Park Island, Ma Wan, Hong Kong

Some photos below: Mid Aurmn Festival

It was a wonderful weekend on Park Island. I spent it swimming, lying on the beach, and eating and drinking! The weather is just great right now. I ate at the Japanese restaurant on Park Island on Saturday night. I sat at one of the outdoor tables, as the weather was just right, and also because I had two small kids with me who can sometimes make a bit of noise and run around. My ratings are as follows: Service - 6/10. Friendly, and food came quite quickly, but the staff were clearly quite new, got a dish wrong, and some of them spoke poor English. No great problems though, and I think they will improve. Decor - 6/10. Clean, tidy, but not particularly Japanese looking. But not bad either. The owners told me they will be doing some further renovation to improve the look of the restaurant. Food - 8.5/10. I was pleasantly surprised. Much better than I expected, and I will be going back again primarily becaue of the food. Value for money - 7/10. Cost came to $425 for two adults and t

There seem to be more French people moving to Park Island. Has anyone else noticed that? Also more Korean air hostesses are moving here, it seems. If you want to meet some of them, they can be often be seen poolside at Chic Chic on weekends. So, if you want to practice your Korean, or are looking for a Korean friend, girlfriend, or wife, that might be a good place to meet them! Has the gwailo who has joined the old folks doing tai chi in the piazza started a trend? Apparently a second gwailo was spotted joining them last week.  Maybe I should give it a try? The luxury villas are apparently having their current kitchens ripped out and a newer modern kitchen installed. Word is that Sun Hung Kai are going to position these as even more upmarket than they had initially planned, so are now putting in top of the line European kitchens. Around 20 workmen and engineering-looking types were recently seen thoroughly inspecting the structure right next to the new villas. What were they up to

Just discovered these Park Island websites: A website about Park Island: http://mawanhk.weebly.com/index.html . Here is how the site is described: We have a small community here on Ma Wan and the sites aim is to keep you up to date with what is happening on the Island, what is available, group activities and the Island news. It's early days. We'll keep building the site and hope you find it useful. If you would like us to post any items regarding Ma Wan feel free to contact us. They have quite a good list of some of the restaurant on Park Island here: http://mawanhk.weebly.com/island-resturants.html

I spoke to an agent on Saturday evening, who told me that so far this weekend they have been very busy. Apparently they have had a real pick up in interest for people looking to rent on Park Island. Apparently there is an entire circle of expats whose kids go to one of the international schools, who have decided one by one that Park Island is an ideal place to live. (I wonder if they know about the Park Island snake! lol). I asked the agent what price per square foot the current rentals were being signed at, and he told me around $19-$20 per square foot, which sounds about right, but that he thinks by next year all rentals will be over $20 per square foot. Most people looking apparently find Park Island very good value compared to HK island, where they are being squeezed on rental renewals. He also told me there has been a steady number of people looking to buy on Park Island, but not many actual sales are actually closed, as while people remain interested, the current financial voli

A snake was spotted on Park Island. Quite a big deal apparently. Police were called, and a "snake expert" was brought in to capture the snake. Here's a photo of the poor little guy... The snake is obviously terrified. Hopefully he was captured and released somewhere nice rather than being killed. What's the bet we see Park Island management erect a "No Snakes Allowed" sign :)

A Hong Kong construction site There are still around 100 village houses under construction, on Ma Wan, apparently. Here is a photo of some of them under construction. The construction process seems to be well planned and orderly (quite the opposite to the usual chaos that you see when village houses are constructed). The reason for this is that the entire Ma Wan village was planned and is being built by Sun Hun Kai, who under an agreement with the villagers agreed to provide a certain number of houses for them. And in case anyone is worried, the villagers (or indeed anyone who lives in these houses) will not be able to use the Park Island facilities such as the pools and gym etc. Only Park Island residents with resident cards can get access to these facilities. The village does have some facilities that anyone the island can use. They have a tennis court (that seems be more often used for soccer), and a large soccer stadium, and also kids play areas. I know some foreigners who a