to make a LONG story short: The New Territories

We made our way to the New Territories today with Michelle which is a region on the outskirts of Hong Kong that is much less populated than the city with vast beautiful views of the water and some pretty secluded but gorgeous beaches. The New Territories also house many more locals than the area where we live so we thought it would be a fun adventure to check out the difference in the people and culture. Of course, Michelle was up for it!!!

We left pretty early with a stop at Starbucks before we got on the Subway

Our first stop on the journey was a town called Sai Kung

The Chinese kids are so so so cute and I've been trying to get pictures of them without their parents taking my camera and smashing it on the sidewalk and these little guys were hanging out by themselves so I thought I would snap the pic. A LOT of people use umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun. You see it ALL THE TIME here.

We stopped into this little Thai restaurant to get a drink and Michelle and I tried a traditional tea (for me) and an Aloe Vera juice (for Meesh). If this picture makes you think we enjoyed the drink...then looks are deceiving. If by enjoyed you mean we almost spit it out on Devin sitting across from us, then yes, you could say we enjoyed them.

Ok, I heard about these toilets before we left to come to China but I had yet to see them. The toilets in this restaurant were on the floor...it was precarious to say the least

This was just a cool building near where we "enjoyed" our drinks

Then we went from town to the start of a hiking trail that led to a beach....here is Meesh at the start...it must be said that she did this hike still jet-lagged and she is a MACHINE

Michelle making her way through....

Starting to see why the hikes here are worth it....

And again...understanding the concept

Photo Op...

We finally got to the end of the path and this man led us to a nearby restaurant

So we had a waterfront lunch which was AH.MAY.ZING

Before making our way down to the beach....

Michelle asked us why the Bank didn't also provide a yacht with our package...

After lounging at the beach for a bit we headed back towards the buses and the town and saw a group of people gathered around looking down at the water and went to look at what the fuss was about. This couple had a "seafood market" directly off their boat. Most of the seafood was still alive on this boat. I reckon they just take care of that if you buy something.