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shot with Canonet GIII QL17 rangefinder

Lamma island - Seagull's take

Bolstered by my lovely all-by-myself day trip to Cheung Chau, I happily set out to explore another outlying island, Lamma island, this time with my husband the following day which was a Saturday (= no need to work). As biking around Cheung Chau was quite a breeze given the relatively flat terrain, I urged him to also get a bike on Lamma island. Boy, was it a huge mistake. We were completely ignorant of the geography of Lamma, which had only one path running across from one end to the other of the small island. The good thing is you will never get lost. The bad thing is to get from one bay to another, one has to cross the ridge and our bikes were totally useless on those horrendously steep slopes. The worse thing was we had to climb back over the same ridge again to return our rental bikes (the alternative was to lose our deposit of HK$600). I then realised why there were two ferries leaving separately for two different parts of Lamma from the mainland - Sok Kwu Bay and Yong Shu Bay - because people simply pick one bay to visit! The tasty though slightly pricey seafood meal at the end of our hike did soothe our rather broken spirit (legs felt broken too) but the savoury mantis shrimp and succulent bamboo clams were soon forgotten as we grudgingly trudged back up the ridge to return our rental bikes. Another reason why Lamma wasn't particularly appealing was the large expat population living on the island, which sort of turned it into a yuppie (plus white trash) hangout with the usual bars, booze and Western grub. Lamma is a 30-min ferry ride from the mainland which makes daily commuting to the mainland quite bearable. It is away from the city and yet not too far that you are cut off from your urban comforts. The first thing we saw when we landed was a row of real estate agencies hawking the ideal seaside home, followed by a row of restaurants and bars catering to the expat population. There were much less interesting sights to shoot, plus we were totally whacked by the punishing "mountaineering" experience.

A herb garden on the island. This is the entrance. The owner is a young HK couple who grows organic herbs and use them for making tea and snacks that are sold in their cafe.

A creative way to label the plants using upturned glass bottles and white paint.

The cat which is very much a part of the herb garden.

Houses on the hillside.

There is a huge power station (three smoke stacks and at least 4 storage tanks) on one end of Lamma island. I guess a lot of electricity is needed to keep the bars, restaurants and large air-conditioned homes going.

Cheung Chau (3) - Seagull's take 2

Flower shop

The Chinese New Year celebrations were just over.

The mist was rather heavy and the view wasn't fantastic. On a clear day, you are supposed to be able to see HK Island.

Cheung Chau has a number of small rock formations and they have names like Vase Rock, Human Rock etc. I don't remember seeing any sign for this one though.

Cheung Chau (2) - Seagull's take

The prep work going on for the Cheung Chau Bun Festival in May at the island's central parade square.



Colorful flowerbeds lining the streets, complete with mini white picket fences!


One way to get around - a tricycle with attached wagon for man and goods.


Apartments look like this. Very old style. This may be on an island but being HK, the flats are still quite tightly packed. There are some blocks where you can reach across from your balcony to your neighbour's and nick her clothes.

Running around Cheung Chau (HK) - Holga's take

My husband was in HK for a one-week business trip in early March and I went over the weekend to join him. I had some time to myself and went hiking on two of the outlying islands, Cheung Chau and Lamma islands, something that I have always always wanted to do. The islands have a laid-back, 1970s feel, which is certainly something we do not easily associate HK with. Cheung Chau is the most populated outlying island (and HK has over 260 islands in all) with about 30,000 residents, and is a 45-min ferry ride away from Central in HK Island. The population is made up of mostly retirees and yuppies, who want to lead an "alternative" lifestyle and prefer the daily commute to living in pigeonholes on the crowded mainland. I had a thoroughly enjoyable walk-cum-bike ride around Cheung Chau alone, and spent some time chatting with the locals. There are no cars, cabs, buses etc on the island. People get around on bicycles, and for transporting goods, they use a small motorised bike with an attached mini-trailer to ferry stuff around.

Ping An Bao (Buns of Peace) is Cheung Chau's most famous export. Every May, there is a huge celebration in Cheung Chau where thousands of people descend on the island to participate in this festival, with street parades, temple celebrations, and tons of these buns tied to a tower structure where participants will compete to climb the tower to grab as many buns as possible. It is a huge stampede but I bet it's lots of fun. Of course, the bakeries also sell them for consumption. I was too early but managed to catch the prep work going on at the central parade square.


There seems to be plenty of these cheery little flags hanging around the island. These were in front of one the numerous Tin Hou Gong temples (Goddess of the Sea).



Cheung Chau began as a fishing village and the industry is still being kept alive by a small fishermen population on the island. But the catch is far too minimal to satisfy the seafood-mad folks from the mainland so most of the restaurants import their stocks from all over the world.





This was taken along a stretch of beaches on the opposite side of the pier. City folks come to islands like Cheung Chau and Lamma during summer to chill and do a bit of sunbathing.


And fish! This rocky stretch faces the main HK Island, which was not in sight as the weather in spring is generally foggy; I was told it is very common for ferries to collide due to the poor visibility. On my way to the island, the ferry had to stop mid-way for a while because it was completely shrouded by the mist. I was getting sick and throwing up because of the choppy waters.


There is a primary school and a secondary school on the island. The street leading to the school is named 学校路 (School Street). This shop is right outside the school and judging from the sign, it probably sells school supplies.



The signboard along the beach got me real excited and I was sad to see the shutters down. Mmm, tasty seafood BBQ dinner on the beach goes *poof*.



Random splashes of colour all over the island. This is a low wall bordering a ball court.



One of the Tin Hou Gong temples. Islands of HK always have at least one of these temples worshipping the Goddess of the Sea.



Holga 135, Kodak Ektachrome 64

Lomo random - test-driving my fisheye lens

As the focal length of Holga is about 38mm on 35mm film (mine is the 135 version), which means I can only take clear pictures of objects at least 1m away, it doesn't allow me to take close up shots. To help make up for it, I bought Holga a fisheye lens, which I intended to use like a macro lens to take close-ups (about 4cm away), which will then turn out to look normal. Anything more than 4cm away will produce a distorted effect, which actually is the whole point when people use this lens. For me, it works both as a pseudo-macro and a fisheye lens. Have to judge the distance carefully though, otherwise the subject can turn out to be blur, while the background ends up being clear, which may not be the intended effect.

Lomo random - test-driving my Seagull

These are some of my first shots using the Seagull 4B-1, the entry level TLR fully manual camera. I am still figuring out the right combinations of aperture, shutter speed and film ISO in different light conditions. Sometimes, I even get the focus wrong (like in the picture of the door), which actually is the easiest bit. Medium format film produces more vivid shots than ordinary 35mm, and is even better on Seagull because of the glass lens, which results in a very sharp HD effect. Somehow the shots look better in the 6x6 square frame. I don't think I ever use much of the 6x4 frame!