Clearwater Bay

April 1 – No April fool’s day here. I completely forgot about it. I think John already had his in India!

Had the usual Sunday omelet and actually watched the Big Chill on HBO. Never can see some movies too many times. We decided we wanted to hit the sea coast again, so figured out how to get to Clearwater Bay. This is in the New Territories on the east side of the peninsula. It is south of Sai Kung where we went a few weeks ago. We read that there is supposed to be some good beaches, a country park and seafood (of course).

We hoped the MTR and while waiting at the station noticed a public travel notice showing different sites in HK accessible on the MTR. We saw one that looked like a nice little fishing village so decided to try going there. We arrived at the designated station & saw a map that showed which way to the water. Upon exiting the station there were most high rises around and no fishing village in sight. We walked in the direction we thought there might be water. We got lots of looks as I don’t think this is a big tourist area. We finally stopped a young man and asked if there was a waterfront nearby. He laughed & said no and asked if we’d gotten off at the wrong stop. He said most of the tourists like places like Mong Kok or Tsim Sha Tsui, were we lost? We explained that we lived in HK & were just out exploring. He understood and said there was nothing to see here & said we were better off trying to get to Clearwater Bay as originally planned.

We got back on the MTR & went a few more stops. We exited into a very busy area. The bus station as on the other side of the every present mall. I think they must have a mall for every 10 blocks in this city, and all of them are packed (well on Sundays anyway). We located the bus station and began the grueling search for the right bus. I have not figured out an easy way to know what bus to take, unless it is listed in my book, and this was not. We started by checking out the large buses. You have to go to each stop & read down the lists of stops to see if the one you want is on there. I finally noticed an office & went & asked for assistance. What I could gather from the broken English was that we wanted bus 91M, but then some other bus to get to our destination. I couldn’t make out if we had to change or what. Too confusing.

We were about to hop a taxi when we noticed the mini-bus area. One of the first ones said Clearwater Bay. This looked promising. The driver was sound asleep, but as we stood there a few other people came along & qued up with us. They guy woke up & we boarded the bus. First time for John on a mini-bus. They are lots faster than the big buses especially going up hills. They also only hold 16 people & don’t have regular stops. They only stop if someone on the bus says stop or if there is someone waving them down on the street. They will stop anywhere which is nice. But if you don’t know where you are going, it can be difficult. If you are going to the end, then you are in luck as they will make you get off at the end. So we just had to relax & enjoy the ride.

The view once we got over the mountain was great. Lots of little islands and it was a very clear day. We passed the country park and the beach. There were lots of people out hiking in this area. When we got to the end of the line, we were in a little bay surrounded by hills with houses (more like shacks) lining the water. There were also several houses (shacks) on top of large blue barrels floating in the harbor. There seemed to also be some fish farming going on here as it looked like nets all around the harbor as well as small boats. We walked down to the little town (really just about 30 shacks). There was the every present little temple in the middle of the homes. A narrow path meandered between the homes. People sat out on chairs enjoying the fresh air or were in their living rooms, most of which were open to the outside, playing mon jong (a game with tiles). Kids were playing in the little square outside the temple. It had a very small town community feel to it. There were lots of Sunday visitors coming for a seafood dinner. A few people had dried fish stalls outside of their homes. They all smiled at us & waved. One man made a big point of saying “Hello! How are you?” He sounded very proud of the fact that he could speak English and recognized that we would understand him.

At the end of the village there were 2 piers jutting out into the bay. Both had restaurants on them and there was another restaurant on the seawall between the piers. We chose the place the jutted out the furthest as the breeze was refreshing and invigorating. Actually the breeze became a probably for the staff as things were blowing off tables and they had great difficulty getting new table clothes onto the tables. The table clothes were large plastic sheets. When the cleared the table, the just scrapped everything off the plates & onto the table cloth. Took the plates & dishes away, then wrapped the junk in the table cloth & threw it away. Pretty good system for a seafood place. Obviously these were not high class fancy restaurants. Just the basics & you picked out your fish in the tank before sitting down.

We chose shrimp and grouper. The shrimp came still in the shell & deep fried with garlic. They were delicious. The grouper was steamed whole (that’s how the do it) with soy sauce & garlic. We also got spinach and rice. Everything was delicious, but as we realized later a bit too much garlic. This was the same thing when we ate at Sai Kung, lots of garlic. We watched the boats come & go. There 2 large groups of patrons who left in what must have been rented cruise boats. There was a fishing boat at the end of the pier that was selling bags of shell fish to people. We went to take a look before leaving & they were cleaning sea urchins. This is a spiny creature & the inside is a bright yellow. It is fairly popular around here, but we don’t care for it. It is mushy and has a strange taste.

We got the bus back to the MTR. On the way I realized that the bus drivers had been telling me to take bus 91M then change to bus 91. I think the mini-bus was much easier.