The Best Beach in Hong Kong

Hello My Dear Most Excellent Ones,

I hiked with some excellent people this past Saturday.  We started our march from Pak Tam Au in Sai Kung country park  and meandered through some very interesting sub-tropical jungle to the "self proclaimed," best beach in Hong Kong: Ham Tin. 

Great people.  It was hot.  Plus 32!

Along our journey we enjoyed some beautiful views of Sai Kung Park.

Thankfully a good part of the trail was shady.

Along the way was an old Chinese ghost town.

A look inside a living room of a house in the ghost town.

We came upon a bay area with a lovely pier and view of an abandoned building succumbing to the elements.

Hibiscus in full bloom.

Our destination: Ham Tin beach.  A few boats were anchored off the shore.

Wild cows, leftovers from Hong Kong's agriculture days were seen grazing serenely.

Ham Tin means salt marshes.  Near the beach we walked along a canal that spared us from trudging through salty marshes.

Lovely Ham Tin Beach.

Resting on a small boat.

There were a couple of restaurants providing typical Chinese fare and pulsating Caribbean music.  

The water was clean, clear, warm, perfect.

As an extra bonus there were rocks on the side of the beach providing ample shelter and provision for a variety of fish.

To get back to Sai Kung town and transportation home there is an option to take a speed boat back.  Option taken.  Was fun and very scenic.

Boats, mainly party boats were everywhere on the journey back.

At Sai Kung Pier there were several local fishermen in their boats selling the daily catch.

While the debate whether Ham Tin is the best beach in Hong Kong will rage on forever, there is no debate that the hike, eat time, swimming, and boat ride that is part of the experience of Ham Tin is great.  And I am very grateful for it.

Have an awesome week.

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk

Concrete Jungle

Hello My Dear Great Ones,

A building is considered a skyscraper if it has 14 floors.  Don't ask my why, I am just a messenger, and I have no patience to google the answer.  When you compare all the cities in the world that have skyscrapers, Hong Kong is number 1 in terms of how many they have in its city limits.  There are @ 8000 skyscrapers in Hong Kong, which is @ 4000 more than its closest competitor: New York City.  The main reason for this is the lack of flat land and the resulting astronomical cost of real estate.  So Hong Kongers are forced to build up and up and up.  

From afar the Hong Kong skyline is dramatic, even beautiful, and world famous.  Google it to see what I mean.  Close up however it is a little different.  It is overwhelming, like a jungle where plants are fighting for light and space.  While Hong Kong has thousands of skyscrapers that are stylish glass and steel artistic declarations of grandeur, most Hong Kong skyscrapers are ugly, old, cement blocks, wedged into a space next to several other boxes fighting for space and light, like in a jungle.  Except in this case a concrete jungle.  Thankfully many of these old and boring skyscrapers have been painted pink (yuck) or orange to prevent human moods from going drab due to seeing too much drab.  And at night some buildings, especially the new ones, become an incredible light show, which makes Hong Kong even more unnecessarily exciting and stimulating.

Thankfully Hong Kong is 70% nature (real jungle) to offset its man made craziness.  Below are a few samples of Hong Kong's concrete jungle up close.

    

Have a great week.

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk

Some Amazing Buildings

Dear Great Ones,

Asia truly has some amazing buildings.  Here is a small sample of what I have seen over the last four years in my travels:  

An apartment building in Hong Kong near the ICC building.  The big hole in the middle is for the Feng Shui belief of allowing spirits free passage.  Ah huh.

Lippo Building in Hong Kong.   It is nicknamed the "Koala Tree," because people think it resembles koalas climbing a tree.  Ha ha.

New Creation Church in Singapore.  This is actually officially called the Star Preforming Arts Center.  The church meets on Sunday, but during the week it has numerous concerts and performances.  There are also lots of places to eat and shop at the "Star.".  On Sunday there are three services, with over 5000 attending each one.  Plus the church has other places where they meet, so over 30000 meet in various spots throughout Singapore.  Truly amazing.

The  Peak Observation Deck.  Hong Kong.  This building is supposed to resemble a rice bowl.  Great views from here. Wow.

International Finance Center, Hong Kong.  Became famous in a Batman movie.

Aspire Tower, Doha, Qatar. This is a hotel.  The thing sticking out of the building about half way up is a swimming pool.

International Commerce Center, Hong Kong.  World's seventh  tallest building.    118 floors. The Ritz Carlton takes up floors 102-118.  Observation floor is on the 100th.

CCTV Building.  Beijing, China.  Here is where China sends out its version of the news, "propaganda."

Beijing. The Water Cube.  2008 Olympic games had their aquatic events here.

Some downtown buildings in Doha.  The building on the right changes different colours at night. It looks like a narwhale. Tried to find the names of these buildings, but too much work, so I gave up.  Just ask Sven.

Grand Lisboa hotel in Macau.  It also has a casino.

Beijing, China.  The Birdsnest stadium, built for the 2008 summer Olympics.  Sadly the stadium is barely used now and is falling apart.

The Museum of Islamic Art.  Doha, Qatar.  Very beautiful, interesting and the entrance fee is: 0.  My kind of price.

The Louis Vuitton store in Singapore.  Juts out into the bay.

Marina Sands Hotel in Singapore.  Three buildings connected by a roof. On top of the roof are restaurants, a pool, shops, etc.

Have a great week everyone.

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk