Finding the Right Hole ;)

            Do you know what kind of holes that I'm talking about here? Of course you don't know, do you? From the smallest hole to the black hole, there are too many possibilities. Oh well, I guess you have so many choices with so little time.  So, let's just read this post until you find the right hole. ;)
            I hardly recall since when I started taking pictures of the insects. Guess, since I got a camera as my 23th birthday gift last year? Birthday gift from myself, lol! But no, I wasn't really interested in taking pictures of small objects, not even the moving objects, not especially small living objects that keep moving, the insects! But once I did, I felt the adrenaline rush, when I had to wait for minutes, even hours to get the good pictures. What I really liked was when I had to move in a very slow motion, while I'm such an impatient person, I have to say. So yeah, that was really challenging for me. I've posted some of the nice pictures on the Instagram, but then because of some reasons that I can't explain, I've deleted my both accounts there. Pfffttt!
            OK, back to the topic, the right hole. I usually go to the bamboo forest near the sports ground every morning. Not because I'm  looking for young bamboo sticks to feed my Panda (some of my friends call me MandaPanda, aww). I don't want to deforest nor do I want to find the bamboo shoots to make "sayur lodeh". I just regularly come to visit my friends there, the carpenter bees.
            As I pay a visit everyday except Sunday, I know quite well about their habits, I can tell which holes are empty and which bamboo sticks are full of bees. But today I got a surprise, ughhh! Hahaha


It has pretty sharp mouth and can you see its red tongue? :p



         I spent half an hour with this cute guy before I decided to explore the other side of the forest. I walked twice passing another bee without noticing it until I finally saw a black object and I screamed "oh my gosh, I almost stepped on you!" What a relief, hahaha.
 

Yup, that's him!

           Because I got stung by a carpenter bee few days ago and that wasn't really nice, I've learned a lesson then. This time I didn't want to take any risks although I didn't mind touching them. But I couldn't move quickly if I put him on my finger (that was the reason that bee stung me, because I moved way too fast and it made him feel in danger, even though I didn't provoke him!), so I found a stick for him to hold on.



It looks like he's giving me a kiss! Awwwww :D a kiss by a bee?
 Hahaha as long as it's not a kiss on your lips, then it'd be safe for you.

Why didn't he fly? "Why are you complaining about the way I move? Remember, it's my territory human!" Alright, alright, stay cool, you bee!

           I don't know why, maybe he was too tired to fly? He's too old, as I could see the white hair on some parts of his body. Or he might just have a fight with another male bee. I tried to find a hole for him. But whenever I put him near the entrance, there was always a bee inside. They showed their asses to block the holes, some were showing their heads and almost attacked the old bee. After 5 attempts I finally could get an empty hole for him. Oh well, I called it the right hole :) He was, without doubts, crawling inside the bamboo stick. Haha, he looked pretty excited to meet some other bees. I said goodbye and left him with his new friends. I hope I can see him again tomorrow as he's pretty noticeable because of his hair! ;)          
            Now you all know the right hole that I keep talking about, don't you?

Is it the right hole? Nah, it's not! But that's fine, let's just find another one

Haha, I know you're happy now, but I'll  still pay you a visit tomorrow!

Next Destination: Tai Tong Ecopark, yayy!

           Hollaaa!!! It's been a while I didn't update my blog since my last hike to Grass Island in March. As that was a solo hike, I had to take complaints from my friends who always wanted to join me. So, when one of them told me that she really wanted to ride a horse, I tried to get a piece of info, I kept it in my mind about her wish, and even though we had to postpone it several times, because of the weather, the insanely busy schedules of our Sundays, finally, yesterday, we made it happen, yayy!

         1st May, an International Workers' Day, but we called it Labour Day here in HK, is a public holiday. But because it was on Sunday, so we had it on Monday, as the replacement. I had so much fun on Sunday night, hanging out with some friends, doing girly things and having dinner together. So, the next day, I woke up in a very good mood, I even greeted my grandma when she was still in bed, ckckckckkck.

        I told my friend that we'd have another friend who also wanted to go with us. I didn't want to disappoint anyone, so I tried to buy some time from the first girl, while we were waiting for the second girl to show up. Haha, it, to be honest, was a tricky situation for me!

        We started the journey from Meifoo MTR station at around 11.30 a.m. We chose the West Rail Line to Tuen Mun, but got off at Long Ping MTR station. I didn't really pay attention about the timing, as we were having nice chit chat along the way. We took exit B2, going to the K66 bus stop, but before that, we grabbed some food, and brought it as victuals. We walked back to the footbridge going to the bus stop. I saw K66 big bus, but we didn't catch it, as it was quite far. When the next bus arrived, after 10 minutes waiting, we asked the driver was that bus going to Tai Tong? He said that we waited at the wrong bus stop, aiyyaaaa! We should wait at the bus stop that was on the opposite side of the road! Alright, we were all spontaneously babbling nonstop, hahaha. I wasn't sure about this journey at the beginning, because when the first girl called me in the morning, I heard her voice was different, sounded like she was sick. So, I urged her to quickly get her breakfast and take the medicine, thank God, she did! And the second girl, she usually spent her days off at home, sleeping, or just being lazy, she didn't seem like moving her ass to get the fresh air. But heyy, just after she jumped out of her bed, she ran to us, and even though I've known that she would make it, I still appreciated her efforts somehow! While for me, at first, I wasn't interested about the idea of riding a horse, although I haven't tried it yet. But, the review about the park that we were going to, was really bad. Most of the visitors only gave it one star of five. The pony ride was just way too fast, only few seconds, they said. The animals there were dying, and there was no attractions, such a boring park. I needed to agree, as I visited Tai Tong Ecopark last year, or maybe two years ago, and at that moment, its condition was awful. But, with all the uncertainty, we finally got there safely, even more, we were extremely happy!

        Again! I wasn't sure how long did it take from Long Ping to Tai Tong bus stop, because we were having random conversations, like nonstop! Hahaha. Until I suddenly said, "Heyy guys, don't you think it's better for us to just going down and ask the driver about where we should get off?" Ahhh yeah, it was the right decision at the right moment, because the destination was right in front of us. Lucky us!!! We compactly thanked the driver, and he added "But heyy girls, you still need to walk around 20 minutes to get there, and have fun!"



Haha,we were so happy just seeing this banner

     The first thing I noticed was the Pang or Pong ride, haha, I spent few seconds complaining about it. It should be Pony laa, come on, why did they write it Pang? Oh well unless the horse's name is Pang, blablabla, etc. Even both of my friends they ignored me,,ughh,,haha, the first girl was busy showing her best pose while the second girl was enthusiastically taking pictures of almost literally anything she saw along the way, aiyaaa! But it was really fun!!

 

Does anybody want a drink?

      We found an abandoned restaurant, and I was so curious. I was about to come to take a look what was inside of it, until I remembered our first destination was Tai Tong Ecopark. So yeah the first girl @KhusnulKotimah even needed to remind me and we were arguing on the street like a cat and a dog, only if you know what I mean off course! :p

OK, if you wanna go to that old restaurant, then just go back!



     I said yeah, yeah I'm not listening to this! I only wanted to take a look while you're busy taking selfie laa. As we all know that you stop at almost every spot to take some shots :D Haha, she admitted that, though! But that didn't stop us for continuing our journey. And here I need to thank the second girl @EllenWidjayantiPotoruw because the credits of the pictures here is belong to  her, yup, She was the one who took the pictures!!! Thank you! I owe you an ice cream!:p



Haha, you don't need to thank me, n not an ice cream heyy, but two!

      We haven't even reached the entrance yet! Hahaha but I feel like I've been talking too long, just don't get bored of reading this, because the riding horse part will be on the second part, the babies goat, the bunnies, birds and the giant lazy pig too! For the review, I'll say it again, take MTR to Long Ping, then take exit B2 to the K66 bus stop to Tai Tong Ecopark. If you're going there, I strongly suggest you to bring an insect repellent with you guys. Or just wear long sleeve t-shirt and trousers instead. But if you can't keep up with the hot weather, the an insect repellent is the best choice for you. Happy exploring!!!!

Tap Mun Island, Camping with the Cattle!

    




    

     Today I went to Tap Mun Island, Hong Kong. OK, If you have no idea where it is, I'm going to give you a piece of info about it (let's ask Grandpa Google)!! Grass Island (Chinese: 塔門) or Tap Mun is an island in Hong Kong, located in the northeastern part of the territory. Its area is 1.69 km².^[1] Administratively, it is part of the Tai Po District. There are about 100 people living on the island. It is located in the northeastern part of the Hong Kong territory, between Mirs Bay and the North Channel. It lies north of the Sai Kung East Country Park on the Sai Kung Peninsula. To the east is Kung Chau, to the south is the South Channel, to the west is Wan Tsai and to the southwest is Long Harbour.

Grass Island, Hong Kong

 

     I wanted to hike to Lantau Peak at first, because I've checked the weather and today would be a great day to watch the sunrise, as it'd be a sunny day, they said. The thought of watching sunrise was suddenly running through my mind in Saturday evening. Fortunately, I've bought two big bottles of water in the morning (1.5 lt each bottle) I planned to go out at midnight to catch the last train to Tung Chung. I had it twice, night hike. First, with my boyfriend (at that time) but we failed, as there was a heavy rain at 4 a.m. so we didn't reach the Peak. And the second, I hiked alone to the Lantau Peak and that was extremely cool! I didn't see the full sunrise because I left the Peak when it was dawn, I just couldn't stay longer. There was really cold, and I was all wet of sweats, hahaha and even worse, I didn't bring any jackets with me! But I could still seeing the sunrise, although wasn't from the peak. So, the urge of watching the full version of it, haunted me so bad at that evening. I was so excited yet a little bit nervous as I needed to sneak out if I wanted to do that journey. I forgot about the bus that I took from the last hike, so I searched for it on the internet, but I couldn't find it, even until 11 p.m. I suddenly remembered that I also broke my flashlight on that hike. Too tired of searching without getting any results, I fell asleep! So bleurgghh! I know, yeah yeah,, and I didn't even set my alarm,,ckckcckk! So, yeah, guess what? You're right, I woke up too late! Dang! :p  It was about 7.30 a.m. when I opened my eyes. Guten morgen, welt!!!

     I didn't blame myself for waking up too late. So I changed the destination, searching for a while about 10 best trails in HK and I ended up choosing Tap Mun Island. Because the review was way too good! Also one of my friends, she recommended me to visit it long time before I got this chance, so I always wanted to go there. I searched again about how to go there, but because I needed to get back at 3 p.m. so I chose the earliest and the fastest way to go there. My choice was going by red minibus from Mongkok. Its stop is on Dundas Street, right in front of the garbage disposal. It's way closer if you take the MTR to Yau Matei exit A2, you just need two walk 2 minutes and you will reach the minibus stop. Because I wanted to know exactly how long would I take from Mongkok to Saikung by red minibus, I kept my eye on my watch, lol! A little bit too much though, for the other passengers. The minibus left Dundas Street at 8.27 a.m. OK, let's just make it 8.30 a.m, deal?

     8.58 a.m. we reached Saikung, yayy! You can take both 94 or 96R big buses from Saikung to Wong Shek Pier. I waited for the first bus for my departure, and I finally took 94 after 15 minutes waiting. Yup, it was 9.15 a.m. at that moment we were leaving Saikung. I couldn't remember exactly how long was it take, but I think it was around 45-50 minutes, as I got off few minutes to ten. The information I got from the internet, also the boat timetable there, they both have the same schedule, so I thought I need to wait until 10.35 a.m. to get on the boat. But I was wrong, there were so many small boats going to Tap Mun Island. That's good, so just don't worry about not getting or missing your boat :p The fee was  HK$ 20 and it was pretty fast. It could take approximately 18 people. It took us only 10 minutes to reach Tap Mun. I was to be honest a little bit surprised, hahaha,,but that was good!

     I started hiking at 10.30 a.m. and I had no idea that it'd be so crowded there, goshhhh!I even needed to walked really slow because there was a group of tourists in front of me, so I just joined them. There was nothing special during the hike, was a very easy trail to walk, If I could rate, I'd give one star of five! It's actually good for a family hike, especially family with kids. Ahhh,,, and yeahh I saw so many families bringing their kids to hike and camping there. Again, there was too crowded! I thought it'd be a long walk, at least two hours was needed. But I was wrong, without even realising it, I  reached the starting point again, hahahah! I took some pictures and walked to the balanced rock. I didn't notice the rock, I mean rocks were everywhere there, so who cares about the balanced or equilibrium rocks, except for anti-gravitation rock for sure! :p But  then I saw the lower part of the hill, and I instinctively knew which one was the balanced rock, that was the biggest rock on the beach.

My starting point! ;)

    

He looked so cool!

 When my eyes accidentally caught a figure of cattle, I happily ran to their direction, ignoring the people I passed by. I came closer to them and yeah, what else? I was enthusiastically taking pictures of them. I sat on the bench and two of those cattle were coming to me, even one of them was hungrily licking my fingers, awwww!! When I was about to leave, the cutest cow was standing so close to me, with his nostrils were widely open, he looked like smiling to the camera saying "Heyy, human, let me take selfie!" Muhahahhaha, that happened twice, the second time, when I was taking his picture from distance, and he ran coming to the camera, waaaa!! So yeah, the most interesting part from today, was a moment when I played with those cattle! And then following by nice views there. I was pretty lucky, as today was a sunny day. I continued walking to New  Fisherman's Village (or whatever its name) then I got on the 12 p.m. boat. This time I took the big boat. I was sort of starving, so I bought some packs of potato chips before I jumped to the boat. Belly won, yayy!!

Where is my food, human???

 

     Oh well, there were only 10 people on the lower deck and 5 people, including me on the upper deck. I could see the captain through the glass window, he was an old man who looked like a retired sailor for me, although I imagined that I was on the pirate's ship!!!(Hahaha the imagination was running wild!) There was only a crew on that boat, an old uncle (not old enough to be called a grandpa, though). With a box in his hand, he was collecting the money from the passengers. I was kind of surprised about how traditional their method was. That uncle asked me, "Where are you going Miss?"

I said, "Wong Shek Pier, so how much is it, uncle?"

He smiled and said, "HK$ 14 only, for a nice girl like you."

"Hahah, owh, thank you!" I laughed and gave him the money.

He then handed  me the ticket. With the old way of collecting money, I suddenly felt old, I missed the traditional life, and I liked that feeling.

     20 minutes later, our boat docked at the pier. Yes,, it was twice longer than small boat that I took in the morning. I got off and walked to the bus stop. This time I took 96R big bus to Diamond Hill MTR Station. I tried so hard to stay awake, but I was about to puke! Uggghhhhh! I finally fell asleep until suddenly there was someone tapped my shoulder. And because of it, I jumped from my seat, lol! The uncle who woke me up looked shocked, hahaha so did the other passengers. They laughed at me saying, "Wahh,,,,you look exhausted, no wonder u were sleeping like a baby." I shyly smiled and thanked him. I didn't remember to check my watch, as my stomach was singing loudly. As soon as I got off, I ran to the nearest shopping mall, haunting for food!!hahahahah! It Sounds like I was in the middle of the jungle :P

Adios, Grass Island!

 

     Overall, I'd give 2.5 of 5 stars. Wasn't a great hike, but It wasn't a bad one either. If you're planning to go to Saikung, I advise you to hike to Sharp Peak instead. Trust me, it's really worth a climb to reach the peak. 4 stars of 5! Or just simply go for a cliff jumping, or go to any beaches on Saikung! Tap Mun is OK, but it isn't really good as its review. Happy exploring!!!! :D