A hike through sections of Hong Kong associated with monkeys, smugglers and an eagle (Photo-essay)

The 369-meter-high hill in central Hong Kong that gives its name to Kam Shan Country Park is nicknamed Monkey Hill, with good reason.  Put another way: you are far more likely to encounter monkeys in its vicinity than gold (kam is the Cantonese name for that precious metal) -- and because of that, I try to steer clear of the area.

One Sunday afternoon, however, I ventured into that area with three friends on a hike that began at Shing Mun Country Park over to the north and ended on the edge of Lion Rock Country Park to the south.  Our route went through places with interesting sounding names like Smugglers' Pass, Smugglers' Ridge and Eagle's Nest.  And even though our excursion wasn't half as exciting as those names make it sound, it still was a fun trail to go along -- with some uphill and downhill as well as level bits, along a trail that offered up views of urban Hong Kong as well as the green countryside, and was predominantly unpaved... :)         

 On a clear day, Tai Mo Shan dominates the surrounding landscape, 

and is prettily reflected in the waters of Shing Mun Reservoir

On days like this, the still water can resemble the sky :)

 

Another view of Tai Mo Shan and Shing Mun Reservoir,

this time a few kilometers into our hike :)

 

Needle Hill, one of those Hong Kong hills I initially

didn't think that I'd ever go up -- but now have done so ;b

 

As the markers show, the Maclehose Trail 

and Wilson Trail overlap for a bit on 

Kam Shan Country Park's Golden Hill Road

 

The hike also passed by Kowloon Reservoir, the 

New Territories' oldest reservoir, and still in use today  

 

From the Eagle's Nest, we got a hazy view of

high density Kowloon down below

 

Meanwhile, up in the hills, bugs like this 

exotic-looking critter were at home ;b

Lost in Hong Kong shows that certain ties endure even while others seem lost (film review)

Do you reckon that you'd get lost in Hong Kong?

Lost in Hong Kong (Mainland China-Hong Kong, 2015)

- Xu Zheng, director

- Starring: Xu Zheng, Bao Beier, Vicki Zhao Wei, Du Juan, Sam Lee, Eric Kot

In view of its being a mainland China-Hong Kong co-production, you'd expect Lost in Hong Kong to be released in Hong Kong around the same time as mainland China.  Instead, this comedy revolving around mainland Chinese folks who act like Hong Kong is as foreign to them as, say, Thailand (where the previous film in the series, Lost in Thailand, had been set) only opened in Hong Kong cinemas close to two months after it went on general release in mainland Chinese cinemas, and was given limited theatrical runs in Britain and the USA.  

To business minded folks, this could be read as a statement about how minor a market Hong Kong (now) is considered to be for movies in general, and particularly those that are predominantly in Mandarin (like many a Mainland China-Hong Kong co-production these days as well as wholly Mainland Chinese productions).  These actions say a lot to me too about how far apart mainland China and Hong Kong are culturally, including in terms of cinematic tastes, these days.

But as Lost in Hong Kong actually reminds us, there was a time not so long ago when mainland Chinese cinemagoers were major fans of Hong Kong movies.  Back then, Hong Kong also was perceived by many a mainland Chinese person as a fabled land of opportunity and plenty, one which they dreamnt of moving to to work and live (like, say, the protagonists of Comrades, Almost a Love Story) -- rather than just a place to go for a shopping-filled vacation (like is the case these days).

Boasting a surprisingly rich use of old Hong Kong movie soundtracks (including more than one song sung by the late Leslie Cheung, such as the theme song for A Chinese Ghost Story) and visuals (such as hand-painted film posters along with old movie clips), not to mention guest appearances and cameos by Hong Kong film personalities, Lost in Hong Kong's story begins in 1995, with a university class attended by idealistic art student Xu Lai (Xu Zheng), pragmatic-thinking art student Yang Yi (Du Juan) and Cai Bo (Vicki Zhao Wei), a business student scouting for artists interested in working her family's lingerie business. 

Xu Lai's clearly attracted to Yang Yi but something always gets in the way of his getting to kiss her for the first time (never mind anything else more serious).  And after she gets a scholarship to study in Hong Kong, he never sees or hears from her again -- until a couple of decades ago when she invites him to the opening of her latest art exhibition in Hong Kong.

Twenty-years on, Xu Lai's long traded his dreams of being an artist to become a bra designer in Cai Bo's family firm.  He's also now distinctly bald, and married to Cai Bo, who so desperately wants to become a mother that she now perceives sex primarily as a means to get pregnant rather than through romantic, rose-tinted lenses.  Still, Xu Lai dearly wishes to see Yang Yi again.  And as luck would have it, he will be in Hong Kong when her art exhibition opens -- only so will Cai Bo and the rest of her family, including her annoying aspiring filmmaker brother Lala (Bo Beier), who he had stupidly promised to allow to do an interview with!    

As Xu Zheng and Bao Beier reprise their "stressed-off businessman trying desperately to shrug off a leech-like nitwit in exotic territory" schtick, the audience is treated to a wild tour of Hong Kong that takes in visits -- some shorter than others -- to such as as prostitute den, tattoo parlour and Triad territory along with a classy exhibition venue and deluxe quarters belonging to someone who's visibly "made it" in Hong Kong.  It may not be the Hong Kong that some visitors and residents will recognize from real life (cf. the comments in this blog post) but it won't be unfamiliar to long-time fans of Hong Kong cinema.

Perhaps because of this, watching Lost in Hong Kong actually made me feel nostalgic for 1980s and 1990s Hong Kong cinema -- as well as marvelling at how much of a Hong Kong cinema fan the mainland makers of this movie appear to be.  And even while this offering's principal characters are distinctively Mainland Chinese in personality, I'd even go as far as to suggest that this film -- and, for that matter, South Korea's Veteran -- may well possess more of the unbridled zaniness, wild energy and genre-transcending tendencies of 1980s and 1990s Hong Kong cinema than the vast majority of movies helmed by Hong Kong filmmakers thus far this year!

My rating for this film: 8.0

A multi-course sake pairing dinner at Godenya

The third of eight courses of a sake pairing dinner

at Godenya this evening

 The red color-themed sixth course :b

 The seventh course which came across as

partly savoury, partly in dessert territory! 

A couple of months ago, my über foodie friend told me that there's a restaurant that she wanted me to go to with her; one where sake was an integral part of the meal.  After I agreed to go have dinner at Godenya with her, she told me the date she had booked -- December 2nd, some two months away!  And while it may have seemed a long time back then, December 2nd finally did arrive -- and I've just got back from a dinner at this primarily Japanese restaurant (operated by a Japanese sake master and his chef young brother) which incorporates some Chinese culinary elements that was so good that she and I decided that we had to go eat again at the restaurant before we left the restaurant this evening! 

Billed as a sake pairing dinner, this evening's meal at Shinya Goshima's eight-seater restaurant consisted of eight food courses, seven of which were accompanied by a chosen sake.  I have to admit that before tonight, I was more excited by the prospect of trying out the libations at Godenya than the food; this since it'd be the first time that I would be tasting sake warmed to a chosen degree by a bona fide sake master.  And my anticipation increased upon perusing this evening's menu and seeing that among the sake we'd be drinking was one that was eight years old and another which was made from red rice!

Once dinner began being served, however, I realized that the food we'd be eating would be of a high quality and also very interesting too.  For example, the first course (billed as the oyster appetizer) not only included four very tasty oysters but those oysters were served in a jelly concoction that also included refreshing bits of fruit!  And I couldn't help making ecstatic noises when eating the second course, which consisted of the rich roe of a female snow crab which had been soaked in sake for a day with a portion of Chinese- (rather than Japanese-)style rice vermicelli to help balance out the flavors.

As good as the second course was, I actually thought the third course was better tasting.  Definitely more complex tasting, its ingredients included the meat and liver of kawahagi (thread-sail filefish), bits of green tea leaves, and what Goshima-san told us was white mushroom but tasted like truffle to both my friend and me.  Eaten on their own, each of the third course's components were delicious; eaten when mixed together, the resulting taste was revelatory!

Next up was an exotic take on the usual, comforting chawan-mushi (Japanese savory steamed egg custard).  Alternatively put: the filling fourth course at Godenya was the first chawan-mushi I've seen topped with an inch or so of dashi, and containing the tender meat of the Chinese soft-shelled turtle. 

Of the eight courses of food I had at Godenya this evening, the only one which I didn't find delicious was course number five on tonight's dinner menu.  Beautifully presented inside a hollowed out yuzu fruit, I actually could have done with more yuzu in the serving and far less of the citron fermented bean curd sauce that tasted a lot like sour mayonaise, and having its consistency too!  As it was, I found the bits of angler fish, gingko nut and lily bulb that came in the mix to have been drowned in a sauce that just didn't work for me.

Although the sixth course came with another fermented ingredient, this time around the fermented black bean sauce worked really well with the chunks of wagyu beef and beetroot in the dish.  Aesthetically, they made for an all red show -- with the theme continuing with the sake served for this course being a red rice sake from a Kyoto brewery known as Inemankai (the sake, not the brewery).  Taste-wise, this was the first time I found beetroot cooked to my liking!   

The seventh course, consisting of foie gras cooked with a coffee caramalizer, was another one that made me emit little moans of ecstacy.  I also let out an involuntary groan upon realizing that it was the final course in this dinner that a sake was paired with, prompting our delightfully good-natured host to giggle with amusement!

The eighth and final course of this evening's meal was a refreshing yogurt that we bathed to taste with orange osmanthus soup.  Part of me expected a cup of green tea to follow but none was forthcoming; with the only liquids served this evening being sake and water -- and, for the record, I'd not be surprised if those were the only liquids available to be served at the restaurant!

Although Godenya does not purport to serve kaiseki, I couldn't help comparing my meal there -- and very favorably too -- with those I've had at Ryugin and Bo Innovation.  At the same time, I must admit to thinking that I don't really get the point of warming the sake served this evening; and indeed, I'm moved to wonder whether it's a coincidence that my three favorite sake of the night were the three which were the least warm of those served.

For the record, these were the Chotin Junmai Ginjo Namasake (from Aichi Prefecture) served at 18 degrees Celsius, the Akishika Kimoto Junmai Namasake (from Osaka Prefecture) served at 22 degree Celsius and the Inemankai red rice sake (from Kyoto prefecture) served at 21 degrees Celsius -- while the other sake served this evening were the Sougen Junmai Namazake (from Ishikawa prefecture) warmed to 43 degrees Celsius, the Tanawasan Yamahai Junmai (from Kanagawa prefecture) warmed to 52 degrees Celsius, the Yorokobigaijin Yamahai Junmai Namazake (from Kagawa prefecture) warmed to 48 degrees Celsius, and the Tamagawa Yamahai Junmai Namazake (also from Kyoto prefecture) warmed to 48 degrees Celsius. 

A hike to, on and out of Chi Ma Wan Peninsula along a quiet trail (Photo-essay)

Lantau Island's Chi Ma Wan Peninsula is home to the 18.5-kilometer-long Chi Ma Wan Country Trail that's officially estimated to take eight hours to complete.  And if that wasn't challenging enough, the nearest way to get to the trailhead on foot and public transportation is by way of an approximately 30 minute walk (covering a couple of kilometers or so) from the nearest bus stop at Pui O.

With the help of some other existing hiking paths though, one can "create" hikes in which one only goes on sections of the Chi Ma Wan Country Trail but still be able to get off Chi Ma Wan Peninsula without backtracking.  Thus it was that on one rather pleasant afternoon, a friend and I set off to Chi Ma Wan Peninsula via Pui O, and went along sections of the Chi Ma Wan Country Trail before turning back at Mong Tung Wan and using a trail closer to the water to the Tin Hau temple overlooking Pui O Wan and meeting up once again with the section of the Lantau Trail which linked back to Pui O proper...

 In recent years, I've come to realize that the hill that dominates

the landscape near the southeastern edge of Pui O isn't Lo Yan Shan

like I had long thought but, actually, Miu Tsai Tun!

The view from higher ground over on the Chi Ma Wan 

Peninsula of the section of road from whose side 

I took this blog post's top-most photo! ;b

A few kilometers into the hike, the sun shone brighter

and helped turn the sky a brighter blue! :)

 Visual proof that we were on the Chi Ma Wan Country Trail

for a time -- and by the way, the village of Mong Tung Wan 

and its pier are visible in the distance in this photo :b

A while later, we were at the pier enjoying the views 

from there, including of the distinctively rocky Miu Tsai Tun

 There's a derelict air about Mong Tung Wan which isn't

helped by one of its piers having fallen into disrepair and

the Jockey Club Mong Tung Wan Hostel having closed down

  I think it's safe to say that this part of Hong Kong

is one where one can be away from the madding crowd!

 Indeed, I'd go far as to state that on that afternoon's hike,

my friend and I saw way more birds than we did other humans! ;b

Q&A with River of Exploding Durians' director, scriptwriter and editor Edmund Yeo

Durians hanging safely from a tree -- and in 

little danger of exploding -- in Penang, Malaysia

Some years ago, when I was just a novice blogger, I got to know a young fellow blogger -- and fellow film fan -- who went by the moniker of The Great Swifty on the internet.  While taking in a screening of Days of Turquoise Sky by Malaysian filmmaker Woo Ming Jing at the 2008 Hong Kong International Film Festival, I was startled to see my friend's real name appear in the film credits.  But after I saw it, I figured that it'd be only a matter of time before Edmund Yeo directed his own film.

After his River of Exploding Durians (2014) was announced in the line-up of this year's Hong Kong Asian Film Festival, Edmund contacted me and invited me to a screening of his debut directorial offering (which he also scripted and edited).  After the screening, I admitted to him that I hadn't liked the film.  Nice guy that he is, Edmund didn't seem to take offence -- and even kindly agreed to do a Q&A about this ambitious dramatic exploration of various malaises affecting young Malaysians and their nation, parts of which I'm hereby sharing in this blog entry:-  

YTSL: What are the exploding durians in River of Exploding Durians meant to signify?

Edmund Yeo: Ourselves. Durians are so important to us Malaysians. They are the king of fruits. They also are like us: thorny on the outside, and needing a bit of time to get used to! And here we are, flowing on a river, to an unknown future, about to explode. 

The Chinese title of the film, Liu Lian Wang Fan, is also a wordplay: originally it was 流连忘返, which means nostalgia, but I changed the first two words into "durians" 榴梿忘返 -- so they literally become durians floating about, forgetting how to return. It's pretty much our current condition. 

YTSL: What did you want to accomplish with this film, and did you think you were successful in doing so?

Edmund Yeo: Most of my works are generally very personal and somewhat autobiographical. I had a story I wanted to tell, there were situations in the country that I wanted to depict, there were feelings and memories built up within me that I wanted to share. Therefore I ended up making this film. 

The longer I was away from my country during my adult life (two and a half years in Australia, another five years in Tokyo), the more I found myself curious about its history, and the normal everyday things that I have missed out while growing up. Therefore I made this film to remember things from, yes, a particular stage of my life. 

There's also our collective memories from the past few years coming into play here. After all, the backstory is loosely based on real-life events (the Lynas rare earth plant controversy). But instead of making this a film with an environmental message, I wanted to examine how these things impact the people, especially those who are at their crossroads of their lives, those who are on the verge of adulthood. 

What was I when I was about to finish secondary school? Apathetic towards politics, interested only in girls, yet finding myself inspired by certain teachers [YTSL's note: like the film's main male character]. In those days, with our education system, our teachers were like gods. The things they did, especially when it's something beyond just teaching something from textbooks, impacted me deeply. 

As for the second part of the question: I'm not so presumptuous to say that I have accomplished what I wanted to accomplish. In the end, once the film is done, I think I have done the best I could with the resources I had. The rest is up to the audiences. As for myself, once the film is out, I try looking forward to the next one, hoping to make a better work.

YTSL: Who is your target audience for the film? On a related note: has it been (allowed to be) screened in Malaysia?

Edmund Yeo: The film has been screened in Malaysia but I made the film knowing that I wouldn't have much of a chance of getting a wide distribution in the country.  Due to its sensitive content, the depiction of the sociopolitical situation in Malaysia, etc., a few local actresses had to turn down the Teacher Lim role, and I ended up turning to Taiwanese actress Zhu Zhi-Ying to play the role instead. 

So no, in its current form, the film is unlikely to have a wide theatrical release. We had a few mini-screenings organized by some nice folks from an environmental organization recently. Nevertheless, we are still figuring out the best way to distribute this film locally. Perhaps a new cut, or perhaps we'll continue touring on campuses.  

YTSL: The Malaysia depicted in the film feels foreign to me (maybe because of age difference and also because of language).  Are there schools in Malaysia where secondary education is conducted in Mandarin (rather than Bahasa Malaysia/Melayu, like I'm more familiar with)?    

Edmund Yeo: Yes, there are schools like Chong Hwa Independent High School (and other Chinese schools) which are not part of the national school system. The actress Daphne Low was actually from Chong Hwa, along with a few of the student extras. 

I can understand why it seemed foreign to you. I guess that's also one of the interesting things (for me anyway) about making this film. I found myself rediscovering the country. I had a Thai cameraman (Kong Pahurak) and sound recordist, so they brought in a fresh perspective when they were shooting with us.

We worked in a very organic, improvised manner; there were many happy accidents (I like to keep my shoots loose and raw instead of being too controlled), many discoveries. For example, I visited Cameron Highlands for the first time. Also, we found out about the 140-year-old parade that appears at the end of the film from a cast member, and deliberately made adjustments so we could shoot during that particular day. In many ways, I realized how foreign Malaysia had been to me too!

YTSL: Where did you shoot your film and what was your reason for picking the particular locations that you did?  (By the way, for the first couple of scenes near the water, I was mesmerized by how choppy the sea was!)

Edmund Yeo: We traveled to various places in Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Johor, Cameron Highlands, the seaside area of Kuala Selangor, the town of Sekinchan, we also went to the waterfalls of Ulu Langat. We shot for 15 days, so it was a pretty insane schedule!

Some places, like Sekinchan and Kuala Selangor, were places I was familiar with because I had done some short films and TV series there. Even two of the films by Woo Ming Jin which I produced, were done in these areas too. I like those places because they're so photogenic. And because we have long established relationships with the locals, they gave us access to their houses, factories and boats, etc. It's great working with them. 

The real-life Lynas event happened in Kuantan and I had considered shooting there too. But at the same time, I think my film is more an artistic representation of the issue instead of a factually accurate documentary. Therefore I didn't want to go to the actual place of the event, I wanted to maintain a certain amount of distance to make this film and tell our story. 

YTSL: Those moments in Asian history that the class presentations were on: are they real and if so, how did you find out about them? (Incidentally, these are the parts of the film that I consider the best.)

Edmund Yeo: Yes, they were real. The film has a lot to do with the suppressed and hidden history of the country, but throughout the time that I was developing the script, I also found out that our neighbouring countries had numerous painful, hidden histories of their own that are mostly forgotten, or rather, external factors prevented these issues from being discussed in the open. The Thammasat Massacre, the death of Liliosa Hilao, and the Karayuki-san.

I cannot remember whether these discoveries were made when I was writing River of Exploding Durians, or some other screenplays before that. Nevertheless, I was haunted by the videos and images I saw of those events and people for the longest time. I wanted to preserve this in my own films, because I think cinema's forever and we remember the world through cinema anyway. So that's probably the least I could do: to create more awareness of these things, to be a bit more conscious of things around us -- history's a cycle, I guess.

As previously mentioned, I worked in a very improvised manner.  While I choreographed the presentations and the camera movements, I really allowed the student actors and actresses to do their own thing. They brought a lot of things into these presentations which were beyond my expectations. I am grateful for that. 

YTSL: Be honest now: on a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (perfect), how would you rate your film?  

Edmund Yeo: Usually I would give myself a 1! But that would diminish the efforts of the rest of the team. 

I put a lot of sweat and blood into my films, and up until its world premiere [at the 2014 Tokyo Film Festival], there was pretty much nothing else in life that would mean more to me than completing the film. After I first saw it on the big screen during the world premiere, I found myself crying (although I was pretending to just wipe sweat off my face 'cos, you know, my actors were sitting next to me)! The crying had nothing to do with the film itself, but more because I was relieved it was finally done and I could move on. It was quite an intense journey that we had taken to get there. 

The film itself, I feel oddly detached towards. I have not seen it in its entirety on the big screen since the world premiere last year. Maybe I got tired of it because I edited it myself too! (laughs) I think once the film is done, it's really out of my hands. However it's received by viewers is up to them. I'm just gonna respect their opinions. I know quite well that with its methodical pacing and unconventional structure, and the uncompromising subject matter, it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. Just like my previous short films.

River of Exploding Durians will always mean something to me because it's my first feature film. After so many years of doing short films and producing feature films by other directors, the feeling of making my first feature is pretty different. I always loved the journey more than the destination itself. The process, for me, was a thorough joy. Now I just want to make my next film and hope it's better. (smiles) 

YTSL: What's next on the horizon for you?

Edmund Yeo: For the past year I was working on a documentary about the 1949 Malayan Thomas Cup team. The Thomas Cup is the biannual "World Cup" of badminton.  Its first edition was held in 1949. A ragtag Malayan team took a one-month boat journey to the United Kingdom to play, and ended up winning the whole thing!

I'm now in Tokyo, preparing for a Japanese short film starring the actress Fujii Mina and the actor Yuki Kubota. It's a love story of perpetual missed chances. I'm shooting that next week, hopefully it'll be fun.

I'm also helping to produce my partner Woo Ming Jin's next film projects. (We both run a production company called Greenlight Pictures, and had been working together since 2007).

I've also been writing the follow up to River of Exploding Durians. It's a story that spans a century, following four generations of a family. I think it'll be set in Japan and Malaysia. Some characters from River of Exploding Durians will appear in it, because we have different stories to tell during different stages of our lives. (smiles once more)

***

A big thank you to Edmund for answering my questions in such a detailed and interesting way.  I wish him the best in his filmmaking career -- and do hope that I will like his next feature film, and the ones after that. :)

In praise of Hong Kong's old boulder trackways

A boulder trackway laid out by villagers of yore

and still very much usable today

 

Far less usable though are the ruined buildings found along 

a section of the Pak Kong to Mui Tsz Lam ancient trail

 

I hiked with two friends from Tai Shui Tseng, on the outskirts of Sai Kung town, to Tai Shui Hang, on the outskirts of Ma On Shan town, this afternoon.  For much of the hike, we walked along old boulder trackways which connected villages and market towns before the development of Hong Kong's modern road and rail systems.    

 

The exact age of these ancient trails is not known but the majority, if not all, of them are thought to pre-date the arrival of the British in these parts, not just Hong Kong's 1997 handover by Britain to China.  Often following natural contours and/or stream and water courses, going over passes and along ridgeways, their routes are often scenic and pass by villages, abandoned and/or still in use.

 

In recent years, some portions of these old boulder trackways -- including sections of the Yuen Tsuen Ancient Trail laid out and used in the olden days by residents of the market towns of Yuen Long and Tsuen Wan, and areas in between -- have been paved over by the authorities.  The main reason for there doing so is because of their fear that these old paths made of carefully arranged boulder and stones are not all that safe or stable because those who laid them out did not use concrete.

 

Admittedly, there are times when I've worried about slipping and falling on some of the steeper old boulderpaths in areas that get little sunlight because of thick tree cover, whose surfaces are liable to get covered by moss and other fungal growth.  But I've actually tended to find these ancient trails to be in remarkably good condition, and more pleasant to walk on than newer, super concreted paths.

In any case, I often actively look to hike on trails where one can go along these old paths and often feel like one's stepping back in time, particularly when passing old terraced agricultural fields and villages (which, more often or not, have been abandoned).  And I don't think it a coincidence that my friends and I enjoyed the portion of our hike today that took us to Mui Tsz Lam along an old boulder trackway more than the more modern roadway out of that village towards Ma On Shan new town.  

Charmed by Cheung Chau

A dog frolicks on Cheung Chau's Tung Wan Beach

on a lovely day with such high visibility that one can

clearly see Hong Kong Island in the distance

 

A view that takes in Cheung Chau's reclining rock

and the concrete path leading to a nearby lookout pavilion

 

We got to see the setting sun turning the sky beautifully orange and red

on the ferry ride from Cheung Chau to Hong Kong Island

 

Earlier today, I took part in a beach cleanup on Cheung Chau.  This wasn't the first time I had taken part in a beach cleanup on what may well be my favorite of Hong Kong's outer islands.  Neither was it the first time I had gone to that which has been nicknamed Dumbbell Island (due to its shape) this week -- for I had taken a cousin of mine who's visiting Hong Kong (from Singapore, where she lives and works) there for a yummy seafood lunch at Hong Kee and bonus island exploration a couple of days ago.

 

My cousin commented later that she's pretty sure that most Malaysians and Singaporeans who come to Hong Kong for a holiday would ever think of visiting Cheung Chau.  (Instead they tend to stick to the central sections of Hong Kong Island and the Yau Tsim Mong section of the Kowloon Peninsula for their dining as well as shopping "needs".)

 

I'm sure she agrees that this is a pity since she appeared very much charmed by this island which is home to many interesting temples (including the Pak Tai Temple of Cheung Chau Bun Festival fame), a few nice beaches (not all of them as terribly dirty as poor old Tung Wan Tsai (AKA Coral Beach), which gets more than its rubbish being directed there by the currents) and scenic paths to hike on or stroll along as well as a number of seaside restaurants specializing, not surprisingly, in seafood. 

 

In the few hours that the two of us were on Cheung Chau that day, I managed to show my cousin quite a bit of the island; what with our venturing as far north as the Pak Tai Temple, as far east as Kwun Yam Beach, and as far south and west as the area near the reclining rock.  Along the way, she got a little bit of culture (via such as the visit to Pak Tai Temple) and a taste of the island's natural attractions (by way of our checking out a couple of its beaches and rock formations).  Oh, and not content with having a big lunch, we also got a stick each of the extra large fish balls that are a Cheung Chau specialty as the last thing we did on our island excursion that day!  

 

As an added bonus, on the ferry ride out of Cheung Chau that day, we witnessed the setting sun putting on quite the show, turning what had been still blue skies and waters when the boat left the island a glorious blend of yellow, orange and red before it all got dark around the time that we sailed into Victoria Harbour! :)