Stanley, Aberdeen, and Motorized Junks.

Yesterday we (Nora, my Mother, and I) decided that we should venture to the outskirts of the Hong Kong region, to a beautiful beach side spot called Stanley.

Stanley is located sort of south of Hong Kong proper, and it takes a curvy bus ride through mountainous roads to get there.






The ride up is peppered with beautiful villas and hotels, some of which had giant gaping holes in their design for Feng Shui purposes. Supposedly, some of the mountains these buildings were constructed on had 'dragons' that lived within them, and the holes were to let the dragons pass through, unhindered. Dragons could probably mean 'wind', wouldn't that make the most sense?




After arriving in Stanley, we walked through the market district a bit, then ventured to the town proper for some eats (that sucked). Afterwards, back to the market, but nothing was purchased surprisingly!

We catch the bus back to Hong Kong, towards a region known as Aberdeen. Aberdeen, being a sort of portside/waterfront location, has always been best known for their 'junk boats'.
People live on these boats, tying them together into organized rows as a sort of neighborhood. Unfortunately, these junks have been done away with, at least in the traditional sense. Done away are the triangular sails, only to be replaced by smokey engines.



We approach an old lady to purchase a tour for a meager fee, around the harbor area of Aberdeen. She was very nice, and every time we passed another tour boat or motorized junk, she would greet the pilots with a great sense of familiarity. Very fun, and interesting.





During the ride, we passed Jumbo, a giant legendary floating restaurant boat.

My family and I have frequented this thing on many times throughout my life, so it was really nice to see it again with adult eyes.




Heading home after the fun boat ride, we stopped to get some beers at a restaurant attached to a movie theater. We got huge pint sized servings of Stella and Hoegaarden. The rest of the evening was spent consuming red pork, and swooning from the heavy beers.

Oh yeah, and I bought me a new laptop. Super cheap, and lovely. Can't wait to rip Vista off of it when I get home.