Chi Lin Nunnery/Nan Lian Gardens

Last Friday, I got up with a very specific destination in mind. So far, my sabbatical has been completely devoid of plans and deadlines of any sort - I have been letting my impulses decide how I spend the next few minutes, hours, days. But when we caught up with a friend for dinner a few days ago, conversation veered towards the Chi Lin Nunnery and the Nan Lian Gardens in Diamond Hill. Our friend had recently taken a few visitors to the place and had good things to say about it, especially the veggie restaurant. That got my mouth watering, both literally and figuratively – here was a brand new experience waiting to be had, and the lure of a good lunch was just icing on cake. We had stayed in Hong Kong long enough to know that anything even remotely famous is almost always a tourist trap, and I didn’t expect the nunnery to be any different. But there is always an off-chance that something will surprise you in spite of all the crowd-pleasing artifice, so I was quite excited nevertheless. So destination Chi Lin it was on Friday!

I love walking, and if the place is new and the route unknown, that’s all the more reason to get there on foot. However, Chi Lin Nunnery was a bit too far no matter how many google map strategies I tried and since I was a bit hard pressed for time, I decided to walk to Yau Ma Tei and take the MTR to Diamond Hill. While tromping down busy Jordan Road, I came across this pretty pink blossom tree (not sure which blossoms though, didn't look a lot like Sakura but I could be wrong) -- the first harbinger of spring! 

Solitary Blossom on Jordan Road

I didn't know we had blossoms in Hong Kong, but Gireesh tells me a huge bunch flanks Garden Road every year. This one was pretty enough for me, specially because the tree and the shrine that housed it really stood out amidst the lego-blocked buildings that dot most of urban Kowloon. 

Moving on, I ran into one of the main streets that make the famous Night market. By day, the street looked so quiet and ordinary, I would not have recognized it but for the markers. What a transformation a few hours will bring, when stalls will be set up and boxes of souvenirs, apparel, purses, gadgets will be set up for the perusal of haggling, remorseless and mostly touristy crowds that will poke around narrow streets hours into the night.   Quite interesting, I must say!

Night Market street, by day!

The rest of the walk was quite nondescript with several similar blocks packed with a lot of honking cars and nudging people. But just before Yau Ma Tei station, I saw a pretty little shrine, dedicated to Tin Hau, the most popular goddess in Hong Kong.  The shrine had a biggish garden and a square where quite a few people were lounging around, reading the news paper or playing mahjong. The complex itself was compact but very colorful, with hundreds of coiled incense sticks building up an aromatic haze inside the main chambers and a few devotees offering their prayers to the main deity. Unfortunately, they didn't allow pictures inside the main shrine, but it looked similar to other Tin Hau temples that dot the region. However, it was so quiet and serene inside, I forgot all about the traffic half a block away and as W.H. Davies put it, took time to just stand and stare.  

Tin Hau temple, Yau Ma Tei

Just outside the temple complex, there was a small roadside shrine, and judging by the number of passers-by who bowed to it, seemed quite popular. 

Street side temple

After this brief stopover, I finally got to the MTR and an uneventful ride later, was at the entrance to the Nan Lian Gardens. The first thing that struck me about the entire area was how the usually ubiquitous sky scrapers were relegated to the distant background, giving an idea of how huge the entire complex was. The Nan Lian Gardens are attached to and maintained by the nunnery and entrance to both is free, which, along with the proximity to the MTR, makes them very accessible to the local public.  The introductory spiel about the garden pronounced it to be a modern-day oasis for the city weary population to relax and rejuvenate in - I was about to find out if the claim actually held true. 

Entrance to the Nan Lian Gardens

The gardens focus on the use of water, rocks, wood and green to create a visually simulating environment. There are a few wooden pagodas, prayer halls and auditoriums spread out between artificial lakes and water bodies, and you are only allowed to walk in one direction, completing the entire circuit before exiting out into the nunnery. The central pagoda is Hong Kong's diminutive answer to Kinkakuji and while it doesn't really deserve any comparisons with Kyoto's famous golden pavilion, it looked resplendent with a dash of orange and green thrown in. It was not a sunny day unfortunately, because it would have made a very pretty reflection on the lake surrounding it. 

Golden pagoda at Nan Lian Gardens

I enjoyed the leisurely walk around the garden. It was very quiet inside, which was surprising since it is surrounded by busy freeways and roads on all sides. I found my answer in the brochure later -- they have sound proof barriers all around the garden and monastery in order to preserve the atmosphere inside the complex. Quite commendable, I must say! Even though the gardens were constructed pretty recently, a lot of effort has gone into making them aesthetically pleasing and harmonious, which was a lot more than what I had expected. The buildings and gates stood out nicely next to the landscaped slopes and there were faint strains of traditional music chiming in from well concealed speakers.  However, after every couple of turns, an ugly building or two would rear its head in the distance, serving a stark reminder that I was still in the middle of one of the most heavily populated urban regions in the world.   
    

Brown, Green and Pink

I missed the entrance to the restaurant the first time around and I couldn't have found it soon enough. After all the walking around, I was really game for a good meal. The restaurant has a great location right behind a wooden water mill, overseeing a small brook. Unfortunately, the food here was the single biggest disappointment of the entire trip, even more so because it was so highly anticipated. The tofu didn't seem very fresh and the stir fry noodles were dripping in oil. The only redeeming feature was the free pickle in the beginning, but one swallow doesn't make a summer. I think my unhappiness was exacerbated by my hunger, but I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. 


I moved on to the nunnery after the meal, my initial enthusiasm tempered down a notch or two. The structure was beautiful, but not spectacular. The gently sloping roofs and engraved motifs were like most monasteries in Asia, but what the place lacked in grandeur, it made up for in serenity. Maybe because it was a weekday afternoon, but the crowds were thin, people were very respectful and there were no external deterrents to the atmosphere built by the golden spires and lotus ponds. I really hope it stays like all throughout the year -- the sobriquet of being an "oasis in the middle of Diamond Hill's urban desert" would be quite appropriate then. 

Rooftops of the nunnery

Lotus Garden

Overall, this was a productive day out. I got to see a new place, found a new restaurant to pan, had a good walk without having to breathe in anything carcinogenic and got a couple of half-decent pictures. Would I recommend it? If you are a tourist in Hong Kong on a tight timeline and a checklist, maybe not. You will find much prettier gardens/monasteries in other Asian countries. But if you are a resident, its worth spending an afternoon here instead of lazing on your couch or marching through super cold malls. It feels a bit artificial and antiseptic and probably has no historical importance, but for city-sore eyes like mine, anything beyond the usual glitter and grime is always a welcome break!
   

Hong Kong state of mind..

We have been living in Hong Kong for little over three years now, and our time here has been, in parts, fun and frustrating, exhilarating and exasperating, solitary and social. We lead very busy and full lives here, getting more and more attuned to the beat of this unique city with each passing day. How well we've fit into this life here comes as a bit of surprise to us because the decision to move here in December 2007 was a very difficult one. We had been living and working in Tokyo and were completely enamored by its charm, its people and its culture. We had also been traveling quite extensively in Japan and loving everything we saw. Hong Kong, on the other hand, had always come up short in comparison during the few brief visits we made here. The weather was always awful, dark clouds with pretty low visibility, road and lanes always crammed with shops, hawkers and shoppers alike, and apart from its fabulous skyline (it still takes my breath away sometimes!), very little spectacle to awe visitors. So with a very resentful heart and not without a few tantrums at work, we shifted base here, and for the longest time, just focused on the negatives. Apart from the aforementioned 'flaws' which continued to niggle at us, we would grumble about how rude the taxi drivers were, how people would rush into MTRs before passengers inside could get out, how there was no country associated with this tiny SAR and how in six months, we would be done with everything new and exciting Hong Kong has to offer.

Well, its been three years and counting, and I am happy to say we are still in Hong Kong and actually at peace with it. Sure, I can see dull, dark clouds out of my window as I type this now but I have seen sun-lit days too when the harbor goes aquamarine; shops, hawkers and shoppers still throng many narrow streets but I now know of quite a few streets where they don't; mainland China is the country associated with this SAR and contrary to my misjudged perceptions, it is an explorer's delight; I also know that taxi drivers are not really being rude, its just a matter of intonation! And what do I say of the presumption that we will be done with the place in six months - we are still exploring and still getting surprised, maybe not always pleasantly, but good outweighs the bad and there is always something else to look forward to after each experience that didn't end so well. And then there are positives we had never even thought about. Hong Kong is a major travel hub in Asia so its quite easy for us to travel out of the country and also to get back in touch with so many friends and relatives who keep dropping by either in transit, for work or just for fun. Hong Kong is not a major culture center but the performing arts scene is reasonably vibrant - we tend to attend more live concerts/musicals/plays in a year in Hong Kong than we did in all our time in Tokyo. Public transport is quite comprehensive and safe and has been a faithful accomplice whenever I've headed out to an unfamiliar part of town armed with just my phone and an Octopus card. I think I can go on and on about what I now appreciate about Hong Kong, but I am pretty sure you get the point already. 

Almost every place in the world has its set of pros and cons, and only when you appreciate the former and tolerate the latter do you fall in love with it. I have been in love twice, and I think I am well on my way to falling in love third time over. The transformation has been gradual - it wasn't love at first sight like it was with Seattle, nor a short and intense courtship like Tokyo, but more of an arranged marriage that with time has matured into a deeper commitment. I think I first got an inkling of this in fall of 2009 when, after a long trip to some of my favorite places in the US, our flight (Cathay of course, we need our miles!) landed at HKIA and both of us went, that was a great trip but feels so good to be back home! 

The Great Hong Kong Cafe Hunt!

Ok, so I am not a big coffee drinker, let alone a connoisseur. But I am totally in love with the idea of sitting for hours in a pretty little cafe reading a book while working slowly on a muffin/bagel/cake and sipping, well, tea or a juice. Unfortunately, after so many years in HK, I am yet to find that cozy place where one can spend hours doing nothing. To be fair, I haven't had the time to look really hard either. With super busy work weeks and action packed weekends, catching some down time in a cafe is typically not priority #1. However, with a much needed sabbatical on hand, I suddenly have a lot of free time on hand. So I thought, why not use some of it to try and find a cool, comfortable cafe where I would love to lounge my hours away. Hence starts the Great Hong Kong Cafe Hunt! The rules are pretty simple. The cafe I have in mind must:

• not be a one of the ubiquitous coffee conglomerates which have become synonymous with city life - sorry Starbucks, but I am looking for something beyond the mass produced
• not be a part of a mall - HK has too many of them around already and I don't want to spend any more money, words or time on them
• be comfortable, atmospheric and must have atleast a basic selection of coffees and snacks -- food is not the focus for sure, but something to munch on is absolutely required if I am spending more than two hours in the same place!.

It has to be a stand-alone cafe that doesn't frown on the lingerers and provide that sprinkling of chutzpah which makes them stand apart from the crowd.

It all started with a place called Java Java which we came across during one of our weekend ramblings on Hollywood road in Sheung Wan. The place looked quite chilled out with a few comfortable looking sofas lying around and what seemed like a half decent menu. Unfortunately, we couldn't go in because we were running late, but I decided to visit the place the next morning. They claimed to do breakfasts, so I landed up at 10 am for a bagel and a cuppa. I agree, a bit too late for a Tuesday morning breakfast but I am on a break too right! Unfortunately, the place was sold out of almost everything, including bagel and cream cheese. So my cafe hunt didn't really start on a very auspicious note. The place looked cozy enough, there were a lot of people, mostly expats, hanging around reading a book or surfing the net, only I am not sure what they were munching on! Anyway, since this hunt is not as much about the food as the ambiance and feel, I think I'll be back again to check it out. I just need to find the timing of their delivery truck!

With an aborted first attempt, I had to resort to google to fish out a list of other possible contenders in the area. There were surprisingly quite a few articles dedicated to cafes in Hong Kong, which bodes really well for continuing my hunt, and I was able to zero in on one called Barista Jam on Jervois Street, near the Sheung Wan market. It was supposed to be a speciality coffee place but the reason I picked it was the name -- precise and different. On way to Jervois Street, I came across a place called Graze on Bonham Strand which claimed to do coffees and cocktails.
Since I was quite grubby, there was an impromptu change of plans and I changed tracks. I did try a muffin and a coffee there and sat there long enough to finish my first blog. The place was nice enough, but seemed a bit too plastic to be memorable and there was construction going on next door which didn't help the cause either. However, there were quite a few people, both expat and local, lounging around and the coffee was decent (the muffin was strictly ok, one of the many frozen and toasted offerings you get all around HK). So will I be back? If I am in the area, most likely, but I don't see myself hoisting myself to Bonham Strand just for a few hours in Graze.

As for Barista Jam - they might do very good coffee (I didn't get to try it out because I was over-caffeinated with my morning tea and the pit stop at Graze already) but the seating was not comfortable at all. Just plain benches and desks, meant to be shared between customers, so definitely not the place that I was looking for.

All in all, an interesting day in Sheung Wan, but I am nowhere closer to finding THE cafe. I am not even sure if I am on a chimera hunt or it will have an end, but there is only one way of finding out! I still have a few more days to go, so the hunt continues.. :)