Skating at the glacier

One of the most surprising activities I found at the local malls is public skating. Considering it's about 30C outside, it's no wonder skating is such a popular past time to cool off with. Most of the larger shopping centres in Hong Kong island as well as Kowloon have a small rink (compared to typical community centres in Toronto anyway) inside. I saw lots of kids come skate with their friends, or have private coaches that teach them to figure skate.

Here`s the "Glacier" skating rink at Festival Walk in Kowloon (Photo: CathC)

I didn't end up skating but instead had lunch rink side at Festival Walk's Exp restaurant. The restaurant was right beside the rink and they set up some bar tables next to the rink. I'm use to skating rinks that are pretty cool (<8C) but I guess since the rink is inside a mall they don't keep the temperature that cold. So fortunately my food didn't get cold too quickly even though I was by at the rink.

Clockwise from the top: pepperoni, salami, and mushroom pizza; softshell crab  in rice paper rolls;  raspberry & gauva soda and a orange & ginger juice; gelatin desserts with coconut ice cream. (Photo: CathC)

I enjoyed the eastern/western fusion of the menu. The dessert I tried had a nice variety of gelatin desserts: taro, sago and coconut milk; citronella and coconut milk, espresso and cappuccino. Even though there was about a 20 minute wait for seats, it was a good restaurant to spend a relaxing meal. The skating rink also gave a nice sense of familiarity too.

Happy Tuen Ng Festival

Today is the Tuen Ng festival in Hong Kong, which means it's time for the Dragon Boat races. I'm starting to appreciate these mid-week holidays that occur about once a month here in HK. Unlike long weekends which are great for traveling outside of the city, these mid-week holidays can still be pretty relaxing since they break up the work week into short two-day segments.

There were many of dragon boat races taking place at different locations across the city today--at Sai Kung, Sha Tin, Tuen Mun (Castle Peak Bay), Cheung Chau, Tai Po, Aberdeen, Discovery Bay and Tai O on Lantau Island and Stanley. I headed to the one at Sai Kung since it's so close to where I live. 

Sai Kung is only about a 15-20 minute minibus ride away from the Hang Hau MTR station but it felt like a completely different environment from Tseung Kwan O.  The ride there is through a long and winding road with lots of trees, shrubs, and grass on either side. On the way into Sai Kung I also passed by The Lions Nature Education Centre which feature a variety of educational exhibits; including, an arboretum, dragonfly pond, butterfly valley, medicinal herbal garden. 

The bus conveniently stopped off at the waterfront promenade where the races were taking place. Fortunately there wasn't a lot of pushing and shoving going on even though there were a lot of people at the event. Guess the crowd today were mostly families with young children.

Not only do the winners of the race receive a trophy and medals for each crew member, but the winning team also receives a whole roasted pork! I think this is a pretty unique touch and saw lots of happy crew members devouring the pig after each race to celebrate their win.

These roasted pigs varied in sizes-the team in the first place also won the largest pig. (Photo: Cath)

Today's races were very exciting to watch because the teams paddle towards us at the finish line. A couple of the races were very close and the top three teams were neck in neck for most of the race. Competitors included local businesses, university staff associations, and other community organizations.

Watching the dragon boat teams from the edge of the pier (Photo: CharK)

After the races were over, I walked around the pier and found a lot of fisherman were selling their seafood right from their boats. It's a pretty smart system, they have these long fishing nets to hoist the food up to the pier and people drop off cash back into the net. 

Look at all the seafood: mantis shrimp, horseshoe crab, squid. Apparently the seafood were pretty good deals, 100HKD for a box of flower crabs and the squid was 300 HKD. (Photo: CharK)

Aside from the fresh air, I really enjoyed watching all the cranes and hawks from the pier. I guess it's a great place to find for with all of the fish that's readily available. 

Check out the huge wing span of this hawk. (Photo: CharK)

 As I waited for the bus back to Hang Hau station, I tried a local favourite-茶果 which is basically a Hakka style mochi that's filled with black sesame and peanuts. They are a bit chewier and less dry than traditionally mochis. 

I thought these 茶果 were delicious (Photo: CathC).

A hidden gem in the concrete jungle

Once again I'm amazed by the green space that is around HK. I was walking around the Tsim Sha Tsui area by Ocean Center and randomly came across Kowloon Park. This park really is a hidden gem. Located in the middle of a busy shopping district, I wouldn't have imaged such a large open area.

The park is clean and well maintained. In the midst of a busy shopping area it's a quiet place to hang out and relax. You can wander around to see the birds or just sit on a bench by one of the many water fountains. There was a sign by the pond showing a variety of ducks that were supposed to around, but the only fowl I saw was a peacock. I wonder what happened to all of the other ducks?

The pond is very beautiful but no ducks around, just a lonely peacock in the distance. (Photo: CathC)

Check out the beautiful orchids growing in Kowloon Park. (Photo: CathC)

There are tall and lush trees throughout the park. Just looking at the size of the trees you know this park has been around for a long time.

Another special part of the park is the Hong Kong Avenue of Comic Stars. It's basically a section dedicated to famous Hong Kong comic book characters from the '60s to present day. I'm not much of a comic fan but I still enjoyed seeing all the figures. They were very well made and had an amazing amount of detail to them. Lo Fu Zi is such a famous character that crosses generations--even the young kids that came by recognized him immediately!

Lo Fu Zi is probably one of the most recognizable comic characters on display. (Photo: CathC)

So the next time you're looking for a place away from the shopping crowds, check out Kowloon Park. You can even enjoy an ice cream or cold drink from the small MickeyD stand in the middle of the park.