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.

Atelier Kaftwerk, artisan bookbinding

Atelier Kaftwerk, artisan bookbinding

It is so mundane, whenever we grasp a book to read, immerse ourselves into its story lines and associate ourselves with the characters in question, we never think about the serious effort it takes, to make a book show up on the shelf and eventually wind up in our laps.

I'm not referring to affordable mass market paperbacks and even hardbacks though. Those are printed by the countless thousands using industrial machinery.

Nah, I'm talking about the age-old craft of manually bookbinding. Think about all those old books in the libraries and private collections,....and with 'old', I do mean 'old'...dating back decades, a century or even several centuries.

Those books do need some tender loving care from time to time, restoring & rebinding them close to their original state, and there are some particular folks out there who do appreciate age-old craftmanship, who order specially customized bound books.

And here comes Inge Van Poeck into the equation. Being groomed and taught by a 'master' of the trade since her early twenties, she has by now accumulated tons of experience needed to handle such delicate tasks and eventually becoming a bookbinding expert herself.

Roel & Inge remodeled an old section of their house into a work studio. Where she is able to use and hone her skills on these precious documents and books,....combining that with managing a busy household just a few steps away.

The meticulous process of binding books is primarily done by hand, with barely any use of automated machinery. 

Looks simple, but I reckon it isn't as easy as it looks though. 

If you have an impatient streak, the job of binding books is definitely not your cup of tea. I guess it will take precious man hours just to produce one copy. Becoming rich by doing this trade? Nah, how many books can one bind in a certain time span.....just pure love for the trade of book binding.....

Is it a dying profession? Not exactly, but artisan book binders like Inge are few and far between.  It's not like schools or colleges have the art of bookbinding on their curriculum....it's just sheer learning by practising and doing it under the watchful tutelage of a master.

Don't know whether the children of the Van Roosbroeck's household will pick up the trade, but it would be a shame if all this ends with Inge one day.  

Still enough time for one of us to sign up as an apprentice? Or why don't you give it a try? :)

My dear friend's friendly entourage

My dear friend's friendly Entourage

Few years ago I honoured my former classmate, Roel V.R. and his family with a visit by myself.  To refresh your memory, just click on the below link :)

http://yuenslair.blogspot.com/2010/04/hakendover.html

It was such an extraordinary and wonderful experience that I made it a point of visiting them with the two ladies of the house when we were back in Belgium for the holidays.

The family Van Roosbroecks are not exactly natives of this quaint little village, set in the rolling hills and fields of Hageland, Flanders, far enough but still conveniently close by to the cities of Tienen and Leuven. 

They actually moved from an urban environment, forsaking all the convenience that a city offers and escaping to a small little village where they had to start from scratch....which is no mean feat. 

But that hasn't stopped them from becoming an integral part of the local community in no time. Largely thanks to their open and social attitude, and I'm referring to every single family member of the 'household'.  Their door is practically open to everyone of this little town, people dropping by to have an impromptu chit chat, neighbouring kids jumping into their barn and back garden to play with the 3 children of the household.....quite lively indeed. And even hitting the headlines of the regional newspaper when Roel placed a parking meter in front of their house and that in a village devoid of any parking meters.....;-p (just ask him why he did it, his explanation made some solid reason)

I knew what to expect of course, having known Roel, sharing joy and grief together since high school. Ofcourse years down the road, everyone living their own lives, we kinda lost touch with each other, but I still fondly remember the good times we have had at and outside school. 

Jess and Laetitia were not too sure what to expect, so great was their surprise when we were welcomed with genuinely open arms and affection. The kids of the family, ....showered my two lady companions with so much attention and love that it almost made them blush...

The ice was quickly melted and despite the language barrier, both our families warmed to eachother :)

Jess was positively awestruck during the inevitable tour around their house and surroundings......I'm quite positive if we have had the financial means at that moment, any real estate sales man would have scored an immediate hit on this particular day of our visit ;-)

And the lady of the house, Inge, created a mean, delightful dish of Belgian specialty.....'witloof'....chicory, wrapped within bacon rolls....Us, more accustomed to Asian and South Asian cuisine, having multiple dishes on the dining table, we were already wondering whether the 'witloof' dish and mashed potatoes were sufficient enough to feed so many mouths, but much to our very surprise it was packing enough energy and nutrients to make us feel bloated after just a few bites.....definitely an eye-opener for us in terms of cooking. 

By the time dinner was finished, a common universal theme is that every member of the household would retreat and settle in front of the television but in today's world, each and everyone is occupying themselves with their own electronic gadgets.......watching television has taken the back stage, that's for sure.

Everyone jumped up though at just the notion of all of us going out for an evening walk down the well trodden path among the dark farm fields, heading to the village center, burning some calories and having a fresh breath of air.

And the little hike wouldn't be complete without stopping by at some of the Van Roosbroeck's friends, ....which in this case, was conveniently a pub :)

The pub or cafe hasn't officially opened its doors yet (still undergoing some minor renovation), but nevertheless, Bart the pub owner, was so kind enough to treat us all with drinks and a local speciality dessert, Limburgse vlaai.....cheers Bart!!!

Top that with a quick visit to a friend's place for some good banter and a drink....

Life's beautiful indeed.....

Now I fully understand how they manage to integrate themselves so quickly into the social fabric of this little town. Their social attitude is an example, not only for us, but I reckon for most of the folks too, be they living in this part of the planet or on the other other side of the globe.

Thanks a lot to the Van R's and their treasured friends for the generous, genuine hospitality....:) It was "keineig"