Parents were here for a short trip 19th-21st Sept to celebrate my birthday with me. We had roast goose, at Tsuen Wan, which was too oily, and way too far. Oops, meat overload then.Back at my place, the next morning was porridge at the trusty Law Fu Kee, which parents liked. Then off shopping and sightseeing around Tsim Sa Tsui.
Dad said HK has a poor standard of living, small homes, bad air... arranged a land tour of the New Territories the next day. We saw a temple which housed three major religions: Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism in HK.
Noteable was the Hakka Village out around Fanling. Saw an old woman walking with bound feet through the narrow alleyways, almost making us feel claustrophobic. Our angmoh tour guide said, in the past, the tiles on the top the the houses served as a means of identification to guide the villages to their homes. But right now, most of the houses are left vacant as the owners' children have all moved to U.K to work/live, so no one bothers to look after it. Such a pity.
I like the Tai Mo Shan, which is the tallest mountain in HK. Great breeze. Pity the sky was filled with smog from China of course, so we could not make out the views of the harbour and the distant areas.
We also visited the Bride's Pool (which is said to be very haunted because a bride fell and drowned inside on her rainy wedding day), had a great view of eagrets (the birds that resemble white cranes) at the Plover Cove Reservior (so much algae, yucks, but spot the Eagrets!), and Sam Mun Tsai Fishing Village in Taipo. (See below the below) I think she (old tour guide) said people live on these boats and cast nets for fishing.
After this, we three headed into Shenzhen from Shatin and then, to our horrow, we got booked by the MTR inspector for travelling first class on the train, but not upgrading our MTR cards. He kept pointing to the HKD$500 fine. Well, my defence was that I thought I had to tap after we alighted, just like how airport express works, and it was our first time stepping into first class. In the end, we were let off with a warning letter for our ignorance.At Queen's Spa, the legendary place to go for massage in Shenzhen, we relaxed. I think dad liked his pedicure & Chinese style body masssage. Below is a picture of his foot, and he managed to fall asleep while he was being cleaned up. Mom did a body scrub & massage.
The last day was pretty simple, had lunch with Shaune at Tsui Hang Chun and boy, I think we ate a lot. BBQ meats + Dim Sum + Dessert. After a quick walk around Causeway Bay, I dropped parents off at the airport before heading to Stats class. I think I missed their presence so much, that I could not stop tearing on the airport express back.
In the end, their flight got delayed by 2 hours (can't imagine as they were on SQ, but parents finally got back home safe and sound. :)
