-
The Loveliest Place on Lamma!
 There are so many lovely places on Lamma and everybody
has their own favourite, often secret spot. Some are well-known to
locals and tourists alike, some are beautiful, but very little known,
like the place on the right. No, not the Hotel Intercontinental in Tsim
Sha Tsui with a HK Island view. Guess!
It's the
Cococabana Restaurant in Mo Tat Wan, a 200-people village beyond
Sok Kwu Wan, in a romantic little bay overlooking Aberdeen, with its own
ferry pier. Owner/manager/chef Jean-Paul Gauci calls it "The
Loveliest Place on Lamma!" But he would, having just settled there 9
months ago with wife Patsy and son Nino. He finds YSW too busy & too
crowded, like HK Island!
 On a recent balmy afternoon, Lamma-Por and I sat down for
an early dinner and a long, friendly, funny chat with perfect host
Jean-Paul, who's cooked in many great restaurants worldwide. You can
take the ferry via Sok Kwu Wan, alighting just outside
Cococabana, or walk there from Sok Kwu Wan (at least 30 mins).
I had
walked there all the way from Yung Shue Wan via Lo Tik Wan (see story). Totally exhausted,
enjoying a glass of their cool, refreshing house wine on their
beach-front balcony (see left), the incredible food appearing course
after course, it certainly looked like the loveliest place to me!
 A fantastic place for a group booking, junk trip or any
party. We've sampled the Menu Surprise which is designed daily by
Jean-Paul, taking into consideration
Cococabana's most popular platters and what's fresh & best that
day. It's $320 per person, everything included, even Kir Royale,
coffee/tea, dessert & service charge. Not cheap, but definitely great
value! To our surprise, generous Jean-Paul didn't let me pay for the
Menu Surprise! See the special menu we enjoyed below right, click here
for their detailed Q&A. For
their website, click on any photo.
Without
exaggerating, this was by far the best non-Chinese meal we've EVER
had anywhere on Lamma! This is 5-star-hotel-quality food, but in a
quiet, peaceful al fresco setting above a clean, sandy beach, the best
of town & island life combined! Highly recommended!
|
 Jean-Paul:
Seafood & Eat it
We are a Restaurant and Bar and have a
great beach location, only 15 min
from HK by ferry. We serve Provençale
cooking, most recipes are
authentically created as in the Provençe of
Southern France. Our menu also includes some
delicious
Mediterranean
seafood dishes, Moroccan Grill, Greek
Houmas and lots more.
There are two other aspects to our menu. First, the Surprise Menu where our Chef
Jean Paul Gauci will create a tailored menu for your party from the
best of that day. Of course, it starts with a welcome drink on the
house, and lastly our very popular
Children’s Menu consists of all the kids' favourites
& our own comfort food.
Although we are a laid-back Mediterranean beach restaurant, you can be sure to find the family
feeling present throughout, fresh honest tastes, accurate and friendly service. We also
have a very modest wine list from Chateau Neuf du Pape to Australian Wolf Blass
Shiraz, not to mention French Provençale and
Italian wines for as little as $160 per bottle. |
Special menu:
Antipasti
platter w/Italian & Provençale Hors d'oeuvres,
Baked Saint
Maure Goat's Cheese wrapped in Bacon with Walnuts &
Balsamico dressing,
Prawns Piri
Piri sauteed in Chilli & Garlic w/fresh Herbs,
Grilled
Mediterranean Sardines with Rosemary Butter and Picard,
Dutch
Mussels steamed in white Wine, Herbs & Shallots,
Oven-grilled
African Chicken with Coconut, Peppers & Spice,
Barbary
Duck Confit with Rosemary, Honey and Lemon,
Dessert
sampler (French Apple Tart topped w/Ice-cream, Caramelized Egg
Cream, Chocolate Mousse Cake),
Tisane (French Herbal Tea). |
 (all photos provided by Cococabana,
click here for their Q&A)
Getting back home is easy, by
frequent ferries from just outside the restaurant to Aberdeen, and from
there a ferry back to YSW, if you live there. But way more fun is the
 speedboat that Jean-Paul can order for guests
anytime. Up to ten people sharing for $600, it's 15
minutes of high-speed racing back to YSW. Jean-Paul came along for one
of his rare journeys away from his little paradise. I invited him to the
Island Bar which he didn't know by name. Lamma-Por and I will soon
return for a special celebration, enjoying more of the amazing food and
jovial, relaxed atmosphere in
Cococabana. See you there?
Restaurants & Bars - April 2004
 New restaurants rarely manage to open on time;
especially when they're totally renovated from scratch like "Life"
(Bookworm-offspring in Soho, Central), renovated on-and-off like "The
Full Monty" and "The Waterfront", or renovated in-a-hurry like "Omi"
(new dessert place on Back Street, where Thai Thai used to be). To be
reviewed as soon as any of these "Opening soon!" restaurants actually
officially opens.
All the places above have unfortunately
missed probably the best weekend of the year for the local food &
beverage business: Easter. We might have gotten pretty close again this
year to those
all-time-high visitor arrival figures of last Easter. Glorious
weather, many shops/restaurants full to capacity, but it was almost
impossible to squeeze through the slowly moving herds on Main Street. We
really love tourists (at least their cash) coming in and patronising our
shops & restaurants, but do they all need to visit on the same weekend!?
|
Recent news & developments:
Is it a sign of
still tough times that some restaurants are teaming up, selling
each other's food on commission?
Island Bar is
selling the Bistro's food. New Holiday Mood has THREE menus these
days, offering their own Western-style dishes, Chinese from Lung
Wah Rest. (opposite Spicy Island) and Indian from Spicy Island.
What next?
Lamma Bistro is
looking for full-time and part-time staff. Interested? |
A disclaimer from the Editor:
Some of the restaurants mentioned in
this regular monthly feature are Lamma-zine advertisers (Deli,
Diesel's, Spicy Island, Island Bar,...). But that has not stopped
me in the past to be honest and slam anybody for bad food or
service, if encountered. I've gotten away with it so far,
fortunately.
Many places getting good comments
below are not advertisers (Bookworm, Man Kee, Tropicana). This
regular monthly feature is basically promotional in nature, trying
to get you to go out more and patronise the wide variety of great
restaurants on Lamma, helping to improve the local economy!
I'll always try to be honest and
fair in my own comments. But as many of my advertisers pay
partially in food/drinks barter, I'll obviously tend to visit them
more frequently, highlighting their promotions and special events
more, also taking more pictures of their dishes. Additional food
reviews from readers for publication are always highly encouraged,
good or bad!! |
Click here for an extensive & comprehensive
photo gallery of Restaurant & Bar
News - April 2004.
Land of Herbs & Veggies at
the Beach
 
 A new, truly organic farm opened a few months ago just
besides Hung Shing Yeh beach: vegetables, flowers and loads of herbs
direct from the farm. I've had a good look at this very idyllic farm
recently. Herboland has become very popular already, sometimes they have
two press interviews per day! See the SCMP
photographer on the left taking pictures of farmers Gavin & Gary for
a recent big
feature story in the SCM Post!
Gavin has contributed to Lamma.com.hk for quite some time
now, as member
the farmland. He's made good use of it for free promotion of
their  great venture. Trying some of their produce myself
(left), it is most tasty and flavourful indeed! Check it out yourself,
buy direct at the farm, order by
email or phone (see below). Daily deliveries to Main Street!
You're also most to check out
their website!
Click here
for the Herboland photo gallery!
Sexy Biaatch of Boracay
 Another one of the quite
frequent public birthday parties in Diesel's. This time for Rose who
doesn't mind being known as the Sexy Biaatch of Boracay, obviously
having a great sense of humour.
 It was a really fun party - beachwear dress
code, free buffet, sexy ladies & guys - lasting well through the night!
Check out the following photos and cheeky captions.
Want to see YOUR party in the Lamma-zine? Send me photos
w/captions or, even better, invite me for a free photo shoot, like
Diesel's did! ;-)
Click here for the "Sexy
Biaatch of Boracay party @ Diesel's" photo gallery!
Sacred Drums on Kublai's
Kahn
What are Lammaites
getting up to on weekends? Well, some of us seem to go drumming &
dancing on Chinese sailing junks, joining in with 8,000 sacred drums
synchronised around the world. Don't believe it? Hear from some
participants below, including Captain Marc who's recently left Lamma and
lives now on one of his boats, the Enterprise catamaran...
(Photos from Kinzie, Faris and Tim
O'Rourke)
|
 Kumi
- Drum Queen & Drum Jam organiser:
The 8,000 sacred drums ceremony
was held on 21st March (Spring Equinox), on Kublai's Kahn,
a 100m, beautiful Chinese junk --- retracing the tracks of old
Marco Polo voyage.
We were blessed to have been invited
to stage this event on board the Kublai's Kahn - the
expedition ship of the Marco Polo voyage which was in Hong Kong.
What to bring:
Drums, rattles, percussion instruments/toys (or borrow ours),
didgeridoos, flutes, drumming hands, dancing feet, singing voice,
and open hearts.
Details of the voyage at:
www.kinzie.com/marcopolo.html
57 of us from
different walks of life, drummed, danced, sang, toned, prayed and
vibrated ourselves together for an hour without a break, for
healing of the Mother Earth, life and peace.
This event was
held at more than 800 centres, sacred places and points on the
planet.
Our cyber man,
Faris, has put some photos onto one of his websites for your
viewing.
www.skylabel.com/gallery/
The purpose of
the ceremony was to join the Sound of the Sacred Drums for
an hour (60 minutes) at 12 noon (local time at every location on
the Planet) on March 21, 2004. We were joining in this ceremony in
Hong Kong, "for the healing of Mother Earth and ensure peace and
life".
More info on
the 8,000 sacred drums ceremony:
www.universidadindigena.org/...
Lastly, many
thanks to Axel Brümmer and the crew of the Kublai's Kahn,
Marc Cuthbert, Iain Donnachie, Kinzie, Diane Wilcoxon, Linda Fancy,
Cherence Yung, Tim Orourke, Faris Hanes and all of you who were
there that day for sharing their spirit.
drum, peace,
harmony.
Kumi Masunaga
- Rhythm of Life -
www.drumjam.com.hk
|
Captain Marc: From the Crow's Nest
Thanks for
your continued support and interest ...... I have passed this to
Kinzie and she intends to follow up by supplying you with something
juicy by the weekend. (Editor: see
below!)
Your
assumption is inaccurate (Editor: I
asked him if he lost interest in free PR in the Lamma-zine.) For this you shall be lashed to the foremast and
severely flogged with ostrich feathers on candyfloss sticks by two
large-breasted scantily clad Amazonian slave women!! - If you're
lucky!! So take that!
Of course, I
must stress that you must NOT praise me to the heavens and splatter
my good name with descriptions such as brave, dastardly, handsome,
witty, charming, adventurous, generous, kindly, 'strapping', etc
etc etc, anywhere in your periodical .... wouldn't want to risk
understatement.
You have not
heard from me in a while for the simple face that I've been
constantly and laboriously saving the baby from the jaws of the
rabid crocodile. (Ed: Baby=Marc).
ciao for now
..... i hear a scream .... must dash n' save ......
Capt'n Marco! |
|
 Kinzie - "the one and only",
HK Heartbeat:
Moved from Lamma and
not gone ...
On Monday 15 March, a magnificent
sailing junk, the Kublai's Kahn II sailed into Victoria
Harbour with Captain Marc Cuthbert aka Captain Yellowbeard aka
Captain Custard at her helm. To say this was an emotional moment
for Captain would be an understatement. The original Kublai's
Kahn is resting quietly on the bottom of the Indian Ocean where
she sank on May 21 last year after encountering rough weather. At
the time, she was known as the Precious Dragon and she was the
manifestation of Marc’s passion. Ownership was to be transferred to
Axel Brümmer and Peter Glöckner upon delivery in Singapore.
They had met
Marc when looking for the perfect boat for their project and they
found her in Goa, where Marc had been running charters. Her loss
was devastating to everyone involved. She now holds the happy
memories of many parties over her years in Hong Kong. She had
sailed under London’s Tower Bridge to commemorate the handover to
China. She lives on in Axel & Peter’s promotional materials and in
the opening credits of Star TV’s Travel Asia series. |
 Kublai's
Kahn II was recently finished in Indonesia and sailed to The
Philippines en route to Hong Kong where the crew would officially
launch the return to Venice following Marco Polo’s voyage of
discovery. Axel and Peter had started off on their spectacular
journey to China on 28 January 2001 – a trip that would retrace the
historical route of Marco Polo, the first European to travel to
China. The intention of the two cyclists’ latest project was to
build a bridge between cultures, just as Marco Polo had done in his
time.
Just as it is likely that Marco Polo
encountered unexpected challenges along the way, Axel & Peter have
had their share of tests of their commitment. On 6 March, Peter had
to return suddenly from The Philippines to Germany and attend to
urgent family matters. With no captain and a schedule to keep, they
called Captain Marc to the rescue. Marc flew to Manila on the
afternoon of 10 March and they set sail early the next morning,
arriving in Hong Kong on March 15. Marc provided leadership and
training for the crew to continue on their own to Singapore where
they hope to be re-joined by Peter. |
|
During their stay in
Hong Kong, the local community stepped up and provided their
support for the project. Several fundraisers were held and Captain
Marc took the helm for a Sunday afternoon of drumming in Repulse
Bay followed by a Sunset Cruise through Victoria Harbour on March
21. He guided the crew through the maze of boat fitters in Ap Lei
Chau where they were amazed by the variety and availability of
every imaginable part. Simpson Marine offered their service and
support to refit the engine with badly needed parts. The Aberdeen
Boat Club provided a mooring and facilities for the crew who
reveled in the availability of hot showers.
The Royal Geographic Society hosted a
last-minute field trip on Friday the 27th and nearly 100 members
showed up despite the promise of rain and the competing opening
night of rugby. An opportunity like this does not appear often and
Axel was at his entertaining best with his presentation. They have
held events, presentations and carnivals in Germany to raise all of
the funds for their trip. Axel & Peter draw crowds of up to 6,000
with talks and their amazing slide show in their home country. In
all, Hong Kong raised more than HK$20,000 to support the project.
She now has a beautiful new tender providing the crew with the
freedom to be moored offshore and travel easily to port. |
On Sunday afternoon,
28 March, while most of Hong Kong was either watching or recovering
from the 7’s, Kublai's Kahn II slipped quietly into the mist
on route to Venice. On board were Captain Axel & his wife Biga,
Axel’s cousin Henna, rescued Kublai's Kahn crew member Joerg,
Indonesian Harris who joined from the port where Kublai's Kahn
II was built, 3 Hong Kong recruits for the leg to Singapore
(Ian, Suzanne & Ted) and their newly adopted cats Ying and Yang. It
was a moment out of time and history. The adventure had truly
begun.
And Captain Marc returned to the business
of his own boats, The Enterprise and Varuna, moored in the quiet
surrounds of Tai Tam Bay. The Enterprise is home sweet home for
Marc and Slinky and PC and the ferry commute has been replaced by a
motorcycle ride.
While his IT business still consumes the
majority of his time and energy, he has lost none of his passion or
vision for both of his favorite ladies. The Enterprise is to be
made available for adventure sailing charters and Varuna is being
fitted for sail training. She will also be the centerpiece for
themed parties - anyone who was on hand for Marc’s 40th birthday
party can attest to her magic. Stay tuned… |
Nadia - Second-hand
Artist?
  You might have noticed the pointy-haired, rainbow-coloured
painting below left hanging in Aroy Thai? That's just one of Nadia's
many cheerful creations. You can find a lot more in the permanent
exhibition in her private art gallery cum 2nd-hand shop (or is it the
other way round?) a few doors down from Aroy Thai.
Working in
an amazingly wide variety of media (paper cutting, pen drawing, acrylic
paint, etc) Nadia is a self-taught, self-made woman, not restricted by
traditional artistic conventions. Painting & drawing "just for fun", as
she likes to exclaim, she has sold quite a few artworks, offering them
at low prices.
 When meeting her for the first
time, she handed me her unconventional triangular name card with just a
single job title on it: "Spiritual Advice". No mention of her other
impressive jobs like shop-owner, painter, musician... Multi-talented AND
modest, truly a pretty rare combination on Lamma and elsewhere!
 Also
a well-known local fashion icon, you can often see Nadia modeling her
latest fashion statements on our local catwalk, High Street. Never
looking the same twice, well-accessorised, she combines &
color-coordinates her stylish, low-cost clothes from her 2nd-hand shop
(see right and above right) into always new, unique, often surprising
looks. With her model looks and figure, she'll definitely be a major
star in an upcoming "Fashion on Lamma" article/photo gallery...
Click here
for Nadia's Art Gallery!
Who wants to be the next Lamma Artist of the Month?
Contact me!
Like an Indian Village?
  There
are so many places to enjoy Indian food along Main Street and so many
Indian families living here, sometimes you feel almost a bit like being
in an Indian village. Our Indian contributor, Raman Athinathan, is
comparing Yung Shue Wan to a typical Indian village in his interesting
and thought-provoking essay.
Personally, I think that
there are definitely a lot of parallels, like our shared love of rumours
& gossiping, the relaxed, but often very modest, low-key life style, the
crowded conditions on weekends on Main Street (see above left), the
culture of little shops and outdoor dining come to my mind. But let's
hear from our expert.
Click here for Raman's essay
"Lamma as a village - some
thoughts".
First-ever Female Cricket
Club Captain
|
LCC
win plate
at
Phuket International Sixes
Tour side wins
silverware
under first female skipper
By Peter Parker
Plate winners LCC
left to right:
Ian Farrar (HKCC), Captain Kim Leung,
Mark "Monty" Burns, Mark Smith, Raju
(on loan from Phuket), Brad Tarr (kneeling).
Lamma Cricket
Club traveled to Thailand before Easter, bringing home the plate
from the inaugural American Express Private Bank Phuket
International Sixes 2004 under the able captaincy of Lamma's
first-ever female Captain, Kim Leung. The tournament featured 12
sides from Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, England, Australia, and
Thailand.
Lamma's first match was against
Green Man Sweepers, a local side of Pakistanis and Aussies, with
Captain Kim losing the toss were put into bat. Lamma made 83 (Brad
Tarr 31 retired; Mark "Monty" Burns 33 retired). |
 Mark and Brad, who organized the
tournament, celebrate success by having a three-legged race?
Our opponents
could only get 49 runs off some tight Lamma bowling from Raju (12
runs), Kim (14), Brad (20 for 1 wicket), Ian Farrar (on loan from
HKCC, 2), and especially Monty (3 for 2) and good keeping from
Smithy. Three points to Lamma for their first win.
The next game was against tougher
opposition in the form of eventual cup runners-up, Moonshine
Warathais, captained by the infamous under-arm bowler Trevor
Chappell. Captain Kim won the toss, decided to field first, and the
Warathais smashed our bowlers all over the ground to score a
formidable 121 for 1, Despite some spirited Lamma batting from
Monty (34 retired) and Smithy (16 not out) we could only muster a
57-run total - a bad game all round for Lamma on the coconut
matting.
We faced stiff
opposition in our first game of day 2 as well, this time from
Callmate, an Indian side led by former Indian International Atul
Wassan. Callmate made 100 for 1 and this time Brad and Ian opened
the Lamma reply. Brad hit 28, Ian was run out on 2, Monty was
bowled out on 19, and the rest could muster a total of 66, despite
Captain Kim scoring her first run of the competition.
Lamma were
back in the field just after lunch, this time against the Perth
Postels, losing the toss and being put into field. Unfortunately we
lost Raju, a local lad drafted in to make up the Lamma numbers, for
half of the innings as he had to go back to work in between games
and was late. Our opposition kindly let us have a sub for the first
half, who was another Perth boy, Doug Hedley. Perth Postels could
only manage 64 off the Lamma bowlers, with notable overs from Doug
(5) and Ian (6). Despite 33 from Brad, we could only manage 63.
This game saw a nail-biting finish, though, with 5 runs needed off
the final 2 balls and Kim facing. She made a lovely cover drive
shot and cheered all the way to the other crease thinking the game
was Lamma's. We needed 4 to win but Ian only managed to get the
ball away for 1 run. |
|
Ian Farrar, Monty
Burns, Captain Kim,
Doug Hedley (Perth), Brad Tarr and Raju.
Never mind, we
were through to the Plate semi-final on the final day, which was
almost abandoned when heavy rain left standing water and a wet
coconut matting pitch. But there was a delayed start and everything
was back on track. Lamma lost their keeper, Smithy, to a heavy
night in Phuket and again had the help of Doug for the rest of the
day. Green Man Sweepers beat the Perth Postels in the first plate
semi while Lamma played Blythswood, who traveled all the way from
Essex. |
Monty Burns
relaxing with a Klosters beer at the "Lamai" Restaurant near the
hotel and stadium.
A great little place.
Blythswood batted first and made 85. Monty and Brad opened the
Lamma reply (Brad 34 retired), and Monty hitting the winning runs
off a 4, finishing on 30. Lamma won, scoring 88 with one ball to
spare.
In the Plate
Final, Lamma faced Green Man Sweepers, the team we'd beaten on the
first day. Captain Kim was a nervous wreck, having bowled a shocker
in the semi, giving 43 off her over, and went for a practice,
seemingly doing OK, at least until she took the field? Lamma were
put into bat and Monty batted very well, as he'd done all
tournament. He opened with Brad but Brad was bowled on 12. Ian
joined Mark at the crease and scored a handy 21 not out. Monty
again retired, this time on 32, bringing Doug in with 12 off the
final over. We ended with a defendable total of 89. Our bowling
order changed, with Ian keeping wicket. Doug bowled the first over
for 11. |
|
In comes
nervous Captain Kim, who goes on to concede 37 runs, mostly to
wides. But the crowd was behind her, shouting encouragement and
telling the batsman to hit the bloody ball!!! Five wides later, the
crowd were getting really pissed off with the batsman for not
hitting the wides and scoring off them ... next ball, Kim manages
to bowl straight, batsman missed his shot and was clean bowled,
giving Kim her first wicket of the tournament, after the square leg
umpire ordered him off. Raju took centre stage and bowled a tidy
over for 8. Green Man were 52 for 1 needing 38 to win.
Brad came on,
took a wicket with a catch by Doug on the boundary, taking the
score to 58 for 2. Next ball we thought was an excellent catch by
Monty but he was outside the boundary and sportingly signaled a 6
when the umpire had given the wicket, but was followed by another
wicket, this time LBW. Green Man were now on 63 for 4 and needing
27 off the last 8 balls. Brad finished his over on 22 for 2,
leaving them on 74, needing 16 to win off the last over, brought
courtesy of Monty, who'd been bowling well all tournament. |
Monty's first
ball was a wide, then 2 dot balls, before clean bowling their
batsman number 3 for 11! Their last man took the crease hoping to
support his Captain to score the 14 runs to win off 3 balls. A
beautifully delivered ball only went for 1, 13 runs off 2 to win,
anything can still happen in 6's, the next ball went high and over
Captain Kim's head but fell short of the boundary for a 4. A big
grin starting to appear on Captain's face, as the final ball went
for a single but it wasn't enough! Lamma CC are the Plate Champs in
the inaugural American Express Private Bank Invitational Cricket
Sixes 2004!
Latest news
LCC also did
well in the Chiang Mai Sixes over Easter, just failing to make the
semis of the cup tournament and finishing fifth overall out of a
total of 30 teams.
www.chiangmaisixes.com |
We're Getting a Wind
Turbine
View from the hill above Tai Ling, "Mt
Panorama", the proposed location of the Lamma wind turbine. See map
below.
 Putting together a 50+-page magazine just about Lamma
every month, I rely very much on ideas, contributions, submissions and
tips from readers & friends, some of whom want to remain anonymous. The
surprising tip below arrived recently. With a bit of online & offline
research, plus a photo shoot up in Tai Ling, it grew into a big local
story that might be real news for most of you, like it was for me...
Click on map to enlarge
|
Anonymous:
Just received
Hongkong Electrics Co. Project Profile for
"Renewable
Energy by a wind turbine System on Lamma Island" (pdf file,
800+KB). Sending the link to the paper to you:
www.epd.gov.hk/eia/...
It's a
demonstration project - only one wind turbine will be installed, for
demonstration and educational purposes. The selected site is Tai
Ling, a spot 250m away from any residential housing.
My opinion is
that this is a potential interesting project - what is unknown is
how much the communities has been and will be involved. I think
people are now extra sensitive to changes to their environment
without being notified or consulted, and the Hongkong Electric
doesn't have good reputation on Lamma since that dumping incident.
Alex Chan - Citizens Party:
More info regarding
wind power. I dug up some old SCMP. The July 19, 2003 SCMP reported
that HK Electric planned to set up windmills on Po Toi Island (where
the FoE had already done some trial mills). It also said that the HK
Electric conducted a study in Nov 2002 on Lamma. Anyway, I am not
aware that the HEC was going to set up windmills on Lamma.
I think wind
energy is the way to go (renewable energy); although some people
may think wind turbines are an eyesore...
|
HEC press statement
-
on request from the Lamma-zine:
The Hongkong
Electric Co., Ltd. has agreed with Government to build a 600kW class
wind turbine on Lamma Island, the first commercial scale wind
turbine in Hong Kong. The project aims to explore the wider
application of wind energy in Hong Kong.
An
application for an environmental impact assessment (EIA) study has
been submitted to Environmental Protection Department in March, 2004
so that an EIA could be carried out before final design and
construction begin.
Being a power
supply utility, Hongkong Electric endeavours to support the research
and development of renewable energy in Hong Kong."
For your
information, over the years, our company has funded several pilot
projects and feasibility studies on sustainable development.
Some of
these projects are:
1. "Green
with the wind" - Wind Turbine Irrigation Project jointly
organized by the Conservancy Association and the Federation of Youth
Groups,
2. Wind
Monitoring Stations on Po Toi and Lamma,
3. The
Integrated Photovoltaic Research Project by the University of
Hong Kong, and
4. Solar
Thermal Water Heating at Lamma Power Station. |
Six possible locations were evaluated for the wind turbine, including
Tai Peng and Yung Shue Long!
We also found a press release from Friends of the Earth (HK),
dated Dec 11, 2003, referring to a wind turbine study commissioned and
paid for by HK Electric:
|
FoE Calls for a Long-awaited
Roadmap for Wide-scale Application of Renewable in HK
 Po Toi Island and Lamma Island possess rich
wind resources that can develop commercial-scale wind projects,
Friends of the Earth (HK) unveiled the findings of the group's
year-long Wind Energy Study. The remaining hurdles for developing
wind energy in Hong Kong, FoEHK argues, are the lack of renewable
energy policy and target, as well as half-hearted commitment from
the two power companies.
According to the Study, average
wind speed on Po Toi and Lamma Island is 7.1m/s (26km/h) and
6.1m/s (22km/h) respectively. Such wind speeds are good enough for
most modern wind turbines, which require a start up wind speed of
about 4m/s. The wind speeds are also comparable to major wind farms
around the world. |
Wind resource maps
showing wind power density were generated for Lamma, Po Toi and the
Hong Kong Island. It is found that the highest wind power areas are
determined by a combination of high topography and unobstructed
northeast exposure.
Wind data from
April 2001 to April 2002 on Po Toi, and from Nov 2001 to Nov 2002 on
Lamma Island were collected and analysed under this Study,
commissioned by Hong Kong Electric.
Wind energy can
revive Po Toi Island by enhancing the reliability of its electricity
supply, and adding an attraction to the burgeoning eco-tourism
industry. With only several households, Po Toi has no electricity or
water supply and its energy is generated from unreliable diesel
engines. Many of the villagers even cannot use a rice-cooker, a
common electrical appliance for a Chinese family.
Installing a
wind turbine of 100kW, combined with a 50kW diesel generator and a
150kWh battery, can satisfy the electricity demand of Po Toi with
excess wind energy available for other uses such as water
desalination... |
 For a first-hand look, I did a little photo shoot up
in Tai Ling, from the highest hill of North Lamma, I think. This
photo was taken from the "pagoda", just above the end of the 2nd Cable
Road, just above the covered water reservoir and Tai Ling Village. Wind
turbine location in yellow, about 30 metres below the peak. The tower
itself will be 45 metres high and the rotating propellers will be 52
metres in diameter, their tips just visible from much of North Lamma,
just behind Mt Panorama.
I've started a lively discussion forum about the wind
turbine on Lamma.com.hk.
You're most welcome to air your own views, positive or negative:
Wind
turbine to be built in Tai Ling.
 Another photo (courtesy of David Kerr)
taken from the (very windy!!) peak above, looking towards Luk Chau and
HK Island. Wind turbine location is in yellow, visible fully and
frontally from HK Island and the East Lamma Channel. It'll become a
future "landmark" of Lamma Island. It's scheduled for construction
late next year, if the Environmental Impact Assessment study in
progress goes well. One turbine for demo/study might be OK with most
Lammaites, but if they're hoping to set up wind farms along the hill
ridges, I'd expect some major opposition.
 On a more whimsical note, we're still looking for a good
nickname for this future wind turbine. Mighty Samson the Tai-Penguin
suggested Lamma-gizer, inspired by Ener-gizer batteries and the
turbine's alleged ability to power the apparently windy island of Lamma.
Everytimeagoodtime suggests The magical spinney thing.
Any more ideas from the readers?
Only finding out about such a major project on our island at such a late
stage, it made me wonder what else is in progress that the
powers-that-be are NOT telling us much about. A bit of research revealed
several more interesting projects. Have YOU heard about the massive
Lamma Channel dredging
project
just completed, the 22-hectare
land reclamation for the $5-billion
gas-fired power station
extension in construction right now (with two more smokestacks,
see and click below), and a 92-km submarine liquefied gas pipeline
from Lamma to Shenzhen, scheduled to start construction at the end
of this year? More about these "interesting" multi-billion-$ projects in
future Lamma-zines..
Very Temporary Helipad
 Being naturally nosey, I've recently
been reading the pretty interesting & (unintentionally) amusing
Final Project Report of our great new
temporary helipad. There were quite a few interesting facts like 3
casevacs (casualty evacuations) per week on average in 2003 and an
estimated cost of $0.8M to pour a 25-metre square area of concrete and
paint a circle and a big letter "H" in the center.
 The report talks about the "Immediate Environs", (known
as Hunter's to Lammaites, see
photo gallery): "The proposed site is at
the foot of a steep-sided vegetated valley... There are several
derelict* residences on the slope, but no residents in the immediate
vicinity. Ruins are also located south of the site.
* Derelict status
confirmed by DO memo ref. (45) in IS 80/8/02, dated 17th December,
1997."
"Due to its naturalness and size, the wooded
area also supports a range of butterflies and birds although no species
of conservation note were recorded during survey work... It is
anticipated that birds will temporarily avoid helicopter disturbance
when the helipad is in use. Therefore, no significant environmental
issues are anticipated...
The previous Yung Shue Wan helipad - located on
a soccer pitch outside the North Lamma Clinic - ceased operation May
1998 when the Government Flying Services classified the site to a
Category 1 Landing Site" (Editor: basically meaning "too
dangerous").
 But there was a truly surprising & shocking remark, only one
little paragraph hidden deep in the document:
"Helipad operation: Nov 2003 -
Oct 2004:
The temporary helipad would cease
operation when construction works for the permanent helipad commence.
Operation of the temporary helipad is not possible due to flight safety
concerns posed by tall construction plant / equipment. The permanent
helipad will be located approximately 50 metres north of the proposed
temporary helipad site."
Checking
with several govt. sources, they knew it all along, but told as few
people as possible. The District Office wrote that
"Please note the temporary helipad is now in operation. The anticipated
commencement date of the permanent one is
December 2004 and it would take about 1.5 years to
 complete this project.
During the course of construction, it is very
likely that the HK Electric's helipad had to be used again."
Also, the
Sewage Treatment was originally scheduled to be built in that exact
location, starting end of 2004. Even the
Environmental Permit for the temp helipad has only been issued
till end of Oct. The helipad was finished late, only after CNY, in Feb
2004, a few weeks ago, but it's only planned to be used for another half
a year. Yes, a total insanity and a complete waste of money, resources
and time of everybody involved. This is either gross stupidity or
incredibly bad planning, or both!
Even Lammadonna didn't know, being most surprised when I told her,
expecting to keep the temp helipad till the permanent one will be
completed. I started a discussion on Lamma.com.hk (Temp helipad
to be closed down end of Oct) and initiated further enquiries,
getting feedback from LAEC and the Citizens Party:
|
Lamma Accident & Emergency Committee:
LAEC is
frankly astonished that the authorities should prove so
short-sighted that they need to shut down the Yung Shue Wan
emergency helipad for an 18-month period little more than a year
after opening this urgently needed structure.
Having seen
such notable progress in recent months, this botched process will
not only cost millions of dollars, it will cost yet more lives. Yet
again the welfare of the community is put at risk by an
unresponsive planning process. We will all suffer. |
Alex Chan - Citizens Party:
...However,
all these are based on the assumption that the sewage treatment
plant will be built and therefore the site would not be available
for use as a permanent helipad. Given the Govt. will consult and
that the sewage treatment plant may be built elsewhere, I think the
Govt. should at least WAIT before spending another HK$12 million
to reclaim land for the new helipad.
As the temp
helipad is already available, no reason to rush any longer (other
than the reason that if the amount is not spent now, it would be
lost). |
A few days later, finally some good news from the District Office, Islands:
 "Civil Engineering Dept. is in charge of the permanent helipad
construction project. I just received their call this morning and they
have given me some updated information. Due to the environmental
assessment matters, the commencement date of the construction of the
permanent helipad would be delayed until mid 2005.
Should there be available funding,
Yung Shue Wan Sewage Treatment Plant Construction project will be
commenced at the end of 2005. Therefore,... the temporary
helipad...could be operated for a longer period."
 Well, that's definitely good news! We got a lucky
break in that both projects competing with the temp helipad got delayed.
And it still means that it'll be back to the power station helipad
for the entire duration of the perm helipad construction, expected
to last at least 1.5 years, 2005/06. If you're interested, have a
look at the
Permanent Helipad Project Profile.
On a personal note, this topic is still very close to my heart.
Literally, as Lamma-Por underwent a successful heart operation in Queen
Mary Hospital recently. She was diagnosed after having been casevaced to
QMH by helicopter last year. Lives could be saved by NOT using the
far-away power station helipad ever again!
The very best long-term solution would be to relocate or cancel
the YSW sewage treatment plant and forget about the perm helipad, just
make the temp helipad permanent!!!
But this would be so sensible and save so much money, resources &
efforts, it'll never happen, I'm afraid. But wouldn't it be something
worth fighting for?
Inside & Beyond the
Typhoon Shelter
 Are
you a nature-lover looking for an amazingly scenic walk, but are too
lazy to follow the tourist trails? Here's a 20-minute highly scenic walk
that includes: library, fishermen's village, typhoon shelter, dense
forest, rocky beach, ruins, secluded sandy beach, tree-lined alleys and
several hills with great views over the bay. And it's all within minutes
from the YSW ferry pier!
A photo gallery that's been two years in
the making, I'm presenting the best photos from my repeated visits
into one of my favourite areas on Lamma (see map). Enjoy! The local
fishermen and Lammadonna have been lobbying the govt. (unsuccessfully so
far) to "extend" & "clean up" the typhoon shelter, making room for a
larger number of boats during a heavy typhoon. I hope this photo gallery
doesn't turn into another "historic" one soon...
Click to jump to the
Typhoon Shelter photo gallery,
or directly to one of the six subsections:
Views from the ferry pier,
plus Library,
The "Fishman Village",
Inside the typhoon shelter,
Beyond the typhoon shelter,
Ruins & secluded beach,
O Tsai Village
Doggy Island
  Our island is a
great place to keep dogs. Most dog owners take great care of their pets,
making them some of the best-behaved and well-adapted "companion animals" in Hong Kong.
But some don't, so we've got a nickname of "Dog Shit Island" from some
people. Click here for Harry's new
great cartoon on this topic.
Occasionally, owners are leaving Lamma or HK altogether
and can't take their dogs along, or there's a litter of cute pups, too
many for the owner to handle. In these and other cases, the
Lamma Animal Welfare Centre (two blocks behind Spicy Island, see their door on the right,
Tel.2982 0800, email
info@LammaAnimals.org) is looking for temporary (foster) or,
even better, permanent homes (adoption) for these abandoned animals.
Sponsorships are also most welcome.
Below are some photos of dogs looking for new homes.
There are quite a few
more up for fostering or adoption on their website.
  All the doggy photos below have been taken by
animal lover Barry Swerdlow, freelance photographer/artist/
designer (Tel. 6406 4676, email:
barrykong1@netvigator.com). Thanks! Photos 1 - 4 below from
Sheila.
Only the snapshot on the left is by Lamma-Gung, of a rain-soaked cutey
who got lost temporarily, looking for a dry refuge.
Just a little warning not to get too complacent about dog
poisonings, they're happening again! Darling, the "delightful
fellow" on the right has just been poisoned to death over the Easter
weekend. He's been added to the Poisoned Pets - In Memoriam page.
Take care of your pets!
Are you a true doggy person? How many of the Lamma
dogs with homes in this Doggy Island
photo gallery do you know by name? It includes lots of photos of
dogs looking for a home. Check it out!
|
A new type of cover this time: if you haven't done so yet,
move your mouse over the cover graphics illustration at the
top of this issue, click on any picture that looks interesting! Try
it! The cover computer graphics was created from one of the first
"Multi-Shot" photos taken with my new digicam (see right), taking 16
continuous shots while waving the camera around wildly.
Friendly greetings from 
• Lammadonna interview:
• Dragonboating:
• Ran's story about
Simply click here
Thu, Apr 29, 8:30pm, Island Bar:
Fri,
May 14, 8pm, Queen Elizabeth Stadium, HK Island:
• Pictures:
• Publicity #1:
Oh,
by the way, the TV segment also featured shots of Green Cottage,
Bookworm Café and even the future Life Restaurant in SOHO
(more in the next issue), plus composting in the Gaia Valley
community (see left). Our eco-businessman Bobsy's connections to get
frequent, free media promotions are truly astounding... A free,
5-minute-long, very positive documentary "commercial" like this cannot
be bought for any money.
highest hill
with spectacularly panoramic views over North Lamma, Luk Chau and HK
Island.
I have to admit that, as a couch potato, I had
never ever walked any further south than Hung Shing Yeh in my 2.5
years on Lamma. Of course, I didn't have a map beyond Tai Ling with
me, being foolishly over-confident about finding my way from there. It
was a pleasant enough descent towards Lo Tik Wan, with a great
view towards Luk Chau island. After scrambling up the hill through the
forest and bushes from Lo Tik Wan and following the nature trails
around the various hills up there, I got pretty much lost in the
wilderness. I didn't meet anybody during this entire slow crawl along
the ridge. The story of the hiker's corpse found behind Mount
Stenhouse some years ago crossed my mind. There are snakes on these
nature trails, aren't there?
After over an hour I managed to get to the Youth Hostel
(great spot for a future photo gallery! see right), starting the long
and slow descent into Sok Kwu Wan. But who knew that there must be
HUNDREDS of steps on the way down to Sok Kwu Wan! Passing Lo So
Shing school (see below, to be closed down this fall, see next
issue), the new camera's batteries gave out at the Kamikaze caves. No
spares yet, these Lithium batteries are expensive...
Passing the totally
She's so much smarter and
worldly-wise than me in these matters. From then on, everything turned
out fine, the food delicious and the fun interview went great, well
into the night.
