Long Walks Yield Discoveries

Brilliant fuchsia flowers to brighten up an overcast day

Perhaps because the weather was overcast today, or people finally heeded the warnings of health officials, fewer people were seen out and about during the Easter holiday.

Today Hong Kong had 11 more coronavirus cases, bringing the total to exactly 1,000; of the new cases, 10 were from overseas, one was local.

Stone Manor was so intriguing I had to take a closer look

To make sure I would avoid crowds of people like along the waterfront, I walked along Victoria Road, a relatively quiet road that few people walk on because of the long incline involved, and it passes by a garbage dump area that has a certain smell... thankfully wearing a mask helps block the pungent odors!

Along Victoria Road are cemeteries and a handful of people came out to belatedly visit their ancestors for Qing Ming. I even spotted my relatives from across the street who were carrying bunches of flowers. For a second I wondered if I should join them, but decided they probably didn't want my company in our era of social distancing and continued on my way.

I passed by socialite Brenda Chau Tam Yuet-ching's home called Villa D'Oro that apparently has a gold toilet, and tycoon Cecil Chao Sze-tsung's place across the street with Happy Lodge where he has probably had numerous trysts.

There are two of these crests, one on each gate

I walked all the way to Sassoon Road and at the roundabout, spotted a house made of stone and circled round to take a closer look. After some research I find Stone Manor was built in the 1930s and is the home of the late Henry Fok Ying-tung's family. Drapes cover up the windows, but it looks like it should be in the English countryside than on a quiet street in Pokfulam.

The gates have a crest that say: Semper Fidelis", or "always loyal".

The last time the home was in the news was when Fok's son Kenneth Fok Kai-kong married former Olympic diver Guo Jingjing there in 2012.

Perhaps I should go on more walks to discover other interesting things!