Rose apple harvest

We were walking round Wang Tong when we came across some residents taking advantage of the bountiful rose/wax apple harvest.

Seeing our interest, they offered us a fruit. It was a strange combination of bitter skin and sweet-sour flesh. An acquired taste, perhaps, but it did quench our thirst and, best of all, was free.

Fluff and stuff

The recent strong winds appear to have knocked the stuffing out of the kapok trees.

Flame of the forest

Rain preceded by long dry spells are causing the flame of the forest trees to burst into flower. Isn't that just magnificent?

Lovely berries

Are they edible?

Sunny days in spring

You know spring is here when the bottle brush trees put up a great show...

... and there's been a run on chickens in the supermarket because everyone's out barbecuing.

Super tree house?

Work in progress on a huge rain tree in Shap Long.

If my wonky Cantonese is reliable, the workmen said they are building a treehouse.

I guess that's one solution to Hong Kong's rising home prices. Can't wait to see it!

Blooming great show

I love flame of the forest trees. They really put their heart into it when they bloom. The ones at Pui O are especially pretty this time of the year.


But the heritage tree by the McDonald's isn't doing too badly, either. The clusters of red berries are too pretty for words.

Pity they fall on barren concrete and are ground underfoot. I feel so bad for the tree that I am tempted to gather a few and disseminate them along the mountain trails. Hmmm, maybe I will do that before our hike this weekend.

Bye bye banana tree

I know it's stupid to get sentimental over a wild banana tree but this one along the path to Pui O was my favourite.

A legacy of a long-forgotten farm, it probably had not been tended to for decades but it still continued to produce fat bananas (I admit I did take one and it had a wild tangy flavour).

Since then I've looked forward to saying hi to it every time we go on our usual walk.

So I was really sad to see it dead and mutilated on our last walk. Yes, I know, it was wild, uncared for and probably chopped down to create a firebreak.

But it was still a living thing and I miss my little banana tree.

Heritage tree

I got hold of some beautification plans for Mui Wo from way back in 2004. There, among the acres of concrete that the government seems to think is necessary for any countryside upgrading, was the lone heritage tree.

When my parents came over to visit, I left them to wander the town while I went grocery shopping. My mum later texted: "Come and meet us at the tree." Which tree? There are so many around. So I called her. "THE tree," she replied, exasperatedly. Finally, I got it. Of course, there may be many trees around but there is only one that can be called THE tree -- the spreading tree just outside McDonald's, the only green spot amidst all that concrete.

A few days ago, the tree started shedding leaves for autumn and it felt like I was on some country path as I walked through the piles of leaves. Today, I saw children having a fun time among the branches.