Sai Kung Penninsula Camping Trip



Last weekend, a group of us took to the wilderness of Hong Kong and explored an area known as the Sai Kung Penninsula.  We went as far as the taxi could take us and from then on out it was hiking through tiny villages and abandoned buildings.  It was actually a concrete trail so it wasn't terrible, although the path was virtually vertical and it was hot and sunny.  After about three hours of hiking and taking breaks, we came to level ground and meadows.  About five minutes later I could feel the breeze and the old familiar sound of waves.  The landscape was amazing, something you see in a magazine.  What was even more amazing was the amount of people on the beach.  Including us there was about twelve people on the beach, we were a group of 10 or so.  It was our own secluded paradise.  Thinking ahead I had dressed with my swimming trunks underneath my shorts, so I could immediately strip and jump in the water.  However, it was more tiptoeing than jumping since the water was still rather cold.  But you got used to it and the view from the water towards the land is even better.  After the initial shock of being here, reality set in and we realized we needed some tents, sleeping bags, and in my case, food.  We headed over to a restaurant that rented out everything we needed and had food, which was ridiculously over priced but I was starving and hardly brought anything. 

Pitchin' Some Tents

We went back, made camp and decided to rent a surfboard as well.  They were pretty low grade and really heavy.  We rented them for 2 hours but they only got about 40 minutes of use, out of exhaustion and dropping temperatures.  It was getting late and the sun was dissappearing behind a mountain.  It was campfire time.  On the way in we had gathered some firewood and stocked up on plenty.  A lot of people brought some food to cook over the fire like hot dogs and what not.  It was a very great experience me and Frank had a beer on the beach which basically completed the night.



<>

<>

Ham Tin Wan Beach



Sleeping was rough, which made the hike back even rougher.  This time around it took us much longer since we were all very tired still so we took a lot of breaks.  We stopped at this nice little restaurant and we all had some ice cream and took notice of the extrememly luxurious yachts anchored out in the water.  City dwellers usually come here during the weekend to relax and be away from all the madness of Hong Kong.  We eventually found our way to the bus stop which is actually closer to us than where we were dropped off at. I liked this.  We happily boarded and I hardly remember the rest of the trip because I was so tired, everything was on auto-pilot to get Clayton back, showered, and in bed.

We did, however, miss BK Sunday. But it was worth it.









Peng Chau & Tram @ Night



Possibly Cheng Chau Island?



We had one of the more explorative weekends with walking up Finger Hill on the Peng Chau Island also taking in the miraculous view of Hong Kong on top of Victoria's Peak at night.  Both were incredible.  Peng Chau Island is a really laid back old fishing community that is as different from the hustle that is Hong Kong.  Peng Chau is relatively small and you could probably walk around the island in almost two hours.  Once we got there we decided to start walking and soon came up to a dead end, or so we thought.  Frank Klaver, being the Dutchman that he is started climbing up the rocks, me, Greg, and Clement fallowed suit.  I had to end it early since my ankle I sprained a week ago still wasn't at it's best.  So I took the rest of the group; Austin, Siobahn, Keshia, and Christophe up Finger Hill.  Once they got over the name and composed themselves we started the trip.  We actually ended up taking the scenic route and passed by an inlet with a little bit of beach and rested up there for a second.  The next side stop we took was a tomb, unknown to us at the time, so we didn't wait around long and got moving.  We eventually arrived at the peak and the view was brilliant.  To the right you could see the bay and it's beach cut out between the hillside.  Forward you could see the surrounding islands and their own rocky features. 



Top of Finger Hill



It was a pretty warm day so we stayed on top of the hill for a while and waited for Frank, Greg, and Clement to get back and once they did we went down to the bay to check everything out.  The island as a whole is pretty laid back and seemed like a nice place for people to enjoy a weekend away from Hong Kong.  But we were getting pretty hot and hungry so we stopped at the local foodmart to pick up some snacks so we could make it back to campus.



Pork Curry, so good everytime

The next night Greg, Austin, and I jumped on board with a group of exchange students going to Victoria's Peak to view the city at night.  Surprisingly we had very few hang ups on the way there and we were able to board the tram almost immediately.  The ride up was really steap and also had a lot of great views, although I was sitting on the wrong side.  We acsended to the top to what is one of the best views in all of Hong Kong.  The city was so lit up and you could make out some of the hill sides as well.  You could even see all of the really nice boats and yachts in the bay.  The group I was with found the viewing place easily so we had to wait for everybody else to catch up.  After we tried to do one of those cliche "jumping" shots we decided we should go get something to eat.  Despite the restaurant being on top of mountain it was generally well priced and I got pork curry, as well as three other people.  I think this is where my strange obsession with curry started.  I literally have ordered it at every restaurant we've been to.  It was a really great night, I am still meeting new people and getting to know everybody else better and better.







Victoria's Peak









L.A.S.E.R.S, DiD, Mid-Terms, Halfway Point

Listening to Lupe Fiasco I am remembering how much I miss home.  I would bob my head up and down walking to and from Lot 1 everyday, that or Kanye's new album.  Also I've hardly been able to catch a song from Lupe's new album L.A.S.E.R.S. "Things I've Never Said" is a real good song and keeps with the traditional Lupe.  Anyway I've been surfing the Internet looking for a website to listen to it, hardly fruitful.  So I decided to blog.

We took a nice little field trip for my Entrepreneurship class last Thursday to Dialogues in the Dark.  At first I expected it to be a secret revealing, mushy, team building exercise, as if I needed to go through anymore of those.  To my surprise it ended up  being much better, and somewhat frustrating.  We were literally put into a pitch black building that simulated walks through a park, street, movie theater, and bar.  Our guide for the event was a blind man that lost his sight when he was about 27. You really couldn't see your hand in front of your face. 

The first was the park,  which was interesting because the longer it lasted the more sounds I could hear. We could feel the ground, trees, leaves, and water, strangely it all felt much different in the dark like you had to gather more information with just one of your senses and then had to process what it was.  I found a bench and guessed it could fit about four people, quickly people were swinging with their sticks trying to find the bench.  It turns out it was much too small for four people but I was determined not to look like a fool so I had about half a butt on there.  It ended up fitting four so I don't care. Then we walked down a hall into a busy street, with all sorts of sounds and stuff.  I accidentally crossed a busy road, but there weren't any cars so I wasn't concerned where I was wondering. I actually began to understand everything so don't take me for a complete failure.

By now I was getting frustrated, my eyes hurt, and I couldn't keep them closed because it felt like I lost some of my balance.  Thank goodness the next area was a movie theater, but they only played sound, music actually, but it was nice and I think I took a nap during that.  Lastly, we made it to the bar where we could buy some soft drinks and sit around and chat with our guide.  After getting to know him we had to re-adjust our eyes to the light, it was much harder than expected.  And it made me really tired.

Mid-Term projects are all the buzz nowadays in HKBU some are exams, some are group projects, and others are solo projects.  No matter the format, I'm not really interested in any of them.  It is extremely difficult to study here, I've at least printed out all the slides, I just have to read them over again ten or twelve more times.  It should go pretty well.

In about a week or so it will be exactly the halfway mark of the semester.  This has made me wonder what my reaction to my return to the States will be like.  I think it is going to take me a little bit to figure out I am back with my family and my girlfriend.  It'll be just like it was when I first got to Hong Kong, unbelievable.  I have met some incredibly cool people here.  I'm excited to get back home, if I could just get like 3 days to a week visit to Maumee I think I would be all set to make it to May 24 much easier. 

We've made it halfway though so at least we know we can make it the rest of the way, it makes me feel good I can say that.

But for now a healthy subscription of Lupe Fiasco and instant Udon noodles should do me just fine.