Monkeys Stole the Show

We took an MTR ride to Tsuen Wan, ate lunch, then took a #82 green mini-bus on a 20 minute ride to hike around Shun Mun reservoir in the New Territories. We had no idea the beauty we would encounter, or the little furry friends we would make that day.

We were hearing monkey sounds around the bend up ahead. We heard they can get aggressive, so I wanted to grab hold of a little persuasion to scare them. 

"Where's the picnic?" These two monkeys were sitting at a picnic table. 

Monkeys are very good at pushing garbage cans over and rummaging with their little hands. 

The reservoir level was down a bit, but beautiful. 

Many waterfalls and streams add water to the Shing Mun reservoir. 

A view of Tsing Yi, Tsuen Wan and even Lantau Island in the distance. Reservoir is in the foreground. 

For some strange reason, Laraine was intrigued by jets flying overhead. We were in the flight path of departing planes from Hong Kong Airport. The problem was . . they left every minute. She wanted so badly to catch one on her camera. 

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Glad I had a telephoto lens

Don't you just want to hug that little one? 

They were kind of obnoxious. After I told Laraine to look over at the two monkeys on the car, she discovered a monkey just over her head in a tree (no picture of that particular one). 

This is where we ended up . . . at the bus stop. These monkeys live in groups of about 200 and there were a couple of groups living near the reservoir. 

Abandoned Homes in Hong Kong

Sister Nanette Powell, Elder John Powell, Sister Linda Orton, Elder Kim Orton and we Chamberlains all went on a Saturday morning to Luk Keng area in Northeast Hong Kong's New Territories next to the mainland border. We had read about a village that had been abandoned by most of its residents. Sister Powell loves to walk through abandoned structures, and couldn't wait to do this the last week of her mission. So off we went on a very cold day. We were not disappointed.

Sister Orten (left), Elder Chamberlain, Sister Powell ask, "Hey, anybody home?" These particular homes were locked up. Inside it looked like the occupants had simply gotten up and walked out the door without taking anything with them. We were shocked that the families had left without packing anything, and also surprised that the homes were not vandalized or destroyed. 

Some homes had been abandoned for much longer periods. This is one of many that had large trees growing in the rooms. Some trees were 20-30 feet tall, and shot up through crumbled roofs. 

Mystery solved. I met this Mrs. Wong who told me that everyone had left the village to seek employment in England over the years. She is a Hakka native (she speaks "Hakka Waa"), but had learned enough Cantonese over the years that we could talk to each other. She was initially concerned about having her picture taken because on a previous occasion she inexplicably showed up in a newspaper. She was unaware about the newspaper until shopping one day someone came up to her and showed her a newspaper with her picture on the front page. We convinced her we were not reporters. 

Some of the abandoned homes were re-purposed as shrines by the remaining residents. 

We believe this was a very interesting grindstone with a hole on the side of the top disk for a wooden handle, and a hole in the top to pour grain. 

The local village temple's roof, with very ornate creatures. The building was well maintained. 

Many of the homes' floorboards, joists and beams were rotted all the way through. Usually, there was a fine 3-4 inch thick blanket of wood dust from termites. 

Very fascinating trees and roots attached to the buildings, actually giving them more support.

Very intriguing. 

One of the highlights of the venture. This is a bamboo forest with tangles of old, hollow bamboo stocks rubbing against each other in the wind. The sound it generated made it seem like it was alive and communicating with another tangle of trees a few meters away. It was an acoustical treasure. That's me recording the sound on my phone with Elder Orton behind me.  

Hiking up the path behind the homes, we got views of another village and the mainland China city on the other side of a small bay. Here is a protected place for the bones of a family's relatives. Chinese custom is to exhume the bodies of loved ones, clean the bones, and place them in jars for a while. Then, with the right fung shui, the relative is buried in a final resting place. The final resting place is often a horseshoe-shaped structure that sits on a mountainside and collects good qi so that the relative will be happy and assist the living.  

We believe this is a rather isolated section of Shenzhen across the bay from the Hong Kong side. 

We are happy to be in such a beautiful place, even though it's abnormally cold for Hong Kong. 

Blankets Blankets Blankets Scarves

After finishing our blankets project for the second time (due to demand, we created 800 more blankets, bringing our total to around 2,500 blankets), and from the leftover material we created 71 scarves to give to those in need. As it turned out the whole city was in need, as a cold spell hit Hong Kong and the news reported "frost chasers" who climbed Tai Mo Shan (the highest peak in Hong Kong) to get a rare glimpse of ice. The news said 85 of them had to be rescued because they couldn't come down due to the slick ice conditions (not snow). It was a perfect time to have completed so many blankets and warm scarves.

We are THROUGH with Fleece! Enough already!!

Hong Kong: Top to Bottom

Having done a lot of hiking in the hills around Hong Kong, we decided that a great hike would be to simply start at one end of the Hong Kong island and walk as far as we could to the other end, on streets. It would give us a good chance to talk to a few people and get a flavor of various neighborhoods. So we spent one P-day doing this:

Fresh off the subway at Chai Wan (far eastern town on Hong Kong Island), getting ready to start walking. 

A lot of construction projects to maneuver around. Hong Kong is always being built, re-built, re-claimed, or re-modeled. 

Our paths led through Shau Kei Wan and this little market. 

Somewhere closing in on North Point

Met this sweet woman who said she was 71 years old. The Filipina next to her said, "no, she's actually 91." She has 8 children, and many are in the U.S., but she doesn't get to see them very often, as she has a heart problem and can't travel. It was fun, and so great to be able to speak to people in their own language. It is also this kind of experience that helps us know just how important our P-days are, and time away from the office. As much as we are doing the Lord's work in public affairs, we have opportunities to do missionary work but usually only during our times away from the office.

Saw this building. Typical of Hong Kong--various businesses and organizations share the same building. I must confess, I'm not sure if the "we serve" refers to McDonald's or to the church. 

Private school boys playing basketball. It's amazing what they do in their white shirts and ties. 

Time to go back to class and to our writing assignment? Nah . . . I like playing basketball better. 

Queen Victoria statue at Victoria Park

Victoria Park. We actually walked a bit further than this. We walked a good 3.5 - 4 hours, stopping occasionally. It was a great January day.

Nan Lian Gardens and Chi Lin Nunnery

The Nan Lian Garden (南蓮園池) is a classical Chinese garden in Diamond Hill, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The garden has an area of 3.5 hectares. It is designed in the Tang Dynasty style with hills, water features, trees, rocks and wooden structures.

The garden was a joint project of the Chi Lin Nunnery and the Hong Kong Government. It opened to the public on November 14, 2006. Elder Kim and Sister Linda Orton (Asia Area medical missionaries), joined us and it was absolutely gorgeous. This garden is not very far from where we live. We enjoyed great January weather.