Fung Ying Sin Koon Temple : Ying and Yang Gateway

Fung Ying Sin Koon Temple : Ying & Yang Gateway

It actually never occurred to us to pay this taoist temple a visit, even though we have practically been passing by it for decades. Mind you, it's just a 5 minute walk from Fan Ling train station.

Time to make amends then and see what the fuzz is all about because the temple does feature heavily in tourist brochures and must visit websites of Hong Kong.

Apparently built in 1929, almost a century ago, it's a place of worship for the devout taoist community, ofcourse intertwined with regional folklore and other aspects of local religious practices.

For Laetitia and me, honestly, we couldn't care less, because of our ignorance.....our sincere apologies.

Apart from the beautiful shrines and majestically lavishly decorated structures, it was the pure sense of calmness that struck us whilst we were on these grounds. A tranquil getaway from the beehive that is synonymous with Hong Kong.

In addition to the main temple structures, we were informed that located at the back were the ancestral halls, or in other words, the urns containing the ashes of the deceased were stored there, albeit at the expense of a considerable sum of money.

Heaven and Earth, Earth and Heaven.......Ying and Yang, the essential cornerstone of the Taoist philosophy.

A fitting place for the devout and the spirits of the deceased to be interconnected to the 'two worlds'

Fan Ling - Lung Yeuk Tau Heritage Trail

Fan Ling - Lung Yeuk Tau, 龍躍頭, "Mountain of the Leaping Dragon" Heritage Trail. 

When one thinks of Hong Kong, minds will go wandering about the magnificent skyline viewed from the Peak, the bustling and overcrowded streets, an abundance of dim sum dishes, shopping bargains, Big Buddha statue, ....add on Disneyland and Ocean Park. Simply put, a true tourist heaven.

What the average tourist doesn't realize is that there's still so much to discover about Hong Kong than just all the above mentioned. 

In the New Territories, more exactly close to Fan Ling, refer to my previous posting about Fan Ling : http://yuenslair.blogspot.com/2011/02/fanling-worshipping-ancestors-every-10.html

Amateur hikers can enjoy a gentle sightseeing walk along Lung Yeuk Tau Heritage Trail.

With that in mind, Laetitia and me set off to explore this trail with its heritage buildings dotted along the way.

The trail itself passes through a number of small villages, iconic buildings and more importantly, the centuries-old five Walled  Villages.

It's a neat depiction of how life was, back in the old days. The villages in question were then enclosed with high walls and even gun mounts for a reason, that goes without saying. That is, to keep bandits, pirates and other scum bags away who prevailed in those bygone times.

The walls have served their purpose, but are still standing proud and yes, I bet what surprises most of the visitors is that just mere minutes away from the so-called developed world with their blocks of high-rises, there are still families nestled within these walled villages.

  
It's a picturesque experience indeed. Invigorating feelings of walking back in time. Hopefully our little expedition was able to infuse our dragon girl with some sense of history.  After all, she is at the right age to grasp the proper meaning of it.

No National Geographic program or any other documentary beats the hands-on experience of strolling through these quaint little villages. That's for sure.

Ladies and shopping for clothes

Ladies and shopping for clothes,

It's a universal truth, send the ladies of the house off on a mall trip, and chances are very likely that you find them shopping for garment.

Thus the ladies of our household make no exception to that.

One of the few perks of traveling up and down to Hong Kong, is the vast quantity of affordable and fashionable clothes that are up on offer all over the place.  What do you expect with the sweat shop factories across the border in China, it's a jungle of the fittest out there and as a result of that, we as consumers enjoy the fruits of the law of the 'jungle'.

Honestly, I always get myself lost in the huge selection of clothes on offer (after all I'm not a dandy)....so invariably the ladies go their own merry way picking out clothes while this dude drools himself over the latest techo gadgets next doors.

Loitering for well over an hour, I thought it was time's up and see for myself the spoils of the day of what they had purchased.

Dear wife was still selecting,.....time really flies...., and our girl?

Where was our girl?

"Dear, where is Laetitia?"

"Dunno, somewhere around"

"Ugh,...okay"

As I made my way through the shop, I couldn't help but notice the throng of eager ladies whose mind were solely set on acquiring that elusive perfect piece of garment.....so it's true then....shopping for clothes can be a bliss or a burden for the ladies....

So where did our girl hide herself then?

Last resort, head to the changing rooms.....she might be there trying out a bunchload of clothes.

Ow, yes......she was there all right.....

Not changing clothes though,.....just sitting there and killing her time playing on her Nintendo NDS.

I guess the labour of choosing clothes has gotten the better of her.......

Dear girl, tired already? 

You still have a long life of shopping for clothes ahead of you....better get the hang of it :)

Where is the pilot?

Where is the pilot?

What's the thing with people being in a hurry to board the plane, it's a frequent sight at all airports over the world. Once the 'gate' is opened for boarding, a hoard of people are queuing to hop onto the plane as fast as possible....

First, seats are already allocated (hence the boarding pass), no need to scrum

And secondly, plane won't take off until all the passengers have been accounted for, ..... a plane simply won't take off unless the traveler in question really doesn't show up and hence the luggage handlers have removed the pieces of baggage of that particular traveler (for obvious security reasons).

So while everybody are meekly queuing up, the airport personnel handling the boarding at the gate go around calling up for any stragglers to make their way asap to the plane......

Well, in our case......I told our daughter to stay put and read her book at her own leisure while everyone was boarding, and I,....was puffing away in the transparent smoking cabin which was conveniently located next to the gate.....

Was I in a hurry to board the plane and go back home?

Definitely not.........

Not that I was still in holiday mood and reluctant to go home.....but because the pilot and a steward of our plane were also puffing contently on their cigs :p

You should have seen the face of the airport/gate handler when she was touring around with a placard, notifying travelers to hurry up.........She looked at me, and I cheekily pointed to the pilot and steward......point taken :)

What's the hurry ? :p

Handmade Sweets

Handmade Sweets,

Where does one normally buy candies in order to satisfy their sweet tooth?

In the shop ofcourse, tons and tons of 'branded' candies lying on the shelves, ready to be picked, paid and eaten by us....

So, it was surprising to stumble upon this little stall at a fair, where a loving couple were selling ............. handmade sweets.

Needless to say that it attracted the attention of our little dragon girl, ....the sweet tooth that she is.....but have to admit that it looked quite fascinating......the hardened, coloured syrup moulded into different shapes and patterns.......flowers, animals and etcetera....

Not only Laetitia, but even our housemaid, Rebecca, were mesmerized by these particular sweets......bless them both.....

So what to do?  One pair of begging doggy eyes I can stand firm against, but two pair of them??   I surrender........and abracadabra.....open my wallet.

Handmade sweets........I give in......but that doesn't mean that all sweets are game for her from now onwards.....no way Laetitia, in your dreams!!!

3 Banana's, 1 Indon, 1 little gal

3 Banana's, 1 Indon, 1 little gal,

Take 3 Chinese expats who can't read or write Chinese (hence the name "Banana's"....outside Asian, inside Western), an Indonesian lady who is ofcourse also oblivious to the Chinese lingo and one little gal who is educated in a Chinese school.

Put them in a chinese resto, with a chinese menu.....

The 3 guys and the Indon lady scratching their heads ofcourse............and all of them turning their heads to Laetitia.......

"Laetitia, can you please translate what's on the menu?.....please....."

Our girl, who was given this enormous task, looked at us incredulously.....4 adults asking her for help.......

She halfheartedly translated some, and got a bit annoyed when some of us asked her to repeat what she had said......mind you, the menu was THAT extensive.....

You should have looked at the face of the waiter who took our order....I'm still not sure whether he was having a laugh with us, adults,  or not, 'cos his face remained stoic.....or did I discern a twinge on the side of his mouth ?!?!

Our food was duly served by this waiter, who was still not showing any sign of emotions,....who cares....our stomachs needed attention.

For once, I have to confess that I mightily appreciated the fact that our girl helped us out..........forever in debt, my girl, daddy didn't end up famished that day :)

THANK YOU from the depth of my heart