There is a high chance that my Guilin trip this weekend will be cancelled due to both time and price constraint. I saw an offer at a tour agency in Tuen Mun last Sat and it's offering HK$1249 for a 5 days trip to Guilin and Nanning, in which the latter is the capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China. The trip also includes a visit to the 2nd largest transnational waterfall in the world; it is located in the borders of Vietnam and China. However, when I checked it out again, I realized that the hidden charges adds up to HK$1768, which is kinda steep, although it's still cheaper compared to Singapore. The reason why I like to visit the above mentioned places is due to the fact that they are hailed as the most beautiful place in China, with breath taking scenaries.

I have done quite a bit of travelling and hiking for the past few days; it also marked my first attempt to write a travel log, though some of the important details were not included.

Last Friday, 111105, I went to Sai Kung East Country Park to hike. I completed the first 2 sections of the McLehose Trail and it's a gruelling 24.1km walk. It's kinda tough but I enjoyed the whole process very much:

• 1009: Took green minibus #12 from HKUST to Saikung
• 1030: Arrived at Sai Kung Interchange. It could have been a faster ride if not for the jam along the way. I went to Park & Shop to buy a packet of battery before taking KMB #94 to the entrance of the Country Park.
• 1103: Took KMB #94 to Pak Tam Chung
• 1122: Arrive at Sai Kung Country Park Visitior Center

• 1148: I took a short walk along Tai Mong Sai Road before starting the trail at point M000 (an increase in "1" indicates a completion of 500m).

• 1232: Reached West Dam

• 1245: Reacted M010
• 1305: Reached M013; saw the East Dam.
• 1313: Reached a point where a I got a good view of Pak Lap Wan
• 1318: Reached M015 where I detoured to go to Pak Lap Wan
• 1326: Reached Pak Lap Village and walked to Pak Lap Wan.

• 1332: Left Pak Lap Wan and headed back to M015
• 1343: Reached M015 and continued the McLehose Trail. Saw many people along the way as they are competing in the Oxfam Trail Walker. It's pretty irritating as they are blocking my way, especially during the climb up to the noor as it made me more tired.
• 1400: Reached East Dam

• 1411: Reached M020
• 1414: Completed Section 1. Began Section 2 and saw Long Ke Wan from the hill top.
• 1425: Reached M021 and walked to Long Ke Wan for lunch break.
• 1440: Continues Section 2.
• 1531: Reached Sai Wan Shan. The part from M022 to M025 was an experience that will never be forgotten. Along the way, I saw Sai San, Tai Long Wan and Tai Mun Shan.
• 1558: Reached M030. Shacked out but still can continue on.
• 1613: Reached M031 and saw Sai Wan.
• 1623: Reached M033. Saw Tai Chau, Tsim Chau and Tai Long Wan
• 1635: Saw Ham Tin Wan
• 1710: After M039, saw Tai Long Tsui at the hill top.
• 1714: Saw Sharp Peak
• 1716: Reached M040
• 1734: Reached M043 and saw Chek Keng Hau
• 1749: Reached M045
• 1809: Completed Section 2. The name of the place is Pak Tam Au.
• 1822: Took KMB #94 to Sai Kung.
• 1850: Arrive at Sai Kung and went to Park & Shop to change battery
• 1900: Took green minibus #1A to Choi Hung

On Sat 121105, I went to Tuen Mun with Emily. It was a nice trip and we had lunch with King Ho, one of my HK friend.

• 0757: Took green minibus #11 to Choi Hung
• 0808: Reached Choi Hung and took MTR to Sham Shui Po
• 0827: Reached Sham Shui Po and had Breakfast which is accompanied by a short arcade drumming session after that.
• 0952: Took KMB #52X to Tuen Mun
• 1034: Dropped at station #20 (Tsing Fat Street) because we saw the flea market sign. Went in and took a look. It's pretty scary and the place is damn isolated.
• 1101: Left flea market for Gold Coast
• 1124: Walked along Castle Peak Road and saw some of the hills at Tai Lam Country Park
• 1140: Reached Gold Coast Shopping Mall and took a look at the Art Promenade. We went to the place that sells wire art and Emily bought some stuff there.
• 1241: Reached Gold Coast and walked along the shore. It's a pretty nice beach but still not as good as the one in Sai Kung and Hainan

• 1313: We completed the beach "trail" and went to Tsing Yan Street. Took bus 51K to meet King Ho and Tuen Mun Central
• 1330: Saw King Ho and we went for lunch at Golden Shanghai Cuisine; the food is really expensive. Ahhh .... anyway the food was pretty good and I learnt a new chinese word on that day - 滬; it is pronounced as hu(4) and it means Shanghai. So 滬菜 means Shanghai dishes, just like 粵菜 means cantonese dishes and 琼菜 means Hainanese dishes.
• 1547: Finished lunch and went to enquire about tours.
• 1730: Set off for Butterfly Park via LRT
• 1830: Reached Butterfly Park
• 1910: Dinner at one of the eateries in the mall
• 2000: We took LRT back to Tuen Mun
• 2022: We took KCR West rail back and reached Mei Foo at 2050. Took MTR back to Choi Hung after that.

Finally on Sunday, we went out for a short while to visit the Coastal Defence Museum at Hong Kong Island. The most important thing I learnt is that HK shared a common colonial past with Singapore. I know this is kinda lame but it's very true; the place resembles Fort Canning.