Abandoned WWII Tunnels and Some Rather Bad Skating

Woke to a beautiful day yesterday. Still chilly but with glorious sunshine to warm the cockles. Perfect weather for a hike, and so that is just what we did. After a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs with mushrooms on thick buttered toast, we jumped in the car and sped off (well, as much as it is possible to speed in a city of traffic jams!) towards Shing Mun Reservoir at the base of Tai Mo Shan, Hong Kong's tallest peak. We parked up by the calm waters of the reservoir and, dodging the cheeky wild macaques that pepper the area, stealing food from picnics and BBQs, we started to climb up to Smugglers' Ridge. It was a tough climb but we were rewarded with some beautiful views - the tall residential and commercial buildings of Kwai Chung, the long stretch of Ting Kao Bridge, and the distant peaks of Lantau Island on one side, two reservoirs and the verdant hillsides of various mountains on the other.

By far the most interesting part of the hike however, was revealed to us via signs warning, "Danger. Desolate Trench. Do not enter." Everyone knows that best things always have warning signs, so on we trudged past the signs, and came across the remains of Shing Mun Redoubt, a series of underground bunkers and pillboxes connected by cement passageways that formed the key part of the Gin Drinker's Line, an 18km-long string of defense positions along the hill separating Kowloon from the New Territories. The tunnels had been named after famous London locations by homesick soldiers, and we saw the inscriptions 'Shaftesbury Avenue', 'Regent Street', Piccadilly', and 'Charing Cross', and explored the main command post of the redoubt, 'Strand Palace Hotel'.

We walked along some of the tunnels, keeping a wary eye out for snakes and spiders, and imagined what it must have been like for the poor British soldiers, knowing an attack by the Japanese was imminent. Many of them died down there in those trenches. In one of the tunnels, the victorious Japanese attackers carved characters in the wall. They translated as, 'Captured by the Wakabayashi Brigade'.

After such an educational afternoon, The Brother and I decided to do something festive, and went to the ice rink in the shopping centre below The Parents' apartment. It was slightly embarrassing to begin with as I hobbled along the perimeter, clutching the side for dear life, especially as there were several young children pirouetting around me. As much as I wanted to, I shunned the plastic penguins you could hire to hold onto, their purpose akin to a kickboard in a swimming pool. Nobody over the age of five was using them so I tried to be brave and skate unaided. I was just about getting the hang of it, skating on my own, away from the side, when a whistle was blown and everybody cleared the rink for an ice hockey game. Oh well, there's plenty more time for skating. I'm sure the Husband will want to show off his prowess on the rink when he arrives.