TOURIST ATTRACTION OF THE WEEK: KADOORIE FARM

It appears that D.A.'s tree-hugging and nature loving ways is contagious - which is why I would most definitely recommend going on a day out to Kadoorie Farm & Botanical Gardens.

Sprawling over 148 acres across Hong Kong's tallest mountain, Tai Mo Shan, Kadoorie Farm offers winding trails, breath-taking landscapes and beautiful waterfalls. Most importantly, it's an escape from the grime and slime of City living - a chance to breathe in fresh air that isn't 80% exhaust fumes and become one with nature. (Oh lord, I'm starting to sound like a hippy).

As with most farms, there was a reasonable variety of animals to see, including birds (of pretty much every variety), wildcats and reptiles. My all time favourite though, had to be this outrageously pregnant pig.

Pretty, pretty, pretty!!

Accessibility: 

Okay, I guess I'm cheating a little here - I live two bus stops away, so its ridiculously close for me. However, I know for most Hongkies this is a little far out, but still really easy to get to. Jump on the East Rail, get off at Tai Po Market Station, hop on the 64K (towards Yuen Long) for like twenty minutes and there's a bus stop right outside Kadoorie Farm.

In terms of the farm, there are maps with handy "YOU ARE HERE!" thingies, and lots of little signposts so its pretty hard to get lost. However, there are a lot of steps and steep hills so be prepared to walk your socks off. Or alternatively, there's a bus that does a tour of Kadoorie too.

Highlights:

I don't know if my pictures really do it justice, but Kadoorie really is completely beautiful. 

My favourite part had to be the gazebo next to the waterfall at the end of the Rainbow trail, absolute heaven!

Tips:

WEAR TRAINERS. There is whole lotta rocky terrain, steps and steep bits.

Take water. Trust me, there's a lot of sweating involved and keeping hydrated is pretty damn important.

Wear mosquito repellent. Its the great outdoors, so be prepared for a few bites here and there.

Totally worth the $20 entrance fee to get in touch with Momma Nature, however I only managed to explore half of the farm last time, so once I get my act together and finally get to the top of the mountain, I'll update this post with a review of the rest.. !

The epic battle between Ice Cream Sandwiches and Apples

I can wholeheartedly admit that I am an iPhone whore. In the past four years, I have gone through EIGHT iPhones, (it turns out I'm quite the smasher and loser..) four generations - 3, 3G, 4 and 4S and have pledged my life to the Apple allegiance for the rest of eternity. I have battled through competitors like Blackberry (Wankberry), HTC, Sony Ericsson, accusations of being an Apple zombie and defended my love of iPhones to the very end.

That is, until Wednesday. On Wednesday, on my merry way to work, the bus that I was snoozing in crashed into a taxi and left us stranded in East Jesus Nowhere. Not being able to delay our journey for another minute longer, nor the next bus to come and rescue us, D.A. (you know, the housemate?) and I came to the executive decision that we would walk towards a main road and hopefully find a MTR station or a cab. And this ladies and gentlemen, is the monumental moment where my beloved iPhone completely failed me.

Having downloaded iOS6 a few weeks earlier, I cannot say that the newest software thrilled me - I was completely devastated that Google Maps had been replaced by the utter wank that is Apple Maps. With my eternal love of exploring, coupled with my complete lack of directional sense, I relied somewhat heavily on my map app to get me around. (Unfortunately, an actual map isn't something I carry on a regular basis..or ever) And unlike Google Maps, which would have told me exactly where I was and how to get to the nearest MTR station on that fateful Wednesday morning, whether I was walking, driving or taking the bus, all Apple Maps told me was vaguely which street I was on. Thanks for that, I read that from the street sign that I was stood next to. I was fuming! Along with the sneaky ad sharing and a dodgy camera, enough was enough.

Which is why, after work (when I finally got there!) I went out and bought a Samsung S3. And holy guacamole, its like being in a whole new (technological) world!

It's official, I have converted. And although I've only been on the Android & Samsung bandwagon for a couple of days, I regret not jumping on it a whole lot earlier. Let me outline why I think this transition has been one of the best decisions in my life;

• Storage. I really, really like music (which is convenient seeing as though my daily commute is around two hours return) and I like taking pictures of everything even more (I'm so Asian, sigh) which is how I managed to fill a 32GB iPhone to the max. I even paid an extra £14 to buy more storage on iCloud. (Apple are such robbing bastards). And even though I bought a 16GB SIII, I have the extremely handy option of inserting up to a 64GB SD card in. Which is more songs and photos than I can shake a stick at.
• I have a free App for that! Having a cheeky browse through the Play Store, there are abundantly more free apps to play with than there are in the Apps Store. For example, my most used app - Whatsapp. Apple: 69p. Android: Free. 
• Customisation. I can change literally everything on this Samsung bad boy!(This doesn't mean I know how..) There are options for pretty much everything. From the way I unlock my phone (seven different ways to choose from, and that's without downloading any fancy apps) to the order of my screens to the colour on my little blinky LED light, its a whole lot more than changing wallpapers and ringtones on an iPhone. 
• Google Maps. Seriously, nothing can compare to Google Maps. I can personally draw maps better than the pile of crap that is Apple Maps.

So in my personal opinion on this epic battle, Ice Cream Sandwich is most definitely victorious!