C'EST LA VIE... in blue!: 2015

DAY 07 - May 16, 2015 - New Territories (新界)

Breakfast Time!

I had a boat congee (艇仔粥) [my favorite!], fried dough wrapped in a rice noodle roll (炸兩) and soy milk (豆漿) at an indoor open-air food stall (大牌檔) with air-conditioning located above the market.

Wishing Tree @Lam Tsuen (林村許願樹).

Located at Tai Po, Lam Tsuen (林村) was already a residential area during the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279). At the entrance of each village, there is a tree. The tree is believed to protect the village. In the past, whenever there was a festival, villagers will throw joss paper into the tree and make a wish. Apparently, the higher the branch the joss paper landed on, the greater the probability the wish would come true. Today, the actual wishing tree is no more there due to additional heavy weight. There is a temporary imitation tree while the real tree is in recovery mode. People tie their joss paper on the wooden racks.

(Actual Wishing Tree)

(Imitation Tree)

(Wooden Racks)

Snack Time!

- Tofu Pudding (豆腐花)
This snack is made of very soft tofu served with sweet ginger syrup.

- Nuomici (糯米糍)
Chinese pastry from Hong Kong in which the outer layer is made of glutinous rice dusted in dried coconut and the filling is sugar with coconut crumbled with peanuts, red bean paste and black sesame seed paste.

Hong Kong Railroad Museum @Tai Po Market

13 Shung Tak Street
Tai Po Market, Tai Po
Free admission.

Some 6,500 square meters were converted from the old Tai Po Railroad Station into this open-air museum.

Ticket Booth

Tickets

Stops

Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation

Diesel Electric Engine No. 51 - "Sir Alexander"
Locomotives No. 51 and No. 52 were made in Australia and imported to Hong Kong in 1955. They were the first diesel electric engines used on Hong Kong's rails and named after people. Locomotive No. 51 served passengers until 1983 when the KCR Corp. switched the passenger service to full electrification. It then hauled freight trains and maintenance coaches. In 1997, this diesel electric engine completely phased out of service.

Seats

Luggages Compartment

Between 2 wagons

Semaphore Signalling Levers
To control the semaphore arms, manually operated signalling levers were used. When the arms were lowered, the trains were allowed to go forward. When the arms were in a horizontal position, all trains had to stop.