minalism travel

Repulse Bay in the Southern Part of Hong Kong Island I t's Wednesday, mid-week and the weather is still roasting. When the weather is like this all I can think of is being by the sea. So why not? I texted a few friends and fixed up a beach date at Repulse Bay . My last and only visit to Repulse Bay was on a random night out, with some crazy people, drunk and tumbling about looking for a BBQ site to have a late night feast. So I was definitely interested in spending some time at this beach during the day.  No one knows exactly how the bay got its name, as there is no circumstantial evidence to prove which story tells the true events of the bay. One popular belief is that in 1841, the area was being used by pirates as a base to disrupt trading between foreign trader ships and China. Due to the damaging consequences of the pirates positioning, they were 'repulsed' away from Hong Kong by the British Naval Fleet. The beach was artificially extended under the Br...

Victoria Park Marches In Hong Kong  – Photograph from Sy In The City Blog It's a beautiful but sweltering Thursday, and another glorious Hong Kong public holiday. This is a significant day for most local Hong Kongers as the 1st of July 1997 marked the end of the 156 years colonial British rule over Hong Kong, and was also the official date of the transfer of sovereignty to the People's Republic of China. In addition to these historical events, the 1st of July has become an annually anticipated date, known for the mass rallying of political and social groups in various locations of the city, with a focal point at the immense Victoria Park . Victoria Park marchers gathering to voice their political and social opinions – Photograph by minalism Since the 1997 handover the original annual protests have been led by the Hong Kong Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) focusing on political, social and welfare issues concerning the citizens of the SAR establishment....

Practicing Tai Chi In A Public Park – Photograph from nydailynews.com It is a sunny and relatively warm Saturday morning for January. You would think that after spending at least two years waking up at the crack of dawn on Saturday mornings, to travel all the way from South London to East, while I was working for the Barnardos Aut' & About Scheme , that I would be accustomed to being out and about at this time. But no, it's still a struggle, so I get myself out of the apartment as fast as I can and on my way to meet today's adventure.  Agenda of the day: visiting elderly residents at their homes courtesy of the kind efforts of Janet Wai and SK Shum, who organise the Hong Kong Voluntary Group on Meetup , and the team of staff at the Wan Chai Methodist Centre for the Seniors. These visits have been successfully running since 2007 providing an invaluable and under-catered service to the 'real' residents of Hong Kong. My team were given three elderl...