Some days, the bear gets you...

China Bear's refurbished kitchen and toilets look nice.

But...

The food prices have also gone up.

We went there for our usual breakfast and found that most items were about 50 percent more expensive than before. Ouch!

Going by the crowd, I doubt it will matter much to the Discovery Bay exiles and the pilot families.

Not for us poor villagers, though.

I think I'm going to have to persuade Buffalo Wilbur to go for yum cha more often instead.

World Cup fever

China Bear has been packed today with Rugby World Cup fans. We can hear their cheering from where we are some blocks away. It's nice... gives some life to Mui Wo.

Apparently, some of the people at The Kitchen considered getting a TV set for the World Cup too but were vetoed by Mark. Good call... because The Kitchen is doing a roaring trade with folks who don't want to be deafened while having their meal.

Cool acts

The staff at the China Bear are always so friendly and fun. We got a special ice sculpture with our drink today.

Meanwhile, some daytrippers create some cool art at Park N Shop. I managed to catch it before it melted away. Sometimes, art is ephemeral.

Sunday brunch

Buffalo Wilbur and I have a Sunday routine now: Get out of bed before noon, dash to China Bear in time for their breakfast.

There's something relaxing about sitting in the restaurant watching the world go by and knowing you have the whole day in front of you to laze around at home or, for a change of scenery, at the beach.

The only stress is choosing what to have: bacon ciabatta, omelette, French toast, bagel with eggs... decisions, decisions...

Who needs a vacation when every weekend is a holiday in Mui Wo?

Chilling out at China Beach Club

What I like about China Beach Club (Tel: 2983-8931) is that the staff love pets. A friendly dog may come to greet you at the top of the stairs and, in the open-air kitchen, cats doze on the rocks above. The view is also amazing: huge sweeping sea view all the way to Hei Ling Chau and beyond.

The prices are more close to city prices (HK$195 for a rib-eye steak) but they do give value. My China Beach curry came with seven fat peeled prawns. And Buffalo Wilbur's kippers came in a mound of kippers. The drinks are also good value – HK$25 can get you almost a pint worth of Gunner or lemonade.

Pity the place is only open on weekends. I could get used to this.

Fright Night

The spiders are up, body parts are crashing through windows and zombies have taken over. It's Halloween again and my favourite watering hole, the China Bear (Tel: 2984-9720), is holding its usual bash for boys and ghouls on the 30th. There's a HK$1,000 prize for the best costume on that night. Wonder what I should go as? Maybe as a scary cleaning Ah Por with a traditional hat? They can be quite fierce and frightening, especially when you ask them to get rid of that cardboard box your fridge came in.

Beach walk and anarchist bikers

We took a break from the unpacking to explore the area beyond the beach. We've been meaning to check it out for the longest time because this was the area we could see from our flat and it looked like there were some pretty houses to look at.

Of course, we had to load up on sustenance before the walk so it was off to Bahce Turkish Restaurant (2984-0221) for some yummy hot meze platter and chicken dijon.

We walked down Tung Wan Tau Road and continued upwards but, just as the path headed upwards for the Discovery Bay, we detoured to the right and followed the countours of the mountain.

It was hot and muggy after the typhoon, plus we were hopeless out of shape. So less than one hour later, we decided to retrace our steps and encountered some rebel bikers ("Don't tell us where we should park our bikes!").

We didn't bring any water with us for such a short walk but the China Beach Club (2983-8931) was conveniently open today. At first, HK$35 sounded like a lot of money for a glass of lime soda or gunner. But the drinks came in a pint mug. After downing what felt like our body weight in liquids, we sloshed our way home.