Lantau Island - 13 Nov 2004

My favourite spot in Hong Kong is Lantau Island. It is a place with truly breathtaking scenery. I was here in Sep 2002, and I made it a point to return to Lantau Island again this trip. Lantau Island is a very hilly island, marked with two peaks - Sunset Peak and Lantau Peak at 869m and 934m above sea level respectively. It is still a relatively undeveloped part of Hong Kong, with only Tung Chung, Chek Lap Kok airport at the north, Discovery Bay in the east, and a few small villages dotting the island's coast. Disneyland Hong Kong is being built on the northern side of this island, and is expected to be completed by 2006.

Despite all the development that is going on, mostly in the northern and eastern areas, most areas of Lantau Island is unspoilt, untouched by the callouse hands of civilization.

I started my trail from Mui Wo to Sunset Peak, then to Pak Kung Au (the road dividing Lantau island into eastern and western zones), then to Lantau Peak, and then to Ngong Ping (where the Big Buddha status is). The entire trail was 12km and it took me about 5-6 hours to complete the trail. Lantau peak in particular was extremely tiring. It was almost as if I had to climb a long flight of stairs about 1km high.

An unfortunate incident happened during the journey. I dropped my glasses along the way and had to return to look for it. Retracing my steps, I met three ladies who were kind enough to tell me they had seen my glasses earlier. Retracing my steps added another 2km to the entire journey, and it involved lots of uphills and downhills, which was extremely tiring.

I met quite a lot of hikers along the way. Most of them were Hong Kongers, but I did encounter a couple of Westerners every now and then. As I was braving the treacherous path downhill from Lantau Peak, I met two brown-haired girls speaking what sounded like a European language to me. I asked them if they were German. They told me they were Jews. Ooops. I hope that didn't offend them.

It was a wonderful journey, and I am quite certain I will return to Lantau Island, if I do ever come to Hong Kong again.


The hike up Sunset Peak was almost an endless flight of stairs. Good for the calf muscles. To the left of the stairs is a steep drop that leads to the foothills. A mis-step and one would find oneself falling a long way down.


The village of Pui-O, taken enroute to Sunset Peak.


Along the Lantau trail, near Sunset Peak. This spot is about 800m above sea level. It was very misty, very windy and very cool. I love the cool weather.


A picture of Lantau Peak, taken from somewhere near Sunset Peak. I would climb that peak later that day.


Lantau Peak. Taken while descending from Sunset Peak.


Sunset Peak. Taken enroute to Launtau Peak.


Tung Chung and Chek Lap Kok airport. Taken enroute to Lantau Peak.


On the way up to Lantau Peak.


Going towards Lantau Peak. A loooooooooong way uphill. But there are three girls are ahead of me. How can?!


I am only a few meters behind the three girls now. That was not too difficult, was it? Soon I will overtake them and leave them far, far behind. Hur hur hur!


Lantau Peak. 934m above sea level. Alas, it was too misty to see a thing.


At the foothills. The big Buddha statue at Po Lin monastery.


Po Lin monastery. What the heck are these statues supposed to be?


Po Lin monastery itself. Looks just like any other Chinese temple in Malaysia. Probably only gwailos will be impressed with it. Much like how the way they gawked over Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Saikung - 6 Nov 2004

These are some of the pictures I took in Saikung. It only shows a very small section of Saikung, and it is probably not even the most beautiful area of Saikung. The last time I went to Saikung two years ago (sometime in Oct 2002), I was quite amazed that there were such nice beaches in Hong Kong. The sand was fine, and the water relatively clean. Alas, I was not able to make it to the beach this trip. When it comes to landscape, there is no way Singapore can ever surpass Hong Kong in its beauty!


The ruins of Sheung Yiu village in Saikung


A shot of some islands along the Sheung Yiu trail in Saikung


Water Sports Centre that lies between the sea and the High Island Resevoir in Saikung.


Along the High Island Resevoir Road in Saikung.


Along the High Island Resevoir in Saikung

This is an emergency situation

The alarm bell in my room in the Excelsior Hotel rang loudly, shaking me out of my sleep. "This is an emergency situation. Please evacuate the building immediately," said a lady's voice on the PA system. It was 5:00am in the morning. I was in a daze, and ignored the bell for a while. However, the bell was persistent. Then the enormity of the situation hit me, as though someone had emptied a bucket of cold water on my face.

Looking around my room, nothing appeared to have changed. I looked out of the window, and saw nothing. Then the alarm bell rang again. "This is an emergency situation. Please evacuate the building immediately," said the voice urgently. I quickly put on my jeans, worried that something had happened. I opened the door and looked down the corridor. There were people walking along the corridor towards the emergency exits. Apparently I was not the only hotel guest to have been woken up.

I was horrified. Fearing the worst, I quickly rushed back to the safe to get my passport, the most important document I had. I had other valuables, like my laptop and my digital camera, but I left them in the room, in the belief that my life was worth far more than these things. My hotel room was situated at the far end, so I had to run for the emergency exit. Past the doors, I saw many people walking down the stairs. My room was located on the 15th floor, so there were 15 flight of stairs ahead of me. All I wanted to do was run, but there were just too many people ahead of me that I had to walk slowly down the stairs. I felt impatient at the snail-like pace the guests were making down the stairs.

My heart was beating rapidly, recalling the events of Sept 11th, wondering what would happen to me. The most plausible disaster I could think of was a fire, and I scanned around, searching for signs of smoke. As I got lower and lower, the air became warmer, and . When I reached the lobby, I found hundreds of other guests gathered there. There was no sign of anything I would have considered strange. The hotel staff was busy directing traffic. It had been a false alarm.

I was glad to learn that it was a false alarm. Although I thought the hotel was a little sloppy in handling the situation, I was ready to forgive them for it, for I was happy to find myself quite alive.