Waren in het land.

Matthijs heeft zich dus goed vermaakt met oma en tante en zijn nederlands is er weer een stuk op vooruit gegaan.

Hij kent ook weer een aantal nieuwe nederlandse liedjes en verders is hij nu volledig in de ban van ‘chocolade hagelslag’ dat hij voor het eerst op z’n boterhammetje bij z’n ontbijt kreeg.

Toos en Mies hebben zich ook goed vermaakt - buiten het spelen met Matthijs in en rond het huis zijn de dames er bijna elke dag op uit getrokken om Hong Kong te bekijken.

Ook zijn we nog een avond wezen stappen in Lan Kwai Fong met een prima diner in Orange Tree restaurant. Cultureel zijn we ook geweest door eens in het Historisch Museum van Hong Kong te kijken. Daar was ik zelf na bijna acht jaar in Hong Kong ook nog niet eens geweest en ik moet zeggen - een aanrader.

Al met all een leuke twee weken - de tijd vliegt en inmiddels zijn moeders en tante mies alweer ruim een week thuis.

Hieronder wat foto impressies.

This looks to be a great weekend - it’s clear blue skies in hong kong and after nearly six weeks of cold weather that’s very welcome.

Today we’re having the “Nations Tennis Cup” here in Dbay, meaning all countries will strive to defend their honour in a game of tennis. I’m sure you’ll spot the red white & blue in this picture.

Matthijs is doing the old Kai Tak airport approach in the simulator here.

We’re in Skyplaza and this is part of the aviation exhibits there.

By the way - Kung Hei Fat Choi - a prosperous Chinese New Year, we’re entering the year of the Rat.

I love October in Hong Kong.

The heat and humidity of the summer is gone, and the weather is dry and cloudless at a nice 25 to 28 degrees. If we’re lucky this pleasant weather lasts all the way till January which is often the case - we’re in for the best time of the year!

This time of the year Hong Kong is just great and I feel happy to live here and in Discovery Bay. It may be the most un-Hong Kong like place in this little city-territory, but its relaxed atmosphere, green environment and the fact that everything you need is just here makes it one of the most comfortable places to live. It probably helps that this secluded community seems to be oblivious of poverty or low incomes, since everybody here is in a relatively good financial position. I’m not saying that it’s the place where Hong Kong’s wealth lives (i.e. like the Peak, South Island) but certainly people are well off financially.

As I’m writing this I’m sitting in my living room with the sliding windows wide open and a gentle breeze flowing through the air. A glass of cool Chardonnay is nearbye and I’m listening to some funky lounge CD (don’t even know the title and I’m too comfy on the coach to get up and check it). Life’s good!

On a different topic - here below are some pictures of yesterday. Matthijs wanted to go to the beach instead of the pool so we’ve sat there on DB beach for a few hours. He ventured farther and farther into the sea untill he went for a full swim and realized he wasn’t wearing his floaters. Let’s say he now understands that the ocean tastes salty!

It was beatiful weather on Saturday and so we took a trip to Pui Oh beach, on Lantau Island.

It’s only a good couple of hours hiking from Discovery Bay and really the beach is one of the best in Hong Kong.

We spend the whole day sitting in “Ohlala restaurant” and the kids had fun playing in the beach and in the waves.

With this kind of a beach near by there’s no reason at all to travel to Thailand!

Yesterday was a dog’s day; it’s been raining almost continuously.
As a result, the weekend has been one without much outdoor activity. We’ve only been outside to travel to the nearest restaurant to have lunch.
We hooked up with some of Matthijs’ friends and as you will see from picture below the gang of three enjoyed themselves in Zaks restaurant.

What’s happening to my tranquil and quiet beach? Well the local property developer - The Hong Kong Resort Company Limited (HKRC) - is trying to promote their recent redevelopment of Discovery Bay’s central area (”the plaza”) into an “Alfresco Dining experience” called “Water Margin” (??). In this supposedly 100M HKD redevelopment (sounds low?) the plaza is renovated, restaurants added, and indeed the place has improved a great deal.

So last Easter weekend HKRC organized a “Golden Easter Egg Hunt” on the beach and it was buzzing and swarming with lots of parents and children from around Hong Kong - all digging up the sand in search for Easter Eggs. In hindsight it’s no surprise it was this busy as transportation to Discovery Bay was free with both ferries and buses offering complimentary rides.

But it was scary to see this many people swarmed into the area. The beach was black with people, the plaza full of people and kids, and people lining up for buses in long lines.

I’m sure all the new restaurants have welcomed this initiative - which in the end is the reason for HKRC to do this, and rightly so, as I wonder how all these new restaurant will survive just on the DB residents. But, looking at most families that visited I think that McDonalds and 7-Eleven must have benefited the most from last weekend’s campaign…

So a different strategy is required to attract spending families from around Hong Kong to dine in all these new restaurants. My feelings are dual: I hope all these restaurants can get sufficient clientele to stay open and profitable, but I surely hope that Discovery Bay will stay the relaxing escape from town it currently is.

If I’d wanted all this activity on my weekends I would be living elsewhere!

The year of the pig started on Sunday - and we had a few days off for the annual Lunar New Year celebrations.

Fortunately most of the new restaurants around DB are now open for business and in fact I had a great weekend just hanging out in ‘da bay’.

Here you can check out what’s going on in the plaza live.

Heck - I just saw my ferry leave, missed it!

In the top right you can see Hong Kong Disneyland. You can even watch the fireworks if you watch this page at the right time (8pm evening mostly).

(The image may take a while to load - give it a minute…)

http://www.marcdelange.com/2007/01/15/live-webcam-discovery-bay-hong-kong/

Live Webcam Hong Kong
Discovery Bay Webcam
Hong Kong Disneyland Webcam
Webcam Disneyland