A tough hiking

It was the toughest hiking I have ever experienced. Yesterday I went with some youngsters who came from Finland and Germany to Tuen Mun hiking. We were led by an ex-soldier from Finland who was an expert on hiking.


We walked to the top of that hill.
We climbed over the fence where it had a sign "No unauthorised entry":-) Our leader climbed inside first.

Walking up there was not too tough compared to going down.
We reached the top!
Having lunch in the pergola.

The background is the firing range.
Very army look, the building was painted with army camouflage.
Bird eye-view from the top. Below is Tuen Mun New Town, Just like a concrete jungle.
View of the other side.

Walking down this hill was very difficult. Too much sand there and it was so slippery that sometimes I had to slide down.


We took a ten minutes' break here.
This kind of rockets are everywhere.

Looked back from where we had been walking.

No more pictures after this point because I was exhausted. I could hardly walk and I know there was more than an hour to walk. We walked to a small stream and had another rest. I was totally lack of energy. I had never been so tired at all. It was difficult to move a step. I know I had to move because there were no other alternatives.

Among us, there were four from Finland, one from German, one from Eastern Europe, one Enlishman and one Hongkonger (that's me). Most of them were young, between twenty to thirty. I felt that I was lucky having companions like this group. They were friendly and helpful. One of the Finland girl who was studying Sports at Baptist University. We had a few chat on the way.

One girl I must mention was the East European girl who was my guarding angel. When I felt exhausted and hungry, she gave me a banana. Without it, I could not carry on. She was walking behind me and gave me a helping hand when necessary. I felt graceful. I didn't want to be a burden of the group. With the walking stick from the leader, I struggled and struggled and I reached the village where we finished the journey at last. Also with the walking stick, the first time I felt I am really getting old :-(

Maybe because they had German or Finn name, it was difficult for me to remember their name. Only remembered Rebecca who gave me some water.

Another rainy hiking day

Yesterday was my second day hiking with the Roz Hiking Group. And...it rained again. Fortunately it was not as heavy as the last time. Comparatively, the weather was much better.

We took a 9:40am ferry to Lantau Island. Took a bus to somewhere near Tong Fook. Got off, walked up a small path towards Tai O. It was raining from time to time. The rain was not heavy but it was very foggy. Very low invisibility, You could not see much close by. The journey was not difficult, however, I met the most terrible part which I had walked before - a very steep downhill. My hurting knees were killing me. They were so painfull. The downhill was long. It was a torture all the way down and it was a release when I reached the flat ground.

This time we had eight people together. Beside, Vicky, Amenda and John, I met some new friends, three from Taiwan, one from Australia and one from Malaysia. Emma, the Australian lady, has a very easy going personality. Sunny, a Taiwanese lady who is teaching Arts in Baptist University. I liked to talk to them and found them nice and friendly. I enjoyed the walk and meeting the new friends.

Two weeks' difference

On 20th February, 2010

On 7th March, 2010

'Our tree' - that is the tree growing next to my block. We called it our tree since a typhoon attacked it many years ago. The wind blew the roots up. I thought it would die but after the care of the gardener, the tree grew strong and healthy again. The tree never leaves us so we call us 'our tree' :-)

Exactly two weeks ago, strong winds blew most of the leaves off the tree within one day. When I walked past the path, I seemed like walking on a carpet of leaves. On 7th March, I walked past it again and I was shocked to see that the tree was full of green leaves. It was like magic and unbelievable. Take a look at the two pictures.

That is spring.

Year of the Tiger

Today is the first day of the lunar new year. This year is the year of the Tiger. It is also my Dad's birthday today. We gather together and that is our usual practice every year. In the afternoon, we cut the birthday cake and in the evening, we had dinner in the non-floating floating restaurant. The weather was not good today. It was raining all day and it is going to be like this the coming few days.

My first walk

I went hiking in the heavy rain and thunder storm yesterday. It was my first walk joining a hiking group. What a start! Will I carry on? YES.

The people in the group were nice and friendly. We talked and laughed all the way despite the terrible weather. It was my first time to meet them and I could feel warm and comfortable talking to them. Either I started the conversation or vise versa. They were from different nationalities and different walks of life. It was interesting listening to their walking experience. It was also interesting to talk to people with different jobs.

We took a taxi from Tsuen Wan MTR station to Pineapple Dam in Shing Mun Reservoir. It started to rain when we got off the taxi. It was raining heavily all the way. We were soaked in wet. I haven't had exercise for a long time. Walking in nearly four hours in the rain was not easy for me. My legs and knees were aching in the last hour. Our expected destination was Tai Po. Because of the bad weather, after walking down Needle Hill, we turned back to Tsuen Wan via the trail along the reservoir. We took a taxi down to Tsuen Wan and I changed a bus home. Walking back home after getting off the bus was the hardest part of the journey for me. I felt so cold and my legs were aching so much. However, after a hot shower, I felt good again:-)

Walking past Shing Mun Country Park, we saw a bunch of monkeys attacking a group of teenagers. The monkeys occupied their territory ( the picnic area) and seized their food. It was frightening seeing the monkeys which reminded me of our school picnic last year.

2010

Here's the year 2010
I have posted a photo of the fireworks on IFC in 2009. It can be found in my earlier post in 2009. I watched the fireworks on TV this year, same as every year :-) No way I would go out to see it. It was too crowded and difficult to find the way back.
Here's the photo I found in the newspaper on the web.