Park Island, Ma Wan, Hong Kong

- Got up at 6am, and saw the sun slowly rising from my balcony. (No hangover from drinks the German Restaurant last night, thanks to good quality German dark beer). - Went for a beach run, a swim, and then a hike around the back of Ma Wan island. - Got back, showered, made a fruit smoothie and had some cereal. - The weather is perfect right now. Around 25 degrees is my guess, nice sunshine, and clear sky. I am about to go the cafe on the beach for a morning coffee, and to read the papar.

Still quite calm on park island, but a whole crane apparently was blown over on Tsing Yi, whcih is very close to here. I saw some clips on the news. Amazing how wind can do that.

A typhoon is heading towards Hong Kong, and so this will be my first typhoon on Park Island. The building here seem very solid and well constucted, but still it will be interesting to see how windy it really gets here. In each building lobby, the security guards put up signs warning about the typhoon. It was a level 1, now its a 3. Apparently it will hit a level 8 by tonight (or Signal 8 typhoon as the local people refer to it as). I will be watching from my window. Much of Hong Kong closes when we have a typhoon, but I think all the facilities on park island will be kept open (expect perhaps for the outdoor pools - lucky we still have indoor pools we can use!) Here is a link where you can get Hong Kong typhoon updates: http://www.hko.gov.hk/contente.htm  and you can track the typhoon's progress here: http://www.hko.gov.hk/wxinfo/currwx/tc_pos.htm

 Park Island  In this photo of Ma Wan you can see the main apartment complex development on Park Island. The smaller houses are part of the village, and the tall buildings are the modern apartment buildings. As you can see, the views from the apartment buildings is fantastic. You can also see the ferry terminal and the bridges that connect Park Island to Hong Kong.

I must say, the building management on Park Island is among the best I have ever seen in Hong Kong. All of the Park Island complex and resort facilities are managed by: Kai Shing Management Services Limited Park Island Management Services Office Tel : 29863800 Fax : 29863899 The Office is on the right side up the escalator steps quite close to where the Ferry Terminal is. I am not sure, but I suspect they might be a subsidiary company of Sun Hung Kai. Every security guard at the lobby of each building seems very well dressed, helpful, and professionally trained. The only criticism I have is that for some of them, their English is not great, but that is of course to be expected, given what they are paid. The flowers and gardens around Park Island are kept in immaculate condition. Indeed some people would say that everything looks almost too perfect! You never ever see any rubbish on Park Island - again, the cleaners are doing a fantastic job. Even the main beach on Park Island is

On weekends many visitors from other parts of HK come to visit Park Island. Some come by bus, and others take the ferry. What do visitors do on Park Island? -They go to one of the beaches and swim, and sunbathe. -They go to some of the many bars, restaurants or cafes. Especially popular are the ones that face out over the beach. -They visit some of the parks and nature reserves on Park Island, or go hiking. -Some will bring their dogs, and let their dogs run free on some of the beaches designated as "dog beaches" where dogs are allowed to run freely. -Spa and massage - Park Island has some top end spas, where a massage will cost you around HKD $700. On the village in Ma Wan, you can get traditional foot massages for around HKD $80 an hour. -Seafood - thoes in the know, will visit one of the many local Chinese resataurants in the village part of the island. The crabs, seafood, steamed fish, shrimps, etc are all excellent. -Visit Noah's Ark. This theme park is supri

I love sunshine, and I like it on the beach when it warm, but not burning hot. So, right now the weather in HK is perfect :) I am right now at a cafe that overlooks the beach on Ma Wan (with internet acess), with a glass of fresh orange juice, and a pizza on the way. During the week, not many people visit the beach and its mainly Park Island residents on the island. But on the weekends its packed with lots of visitors from other parts of HK coming over (some to enjoy the beach, and other to sightsee and visit the Noah's Ark theme park.. Both is fine with me - I like it quiet, but also fun to join the crowds in the weekend (and the weekends are surely good for the local shops here). What I really like about the Park Island, is that unlike many of Hong Kong's best beaches, where you need to travel a lon time to get to (and then often with no facilities), the beach is only 2 mins away from my apartment. For those of you worried about sharks, I should add that Park Island has o