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2011年9月26日 星期一

Dream Come True!

Happy was my Sunday. A dream came true. For years, I have been looking out from the verandah of my former Island east flat at another small island in the distance off the Lyemun Pass in the direction of Saikung. It looked as if it were a boulder in green rising up from the bottom of the sea. What was on it? Was it inhabited? What could one find there? Anything interesting?  No need to continue to speculate and wonder. Find out!  The island was Tung Lung Island. One could actually go there by some "street ferry" (街渡). The ferry left from Sai Wan Ho. I understand that one could also go there from by ferries from another company operating from Sam Ka Chuen in Kwun Tong. I took the 9.45 a.m. ferry from Sai Wan Ho. It was was drizzling. It didn't matter. The journey was pleasant but uneventful. I was glad however to be able to have another chance to look at my former flat and tried to identify it in the distance. It brought back many pleasant memories. That's where I had my daughters.

I had no idea what I would find on the island. As the ferry neared the island, I saw four or five "fish rafts". Beside them were anchored a few motor boats. They looked like working boats. In the distance, I could see a narrow path leading from the little stone pier up the green hillside and soon disappearing amongst the thick of some bushes. I walked up with the dozen other fellow passengers at a leisurely pace.



My ferry.








Some people preparing to go out to sea at the little beach next to the pier. Perhaps for fishing?





A little distance up, I found a garden at a bend of the path and some beautiful yellow flowers with
a bee!.





More flowers.





A close up of one of them with ants harvesting its honey!





The flowers were from a creeper!





This would be what the flowers may eventually end up being!





On the other side of the path were some papaya trees. But not all plants are grown for food.





Some beautiful flowers for the sheer delight of being looked at!





The flowers in full bloom.





Some ripening berries?





Others still budding?





Other flowers along the path emerging after the morning drizzle.





New shoots just coming out.





Morning glories everywhere!




And these small flowers whose name I don't know.





Some other tiny yellow flowers in full bloom too!





Other fresh green leaves coming out after the rain.





After half an hour or so, I came upon a beach. The waves were coming in from the ocean.





A wave about to crash upon the reef.





Crashing
 




Receding after the crash.





Another wave crashing.





A wave breaking before it reached the reef.





Another crashing wave.





Receding again.





Another wave crashing? Will they ever cease? I could watch forever!





Another two waves quickly following each other.
 





Another wave crashing upon the beach below a camp site..





A small wave crashing a little distance further out from the beach.





The moment of the crash! You can see the clouds of sprays. I could only gape in fascination.





A wave crashing upon different parts of the reef at the same time! It was magnificent.





A sea of foams in white!





A close up of the waves crashing upon the bottom of a cliff close by





Waves crashing upon the cliff further out!





On the island, we see not only the beauty and violence of Nature, we see traces of human violence too!
This is a house documenting the rebuilding of a battery upon the island built in the mid-17th century by
the Tsing government. This place was then called "Hall of the Buddha's Mark" (佛印堂).





The external wall of the battery. The original shape of the battery cannot now be traced. All we got
are the lower portions of broken down walls marking where the former houses were. The style of
this battery looks remarkably like the one I found at Fun Lau, on Lantao Island which I visited a
little earlier.







Looking out from the window inside the house of its history, all one could see are grasses.






Even the iron bars of the house look rusty.





Does it belong properly only amongst the cobwebs of history?





It was a dark episode.





Outside of the little hut, the ground was filled with fallen leaves. One.





Two!





Three!





Four and hundreds more. Beneath them all, you find signs of vigorous new life.





Is that window in the memorial house a window of history which is daily repeated in the windows
of the history of Nature?





There are cobwebs not only in Chinese history. There are cobwebs out on the ground too! They
are strong enough to hold up water, the mother of all life! Whatever the truth may be, one
cannot stay all day on the island. Time for a meal back in town.



The mechanism to make the mooring at the pier stable?





The light and flag at the pier.





Barnacles everywhere. Nature never ceases to seize the slightest chance to colonize our contraptions.






Some abandoned sacks and hooks at the pier, rusting and beginning to rot..




But these are not the concern of three young men I found fishing at the pier. One of the young
men I asked said he came there often and recommended that I take some instant noodles at the
second but not the first store from the pier! But too late to walk back now. The boat would
be coming in five minutes time. It was very satisfying. A two decade mystery had finally been solved!


9 則留言:

  1. 很久不見,你好嗎?很高興原來你已轉了升級版,那麼我可以過來欣賞你的文章了。因舊和新的不相連。你現在的文章,圖文並茂更好看!謝謝分享
    [版主回覆09/26/2011 13:21:29]I'm fine. Thank you for visiting.

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  2. Another fruitful pilgrimage! Thanks for sharing.
    You will need a movie camera pretty soon.
    [版主回覆09/26/2011 18:46:11]Thank you. The photographic and video camera perform quite different functions. If you want time to study the images, the photo camera may still have some uses.

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  3. 也到過東龍島一次, 風景很美的。~~~~~~~ 此行收獲豐富呢! 尤喜第一幅的浪!
    [版主回覆09/26/2011 20:54:48]I like the sea and its wave. I can never get enough of them. Yes, I love the first photo too. I caught the sprays just at the right moment but I had to wait a long time.

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  4. 看著那些雪白的浪,便想到:「浪淘盡千古風流人物」... 喜歡第一張與末張。^_^
    [版主回覆09/27/2011 07:07:23]Thank you. I like the waves because they tell us all we need to know about life. I like both of the first and last photos too. That's why they are where they are!

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  5. most small compact digital cameras come with video function. so, you dont really need to get another movie camera. unless you are rally that serious with moving images.
    I agree that still pictures are more charming , It captures the moment. just like the waves you have taken.
    [版主回覆09/27/2011 07:10:46]Thanks for your information. As I said, taking photos and doing a video are quite different. There are certain things that you can only do with a photo which you cannot do so well if you were to do the same by video because the video is moving all the time, although in replaying the video, there are certain buttons you can push to slow it down or even to freeze it. It's just not the same.

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  6. dupreheifetz's world2011年9月27日 凌晨12:12

    another great album! always enjoy your photos!
    [版主回覆09/27/2011 07:11:38]Thank you. Keep visiting if you wish to continue your enjoyment.

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  7. 「誰在我心裡 留印象,讓我不怕創傷 堅決去面對,難關不會往後退 ,誰在我心裡 留盼望,令我困惱盡去,令我勇敢面對,難關不會往後退....」想起一首歌的歌詞。
    [版主回覆09/27/2011 17:18:18]Yes, images always evoke other images and emotions associated with the other images. That's the way our brain works. We all long to receive encouragement so that we may carry on the fascinating yet not at all easy task of living despite all the obstacles and uncertainties we daily face.

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  8. Thank you for sharing your tour to Tung Lung Island with us. It does look like a place for retreat and escape from the city's hustle and bustle. It's really like a secret garden. Your picutres have painted more than a thousand words. Great shots!
    [版主回覆09/28/2011 07:08:24]Tung Lung Island is a very small island and is sparsely populated. It is full of a kind of wildness which you seldom find on other islands. There Nature reigns supreme in all its splendor.

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  9. 已經去過東龍島多次,可能對於我來說太容易去了,每次總是走馬看花,不比你看得仔細啊!東龍島是賞浪聖地,你的照片充分描繪出浪的氣勢,很美!
    [版主回覆09/28/2011 07:10:18]Thank you for your compliments. I really like to observe the power and beauty of the waves.

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