November 6 2006 - Hikes, Shenzhen and an Orchid Farm

Last week I visited an organic farm in Hong Kong. That almost sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? The farm is up in the New Territories. It was started back in the 1950’s by two wealthy brothers. The brothers wanted to help all the refugees from the Mainland that were coming to Hong Kong. They needed information on the best farming methods and what grew well in this area. Gradually over the years, as the refugee problem was reduced and people moved away from farming, the farm’s focus has changed. Now it is more of a model farm, demonstrating organic farming methods to the public, and serving as a raptor sanctuary and wildlife refuge.

The farm was beautiful – go look at my pictures – and seemed part of another world, still an Asian world, but one that cares for nature in a more Western way, as if the earth really IS a limited resource and it isn’t always so important that YOU get what you need first. I know that’s culturally judgmental, but I don’t know quite how else to put it.

I enjoyed our visit there. It made me wish I had a space where I could grow some vegetables. I think I actually could grow lettuces, probably all winter long, because our balcony is sheltered and shady, but I don’t think we get enough sun, even in the summer, to grow something like tomatoes. We have a bougainvillea and a lemon tree and neither one of them will bloom. They had excellent examples of how to create a square foot garden with limited space.

Hiking, hiking, hiking

Last week I went on two hikes. The first one was another hike with the AWA super-fit ladies hiking group. It was to a place called Cloudy Hill in the New Territories. Most of the hike wasn’t difficult at all, but when we got to Cloudy Hill we had to climb over 1,000 steps to get to the top. THAT was a challenge! I definitely brought up the rear, and I was pushing myself. I need to stop being “threatened” by these ladies and just go at my own pace. If I had not tried so hard to keep up, and had just found a climbing pace that worked for me, I probably would have done better. I’ll try that on the next hike I do with them!

The view from the top was spectacular, and the rest of the hike went along a ridge with just fantastic views. The temperature was really nice too; warm, but not too hot. They said that they had done this hike in July, and some people got heat exhaustion. I can believe it!

I wore my new hiking clothes – hiking pants that zip off and change into shorts, quick-dry shirt, and even had a walking stick! I felt very “with-it”! I was the second-to-oldest woman on the hike, but the oldest was 60, and she was up with the speediest climbers. I’m just too darn competitive!

We ended the hike at a good Indian restaurant in Tai Po Market. Hong Kong is just SO big. This is another area I had never been to. It seemed like another city in itself. I guess this is what New York or Chicago are really like – dozens of pretty large cities all strung together. At lunch they were talking about the hikes they have planned for the next couple of weeks. I’m going on one on November 30^th when we get back from Thailand that sounds like fun, but challenging. We’ll climb the 7 (or is it 8) Fairies, a series of peaks, up, down, up, down, up, down, etc. I am determined to do them at a steady pace that I can handle without gasping for air and having to stop! The other hike I haven’t decided about yet. They were trying to convince me to do it, but the description sounds kind of scary. It actually involves some climbing. They swear there isn’t any exposed rock, which I absolutely will NOT do. I don’t mind climbing some, but just don’t want to put myself in a position where I’m in over my head.

The second hike was with Lee this weekend. It was another one from the Jan Littlewood book. This hike was rated as a “snake” hike, which meant that it had some rough trails in it. Well, THAT was a bit of an understatement! Part of the trail was really overgrown. I felt like a machete might have been helpful. It was never very hard to find, at least. And part of it involved some serious climbing, scrambling up rocks, and using ropes that were slung along the path. Crazy! It actually was a lot of fun, at least I liked it. I think Lee thought it was a little much. We ended up climbing Mount Collison. It isn’t a huge mountain, but we were definitely up at the top of the range of mountains on Hong Kong Island. From there we descended and walked along the Dragon’s Back, a famous hiking trail on the Island. The views were just lovely, and this part was easy compared to what we had just done. It was funny, though. We had hardly seen anyone during the first part of the hike, but once we got to Dragon’s Back it was like being in a city park. Lots of people.

Shenzhen Again.

I went to Shenzhen both last week and this week. I just love going there; it’s SO much fun! I’m getting better deals all the time. My ideas of what to have the tailors make are expanding. Last week I had a suit jacket copied and it came out really nice. This week I’m having my suede jacket copied, in cream and in black. With the black jacket I’m also getting a matching skirt made. Cool! Then, I’m experimenting a little. I really want a stylish sweater coat, but the ones I’ve seen that I like in Hong Kong are really expensive - $3,000 HK (close to $400 US). So, I found a picture that I liked on the web, and they have some really neat loose-weave knits so I’m experimenting. The cost for the two suede jackets and the suede skirt? $500 HK ($64 US). The cost of the sweater coat? $200 HK ($26 US). I’ve also started buying shoes there, from these cute boys that laugh at my attempts to speak Cantonese. Last week I bought a pair of pink camouflage converse tennis shoes for $175 HK ($22 US). Sandy said that was too much (she ALWAYS says that) so this week I bargained harder and got another pair of converse tennies (green cammo this time) AND a pair of Birkenstock clogs for $325 HK ($42 US, so $21 apiece). Next time (well, how many pairs of converse tennies do I need anyway?) I’m going to try to get them for $150 apiece! Ha.

This week when we went Jan and I drove. Actually Jan drove our car, since Fred likes to drive theirs to work. It was more relaxing for sure. There’s a parking lot one stop before Lo Wu, so we drove that far and then took the train to the border. One really odd thing to see was this area where apparently all these small-time operators bring goods over from China. There they are, sitting on the sidewalk with their boxes and bags, bargaining with each other. It made me realize that if I pay the same price for something in China that I pay in Hong Kong, even in the Ladies Market, somebody is making a big profit!

Now today I discovered another fashion mecca. This is a store that Sandy told me about in Wan Chai (what would I do without her?). Even if I never manage to learn more than the very rudiments of Cantonese I’ve still learned SO much from her about living in Hong Kong! The place is on Greeson Street, the same street that the towel lady is on. It’s a small shop on the ground floor that on the surface looks like the dozens of other shops selling cheap clothes in Wan Chai. But, when I started browsing the racks I realized it was all designers – Marc Jacobs, BCBJMaxmara, Chloe, DKNY, Missoni, etc.! I tried on a couple of pairs of Marc Jacobs pants. The jeans, although they were marked as 4’s, were way too small. The next pair, marked as 6’s, were way too big! Then I tried on a jean skirt that fit great. I tried on a couple of sweaters (one Missoni) but didn’t especially like them. As I was trying to decide if I really wanted the jean skirt or not I found another rack with, guess what? A sweater coat! It fit great…it was some Japanese designer…no label though. I asked how much. She said $480. Oh, I said, expensive – gwai la. She laughed (they always laugh at my Cantonese)…okay, I’ll give you discount…and boom! She dropped it to $380! Okay! I said. Then she tried to talk me into buying the skirt. She said it was $325. I said I didn’t think I really wanted it. She said how about $280? Hmmm, I thought…okay I said, what about $225? Oh, she said, but this is new arrival! Okay I said, I don’t really want it, never mind. Okay, okay she said, $225! The thing was, I really DIDN’T want it! So I didn’t buy it, just the sweater coat. I did think later that I could have had a Marc Jacobs jean skirt for less than $30 US…but that’s okay!

The store was pretty much all sized for Chinese though. A lot of US 4’s and 2’s, and European 36’s. A few US 6’s and 8’s. From the way those 4 jeans fit me, I think they might be the old US sizes too. So it’s not a place to go if you need anything above a 6 or an 8, but if you’re small, it was great!