Lovely Lantau

I woke up very tired with a bit of a blurry head. I was to meet Paul at the ferry pier at 10 to take a ferry to Mui Wo on Lantau Island. The ferry took approximately 50 minutes and Paul and I sang most of the way while watching beautiful green islands go by. Mainly Frank Sinatra and The Sound of Music, this lead to Disney later and a musical ensemble on the beach, I'll get to this later.

Paul had his heart set on a Turkish brunch at Bahce. We sat outside in the sunshine facing the street and ordered a Turkish ploughman’s and Turkish omelette, with eggplant hummus and pitta. Fresh out of the oven bread also arrived on the table. The food was delicious, particular favourite and winning combination: Honey and Tzatziki!

From the restaurant we walked across the square to a little second hand bookshop. It was playing classical music and was lined with books of all shapes, sizes and age. We headed to our chosen sections, Paul to the film section, while I headed to the poetry and plays with the intention of finding Waiting For Godot. I made myself comfortable on the floor, removed my shoes and settled into some reading while Classic FM played in the background. Is there anything better than a bookshop? I flicked through pages and pages of books as the pile 'to buy' grew. I bought a book for Kenai, Waiting for Godot and a book on Philosophy, which won slightly over a Quantum Physics one.

I made my way to the travel section, the health, religion and memoirs sections. It was the first bookshop I'd been too since arriving in Hong Kong and it won't be the last now I know this little gem on Lantau in Mui Wo. Next stop was the beach for an afternoon of reading. We settled under a tree and this is where we stayed for the next four or so hours.

It was a beautiful day. I read, and Paul slept. We chatted and Paul sang with some locals on the beach. I hunted for shells and Paul told me about old movies. We decided that the we were too relaxed and comfortable to leave so we made the decision to move the art exhibition to Sunday and head to a restaurant that Paul had always wanted to go to The Stoep at lower Cheung Sha beach. A short taxi ride later and WOW.

The restaurant was on the beach and was beautiful. We just couldn't believe that there were places like this in Hong Kong. We took a table right on the front of the beach and ordered traditional South African cuisine and some sangria.

We walked down the beach after dinner. The sand was like sugar. There was a party at the end with a fire, music, lanterns and dancing. What a beautiful setting for a gathering of friends and family.

We made our way back to the ferry port and boarded a ferry, sitting outside for our trip back to Central. There is nothing more spectacular than arriving back in the city on a ferry. The skyline of Hong Kong is spectacular from the harbour.

Hong Kong is still surprising me daily. I find beauty in so much of it. It is full of diversity and I feel very lucky to be here. Hong Kong had never crossed my radar before May this year and now it is my home. I can't wait to see what magic still lies ahead for me in this city.