Flea market at Garden Plus

Sorry for the pathetic number of photos. For the first time, I was a seller so I actually had to stay in my stall to make sure I got enough money to spend.

 

It was great fun. Good atmosphere and a great mix of stuff on sale.

Even Buffalo Wilbur was hooked. I thought he'd get bored after an hour or so but he stayed with me till the end. Can we have more please?

GardenPlus market

Sorry I haven't been updating the blog recently. Have had a lot of things happening on the family front so haven't had the heart to blog.

But anyway, there's a marvellous new Facebook page that has all the current events, news, gossip etc on Mui Wo and its surroundings. It's a closed group but the admins are very nice people and will let you in if you ask politely.

I've been getting most of my news from there... ever since we lost Lantau Linker Diane Stormont. :(

Finally, the flea market...

Perfect weather for the Discovery Bay flea market this time. Ok, a bit too hot but better than last week.

Next one's in about two months' time.

Another successful day at the flea market

 To paraphrase Apocalypse Now, I love the sound of the washing machine in the afternoon. Smells like victory.

As the weather was miserable, many sellers were disposing of their stuff cheap to try and get off before the rain came. So I got plenty of clothes for HK$5 a piece. Jacqui and her volunteers from PALS were doing a roaring trade in books -- a steal at HK$5 for two.

 The next flea market is on February 17.

Longan season

Mother Nature is good at helping you cope with the extremes. When the weather spikes, she gives us longans to cool us down. Chilled, the fruits are like refreshing sorbets on a hot day.

The local varieties sold in Mui Wo have quite thin flesh that sticks to the seeds (the China ones are fleshier) but they are just as sweet.

The Banana Uncle is selling them at HK$8 a catty. I got two catties and now am having a luxurious longanfest.

A word to the prudish: Banana Uncle has taken to wearing super skimpy shorts in this weather so avert your eyes when choosing your longans... or you may see more spherical objects than you'd bargained for.

Booth booty

Don't you think these booths are perfect for the Mui Wo ferry pier?

Not only will they add some life to the place, they will also help small entrepreneurs get a start.

Best of all, the police don't have to resort to this to keep illegal bike parkers at bay:

Clear out time

The Discovery Bay flea market is here again and PALS needs your fleas... er, stuff, I mean.

You know the drill: Chuck everything including the kitchen sink into a box and give Jacqui a call on 9197-4371.

The DBay management doesn't do a good job of publicising vital information - time, date and venue - of its very popular flea market so I'd be guided by the information given by the more reliable Lantau Link if I were you.

This is what I have gleaned.

The market will be held on Sunday from noon to 3/5pm depending on the weather. Also dependent on the weather is the venue: the usual spot is the Piazza but if it is raining, then the market will move to DB International School.

See you there!

Property crunch

People have been asking me what's up with the property market in Mui Wo.

Why are the real-estate agent websites all not updated? Is there a dearth of places for sale in the area?

And why are the available properties so expensive? Is Mui Wo becoming an expat area, with expat prices?

Never let it be said I don't listen to the needs of my readers. I did take a walk around town to check and, yes, there does seem to be fewer photos up in the windows than there'd been months before.

What is happening? Gleaning from gossip from the locals and realtors here's a possible scenario:

• There are only a small number of homes in the area and the affordable ones (ie below HK$2 million) have already been snapped up.
• Both new and existing homeowners are banking on prices to rise further so they prefer to hold and rent out their units rather than sell – unless it's for a ridiculous sum of money.
• Going by the laws of demand and supply, this means sale prices are high but rents are still relatively low.

So people thinking of moving to Mui Wo should rent first and buy when the supply increases again, right?

Sort of. The problem is that rents are rising all over Hong Kong and that's pushing more people off the Island and into the New Territories.

Notice how crazy rents are in Lamma? Well, some Lammaites are decamping for Mui Wo and that is increasing the demand here too.

If you're thinking of buying in the area, the agents advise you take out a lease with an option to extend so your rents won't suddenly spike at the end of the year.

But let them know that you're looking and be prepared to act fast if something does come up. As you can see from the transaction figures, there are still affordable properties around.

Don't give up hope. Sooner or later, someone will put their home on the market. It just won't be us.