Mount Davis hike

Now that we are well settled into our new apartment it was time to finally explore the nearby hill called Mount Davis. J suggested we hike it this morning and after reading this very insightful entry I was inspired to do some photo documentation of my own.

So we started from Victoria road near the West Island School and climbed up the path with a helpful sign to Mt Davis Road.

Starting Point

Strange little stone sign on the way

View of the Christian Chinese Cemetery 

Walking up to Mt Davis Road

Looking towards the Peak

Pokfulam area

Pokfulam with sea view

Starting the climb up to the Water Reservoir

The views get better

and better

Peak view again

More views

At the reservoir.. strange sign - keep off the straight path because it is dangerous??

One of the old rings on the road, used to hold ropes for pulleys to get the building blocks to the top of the mountain to build the fort

Yup - it is still strong!

Top of Mt Davis - the fort ruins

There was some strange modeling going on.

And to balance that awkward encounter we met these B B Gun enthusiast

Walking back down to Victoria Road

Back on Victoria Road

This reminded me of Greece

Christmas Tree already out

Lovely!

View of victoria road and Cyberport

Watching the sunset from Sandy Bay

The end of a lovely day's exploring.

Internations Expat Guide to Hong Kong

I was recently pointed in the direction of the Internations Expat Guide to Hong Kong and I was curious what it had to offer.

It does a good job of giving a complete overview of all the things you need to know about living in Hong Kong, eg getting a HK ID Card. However it might leave you wondering about the finer details and exact steps needed to do this.  Also it doesn't have a 'personal' feel about it, as in writing from someone who has really been through it all and bumped their head. I would say this book decribes the 'correct' way of doing things but sometimes the experience can be more frustrating or exhausting than expected.

I would definitely recommend this for anyone who is new to Hong Kong and needs a solid introduction. But if you have found your way here for a while already it probably won't add that much additiona information.

Pretty City

We flew into Hong Kong last night after a wonderful holiday in Greece and another wedding celebration in The Netherlands.  We arrived in the afternoon and the drive home plus walking around today has made me realise that Hong Kong IS an attractive city. 

The drive from the airport to the city I think is one of the best I've seen. I have travelled a fair bit and can't remember when I saw such interesting views in a 30min drive - city scape, mountains, interesting bridges, harbour views, islands, cute boats on the water all in. 

And then today the mountains in Kowloon were peaking just enough through the buildings to make me think of Cape Town. And wow the sunset. The sunset in Oia, Santorini in Greece is meant to be the best but I don't quite agree. The Greek sunset is great, but Hong Kong provides a mood and setting that evokes something more in my opinion.

Beerfest

Did anyone spontaneously catch up the LKF beerfest last weekend?  So.Much.Fun.
The fun part was going from stall to stall, trying the different beers (esp the craft beers) but then also looking at the 'deco' to match. Mostly beer girls of course, what else :-) We got a handful of fans, hats and other promo sheets.  Fans were the most appreciated considering the heat.
Whew it was waaay to hot for my liking.
OK, I was warned, the HK weather broadcast even issues a very hot warning, but somehow I thought my South African experience would make me immune, guess I wrong.
Oh and don't be alarmed by the interesting looking beer glasses, all the cool kids were drinking from them.