CURRENT MISSION

To meet Spanish speakers, buy them a coffee and improve my Spanish!

ABOUT ME

Currently living in the central area of HONG KONG

I'm free at odd times of the day for coffee and chatting, or walking around and chatting - just chatting in Spanish really!

PHILOSOPHY

"nothing lasts forever"

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

here are my top things to do in Hong Kong [have a look at my photos too for more info]:

1. Po Lin monastery
you take MTR to tung chung and then either pay around $100 to take cable car up or you can take a bus and then walk up - a steep two hour walk BUT you pass lots of nunnery gardens with nuns tending veg, very nice. Po Lin is the big buddha and is glorious and there is a vegetarian cafe [there is also a vegetarian restaurant, but it's not that fabulous, the cafe is cheaper]. You can walk up to big buddha but also there is the monastery which is also great. on the return journey you can take a bus [23 or 2] to Mui Wo ferry terminal. I'd recommend taking cable car up and then walk down. once in the 'village' you can walk to main road and there are plenty of buses back to Tung Chung.

http://hong-kong-travel.org/Po-Lin-Monastery/

2. Temple St night market for seafood.
Also really interesting in the Kowloon area [and ripe for photos!] is Reclamation Street market [veg and disgusting bits of meat] and the goldfish, flower and jade markets - all around mong kok area. There is also a large Tin Hau temple in that area - do you know the story of Tin Hau? All Confuscian gods were once real people, like the guy who knew loads about medicinal herbs and became the god of medicine. Tin Hau prayed that her fisherman dad/boyfriend/lover [can't remember] wouldn't die in a big storm, and all the fishermen died except him, so she is now the god of fisherfolk, that's why there are Tin Hau temples all over HK.

3. Dragons Back walk- the finest short hike in Hong Kong!!!!! A two hour hike that ends up on Big Wave beach, where you can surf or there is a nice cafe where you can watch other people surf. Then you can take a bus or taxi to Shek O for lunch, there are loads of restaurants or you can hire a BBQ on the beach, you pay for the coal and then they sell you loads of meat!!!

http://www.hkoutdoors.com/hk-island/big-wave-bay.html

4. Cheung Chau island
This place is great! It's a half hour ferry ride from central. When you arrive, if you walk to the right and you will come to a square where you can hire bikes. we took bikes for a couple of hours and cycled [not far at all] to the pirate caves where there is a cute temple and you can walk through the rocks into the pirates cave - thrilling! then we cycled through the backstreets of the village near the ferry port which is like stepping back in time - loads of old people hanging out and selling bizarre bits of fish. Then end up eating sea food or at Moroccos cafe by the ferry port. I think this is my favourite day trip so far.

5. Tai O
Another FABULOUS day trip. Again, populated by old people, they [apparently] believe it's not lucky to live on land, so they have built stilt houses, made of zinc [i think]. It's an hour bus from Tung Chung, but better route is to go via the ferry at Mui Wo and then take a shorter bus [number one]. It's basically another classic, fascinating fishing village - this one has a cute bridge that apparently was only built about ten years ago, and before that there was a ferryman to carry you across. you just wander round the village, eat a bit of street food - cheesy prawns etc. And Mui Wo is a massive sand beach, I've never seen it, having only passed through in the dark, but Mui Wo is also full of seafood restaurants, and probably worth spending half an hour or so having a look.

6. Lamma Island
This was my fav day trip until i went to Cheung Chau and Tai O! It's very simple, you take a ferry to Lamma Island, there are two ferry ports, and it doesn't matter which one you go to, but i prefer to go to Yung Shue Wan port because when you arrive you can take a quick break to go to the Bookworm Cafe, an organic lush little cafe for a delicious breakfast. Lamma is where the hippies of HK live, and i want to live here! Anyway, there is a simple walk - not even a hike really - it says it's a two hour hike, but if it's not too hot, it's a LOT shorter than that. You walk past a lovely little beach - well, lovely until you turn the corner and see the massive power plant! Ah, the joy of HK - you think you've found a nice view, but no! continue up hill and down dale and eventually you will have crossed the island and come to another Tin Hau temple, and then a little village where you can have a seafood lunch. perfect! when you arrive, make a note of the ferry times, so you don't get caught out. you can take a ferry back to central or take a ferry to Aberdeen, which is a bustling, polluted busy port full of traditional boats - interesting to see, and from there it's a half hour bus back to Central.

7. Chi Lin Nunnery
This is incredible! You take the MTR to Diamond Hill, follow the signs and then you are at this stunning nunnery, with immaculate gardens and a FABULOUS veggie cafe under a waterfall! I can't really do it justice in words, but maybe think about going here, then back to Kowloon to go to the markets [see number 2!]

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've never actually couchsurfed, I'm just dipping my toe in the [couch]surf! So far, we've had one couch surfer stay with us, while we were away on holiday. We met her at the Hong Kong couch surfing group, which is every thursday night

Interests

photography, eating healthy food, learning spanish, hiking, doing active things

• fish
• photography
• dining
• seafood
• breakfast
• coffee
• bbq
• vegetarian
• walking
• flowers
• traveling
• fishing
• hiking
• surfing
• medicine
• beaches

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've travelled lots in South East Asia, India, Pakistan, Nepal... but it was over years ago now! My longest trip was for three years, I wish couchsurfing had been invented then!