Boat Trippin' in Hong Kong

Every summer people in Hong Kong have the cool option of renting boats for the day and taking trips out to the outer islands or up to the New Territories. Never mind that the water is often full of floating sewage and the background often looks like a nuclear wasteland i.e. all the container barges in the distance and the smokestacks of Lamma

Island.

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Anyhoo, these ‘junk trips’ are still quite relaxing and can be really fun depending on the people that are on the boat. Over the past few weeks, the weather has been amazing and I went on three junk trips-all of which were very different.

On one trip, I went out to a little populated island named Po Toi for lunch with a bunch of French aristo types. We docked out at Deepwater

Bay afterwards, went wakeboarding and enjoyed an amazing golden sunset. Their yacht was really posh.

Another time, I was on a somewhat rickety wooden junk with a bunch of strangers- most of whom were German and in their early twenties. The boat was a bit smaller and I almost got sea sick on the way out since the water was choppy and the boat wasn’t very wide. On top of that, they started playing some loud head-pounding Euro-techno music which at 10am, slightly hungover, was truly nerve-racking. Both of these times, it was not super comfortable being stuck on a boat for so long with a bunch of people I didn’t really know.

However, on every junk trip, there are always moments which make them worthwhile. It may be the wind blowing through your hair, or the lights of the city at twilight or a memorable conversation that you have with someone.

[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]In the best case scenario, you actually like/know the people you’re on the boat trip with, you usually get happily drunk and do all kinds of fun and silly things like diving, swimming and dancing. This was the case for my most recent boat trip. The crowd was a mixture of Asians and Europeans and somehow everyone was around my age. We went up to Dai Long Wan in the New Territories and the water is just cleaner up there. It's one of the most stunning and remote beaches in Hong Kong. The vibe was just fun. We drank champagne and good wine until we were sufficiently inebriated to do some silly pole dance moves.

It’s usually proper protocol to apologize for your chubby stomach by announcing to everyone how bloated you are before getting into your bikini. However, I’ve been on a major workout kick these days and I’m happy to report that all my hard work has started to actually pay off. Besides regularly running Bowen Road, I have a favorite ex-ballet teacher who does these cardio pilates classes and I am her total devotee. In three weeks time, I’ve managed to visibly change the shape of my body. Now if I can just manage to maintain it!