Signs....

Hong Kong is very organized and loves to label things and put up signs.  They even label and number trees and slopes as these four pictures demonstrate:

REMINDER:  click or double click on the pictures to make them bigger!

The following are a collection of interesting and funny signs that we have seen in our travels in Hong Kong and area.

This skull seemed way too happy to
be a skull....and don't you think this is
overkill for a flash flood warning?

This sign 'welcomes' you to a playground - an interesting
statement on this society that you have to tell people
not to hang your laundry here, and keep your
kids from gambling!

Once again this "sitting-out area" (park)
reminds us not to hang our laundry.

Who needs to go to Newfoundland to
see the icebergs?  Apparently they
are for sale near the Tai Mo Sham
waterfalls.  Sadly, it wasn't open
to inquire about pricing.

This could be the worse vegetarian
restaurant EVER 

Found on a Christmas display in a mall - are they
expecting a herd of buffalo? Picture this - a herd
of buffalo running through the mall, stopping here
and saying "oh, crap, there's a sign, Norman, I guess
the trampling's off"
(should be a Far Side comic)

Not a sign, but the scariest Santa
we have ever seen!

Is this sign REALLY required?

Seems odd to call it "down floor" but
that is the literal translation of the
Cantonese

Okay - technically I took this picture in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia, when I was there with
Brenda Halk - however, you think someone
would run this through spellcheck before printing
the sign...ah, the Swids!

What should we keep clean?  The beach or us?

How many people ran into this door to require
this sign to be put up?

This sign we pass daily as we ride the escalator home.
The story goes that request was made to produce a sign
for this street - however the sign maker (Cantonese
speaker) read the name backwards, and Alexander
Terrace became Rednaxela Terrace (try saying that
three times fast)

At a price of $46 Canadian each,
we think these crabs flew
First Class from Canada.

A recycle bin at a picnic area....we were a little
stumped by the BBQ fork recycling - can't we just
wash them and reuse them?  

 When an area is open and full of picnic tables, is this sign really necessary??

And speaking of hikes and parks, see who we met last weekend while hiking! The hiking book said we would see some monkeys - however, in reality there were several hundred monkeys which was a little disconcerting until we learned to just keep walking, don't make eye contact and once they realize you are not going to feed them, they will leave you alone.

When you keep your eyes open, it is always entertaining wandering around Hong Kong!
Love you all,
Linda and Jeff

A Different Side of Hong Kong

Hong Kong has so many sides other than the famous skyline of Central, Hong Kong Island....and whenever we can, we go out and explore the hiking side.  I am more fortunate than my hard-working husband to have time to explore, and am thoroughly enjoying an every other week hiking group of women from the American Women's Association (who are from all over the world....there is even another Canadian who is often in the group!)

Yesterday we went to Lantau Island and did Stages 5 & 6 of the Lantau Trail. Hong Kong has five long hiking trails, beautifully marked and scattered over all of the country.  The Lantau trail is a 70 km total route that circles part of the island, and is broken down into 12 stages - each stage starts and ends at accessible points for people.  Lantau Island is the largest island in HK (even larger than the one we live on), is home to the airport and the Big Buddha which you have seen in past blog posts, and is mainly open green hills with numerous Buddhist and Taoist monasteries and nunneries scattered in the hills.

Enjoy these pictures.....the weather was foggy (as many of the most recent days have been) so sometime I will return with Jeff on a clear day and get pictures of the view, and then show them to you.  Welcome to Lantau Trail, Stages 5 & 6!

Our first peak...Kwun Yam Shan
434 m

One our way up.... 

Still on our way up...

My new friend....these cows are wild on the island

On Ling Wui Shan peak
490 km

Finally on our way down....

One of the many monasteries
and nunneries in the hills

Lantau Island has so many trails
that we often stopped and made
good use of the signs!

This beautiful property is Lung Tsai Ng Yuen, a private
villa built by a Buddhist businessman exiled from
Shanghai many years ago - it is empty now
but still beautiful!

Does a lunch spot
get any better than this?

Memorial to ancestors along the
path (if you make it bigger
you will see pictures of them on the
centre front section)

We ended in Tai O, a fishing
village on stilts

 What a wonderful way to spend a few hours!  Hope you enjoyed the trip, too.

We will see what adventures happen next in Hong Kong....one never knows!

Love you all,

Linda