Heigh Ho

Ng Tung Chai Waterfalls. November 26, 2011. Hidden somewhere in the New Territories. We joined the HKBU Mountaineering Association because our friend Mikee Lee told us it would be a good idea to join them on their hikes. Glad we followed his advice since we got to see this waterfall with them. It was a pretty long hike (maybe not for pro hikers but for lampa me, it was long and high). We went to the different points of the waterfall (bottom fall, middle fall, high fall?) The place was good, the water was cool and the falls were making loud but peaceful noises. It was nice to just sit down on a nice looking rock and watch the water fall.

Lamma Island. October 9, 2011. Our first trip with the mountaineering association but we ended up with Dong and Bernie (our favorite Austrians). We ran into them in the beach and decided to tag along with them. We hiked into this “path”. It really wasn’t a path. I remember we stopped at this viewing pavilion, saw the beach and Bernie said “Okay, I think we can go down here.” And so we did, and really fought against vines and tall grasses. Again, panicky me thought we were lost and we wanted to go back but a few more steps (made possible with Bernie’s determination), we found this quite strip of beach with few people. Wisdom earned. Haha. I was not prepared to swim, and there was no shade in that peaceful strip and so I stayed under Dong’s umbrella. Of course.A few weeks later, we came back with Jihed, Melissa, Chloe and Pierre. This time prepared with our swimsuits but I decided not to swim because there was something strange in the water. So, instead, I bought this bubble thing and spread bubbles in that beach and we played Uno cards. Three days well spent! 

P.S. Kathleen and I never got this hiking gear right. First time we hiked, we had our shoulder bags. Second time we hiked, we borrowed a backpack but the place turned out to be a beach, not really something you’d want a backpack for. In fact, a girl from the mountaineering club came wearing a long sheer skirt. Turned out she was more prepared than us. Plus, I didn’t get to bring a swimsuit because didn’t think I could swim. Third time, prepared but decided not to swim. Fourth time (waterfalls), we thought shoulder bags would be fine again. We were wrong. We thought maybe we would need swimsuits this time. We were wrong. Again. The place was cold and nobody planned to bathe in the river. So yeah. I’m pretty sure there’s a lesson there somewhere but I haven’t gotten to figuring that out yet. Hoho.

It’s the climb.

Escapist

Another photo album post! I hope you don’t mind. 

They say the best things in life are free, right? Well these two pretty places were free and both were beautiful and definitely worth spending two Saturdays for. Both situated in busy districts but both successful in maintaining their serene atmosphere.

Nan Lian Garden, Diamond Hill. October 8, 2011. It’s a beautiful garden that follows Tang dynasty architecture (according to discoverhongkong.com) and it covers 3.5 hectares. Aside from rocks, lakes, small waterfalls, the place has small museums, galleries, restaurants and it also has this huge temple. We arrived at the temple after it closed but we still got to see the beautiful path and ponds leading up to it. There’s something wonderfully strange about the fact that behind the traditional Chinese buildings, gardens and lakes you see skyscrapers surrounding the tranquil place which, I think, makes it a lot more admirable.

Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery, Sha Tin. November 25, 2011. Another Saturday spent exploring the New Territories. As you may have guessed from the title and the pictures, the place has thousands of Buddha statues with different forms and actions. The place was pretty high and you had to climb up steps lined with these Buddhas which lead to more temples above. My favorite is the temple with the thousands of small Buddhas (third picture). They all have little lights which makes it seem like a thousand little golden candles flickering from outside the temple. The place had more statues that my pictures can show; the name of the place does not lie.

The more you immerse yourself in the beauty of the world, the more beautiful you become.

The Wolf Story

MacLehose Trail, Sai Wan. October 2, 2011. The day that was. Poser phrase because I don’t know how to talk about this day. I’ve told this story countless times in skype, in person and in my head. Yes, in my head. I was trying to review everything that happened. Haha. No way else to start than from the beginning: Jihed’s friends from France who are currently exchange students in the Philippines (in my university) came to visit Hong Kong and we came along with them to hike somewhere in the New Territories.

Murphy’s Law. I am in no way a hiker. I take the trike within school because I end up late when I don’t. I am not fit or athletic and I seriously believe I can get blown away by a mildly strong gust of wind. But of course, I would love to try it out especially since I’m here and apparently HK is largely a forest/nature place despite the fact that people know it just for its huge shopping malls (guilty). The place was beautiful and that’s coming from someone whose backyard is a watershed and whose country is packed with beaches.

I realized that I can tell you the gist of the story by enumerating the mistakes we made. Of course, I can only say that they were mistakes, in retrospect. Well, at least most of them. Some of them were not really mistakes, just unlucky things.

Mistake 1: We hiked on a day with Typhoon Signal 1. We were well aware of it but it was just drizzling outside. Mistake 2: We didn’t get to each lunch because we were already late. Mistake 3: I was wearing a canvas shoulder bag because I didn’t have any backpack. Mistake 4: We went to the place, not with a local, but with another exchange student who has been there – once. Mistake 5: The ‘cliff’ where you can cliff dive is not easily reachable, you had to conquer very steep rocks, not to mention slippery. Mistake 6: I was wearing my beaded no-lace Chucks. Mistake 7: We only knew one way back and that was by riding a ferry across the other side of the mountain. Apparently, there were no boats anymore when we got there. Mistake 8: The only people who could find a boat for us did not speak English. Mistake 9: We followed a ‘trail that was less traveled’ – not cemented, no lamp posts, muddy ground crawling with roots and random cows sitting along the trail. Mistake 10: Realizing too late that it was going to be dark in that trail, so went back all the way to the path that was ‘more traveled’. Mistake 11: There were barely lamp posts in the area. Mistake 12: There were no people in the area. Mistake 13: No one had a flashlight, thank God my phone had one. Mistake 14: The path was forever uphill. Seriously, I felt like crying because the path was so steep and it did not stop. Mistake 15: At one point in the darkness, a dog-looking animal passed us by. It was too dark to see but Julian told me, “Don’t worry I don’t think it’s a wolf. It’s a fox.” Mistake 16: There was no phone signal. Mistake 17: We finally found the boat that was going to fetch us, but had to take another way because after waving our arms like crazy and shouting at that tiny point of light from a distance, we realized we had to go the other side of the lake.

Looking back, I can’t even say that they were bad because these made the whole trip a lot more exciting and it really is something to share. Well I guess that’s really how nostalgia works. I don’t think I’ve ever climbed rocks like I did then, or went uphill for more than 2 hours, saw an animal that may or may not have been a wolf or a fox or a dog, or got lost in literally the middle of nowhere with no phone signal or people around. There was the excitement (and panic) while feeling like I was in a suspense/horror/animal-horror-whatever movie the entire time. Aside from making me realize I watch too much movies, these “unlucky” circumstances made the happy side – a lot happier.

The Silver Lining. Great hiker buddies; Titi (his nickname is seriously that), Rafael (who loves (to try) speaking in Filipino, Jiji (who is always awesome and actually jumped off the cliff), Achraf (who took our pictures and kept calm the whole way) and Kathleen (who will forever make me laugh because of the towel on her head in this picture. Naglaba ka sa batis teh?); Julian (who grabbed me when I was running/falling in the steep downhill); great great waterfalls, mountains and beach; great damp weather; and the bitter that made the sweet, sweeter.

Would I do this all over again? Yes                                …but maybe with a decent flashlight this time.

Masaya ka ba? Minsan. Hindi maganda yung lagi. Dapat minsan malungkot ka rin. Para mas magkaroon ng kahulugan yung minsan na masya ka. -Bata, Bata Paano ka Ginawa?

Unaware

Yuen Long September 24, 2011This place is in the New Territories in Hong Kong. This is one of those unexpected trips we made and I totally loved the place. This was supposed to be the west of the west of Hong Kong supposedly a very famous spot for viewing sunsets. But it rained and the skies were extremely cloudy so we didn’t see the sunset but the place had a really huge impression on me. I loved it. I don’t know why, I don’t think people would say it’s really pretty but there’s something about that place. It’s so simple and so barren that when I found the very small green trees, my breath was literally just taken away. (Cheesy but it’s really how I felt.) The winds were really strong that time too and I guess it added to the overall surreal feeling I was having when I was there. The place is awesome, can’t say anything more about it. We’ll be coming back soon to see the actual sunset and maybe discover the waterfalls that’s supposed to be in the same area. Can’t wait.

Nothing truly good is ever easy.