An Island walk

Lamma Island
Sunday was a nicer day than Saturday. Still hazy, but brighter. I decided to take myself to Lamma Island, one of the many that make up Hong Kong. It’s now mainly a day-trip destination for Hong Kongers and tourists, but contained, at one time, a number of thriving fishing villages. There are two villages now - Yung Shue Wan and Sok Kwu Wan, plus a few beaches.

The trip started out ominously. En route to the ferry terminal, a taxi cut in front of my bus, causing a fender bender. Fortunately, we were close to the docks, and another bus stopped and picked up the passengers from my bus to continue our trip.

Lamma is a major day-trip destination. For once in my travels, the ferry seemed to be filled with Hong Kongers, including a lot of westerners who looked like they live here. The local visitors included seniors groups, extended families, a camera club, and a few groups of helpers. Unless you’re heading for one of the beaches, a visit to Lamma consists of ferrying into one village, and walking the path to the other, with a stop at either or both ends to eat at one of the fine seafood restaurants.

Looking out from the ferry, one can really see how HK island is inhabited at the shore line and on reclaimed land. There are high-rises climbing the hills, with the mountains behind them in all directions.

Lamma is also pet and pedestrian friendly. A sign on ferry stated that, "Seats of first two rows are reserved for pet carriers." Cars are not permitted, so the pollution level may be slightly lower, but see below.
I ferried into Yung Shue Wan, a harbour town looking like many in all parts of the world – ferry dock, marinas, one main street, filled with restaurants, souvenir shops and guesthouses, curving around the shore. I made a meal of street food - curried fish balls, beef satay, ice cream drumstick, and some kind of warm mini tart. Cheap, filling and tasty, but not exactly nutritious.

The ferry I took is one of several making the voyage regularly throughout the day, so, on a nice weekend day, the place is crowded with day trippers. Hint - everyone is going in the same direction. Unless you want to feel as if you were downtown heading for the subway, stay in town for an extra 15 minutes. Give your shipmates time to clear out ahead of you.

The “Family Trail” is a well-marked path between the towns, with spurs running off to various sights. Going through Yung Shue Wan and leaving the town you see shops and stalls all along the way. Once out of town, it calms down and there is greenery, filled with birds, and offering shade - just don't look inland where you continue to see houses, pipes, and other signs of civilization.

Just outside Yung Shue Wan you come to Hung Shing Yeh – a pretty, crescent-shaped, sandy beach. Unfortunately, the large power station on the peninsula at the far end spoils the view, and probably, during the week, the sky. To give you an idea of Hong Kong’s perspective on beauty versus utility, one of the advertised highlights of the walk is a side spur up a hill to see the electricity-generating windmill – a Mercedes-Benz hood ornament on a stick. It matches the one at the CNE.

Not to be outdone by its larger neighbour, Sok Kwu Wan boasts its own eyesore – a small cement factory spoils the view when approaching the town from an elevation. Otherwise, it’s a quaint village with clusters of boathouses and fish farms in the harbour, and a renovated temple at one end. Lamma is not far off the southeast tip of Hong Kong. From Sok Kwu Wan on a clear day you can see the high-rise apartments of Ap Lei Chau.

One neat, to me, feature is a series of caves dug out of the hill side by the Japanese during WWII. They were meant to house kamikaze speedboats filled with explosives that could be used to fight off invaders. They never were.

Sok Kwu Wan is much smaller than Yung Shue Wan, but seems to have even more restaurants along its path by the shore. All have numerous tanks filled with live fish, crustaceans and mollusks. You pick your meal, they scoop it out and prepare it to order. You can’t get fresher than that. Some restaurants, including the Rainbow, have their own private shuttles offering a free ride from HK Island or the mainland upon reservation.

I have no observations, but this week's pun is from a little restaurant in Yung Shue Wan - the Deli Lamma Café.

Manila
I went to Manila Monday and Tuesday for a few days of meetings. It’s a huge city, filled with traffic and smog.

Since I had never tried it, I ate Filipino food at dinner Monday and lunch Tuesday. I don’t know how they manage to live past 50 – everything is either fried, sometimes more than once, or sweetened – sometimes both. The food was interesting and unlike other south-Asian cuisines I’ve tried, although the sauce bases are similar – soy, coconut, peanut, chilies.

One of our businesses is in Quezon City, the government office centre and site of some large universities, including the University of the Philippines (UP, as I noticed on a number of T-shirts). The other is in Makati, the upscale neighborhood that includes the local head offices of many major international companies.
Manila seems to be a city of distinct areas, We saw some of the nicer ones, including Makati. Lunch on Tuesday was in the Greenbelt shopping plaza, a beautiful, open area with a shop for every label under the sun.

Traffic here is brutal. Most Canadians, especially Torontonians couldn't even be pedestrians - they'd have to cross a street at some point. Stop signs are optional. So are traffic lights, lane markers and shoulders. Honking is an art and lane switching a science.

The people are very friendly - except for the police and security guards at every intersection and entrance. Oh yeah, and except for the bomb-sniffing German shepherds at the entrance to the hotel. The lady who goes through your briefcase is friendly, but the guy who pats down the locals before letting them in is not.
Manila airport is not one of the wonders of the world. Security is heavy – you have to show your ticket and passport to get in, and the Arrivals lounge is the road outside the terminal building. As we approached, it looked like a tail-gate party with people milling about, eating drinking and chatting, with their car trunks open.
Inside, there are separate security lines for men and women, because the check includes a wanding and a pat-down. Sort of reminds me of Ford Field in Detroit, where we underwent similar scrutiny before NCAA tournament basketball games the past two years. You have to remove your shoes, but they don’t require you to unpack any electronics. Why does every airport seem to run on its own rules?

Home Again, Home Again, Tweeldlee-dee
I’m returning home on Friday, but who’s counting the two days, three hours and 3 minutes until then. I’ll see some of you over the next two weeks, and be in touch with the rest.

Dale and I will be in Hong Kong on January 3.

Have a pleasant holiday season.