Tai Po

Last week was the Mid Autumn Festival, so all schools were closed Thursday.  We took the opportunity to go to Tai Po to see how far it was and what was there.

There is a Japanese International school there that I am considering for Kai.  Since my rent is only 1/2 what the rent allowance is for NETS, I was thinking to use the other  1/2 to enroll Kai in a private school. 

Tai Po is damn far.  We need to take three trains, or alternatively, a train a bus and a train.  I recently learned that we can just take a bus and a train, but still....damn far.  It looks really close; on a map, it is directly East of where we live.  However, because of the mountains, which is a huge HK city park and nature reserve, you have to go all the way up around or down around it.  You cant drive straight across. 

But Tai Po is awesome!

On the train coming up, we saw tons of people on boats.  Fishermen on fishing boats as well as leisurly paddlers on paddle boats, and all sorts of greenery.  It was very scenic and idyllic.  There were mountains, oceans, rivers, trees, marshy delta grasses; green green green! 

It has a market which is three floors high.  The bottom floor is the meat market (where almost all the meats are still alive and well when you buy them), the second floor is the veggie market and the top floor you can eat at restaurants that serve food the chefs bought on the other two floors.  Cheap and fantastic and FREEEESSSSH!! 

However, we passed the market earlier int he day because Mabo was convinced it was not the market.  He was convinced we had to cross the river to get to the market.  So we crossed the river and discovered :  Mega Mall!  I will have to return to Mega Mall.  It has about 6 or 7 wings and several floors and just goes on for ever and ever.  It has so many shops!  And of course, its mega air conditioned!  I even liked their bathrooms: cleaner than usual, and the walls have little pieces of mirror in the concrete so you can see your reflection as you pee, and see shiny sparkles all over as the light from the ceilings reflects from mirror scrap to scrap.  Plus it is nice that HK is trying to reuse mirror scraps in that way. 

After Mabo dragged me out of Mega Mall, we headed back along the streets of Tai Po where we found lots of cute and wonderful local vendors selling teas and Chinese herbal remedies and steamed buns and breads.  It had everything we could want in a place to live.  Best of all, despite the fact it was a holiday and probably a big city, Tai Po wasn't nearly as crowded as other places in Hong Kong.  I really like the New Territories.  I wish I had been sent to a school in Tai Po.  I just adore it there!

UPDATE DEC 10, 2012:

We decided last April that we loved Tai Po so much, we moved there!  And I now work nearby.  WE still adore Tai Po.  The people walk more slowly, are more friendly, and seem happier than most any other place in HK.  It's a very laid-back, blue collar kind of town.  It's spacious, full of trees and grass and places to play.  We love love love it. I am so grateful for the friends I made and the experiences I had in TSW, but Tai Po has my heart!