Hiking Up and Down Mount Johnston

About to ascend Mt Johnston in Ap Lei Chau

This afternoon my friend and I went back to Ap Lei Chau -- and tackled Mount Johnston, and what a glorious day to do it. The sky was so blue, and we only saw one cloud in the distance. 

We started off at Kennedy Town again and walked up Victoria Road, and this time bypassed going down to Cyberport and kept walking along Victoria Road until we hit Pokfulam Road and then down to Aberdeen where we had a quick stop at McCafe to have coffee and snacks before crossing the bridge to Ap Lei Chau.

Going down the other side of the mountain

This time we were mentally prepared for climbing up the steep mountain that thankfully had ropes to help people up and they were very handy, though very dusty. My shorts and windbreaker were becoming dusty too from me holding up the rope waist level. 

Finally we reached the top (196m) and it's a very flat and has a fantastic 360-degree view of the south side of Hong Kong, Ocean Park, and Lamma Island in the distance.

Mount Johnston, also known as Yuk Kwai Shan is named after Alexander Robert Johnston (1812-1888), who was a British colonial officer who served twice as Acting Administrator of Hong Kong from 1841 to 1842.

After admiring the views we had to get down the mountain on the other side to a tombolo -- a small island attached with a narrow sandy beach. It was there, my friend said that we could catch a sampan back to Aberdeen...

Looking back up Mt Johnston from Ap Lei Pai

So we tried to descend on the other side. It didn't look difficult... Again we had to hold onto ropes to get down and my friend suggested walking backwards to avoid sliding too much. I dropped my water bottle twice! Next time need to carry a knapsack and wear gloves and better shoes.

We got onto the thin sandy strip and walked across to the "tied island" for a break. The water was so clear there. However, we didn't know if we could make it over the other side of this smaller island to catch a sampan which was supposedly HK$50 per person. So we decided to go back where we came.

Going back up wasn't too bad, and yes those ropes were very helpful again. There was less sliding. A mother and her son were in front of me and she kept encouraging him to keep going or to take a break if he needed. I told her it was my first time here and she said it was for them too.

For kids this hike is pretty tough if they are not fit! Using the rope definitely involved a bit of core and lots of balance.

Looking at Ocean Park and a new hotel there

Going back down the other side was a bit easier now that I had some experience for the past few hours! When we finally made it back down to Lei Tung Commercial Centre, my legs were kind of like jelly. We took the MTR back home and my socks, runners, windbreaker and shorts were covered in dust!

What a day!

Scenic Southside Walk

An old battery at the U of Chicago campus

 

Today we played urban tourists and walked over 12k from Kennedy Town all the way to Ap Lei Chau! This is not a route most people would go, but it was time to visit the south side of Hong Kong Island.

Looking at Bel-Air in Cyberport from Victoria Rd

At the start of the walk we visited the University of Chicago campus that was designed by the late Vancouver architect Bing Thom. His signature clean lines, incorporating the building into the heritage site as well as the natural landscape was clear here.

He is remembered with a replica of his drawing carved in stone that says "Tree of knowledge" on it, referring to the campus offering an education to students and faculty. 

The site also includes a battery to hold a gun emplacement looking out to the sea. But the weapon has been long gone, and instead a large deep circular pit is left behind. 

A sculpture of a dragon boat

We then walked to Cyberport for a quick pit stop, a mall in the middle of no where, but offers a hodgepodge of food options for people living in the area. Nearby the grass at the park was downright deplorable, completely dry and dusty. 

Pressing on we walked up a gentle incline back up onto Victoria Road before it merged into Pok Fu Lam Road. We passed by Wah Fu Estate and then soon we were in Aberdeen. The promenade there is short but nice, a bit touristy with a model of a dragon boat and some bronze statues depicting life in the area centuries before that are related to fishing.

Then we found the entrance to the bridge to go further south to Ap Lei Chau and South Horizons. We made it to Lei Tung and then my friend pointed up to a giant hill called Yuk Kwai Shan or Mount Johnston to climb! I was not prepared for that with not enough water and we had already walked 12k! I also had a time crunch to be back in time to eat at 4.30pm (linner or dunch) before the restaurant closed at 6pm.

Lots of boats docked around Aberdeen

So we turned back and caught the bus back to Causeway Bay. Guess we head up to Yuk Kwai Shan next time but perhaps without the prologue of walking all the way there!

White Terror in Hong Kong

Agnes Chow and Joshua Wong emerge having been released on bail today

Today reached new heights of shock with a slew of arrests last night, today and more are still happening as the clock approaches midnight Hong Kong time.

On Thursday night, Andy Chan Ho-tin of the now outlawed Hong Kong National Party was detained when he was trying to board a plane to Tokyo. He was arrested on suspicion of rioting and assaulting a police officer during an anti-parallel protest in Sheung Shui last month.

Former HKU student leader Althea Suen was also arrested

Then this morning there was word that Demosisto's secretary general Joshua Wong Chi-fung was arrested at 7.30am when he was in Ap Lei Chau; apparently he was nabbed into an unmarked car and then sent to the Wan Chai police station.

This goes against police regulations -- transporting all those arrested should be in clearly marked cars.

His arrest was quickly followed by another Demosisto member, Agnes Chow Ting, who also picked up in the same manner in Tai Po.

What had they done wrong?

But that wasn't all. The police were looking for Ivan Lam also of Demosisto, but he is in Taiwan now. There was also Althea Suen Hiu-lam, a former student leader at the University of Hong Kong.

Andy Chan was stopped from boarding a flight to Tokyo

And then there were three pro-democracy lawmakers who were taken by police: Cheng Chung-tai for conspiracy of criminal damage in the Legislative Council on July 1, Au Nok-yin for suspicion of obstructing police in the execution of their duties and assaulting police, and then former Cathay Pacific pilot Jeremy Tam for obstructing police officers on July 8, possibly related to clashes that followed a march in Tsim Sha Tsui the day before.

Sha Tin District Council member Rick Hui Yui-yu was also arrested on suspicion of obstructing police officers performing their duty during clashes at New Town Plaza shopping centre on July 14.

Speaking at a press conference, fellow Sha Tin District Council member George Wong Hok-lai said: "The police claimed that he [Hui] was obstructing police operations but as we saw on the news, he was performing his duty as a district councillor to assist the residents and protect them in Sha Tin."

Former Cathay Pacific pilot Jeremy Tam was arrested

A pro-Beijing newspaper had claimed Hui pretended to be a journalist, but Wong said Hui was wearing a reflective vest with a label on the back stating he is a district council member.

Late in the afternoon Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow were released on a HK$10,000 bail each, and outside the court, both were defiant and continued to demand the government withdraw the extradition bill, have an independent inquiry into police brutality, to stop calling the protesters "rioters", and have universal suffrage.

"Beijing just conveniently manipulates Hong Kong people's freedom," Wong said. "I urge the international community to send a message to President Xi, sending troops or using the emergency ordinance is not the way out."

Meanwhile Chief Superintendent John Tse Chun-chung of the police public relations branch, denied the arrests were meant to deter supporters from attending a banned protest march tomorrow, from Chater Garden in Central to the liaison office in Western district.

But so many people in one day?

Au Nok-hin was also taken by police in a series of arrests

Either Hong Kong police are doing this show of force to satisfy Beijing that it has rounded up those who it believes are causing trouble, or it really does believe "black hands" are manipulating these people?

The police also claim to have enough evidence to prosecute all these people...

In the meantime, the planned protest tomorrow has been cancelled, which means anyone near the area could be arrested for illegal assembly. Even bystanders could be nabbed. Some think of lots of people show up then how can the police arrest so many people? But then again they already have arrested 900 people... what's a few thousand more?

As Agnes Chow says, stop the white terror. Hongkongers will find another way to protest.

Gov't Seeks to Stop Democratically Elected Lawmakers

Sixtus Baggio Leung and Yau Wai-ching are in court this evening

BREAKING -- Just before midnight Tuesday, the court rejected the injunction application to stop Youngspiration's Yau Wai-ching and Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hung from retaking their oaths, but the judicial review of Legco President Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen's decision to allow the pair to retake their oaths has been allowed.

Right now a High Court judge is deciding whether to stop two lawmakers from taking their oaths again tomorrow after the Hong Kong government filed a last-minute court order.

The action was filed against Youngspiration's Yau Wai-ching and Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang as defendants and interestingly controversially newly minted Legislative Council President Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen was named co-defendant.

The young lawmakers arrived at court at 8.30pm and slammed the government for not giving them enough time to get proper legal advice.

Andrew Leung is also named as a co-defendant in the case

"They have not even supplied us with the documents [before the hearing]... This goes to show the government is willing to strip us of our qualifications at any cost," said Yau.

Sixtus Leung said they would do their best to defend themselves as well as the city's dignity and interest.

Meanwhile Legco president Leung instructed his lawyer to object to the government's application for a judicial review of his decision to allow Yau and Leung to re-take their oaths on Wednesday.

This is the first time the government has sought to invalidate the status of democratically elected lawmakers.

What is going on?

Yau and Sixtus Leung had already announced they would not create anymore antics and retake the oath properly after getting a landslide of criticism for saying "the People's Republic of Chee-na" instead of "China", and Leung claiming the pronunciation was due to his "Ap Lei Chau" accent.

The court decides if the lawmakers should retake the oath

While there are questions of Andrew Leung's exact citizenship situation, what has he done wrong? Where does it say that lawmakers are not allowed to retake their oaths? Is the government claiming the pro-Beijing president is not doing his job?

Our political system is showing cracks with things that could have been resolved through discussion and compromise, now are being resolved through the courts.

Judges should not have to decide on every single matter.

How can the government decide to invalidate the votes of Hong Kong people who voted for Yau and Sixtus Leung?

This will only further galvanize the already fractious situation, creating more tension in the city and its residents wonder if anything will ever get done politically.

Can we all please move on? We've only just started this new session of the legislature and already it's a mess.