Day 7 (Max)

Day 7 became a foray into the New Territories. The New Territories is an area that was initially developed as a placement response to the many chinese refuges caused by World War 2. It is less of a tourist area, focusing more on the needs of the Hong Kong citizens and those of us who want to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

I started the day by dropping off my laundry (washed, dried and folded for $5 US), eating breakfast at Toast Box and taking the MTR to the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, near the city of Sha Tin. The ticket to the museum was just $10 HK (~$1.25 US). I learned about chinese opera/movies from the 1940s and 1950s (it didn't resonate strongly with me) and the history of the New Territories (very interesting!).

From the museum, I hopped back onto the MTR to the city of Tai Po. Lunch became a priority, as it was around 2PM and I had some significant hiking ahead of me. I ducked into a local noodle shop in the MTR terminal. After failing miserably with a Cantonese menu, a local guided me through ordering a vegetable soup and ramen with shrimp dumplings (all for naught, as the english menu was right below my Cantonese one). BTW, the ramen, unlike the horrors inspired by our styrofoam american college-student version, was delicious with a pleasing texture.

Taking a five minute taxi ride, I arrived at the Tai Po Kau Nature Reserve. According to my guide book, this reserve began in 1926 as an effort by the government to reforest and restore some of Hong Kong's lost forests (resulting from normal human activity and the Japanese Occupation). Through the hour and a half stroll, I learned about the biology of the area, including special birds, plants and trees. The area was breathtakingly beautiful and peaceful, especially considering it was only the second time in my trip that I left the chaos of the city. Bizarrely (at least to someone from the USA), there were monkey control problems in this forest. Interactions with monkeys had specific instructions (Don't feed them or look at them - otherwise they may intimidate you for food).

Returning home exhausted, I briefly relaxed before preparing for dinner. Sam suggested we try a very popular Dim Sum restaurant named Tim Ho Wan. Dim Sum is basically Hong Kong's interpretation of unhealthy but delicious food - dumplings and pastries filled with meats, sweets and the occasional vegetable thrown in for good measure. Unfortunately, in exchange for Tim Ho Wan's excellent food and prices, the restaurant is fairly hostile, hard to find, and requires long waits (up to two hours according to Sam). Due to getting lost a couple of times, Sam and I missed our reservation and decided to go to another less famous Dim Sum street restaurant. The food was decent but was a bit rich for my tastes (maybe just a response from all the unhealthy food I consumed in the last week or so). We returned home soon after eating, as my feet howled from today's hours and miles of walking.

Cheers!

Max