I write this to you, my world, not from a beach but from my couch. I am, however, thinking of the beach. Every beach, any beach. Last weekend I visited two: Repulse Bay Beach on Friday and Deepwater Bay Beach on Saturday. The differences are few and immaterial, for both allowed exactly the sort of exercise I craved. Bit of sun, bit of rest, bit of…
“Ladies and gentlemen, please note that there is no ball playing, saucer throwing, dogs or pets allowed on this beach. … blah blah blah.”
I was fine with the announcement at Repulse on Friday, for my trip to meet the awesome Nora was a spur-of-the-moment decision after a stellar gym session (read: I had no ball, saucer, dog or pet on my person). But Saturday! Saturday, I packed my Frisbee (yes, Frisbee) and headed to meet the aforementioned awesome Nora, sidekick Carlos and Elana. Anna and I traveled together, after our failed attempt to soak up some culture at the Cheung Chau Bun Festival.*
You can imagine my disappointment when, after five minutes of Frisbee with Carlos, the same jolly announcement came on in Cantonese, then Mandarin, then English. I doubt any of the yellow-and-red-clad lifeguards would’ve stopped us from continuing. But I’m such a rule-follower sometimes.
Whoever heard of no Frisbee on the beach? Have you? I hadn’t, until Friday. But I held out hope that maybe the announcement only pertained to THAT beach. There must be a beach in Hong Kong where I can throw my disc. This begins my quest.
But what’s a quest without an irrelevant Chinese proverb?
Zao3 chi1 hao3, wu3 chi1 bao3, wan3 chi1 shao3.
“Eat well in the morning, eat to full at noon, and eat sparingly in the evening.”
*I highly recommend everyone visit Cheung Chau at least every few months. Every time I go, I tell myself I should do this every Friday. Irene at the windsurf shop is so cool. Sit on the terrace of her bar with some brews and buds.
What a weekend. I meant to do some chillaxing, but I did a whole lot of everything else. I will say that two sunrise ferries in one weekend is probably two too many. But, still, a good time was had by all. The highlights*:
Friday, a.k.a. Cheung Chau Friday
My pal Rosa De Acosta and I met at noon in Central and hopped on the Fast Ferry to Cheung Chau Island. That’s right, folks, I made it a 3-island day**. We stopped first for some delicious seafood. Rosi was thrilled (THRILLED!) to see the scallops in the half-shell (Read her version of the day here.).
After our amazing seafood lunch, we walked to the windsurf shop, where we rented a kayak and befriended Irene, the owner. She assured Rosa that the sharks don’t come to Cheung Chau. We’d later learn that it’s probably because the water quality is so poor. But she didn’t seem too fazed about the two of us setting out to circumnavigate the island, telling she thought it would take a few hours. So, we snagged a kayak, zip-loc baggie, extra bottle of water and a couple life vests, and we’re off!
Turns out, Rosa and I are such badasses that we were back in 2.5 hours, “a record!” Irene exclaimed, arms raised, as we stumbled back up the cement ramp between the boat barn and the cafe. Oh, did I not mention that the windsurf shop doubles as a killer party venue? The flyers advertise it as having “more than 180 degrees” open to the harbor. Well, harbour.
While at sea, we saw more schools of little jumping fish than I can recall (I’d estimate I saw these little buggers jump out of the water in front of us at least 20 times. Sometimes a handful, sometimes a barrel-full). We saw a lot of flotsam, avoided close encounters of the ferry kind (Rosi’s biggest fear, even moreso than sharks), sang American camp songs (can somebody remind me how the song about the old lady who swallowed a fly goes? … You know:
“There was an old lady who swallowed a fly. I don’t know why she swallowed the fly. I guess she’ll die.”
Wait, does she swallow a lot of other things first? I guess I could google it. Regardless, it was an amazing time. If you go to the windsurf shop link above you can see a lot of great photos. Or go to Rosa’s blog for more of our (also great) photos.*
After conquering the sea surrounding Cheung Chau, we two wandered around the village. We were refused the right to buy a pink bun, let alone eat one. Rosa was told she was … well, fat. I’ll just say it because it’s not true. The lady running that shop was mistaken. While we waited for the next Fast Ferry back to Central, we saw a beautiful sunset (I didn’t know it at the time, but I would see a beautiful sunrise hours later).
Saturday
You’ll have to wait to read about Saturday. I need to get back to the store in Cheung Chau where they sell those cool little fish bags (not real fish) and retrieve my camera. I’m going to take a red envelope with a reward in it. We’ll see how that goes. Might just end up buying more bags. Don’t tell my niece and nephews.
* More pictures tk. I sort of left my camera in a shop that sells cool fish bags in Cheung Chau. But I had a nice convo with the shopkeeper, so I’m hoping she snagged it and is awaiting my return. That’s planned for today.
** My day took me on the following route: Lantau Island (home) - Hong Kong Island - Cheung Chau Island - Hong Kong - Lantau - Hong Kong
