August happenings

I miss Diane Stormont and her wonderful Lantau Link (RIP, Diane). Nowadays, there's hardly any good website giving South Lantau folks some idea of what's happening in their area... which is a pity because there usually is loads going on. 

Anyway, let me do my part (and partly post this to remind myself). 

The two biggies in August - for me at least- are the Silvermine Bay Music Festival on Aug 17 to 19 and the Discovery Bay flea market on Aug 26.

The organisers of the music festival are expecting about 10,000 people to turn up.

And on August 26, the Discovery Bay flea market. Don't forget to give Jacqui a call to donate any items which you think can help raise funds for PALS. Clothes, books, home decorations, Le Creuset pots...

Green Island lighthouse

I usually doze off in the ferry but I try and make sure I'm awake to take in the view of my favourite lighthouse. There's precious little information on it but I did find this link on lighthouses in Hong Kong.

For those who are too lazy to click on, this is what it says:


Green Island (Tsing Chau) 
1905 (station established 1875). Active; focal plane 37 m (121 ft); white flash every 10 s. 17.5 m (58 ft) round granite tower with lantern and gallery, painted white. 1st order Fresnel lens in use. The keeper's house and other light station buildings are leased to to the Wu Oi Christian Centre as a youth drug rehabiliation center. 

Google has a satellite view. The lighthouse was built to carry the 1st order lens made available when the Cape D'Aguilar lighthouse was replaced by the Waglan Island lighthouse. The station was recognized as a Hong Kong Declared Monument in 2008. Located at the southwest point of Green Island, a small island off the west end of Hong Kong Island. Accessible only by boat; there are views from various ferries in Hong Kong Harbour. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS HOK-002; HK-069; Admiralty F3538; NGA 19460.

Hmm... I wonder if I should have taken drugs as a youth because the rehab centers appear to be in places with wonderful views. Joke, joke!

Gasp... choke!

The pollution hanging over Central was so bad that I started sneezing non-stop the moment I stepped off the ferry. 

These days, I find I can breathe easily only when I get back to Mui Wo as the trees and sea do have a positive effect on the air. We have so few green lungs in Hong Kong now.

Do you think the officials behind the Shek Kwu Chau incinerator proposal are jealous of South Lantau folks and want to spread the misery around?.

Hot hot hot

When it's hot like this...

 ... don't you wish you were here?

O pretty day

My colleagues say I never need to go away for a short break because "every weekend is a holiday for you". I must say when the sun is shining in Mui Wo, they might just be right.

Moove along now

On a bright sunny day, a nice patch of shade is bliss. So they ain't moving for nobody.

Perfect (10) storm

First typhoon signal 10 in 13 years and I must confess it terrified me. We didn't get very much sleep last night as we rushed about taping down the windows and then, just as we started to fall asleep, things started crashing about.

We waited for the ferries to start operating again but this was the sign that met us at the pier. Really? We knew since 8am that the signal was going to be downgraded to a T3. It takes close to three hours to react? And why, when they know how much pent-up demand there is for people desperate to go to work, do they put the slow ferry first?

Kudos to the New Lantao Bus company for getting buses out within minutes of the signal being lowered. The ride to Tung Chung extended my journey time by an hour but heck, that's better than having to explain to the boss why I could only get into office four hours after the T8 was lowered.

Luckily, good ol' McD's opened early for the hungry hoards waiting to get to work.