Early Morning at Singapore Quarry

I went to Singapore Quarry early in the morning, hoping to catch sight of birds. I was fortunate to spot a grey-headed fish eagle and a stork-billed kingfisher.

An early morning Singapore Quarry

A grey headed fish eagle

A stork-billed kingfisher

a monkey family in the palm tree

What turned out to be more interesting, however, was the people I encountered along the way.

On the trail leading to the quarry, I noticed several pairs of runners, each pair holding onto a towel together. At first, I was curious, then I realized one runner in each pair was visually impaired. They were part of Runninghour, a sports club that connects volunteers with visually impaired athletes so they can run together. Watching them was such a heartwarming way to begin the day.

At the quarry itself, the birds were perched far away from the viewing deck. A stork-billed kingfisher flew onto a tree, and a group of birders excitedly tried to locate it. I couldn’t spot it at first. I took a photo of the general area anyway, and a kind elderly lady came over to help me pinpoint exactly where the bird was. Thanks to her, I managed to capture a good shot of the kingfisher.

Runinghour's running buddies - from internet - I did not take pictures of them

a small group of seniors 

Not long after, a large group of seniors arrived at the deck. Seeing my camera with its big lens, they asked what I was photographing. I pointed out a grey-headed fish eagle resting on a high tree branch. Some of them managed to spot it on their own, while others struggled. I invited them to look through my camera’s viewfinder, and their faces lit up with delight when they finally saw the eagle up close. A couple of them struck up a friendly conversation with me.

One elderly man even asked his friend to take a picture of him as he viewed the eagle through my camera.

Their joy was infectious, and I felt happy myself because of the small, heartwarming moments I shared with strangers.

I came for the bird watching, but I left with something more—small acts of kindness, joy shared among strangers, and the simple beauty of a sunny morning.

Colugo - Flying Lemur

Rifle Range Nature Park in Singapore advertises Colugo as a main attraction there. It has a trail named Colugo Trail, there are Colugo decorations along  the boardwalk portion of the trail. A viewing deck over quarry wetland is named Colugo Deck.

A Colugo sign on a post

Colugos are shy, nocturnal, solitary, tree dwelling animals found in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia, and in particular at the Rifle  Range Nature Park.

We did not see it during our several visits there in the mornings. Since colugos are nocturnal, we gave up the hope to see them in person until a morning 4 weeks ago a hiking group took pictures of a colugo at the park. 

We went there on Sunday morning, September 14 to try our luck. It was a beautiful sunny day. Everything looked fresh and clean because of the rain previous day.

We walked slowly along the boardwalk on Colugo Trail. Colugos were no where to be found. But we did see many beautiful flowers and many common bids this morning, ash tailors, black napped orioles, pacific swallows, blue tailed bee eaters,  yellow vented bulbuls, crimson sunbird, and banded woodpecker ...

pouch of a carnivore tree to catch insects

crimson Sunbird

banded woodpecker

yellow vented bulbul

a pair of pacific swallows

A blue tailed bee eater

We were still looking out for the colugos on the return hike... and then we saw a group of people taking pictures of something on the  boardwalk,... a colugo was resting on a tree trunk in the woods!

If it were not its eyes and reddish ear canal, I would not be able to see it.

The colugo stayed stationary. I took many photos of it

We were about to leave, then it started to move, licking its membrane wings, right side, then left side. It stretched one arm, and clawed onto a branch, and hang in there.

It was not alone, it carried a baby colugo! (I did not realize this until I was home looking at photos, in fact the baby was in every photo of the mother colugo!)

What a serendipity !

a colugo hugging a tree trunk

licking its right wing

turning its head to left

licking its right wing

the mother colugo hanged onto a tree branch, and the babe colugo sticked its head out of the pouch 

 

Dragon Back Trail on Hong Kong Island

We selected the Dragon's Back Trail for our first activity at Hong Kong during our visit there in August.

It is a mountain ridge trail in southeastern Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. We hiked there on Saturday, August 16th, a beautiful sunny day.

Get to the trailhead

From MTR Shau Kei Wan Station Exit A2, walk to the Shau Kei Wan Bus Terminus. Take bus 9 from Shau Kei Wan Bus Terminus to To Tei Wan, Dragon’s Back stop on Shek O Road.

The bus got into the mountain shortly after leaving the bus terminus, and we were pleasantly surprised by the steep mountain slope and greenery, as well as the Tai Tam Bay.

Tai Tam Bay - view from Bus

Tai Tam Bay

When we got off the bus at To Tei Wan, the Dragon Back Trail head at Shek O, we went downhill to Tai Tam Bay first, to To Tei Wan Beach, instead of hiking on the trail.

The decent from the Trailhead to the beach is steep - 120 meter vertical drop in 300 meters!

The trail was well shaded with the breeze from the ocean, the chirps of birds, the greenery and the blue water - it was a pleasant jog!

There were canoes and row boats in the bay. 

To Wei Wan Beach is great - in addition to the view of the Bay, surrounding mountains, there is a patch of rocky beach with giant boulders. 

We spent 1 hour there before starting on Dragon Back Trail

Dragon's Back Trail

After 1 hour detour, we were back on Dragon's Back trail.

There was a large group of people just arrived at the trailhead, when we got there from To Tei Wan beach. We left there quickly trying to a keep distance from the large group.

Sign at the trailhead

Dragon's back trail

The dragon's back portion of the trail is on the ridge of Shek O peak. We had great views of both sides of the mountain - the Tai Tam Bay and the Big Wave Bay. 

The views were spectacular under the bright sunshine.

The ridge also leads to less shade. We were under direct UV attack at the more beautiful section of the trail. Interestingly we encountered quite a few butterflies, which kept popping up in front of us  

Tai Tam Bay

Big Wave Bay

Trail leading to the Shek O peak summit

trail to heaven?

near Summit

the summit marker

The last several kilometers of the trail was at half height of the mountain, and in the woods. We were on the Tai Tam Bay side. There were many birds and creeks along the way.

Looking back, we saw the upstream of the rushing creek at To Tei Wan beach - which is visible despite being a couple kilometers away. 

The creek in the mountain that flows into Tai Tam Bay at To Tei Wan beach

another rushing creek on Shek O peak

The Big Wave Bay

We ended our hike at the big wave bay, which by itself a good place to visit. We stopped so frequently to take pictures and enjoy the vista,  It took us total 4 hour 15 minutes to complete the 10km hike. 

It was lunch time. The only restaurant that accepts credit card there happened to be a good one. We had lunch by the big wave bay. 

The beach at Big Wave Bay

It is a great trail, moderate difficulty, marvelous views. 

Highly recommended if you go to HK for vacation.

Notes

1. Public transportation is convenient for going there from city, return trip may need some effort - either wait for connecting bus or walk 1km to bus route 9 stop.

2. Due to high exposure to UV, apply sufficient sunscreen even if wearing light sun blocking cloth. 

 

Glimpse of Hong Kong

On August 15th, I visited Hong Kong for the first time. 

Public transportation

We took the airport express from Airport on Lantau Island to Tsingyi, then transfer via a subway to Kowloon, where our hotel was. The public transportation is very convenient - but expensive. A peculiar thing about the HK public transportation is that we could not purchase and top off the popular octopus card by credit card - which has to be paid by cash! This is 21st century at a world financial center. We were shocked.

HK international airport 

The main train lines were busy almost all the time. The pricy tickets and high occupancy make HK MTR (mass transit rail) the few profitable public transportation operations in the world.

a tunnel connecting different train lines

HK international airport has one big terminal

City and Parks

We stayed at a hotel in Kowloon right next to Kowloon Park. The first thing in the morning we noticed when looking outside the hotel window - building density is very high. One reason is that the majority of Hong Kong territory is mountainous. This makes HK actually a very good place for outdoor actives in the mountains, on the beaches, and in the sea.

HK terrain

forest of concretes

mountains in the north

The street in front of the hotel is Austin Road - an old street. There are many restaurants offering breakfast, and some pastries and grocery stores, which are convenient to residents and tourists.

Kowloon Park is a very big park inside the business district, a good place to have leisure walk, exercise, bird watching ...Sky corridor is a garden on rooftop, a good place to see the city skyline and the Victoria Harbor. Another Garden we visited was Chi Lin Nunnery and Nan Lian Garden, a neat, tranquil place among the city's hustle and bustle. We also hiked on HK island's dragon's back trail - it will be the topic of another blog.

Kowloon park is surrounded by high rises

Flamingo lake in the Kowloon Park 

There are a few water fountains

a sculpture garden

An entrance on Nathan Road - a major road 

sky corridor park

sky corridor

High rises on Hong Kong Island

Nan Lian Garden

A black crowned night heron

Chi Lin Nunnery 

Landmarks

The Central–Mid-Levels escalator system in Hong Kong is the longest escalator system in the world a covered outdoor system measuring over 800 meters (2,600 ft) in length, connecting the Central district to the Mid-Levels residential area. It is segmented, not a continuous escalator, and it is going up only. One has to walk downhill.

starting point of the escalator

Another landmark is Xiqu Center (center for performing arts)  . It is right at the corner near our hotel. We noticed it the first night we walked to the hotel from subway station - we found out what it was later. We went inside the building to see its beautiful decorations and architecture.

Xiqu Center - side view

inside Xiqu enter

font entrance to Xiqu center

Another culture center we went to is Hong Kong Museum of Art, which is located by the  Victoria Harbor. We enjoyed the museum exhibit and the environment

HKMOA

Modern Art

Interactive Animation

Mechanical Action 

 Another Guinness Record at Hong Kong is the "Victoria Harbor light show". It is the world's largest permanent light and sound show, officially known as A Symphony of Lights, a nightly multimedia spectacle featuring music, lasers, and lighting displays on buildings around Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor. We watched the light show on Sunday August 17 at Kowloon side of the harbor , a rainy night. Fortunately for us, the rain stopped when the light show started!!

We went to the Victoria Harbor on Hong Kong Island side next day during day time by train, and went back to Kowloon by ferry. 

Victoria Harbor front  - HK island side

Victoria Harbor front  - Kowloon side viewed from a Ferry

We visited HK Polytechnic University campus as well  - in fact visiting the university to welcome our nephew starting graduate school there was the main purpose of HK visit.