotten explanations of what was behind those architectural decisions -- and whether what we saw conformed to the original interior arrangement of the mansion.  Sadly, although there were designated docents about, all of the queries -- including how many rooms were on the upper-most floor of the building that's completely off limits to the public --  that I and my friends asked got nothing more than "I don't know" responses.  And although there were a number of information panels in a few of the rooms of the main building and also what was King Yin Lei's garage, there was much less information about the history of the mansion and the people who had lived in it than there was about the restoration work that had been undertaken.    

Upon entering the grounds of King Yin Lei this afternoon, I had been given an information pamphlet and four souvenir postcards.  While I think this a nice gesture, I really would have welcomed getting more information about the place, particularly that which would have helped me to better imagine what life was like there when it was an actual residence.  

As it is, I have to just speculate as to whether the kitchen was located so close to the master bedroom because a head of one of the families that lived there had been an invalid for at least some of his or her years and thus bed-ridden.  I'd also like to know the story behind why there's a religious altar placed on a wall in the garage and another placed in a prominent in one of the central ground floor rooms of the mansion -- neither of them being the usual places to find religious altars in a Hong Kong home.  Heck, I wish I knew why the decision was made to have King Yin Lei built in the Chinese Renaissance rather than a more conventional Western or Chinese style.

Put another way: My visit to King Yin Lei made me more interested and curious about the place and its owners, particularly the original one who had commissioned its construction.  And I hope that now that the mansion's been physically restored and it's been made open -- on selected days -- to the public, efforts can be made to inform people more about this heritage site, and in an interesting way that makes history come alive.