A Day at the Beach

Here is it, November 17th, and all around the world people are freezing. It's winter! For my whole life I've lived in the Midwest, and I've usually had to ruin my Halloween costume every year wearing a turtleneck or a jacket. By mid-November I expect to be wearing my jackets, scarves, and all my winter paraphanalia. This is why I am so amazed that today I was on the beach.

Hong Kong is surrounded by water, and it definitely has some famous beaches. We've been meaning to go for weeks, but have been busy or lazy, using our fabulous pool. Then, every time we made plans, the weather would suck. I think that's what fall means here...overcast and still hot. Since we're in the last week, we made plans, plans, plans, and made backup plans in case things didn't work out. Today our plan was to go to the beach, and much to our surprise and pleasure... the weather was AMAZING! When I woke up at eleven, the sun was shining through my blackout curtains, and when I pulled the shades I was slapped in the face by the sparkling view.

I loved it. So, I called my three long-term tour besties, and we hopped on a bus to the beach. Jess, Dana, Joe, and I boarded a double-decker bus (HK was British for a looong time, don't forget) and rode the harrowing ride to the beach. We were assaulted by tree-branches and maybe a bit nautious, but when we got there it was all worth it. Repulse Bay is one of the most beautiful places on HK Island. You turn a corner around a mountain, and suddenly you see a bay. There are beautiful high-tech apartment buildings on the side of the mountain, and at the base, a Perfect beach. It's only about half a mile long, but it is gorgeous. The sand is like rock quartz that has been polished smooth, and when we took off our shoes it warmed our feet and welcomed us. The beach has barbecue pits and umbrellas, and even some shark nets to protect the swimming areas. We laid down our towels and suntan-lotion-ed up, ready to face the sun.

We wanted it to be just like spring break, when everybody's jealous of the kids who went somewhere tropical and come back golden brown... so we used 15 and baked for at least an hour. Joe, being male and not so into the sunbathing, took a walk down the beach to where a special art exhibition of outdoor statues stood in a circle. Dana, Jess, and I read our books and chatted aimlessly. After a while Joe went in the water, and with a little convincing we followed. Dana is afraid of water with living things in it, so the first few steps were pretty funny, but once we were in we found that the water was perfect. We had gotten warm laying around, and this cooled us off instantly. The water had decent visibility, and we didn't feel any fish at our feet, so we goofed around and floated for quite some time.

The beach is beautiful I can't even tell you. When you're lying on it, you can feel the giant buildings behind you, reflecting more of the suns rays onto your bod. Behind them is the mountainside, covered with trees and dotted with a few small houses and some huge ones on the very tops of the peaks. When you look out at the water (which I belive is the South China Sea or the HK Straits) you see a few small, rustic fishing boats and two or three beautiful islands that look deserted. It could be an ancient island, or just the most perfect public/secluded beach ever. The water was sparkling, the sun was shining, and we were looking through our phones wishing we could call people and tell them that we were sweating on a beach, in November.

We sat for hours, until we finally had to go do a show or something. But until I'm back in the states, bundled up in my warmest winter clothes, all I can say is, show me a beach in HK in November, and I'll show you happiness.