Hong Kong (volume 5)

This is it. My last update from Hong Kong.

Saturday, December 19th

I hiked section one and part of section two of the MacLehose trail on Saturday, rounding out my to do list in Hong Kong. Discover Hong Kong says the Sai Kung Peninsula Hike takes approximately 7 hours, so given my previous experience with Discover Hong Kong’s time estimates, I assumed 4 hours. It’s the longest hike I’ve ever done, at over 15 kilometres.

After taking bus 299X from Sha Tin, it cost $60 for a taxi from Sai Kung Bus Terminus to Tai Mong Tsai Road, split among three people. We started the hike shortly before noon.

The first half of the hike wasn’t bad, but the second half made this hiking trail my favourite day trip in Hong Kong.

It included a detour to explore the High Island Geopark, taking a break at Long Ke Wan beach (with really white sand and blue water) and watching the sunset with a storm system coming in. Absolutely breathtaking.

Notice how I said sunset. The hike ended up taking way longer than expected. We had to walk around in the dark, using my phone as a flashlight. I’m so thankful I was not alone. Later, we took the wrong path at a fork in the road, going to Sai Wan village on the right instead of Sai Wan Pavilion on the left, which added another hour to the hike. By the time we reached the end, it was already close to 8 pm.

There’s no cell reception at Sai Wan Pavilion, and there are opportunistic taxi drivers who will take advantage of that by pretending to be on call, so book a taxi before the end of the hike while you can. The driver we encountered wanted $200 to take us back to Sai Kung Bus Terminus, which we negotiated down to $150. He is now under observation by the Transport Complaints Unit. (That’ll teach him not to screw with me.)

Really fun, and incredible scenic.

Highly recommended.

Sunday, December 20th

I went to Shatin Church for what was probably the 10th and final time today. It’s an international church, so everything is in English. I still prefer my home church in Sydney, but I’ve enjoyed being here, despite never getting involved with the church’s other activities.

Shatin Church is held in a school hall. To get there, you can take a bus from Sha Tin. But I just take walk for 15 minutes from Fo Tan.

Monday, December 28th

Spending the past couple of days off-campus in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon has made me really appreciate my special status as a CUHK student here. I feel insulated from the hustle and bustle that is Hong Kong at CUHK, which is far more slower paced, and the high cost of living through subsidised accommodation and food. I’ve been able to explore the city over a semester at my own pace, which was fun, rather than as a short-term tourist, which I don’t think I would enjoy.

Tuesday, December 29th

I went on a hike in early November. I haven’t mentioned it, because the scenery at Tsim Bei Tsui was underwhelming, though there were brief glimpses of the Shenzhen skyline across the Deep Bay. But it’s memorable to me.

Because I went with just one friend. (Usually I hike with at least a few people.)

What we talked about was far from timeless. But talking to a single person, for hours, allows you to get to know them better very quickly.

That’s so much more valuable to me than hanging out in a group.

There’s another friend, who I only ever met for lunch or dinner. It was weird that we didn’t have any mutual friends, which was probably the reason why we regrettably never did anything off-campus. But I became closer with her than with most other people I met in Hong Kong, by virtue of our one-on-one conversations.

I’m going to focus more on quality over quantity in my social life, because I find it far more enjoyable.

Wednesday, December 30th

I developed a habit about a month or two ago, to walk along the centre whenever I passed University Mall. There’s something special to me about that line, to be in the midst of where history happened last year, the pathway to the library, the centre of CUHK.

Today, walking that path one last time, I turned around half a dozen times to look back. I’m going to miss being here. I’ve never felt more free in my life than during my time at Lee Woo Sing.

I’m sad that my time here is up, but more so grateful I got to be here.

Goodbye CUHK. Goodbye Lee Woo Sing.

Wednesday, December 23rd

Farewells are hard. The test of distance begins, separating the true friends from the many acquaintances I’ve made this semester.

What if I fade away from the people I’ve come to care about?

That’s a scary thought to me.

For the true friends, I know goodbyes aren’t forever – we’ll definitely stay in touch. I know we’ll likely see each other again – I truly believe we are the first generation of globetrotters. I know they won’t fade away with time – because they each played their own special part in making my time here unforgettable.

But it’s still hard because I don’t know exactly how long it’ll be before we meet again, because there’s a void in me where their presence once was that I don’t know how to fill.

How lucky I am to have known somebody and something that saying goodbye to is so damned awful. – Evans Valens

How lucky I am indeed.