Mui Wo to Pui O walk

Buffaloes!

Walk to Pui O. The buffaloes are everywhere and are especially plentiful around Shap Long, where there are wide open plains for them to graze.

They look quite intimidating to city dwellers like us (those horns look lethal) but they're harmless. We walked past this bullock and it didn't even blink.

I was wondering why you see them mainly around Pui O and Shap Long. Then I found out from Hong Kong Outdoors (www.hkoutdoors.com) that they used to be very popular in Pui O as four-legged tractors for rice cultivation.

They're really restful to watch as they graze on the grass and most Lantau folks have a soft spot for them. Each spring, you see a few cute brown calves following their mothers on shaky legs and trying to suckle. They definitely give the place character.

Sadly, the government doesn't seem to like them very much and the buffaloes get killed ("culled" in political legalese) every so often to keep the population down. Some get into accidents crossing the South Lantau Road, which is very close to their favourite stomping ground.

Then there are the townies (the ones who scream if a chihuahua so much as sniffs their toes) who call up to complain about the buffaloes munching on precious plants. As if buffaloes can tell the difference between common grass and some exotic carpet variety.

Poor water buffaloes. There are so many obstacles they need to overcome just to survive. No wonder there are only 60-odd left now.

Long weekend

This year, National Day falls on a Friday. So, although Hong Kong may not have a Golden Week like China, we still had a long weekend.

People arrived in droves from the ferry to take advantage of the sunny weather to go hiking or just laze on the beach. The Mui Wo rural committee decorated the waterfront with flags.

It's almost enough to make you turn patriotic... nah!

Village walk

Every day, when I get off the ferry, I see a lot of my fellow commuters getting on their bicycles and heading for parts unknown. So we decided to check out just where they were headed. We walked down Mui Wo Rural Committee Road (just how rural is that name?) and found some sweet little villages behind the beach.

There were so many houses just crying out for a renovation that will make them wonderful minimalist homes. And there were also interesting villages giving you an idea of village life before the big bad city beckoned the young people: Pak Ngan village has a small square for villagers to play badminton or just hang out.

But there are some McMansions around too. Maybe a legacy from the older generation updated by the younger folks?

Mystery on Mui Wo

I was idly googling Mui Wo, as you do, and saw an interesting notice up on the police website:

"Police are seeking information on Terry Ridgley, who went missing in Lantau. Terry Ridgley, 45, from Tai Tei Tong in Mui Wo, went missing after a telephone conversation with his family on May 8.

"His brother reported the case to the police on July 22.

"He is about 1.83m tall and weighs 86kg. He is of medium build with a white complexion, a long and pointed face with short straight black hair.

"Anyone who knows his whereabouts or who may have seen him should call the police on 3661-1172. "

Sounds very mysterious. So anyway, this is my attempt at being public spirited. Has anyone seen Terry Ridgley?

Rained out

The ferry was so crowded on Wednesday that I couldn't get my usual seat (funny how commuting makes me grumpy, especially I get if I don't get my favourite place by the window).

It was mid-autumn festival and apparently the Silvermine Bay beach is one of the popular places to gaze at the moon, walk around with lanterns and do amazingly illegal stuff like release flammable lanterns into the flammable forest or cram candles into a used mooncake tin and watch it explode.

This year, however, the moon gazers were foiled by Typhoon Fanapi, which created a cloud cover over Hong Kong. It all but washed out the celebrations too -- just see what the weather was like the morning after, above.

But it didn't stop the amateur pyromaniacs elsewhere: A traditional Hung Ming flying lantern landed on an MTR train near the Sheung Shui station while a fire broke out at Lai Chi Kok park after a mooncake box attached with lighted candles was thrown into a rubbish bin.

Maybe it's a good thing Fanapi made everything so wet there weren't more fires breaking out.

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.