Journal Of “Team Thomas/PAU” @ 9th HK4TUC (Preparatory Stage)

January 22, 2020 (Wednesday)——Team Thomas/PAU departed Manila aboard Cathay Pacific at 8:00 AM and despite the delay of 30 minutes for our departure, we arrived at the Hongkong International Airport at 10:30 AM. After changing our money to Hongkong Dollars, buying our SIM Card with Unlimited Data, and loading some money to our Octopus Cards, we took the Airport Bus to our Hotel. After lunch, we settled and rested the remaining part of the day.

January 23, 2020(Thursday)——Thomas and I woke up early in the morning and prepared for our Recon Run at the MacLehose Trail. We took the MTR and Bus until we reached Sai Kung. From Sai Kung, we took the Green Taxi up to the start of the Section 2 of MacLehose Trail. We made sure all the parts and intersections in the said Section were carefully studied and marked by Thomas. This was the part where Thomas spent a lot of time looking for the trail, most specially on the beach sections of the course. With all those stops to eat and hydrate, picture taking, and talking to some people along the way, we finished our Recon Run in three hours.

In one of the Rest Pavilions along the trail, we met Johse from South Africa as he was on his second day hiking the MacLehose Trail, carrying his tent and food provisions for six days in his big backpack. He was resting when we started talking to him. He intends to finish hiking the MacLehose Trail by Tuesday as he takes his time enjoying the scenery and resting along the way. He had been taking a lot of pictures with his camera whenever he was resting for the day and night.

At the 2nd village that we reached, Sai Wan Beach Village, we stopped at the first eatery establishment for water, Coke, and Pocari Sweat. The place did not have any food to offer but it was good that we carried with us a piece Tikoy from Camarines Norte. That would served as our lunch during the hike. As we hiked farther from the business establishment, we reached the Campsite/Beach and we appreciated the beauty of the sea and sand. We took some pictures in this place. According to Thomas, he did not know which way to go once he reached this section as it was already nighttime. We took time to see some markers for him to know which way to go this time.

As we moved further, I was able to see the Sun Dial and took some pictures of it. After which we reached the Sai Wan Stargazing Site. The place is very beautiful and we took some pictures on the said place. Thomas will no longer see these markers and places once he passes during the HK4TUC as it will be nighttime.

As we entered the Tai Long Village, Thomas pointed to me the place where he bought some food and soft drinks. Near the said place, an old man in half-naked attire was eating his lunch. As he glanced at me, he asked me if I am a Catholic and what country I come from. I said, “Yes, I am a Catholic and I am from the Philippines”. He immediately stopped his lunch and asked me to follow him as he went into an uphill stairs until he was leading me to an Old Small Church. He said that St Mary’s statue is inside the Church and it is 120 years old and the church was constructed 60 years ago. He said that every weekend/Sunday, a lot of Filipino, mostly Filipino Ladies would visit and hear mass in the said Church. His name is Philippe and he maintains the cleanliness of the church and its surrounding. He said that he is cutting the grasses to prepare the church for the weekend’s mass and visit of devotees. He said that he is 78 years old! I took some “selfies’ with Philippe and Thomas, the Altar with Mama Mary and the Church. When Philippe left us to continue his lunch, Thomas and I offered some prayers to Mama Mary. I hope and pray that a miracle will happen to Thomas this weekend’s run!

Two kilometers before reaching Pak Tam Au, the end point of Stage 2 of the MacLehose Trail, I heard some fast footsteps behind me as I was jogging fast to reach the Rest Room. I did not bother to look behind me as I was focused to maintain my pace. On the last kilometer of the section, I asked Thomas to take some pictures of me while running. With the brief stop that I had to talk to Thomas and hand him over my phone, the guy behind passed me and I was surprised to see him as we did not see him along the trail. After the picture taking, he was ahead of me and reached the Rest Room first.

After he got out from the Rest Room, I asked him the direction going to Sai Kung and that started our conversation. I forgot to get his name but according to him, he finished the Vibram HK 100 five years ago and never came back to improve his time because of knee problems. Instead, he hikes carrying his camera. While waiting for the Bus To Sai Kung to arrive, he told us that he purposely hiked along the Section 2 and reached a place to take some pictures of a plant’s flower that blossoms only  at the start of the Lunar Year. It is only this part of the year that the flowers bloom and they bloom in downward position. He showed to us the pictures that he took from the said flowers and they are beautiful. The flowers have some white and red color combination. We were amazed by the beauty of the flowers to the point that we forgot to ask his name and the name of the plant. We suspect that he had to veer off from the trail route and reached some peaks just to locate and take some pictures this plant.

We boarded the Bus to Sai Kung and had our late lunch in one of the Noodle Shops before taking the Mini-Bus that would take us to the MRT Station. 

January 24, 2020 (Friday)——Due to incidents of being lost at the Wilson Trail for so many times, Thomas was not able to catch up with the last trip at the MRT Lam Tin Station for him to cross the Quarry Bay enroute to Hongkong Island for the last leg of the Wilson Trail before reaching Stanley Gap Road. Once the MRT opened on the 3rd day, Thomas spent so much time inside the MRT trying to figure out what Platform was he going to take. He had to ask the locals for directions where to take the MRT up to MRT Tai Koo Station before reaching the Wilson Trail at the Hongkong Island side.

So, we recon and rehearsed this part of the route and Thomas was able to recall and review the the route. I think we were able to hike about 5 miles tracing this route aside from our trips with the MRT Subway. To make my hike/recon more challenging, I carried a backpack with a weight of 20 pounds consisting of four (4) 2-liter bottles of water. 

On our way back to the MTR Lam Tin Station, we saw an old local Chinese man about the age of 80s pushing his wife on a wheelchair on an uphill climb of about 200 meters long. I asked Thomas that we should help the old guy in pushing his wife. So, we did it and we alternated in pushing the wife until we reached their destination. Some of the old guys that saw our effort to help the old couple were cheering us for what we did. It was a good workout for me with the weighted backpack I was carrying.

On the second day here in Hongkong, Thomas and I were able to successfully recon the places where Thomas got lost and places where he spent so much time figuring it out which way to go. Thomas gave me the assurance that his confidence had been boosted with our Recon Runs for the past two days.

In a few hours, the whole Team will take a ride to the starting area for the event. Good luck and have fun, Thomas!

To be continued.