(written by Cait, of course)
My friend Jess and I were in the water at the beach in the middle of July, beer in hand, looking around thinking quietly to ourselves. We shared the designated swimming area, safely within the protective shark net, with a few other people and half a dozen of small groups were sprinkled up on the beach. On two sides of us, green covered hills stood tall, and the rest was open to the ocean. Jess slowly rotated to look at it all, then breaks the silence, “You live here!” I had momentarily forgot that, I do in fact, live here. “I know!” And we both laughed, not quite believing it to be true.
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Looking down on Hung Shing Yeh Beach from the Family Trail. That little yellow line is the shark protection net, not that there’s a real threat of sharks, but it’s a nice peace of mind.
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Live music at the local Banyan Tree Bar on Main Street, Yung Shue Wan village.
Brad declared the same thing the other night at dinner at The Waterfront restaurant, looking out over the bay in Yung Shue Wan village, “we live here!” It hasn’t sunk it yet that this is our new home, but feels like we are on vacation. “This is like the small islands in Thailand, but clean,” Jess described as we walked through town. Having never been to Thailand, I couldn’t relate to her observation, but I can agree that it’s clean. The waterfront restaurants, the beaches, and the views of blue water and islands are things that strengthen that concept of vacation. At night music spills out of small bars along Main Street, people smiling and laughing with drink in hand. The beaches fill with tourists on the weekend and any number of languages can be overheard. It’s the opposite of the Manhattan-like district, Central, on Hong Kong island where we both work and used to live. The residents of Lamma are a friendly, eclectic bunch from all over the world. And while the nightlife is nowhere near as varied as on Hong Kong island, the easy-going atmosphere and interesting company on Lamma is just what we are looking for.
With lots of hiking trails and several beaches, there is plenty to do outdoors. There’s a surprisingly wide variety of cuisines in the restaurants like Thai, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and Italian.
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The best (in our opinion) Thai restaurant has a lot of snacks to-go, including these meat on a stick options. My favorite are the chicken balls, which taste like a mild chicken sausage. Brad prefers the chicken breast on a stick. Conversion prices: $10 HKD = $1.50 USD
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Seafood is a plenty on Lamma. These are muscles from our favorite restaurant, The Waterfront. Taken with my iphone.
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Fresh coconut water on Main Street Yung Shue Wan. Nutritious and delicious. Taken and edited on my iphone.
A couple Sundays ago, which is the only day off Brad and I have together, it was what I refer to as ‘The Best Day’ in Hong Kong so far. Here are some pictures from that day:
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I took this picture from my table at The Waterfront. Lantau Island is in the background.
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Also taken from my table at The Waterfront, and again with the mountains of Lantau Island beyond.
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Looking down from the Family Trail, onto the bay of Sok Ku Wan village at the sound end of Lamma Island.
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I’m often the one lagging behind when we go hiking because I take pictures, smell flowers, look at butterflies, etc.
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Taken from the Family Trail, which connects the north and south villages of the island. It also connects to two major beaches, with both views of the east and west sides of the island. This is the west side, and I have no idea which islands lie beyond.
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Headed down to watch the sunset at a little pavilion lookout point, a five minute walk from our apartment.
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Looking out from the northwest side of Lamma Island, onto Lantau Island, the biggest island in Hong Kong.
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Met a lot of locals and listened to great live music in Yung Shue Wan, a ten minute walk from our apt. A great end to a wonderful day.