Spot yourself anywhere?

It's quite exciting when Mui Wo appears on the BBC... and you can call the folks overseas to say: "Did you see me on TV, mum?"

Well, here's another one for the books: A report on HKT listing.

You can watch it here. Are you the guy on the bike?

Cute Mui Wo video

This is a school project but it is so charming and gets the point across in such a cute way.

Love the bunny. I vote Joy for Mui Wo mascot.

Incinerator updates

What a difference a few days make. Having been away, we had to catch up on the latest news about the campaign against the Shek Kwu Chau incinerator proposal.

You can read the full story about the meeting with the Environmental Protection (hmmm) Department in Lantau Link and Living Island Movement's website.

Seems like both the local and expat community are united in opposing the super-incinerator.

LIM is doing a great job in keeping the pressure up in this campaign so please do support them however you can.

The Chapel flea market is here

I almost forgot about the flea market, believe it or not, until I saw a notice on a bus stop. By which time I had lost two precious hours. Argh!

How not to grab? Clothes and books were going at three for HK$10. M&S glitter party shoes for HK$20, good winter coats at HK$30... I took a deep breath and plunged in.

It was so good I went back three times, each time with a huge load of clothes and bags for less than HK$100. There were so many people that the chapel people had to get someone to call time before the place closed at 4pm.

If you missed the flea market today, don't fret. It's open again tomorrow (Sunday) from 1pm to 4pm.

Don't disturb Ngau Ngau

What a great idea to get the leave-the-buffaloes-alone message across!

Mui Wo beautification project

Ooooo, looks like the beautification project that has been so long in the works it was beginning to resemble a mirage is on the way. Hope beautification doesn't equal concretisation, as it does in many parts of Hong Kong.

Here's the government announcement:

Tai O heritage hotel to open

November 09, 2011

A heritage boutique hotel converted from the Old Tai O Police Station will open by year's end, Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Gregory So says.

Preserving the colonial architectural features and highlighting the history of Tai O, including the Old Tai O Police Station, the hotel will be an ideal attraction to local and overseas visitors, he told legislators today.

Besides the Tai O hotel, three new themed areas of Hong Kong Disneyland are due to be completed by 2013, with the first one, Toy Story Land, to open later this month.

The Civil Engineering & Development Department is conducting improvement works in Tai O in phases, and is embarking on the detailed design for a project to beautify Mui Wo. A new hotel with convention facilities in Discovery Bay will start operation in mid-2012.

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There is a 2006 document detailing what the Islands District Planning Office is proposing - the relocation of the lorry park and setting up seafood restaurants instead of the cooked food centre among them.

Wonder how much of it is real and how much is just a castle-in-the-air thing.

Help a student

A HKU student is doing a study on Mui Wo lifestyle and would like to talk to residents of the area.

Can anyone help? She only needs a few minutes of your time.

The contact is koneybjy(at)gmail.com.

Tapioca tales

Tapioca always gets bad press. The locals have bad memories of eating nothing but tapioca during the Japanese occupation and the expats have bad memories of soggy tapioca puddings.

But when they're freshly steamed or boiled in lightly salted water, they are delicious.

I bought HK$15 worth of the tuber off the woman by the pier and dined on the woody sweet chunks dipped in brown sugar the whole day. Yums!

Holiday bazaar

It's hard to persuade Buffalo Wilbur into going for any fair with "handmade" in its name. He has nightmares of tackily assembled glue-gun craft on sale for a ludicrous amount.

Thankfully, we were at a bit of a loose end so I managed to drag him toHandmade HK's Backyard Bazaar at DB.

I'm glad we went because we scored lots of good stuff: homemade chutney, Milktop puddings, really cute baby clothes for our respective nieces and nephews...

There wasn't a single badly made tissue-box holder in sight.

Temple rituals

We've passed by this temple behind the beach many times but, though we've seen the oil lamps burning, we haven't seen any activity going on. Until today.

It must be an important prayer day, going by the number of priests chanting

There were two prayer offerings, each with a vegetable dish that looked quite appetising, I must say.

Return to the lands

Mui Wo has its roots in farming and fishing. And while fishing may be dying a slow death, at least it looks like farming is enjoying a revival.

We haven't taken a walk by the abandoned fish farms (don't you love the phrase? It smacks of "meet you by the abandoned fish farms, Batman" gags) for a while so we were pleasantly surprised by the thriving vegetable farm that has appeared there.

I bought some pak choy from the woman at the pier at HK$10 a bundle. Wonder if it came from this farm?

Nice noise

Some people complain that Mui Wo is getting noisier.

As I type this, there are sounds of Friday night revelry in the restaurants, loud conversations on the waterfront and thumping music from some of our neighbours next door. Somewhere, there is a faint clack of mahjong tiles being "washed".

But you know what, I really like it. I like that the place now seems to come alive on Friday and Saturday nights.

Last week, someone had a party on their rooftop or terrace, sending 80s music reverberating round town. Buffalo Wilbur and I danced to the music in our living room, uninvited guests to that party.

And folks round here are quite considerate so everything quietens down after 11pm anyway.

It's nice noise – the sound of people having fun in Mui Wo.

Al fresco weather

We got all our winter clothes out but today turned out to be perfect al fresco weather instead – a crisp clear 27 C with humidity at a low 50 percent.

It was too good to stay indoors, which explained why all the restaurants with outdoor seating were full.

Chapel's flea market

This notice, pasted on a corner wall in Chung Hau Village, got me all excited. The Epiphany Chapel flea market usually has a bit of everything, from clothes to toys to weird ornaments. It's well worth a visit.

Adopt a buffalo

We were eating at Pui O Delicious when we saw a strange sight: An old lady being followed by a buffalo like it was her pet.

Then we found out it was her pet. She had adopted it and even got it a registration number. It follows her around and she feeds it fruits she buys from the market.

What a great idea! If everyone adopts a buffalo, then the authorities would have a headache relocating (ie killing) them.

I pestered Buffalo Wilbur to let me have a buffalo as a pet but he said: "We'd have problem getting it into our 500-sq-ft flat."

Trail etiquette

Find a steaming pile of buffalo poo on the hiking trail?

Break off a twig and place it on top of the poo.

There, you've done your bit to stop fellow hikers and bikers from stepping into the doo doos. Give yourself a pat on the back – preferably not with the hand that inserted the twig.

No stunt biking in Wang Tong

This sign always cracks us up. Evil Knievel, keep out.

Crazy Apple fans

I use the footbridge every day to get from the ferry pier to the MTR station. But on Wednesday, it was absolute chaos today, thanks to those iPhone 4S queuers. At one point, I even had to back track and get to the MTR station at ground level.

Today, I wasn't even allowed onto the footbridge, which is the fastest way to get to the station. Can't imagine why these idiots are allowed to crowd a public right of way.

There were babies in the queue, among the smokers and by the time I passed the place at night, it was beginning to smell like a public housing flat: unwashed bodies, stale food and despair. I don't get these crazy fans.

Halloween parade video

Spot your kids... or your parents!

Quiet voting day

I was expecting the rowdy triad-style polling day we saw last year but this one was a bit more down key. We walked to the polling booth and we met Rosa herself on the way.

She was so positive and sunny, we'd vote for her if we could vote.

Rainbow's people seem to be confident that their candidate would win. So confident they weren't even at their booths.

Treasures of Lantau

Spotted at Hotel Novotel in Tung Chung. Wonder how a Treasures of Lantau buffet is different from a Treasures of Anywhere Else in Hong Kong buffet. Mui Wo clams? Tai O pink dolphins?

We weren't about to spend HK$208 to find out, though.