Hong Kong 2006

Here we are in Hong Kong... I've been minimalist in my choice of photos, so if you're dying to see the full collection, come round for a cuppa and settle in for the long haul. I'll start with the place where I was staying and working, Crossroads International. Crossroads has been going for 11 years and is a charity that takes Hong Kong's unwanted goods and distributes them to those who really need them, both in Hong Kong and all over the world. As there is little desire for second-hand goods in Hong Kong, Crossroads is donated a huge amount of high quality superceded goods from companies refurbishing, hospitals or schools upgrading, expats leaving the country and so and on. The current waiting list to donate goods to Crossroads is 8 weeks! There is an average of 2 shipments of goods a month to countries all over the world. 40 foot containers are loaded with goods that will enable a new hospital to be set up in Madagsca or an orphanage in Romania or school in Mongolia etc. etc. Crossroads is based on an old army base in the New Territories which is rented to them by the government for just $1HK a year. That's about 20c. No-one who works there receives a wage and all shipments are sponsored by generous donors or shipping companies. To find out more about Crossroads and all the other cool things they do, visit: www.crossroads.org.hk

When I arrived at Crossroads under the dark cover of night I had the strange feeling I had ended up in India by mistake. It was hot, polluted and all the buildings surrounding me were covered in peeling paint and looking somewhat worse for wear. But when I was introduced to the dogs Merry and Pippin I knew that this was the place for me. They also have The Shire which is a green field where kids (young and old) can play and Rivendell which is a chill-out room where you can hang out to watch movies or play cards or whatever and is decorated ornately with a Lord of the Rings theme. Very very beautiful!

The buildings generally look a bit daggy on the outside - the army base was empty for about 8 years before Crossroads moved in - but inside walls have been painted and floors laid and the creativity and colours are incredible. It is a beautiful environment to work in. (I was in the Communications Department for 2 weeks helping out with some graphic design work).

This is the block of flats that I stayed in, top left flat, with 2 other girls, Liz and Nic.

The Swiss might call it a hill, but for us Australians there's a mountain behind the Crossroads site. I know it's a mountain because I climbed up it. At night. It was worth it because the view was VERY amazing... but contrary to Nic's habit of dashing up and back before breakfast... people... it's something you would only do once... twice max, ok?? It's NOT a daily walk unless you are under 22. It's the knees darling. The knees!!! But it's ok, I was alright after about 4 days of avoiding anything remotely stair-like.

Rivendell...

The Slum Survivor slums used for "Life Experience" games. Click on the link to find out more: www.crossroads.org.hk/lifex-perience

Storage containers with banners painted by a visiting school group

A short walk from the Crossroads site is "Golden Beach" which was obviously named by someone who hasn't seen the blue waters and golden sands of Australia's beaches. Which is kind of sad. As you can see, Hong Kong is polluted. Most of it comes from across the boarder of China where a lot of Hong Kong factories have moved to because the labour is cheaper. So I guess you can't really blame China for it. Hong Kong would be very beautiful if you could see it in full colour instead of smog-grey. There is so much water and endless mountain/hills.

The other endless thing is apartment blocks.

This Lotus flower was growing in front of the Gold Coast Hotel which is a holiday destination - Golden Beach is part of the attraction.

On my first day in Hong Kong I did a bit of exploring, starting with Kowloon park and making my way down to the Star Ferry where I crossed over to Central and wandered around aimlessly taking photos and stopping for a bite to eat. These lanterns were in Kowloon park.

The Star Ferry goes back and forth between Kowloon and Central on Hong Kong Island. The public transport in HK is incredible, at least compared to Sydney. It's efficient, clean and relatively cheap. While I was there I travelled by all manner of ferries, under-ground rail (MTR), above-ground rail (KCR), light rail, mini-buses, double-decker buses, single-decker buses (for want of a better description), trams and taxis.

I love the asian-ness of the clothes hanging out the windows to dry. Obviously no strict body-corporates like we have here.

Here's a phenomenom I thought to myself. All these people picnic-ing in these strange places. They lined the streets, the train stations, parks etc. All women sitting around on flattened carboard boxes, chatting loudly, eating and playing cards.

Some went all out and built walls! Why?? It was only after I got home from my day out that Nic explained to me that they are Phillipina maids who have the day off on Sunday and have to get out of their employers houses for the day. So obviously they bunk down on the streets. As far as I know it's just for the day (not overnight) and they all seem to be having a jolly nice time... so there you go.

I love the trams. They cost about 35c to go as far as you like and they look like they'd make good cartoon characters. Like the Hong Kong version of Thomas the Tank Engine... Too Faa the Tram and friends.

The next day I went to Stanley by bus with a group of people from Crossroads. On the way we saw this hotel which has a hole in it to allow the dragon access from the mountain behind to the sea in front. This is good Feng Shui.

From left: Nic (Aussie), Ian (American), Peter (Swiss), Liz (Aussie), Richard (English), Lin (Malaysian), Ben (New Zealand)... a multicultural mob!

Nic at Stanley markets, just after giving me the finer points on how to bargain.

Nic took me to a rugby game (have you noticed you do things you wouldn't normally do when overseas??) to see Api (right) play and Phil (left, obviously) referee. These guys have both been at Crossroads about 3 years. I met Phil briefly when I lived in Berowra so was great see his familiar face at the airport when I arrived....

Sarah met us after the game and we went for Chinese. The food is great and very cheap. If you go to the right places you can get a big plate of food and a drink for under $5! You often have to be prepared to do a lot of pointing and charades to get the food you want though.

If seafood's your thing then you'll love Hong Kong. These crabs are very fresh. Yes, still alive!

Sarah was house-minding a friend's flat (and cat) and much to our joy asked me and Nic to stay overnight with her. I was dying to see inside one of Hong Kong's endless blocks of flats. They might look a bit ordinary on the outside, but inside the one we stayed in it was all modern-ness and decor with floor boards and all the nice fittings and things. Very compact though. TINY but functional kitchen with 3 very compact bedrooms, and little tiny balcony with the washing machine on it. I gather by HK standards that it was quite a generously sized flat. We went to see a photography exhibition one night by a guy called Michael Wolf who had photographed 100 residents in their flats in the city's oldest public housing estate. Here is one of his images to give you an idea of flat size and living conditions. The photo is taken from the front door. There is no running water and everyone has to use the communal bathroom:

This is the only panarama I did in HK which in retrospect is a shame because there were plenty of opportunities for a good panarama now that I think about it. This is the view from the balcony of the flat we stayed in with Sarah. Click on the photo for a bigger image.

This is a close up of the flat that is mostly cut off at the far left of the panarama...

Another day off and off we went to Lamma Island. (Me, Nic, Prav and Ben) This is the view from the ferry of the line of seafood restaurants...

...where you can buy the freshest of seafood. At least the sea creatures are technically alive, if not feeling so well.

We had planned to walk the length of the island but we stopped at this beach for a swim and didn't get any further.

Contrast of old Chinese culture and high-rise development...

A Lamma Island village on water...

Tired but happy on the ferry (before the bus) home...

Nic and I got very adventurous one day and headed to the north east of the New Territories to a little village called Tai Mei Tuk, reached by bus, bus, train and bus. Quite a treck but thanks to Hong Kong public transport and the help of an information lady that speaka da engrish it was a smooth and easy journey taking about 2 hours. Our goal was the Pat Sin Leng nature trail that took us around the side of a mountain overlooking the Plover Cove Resevoir.

The line along the right of this pic is the dam wall that separates the fresh water that comes down from the mountain from the salt water of Tolo Harbour. Beautiful views!!

And beautiful bush to walk through...

On the way home we stopped at Tai Po to look around the city and take some pics...

On my last Saturday night Nic, Katrina and I went up to The Peak, a popular tourist destination for obvious reasons: a spectacular view. For some reason I was expecting a look out with a bus turning circle and not much else, so I was a bit surprised to find a whole shopping complex and umpteen restaurants and a major bus terminal and hundreds of people. The restaurants were quite expensive so we had a pizza at Deli France.

Nic and Katrina with stunning view behind... (see above)

Sunday morning we went to church via these typical Kowloon streets.

Lunch in a Chinese restaurant at bargain prices....

,..where a request for serviettes results in the delivery of a toilet roll plonked on the table, or if you are lucky, as in this restaurant, it is encased in a plastic toilet roll container!

Following lunch, Nic, Ben and I headed to Lantau Island for a scenic walk from Discovery Bay to Silvermine Beach. Took us a while to find the beginning of it but thanks to Ben's navigational skills we eventually got 'on the road'. We went through a tiny villags... well, more like a small gathering of tiny houses. By which point I was desperate to 'see a man about a dog'. There were some women sitting around and I asked, naively, if there might be a toilet near by. One lady sprung up and said 'please come this way'. She led me to her own house! Wow, such a small house I have never seen. The main room was about the size of our bathroom and the bathroom was too small to turn around in (wearing my backpack), consisting of toilet, bucket and hose for showering. Amazing!! They had an undercover out door area which did add to the space but it really puts things in perspective at just how large our houses are here and just how spoilt we really are.

This path through village and scenery was all well and good until it started going up. I thought it would never end!! Thankfully we came across a local expat who told us where a short cut was to the way down which avoided this horrendous stairway up to, no doubt, wonderful views - but at this point I didn't care less about any views. Ben ran, yes RAN up these steps and Nic and I took the beloved shortcut... at which point everything went down again and was a brief moment for rejoicing until I realised that the knees were going to protest loudly and heatedly all the way down.

Wonderful, wonderful views!! And Ben (young fit thing) smiling, and horrible, nasty, nasty, horrible, and endless, steps...

Looking back at the mountain/hill that we climbed and descended... and lovely beach that was our reward - Silvermine Beach.

We got bus, bus, ferry, light rail and taxi home. Quite a treck!! But well worth it. This is Ben and me on the light rail. Happy tired...

So, my time in Hong Kong, for now, came to an end and I had to leave Crossroads at 6.30 in the morning to catch my plane home. Louise, Nic and Liz came to see me off. There was a beautiful sunrise and this taken as we drove over the longest suspension bridge in the world. I'm hoping to go back in March... for a year.