Hiking in Tai-O and (un)lucky horseracing

After a relaxing morning, we spent Sunday afternoon hiking Part 6 of the Lantau Trail in the western part of Lantau Island. We hopped off the bus at Man Cheung Po and made our way leisurely towards Tai-O, a fishing village-turned-tourist-town. We passed country parks, catchwater drains, overgrown bamboo forests, gorgeous seemingly-out-of-the-way temples and pagodas and then all the way down down down towards the shore.

At Tai-O we strolled through the narrow winding streets, passed lots of fresh fish being hacked, weighed and sold (while still wriggling and squirming! see pic), and saw the stark difference in local houses (concrete 3 storey-buildings to miniscule tin shacks).

We stopped for a drink while watching the sun set into the sea, rode the bus (with a driver who must've thought he was driving a Formula One race car - at one point we ALL went airborne after hitting a huge bump), and had a delicious Italian dinner in Mui Wo at cozy restaurant La Pizzeria. We made it back home, in another hair-raising bus journey, just in time to catch the new episode of The Amazing Race Asia, our new weekly staple.

For Sue and Guy's last night in Hong Kong, we were off to the horse races to try our luck again! My grandfather, Aunt Jenny and cousin David came along also. We reserved seats at the Stable Bend restaurant, with an open patio and an outstanding all-you-can-eat buffet, it's probably one of the best places at Happy Valley Racecourse to take in the city view, place your bets, eat in luxury and hopefully win loads of cash. We did it all, except the latter. Oh well, sweet memories of winning in Macau were still fresh.

See pic of Guy and Sue in front of racecourse and incredible HK skyline; Grandpa Ma and I displaying my (un)lucky ticket.

We stayed until the very last race "just in case" and also because we wanted to bet on a horse called Great Guy, but unfortunately it just wasn't his night.

Back at home now, and Matt and I are doing our usual late night, last minute, packing. We're leaving for our long-weekend in Nagano tomorrow morning; YK and Tomoe have just moved back to Tokyo and the 4 of us will be staying at YK's company's dormitory in Hakuba. Snowboarding, onsens and Asahi beer, here we come!

As it so happens, Guy and Sue will be flying back home a few hours after we take off. After their hot/cold 'Down Under' Xmas and HK New Year I'm sure they'll have a lot of stories to tell. It was great to see you again! Bon Voyage! xx