Finally Hong Kong Day 7: Kam Tin Country Club

The last HKG trip, we brought the kids to some ulu ulu animal and strawberry farm and we had a blast. Picking strawberries was definitely one of the trip’s highlights for the kids, even for Zaky who doesn't eat strawberries. This time, we put it down as one of the must-dos and easily found another farm – Kam Tin Country Club when I googled for strawberry picking in HKG. The website looks great and there were many good reviews. Other than animals and strawberries, there seems to be many other kids centric entertainment such as bouncing castle, longkang fishing, kite flying, etc. Target locked.

The farm opens only during the weekend from 10am in winter. I was nervous to meet a closed farm actually and checked and rechecked the website to make sure that it was opened. We took the MTR to Kam Sheung Road and took the exit D. There was a slight drizzle when we exited the station. A special bus 601 service that runs only during the weekend was right at the exit with the farm banner brightly painted on the bus. Steady. Payment was via Octopus card, which wasn't the case 2 years back. Double steady.

The bus ride was short, probably about 10 mins before the driver yelled for us to alight. The farm was opened! Hurray! But the rain got heavier. The farm was very quiet and there was a lot of open space. We saw fishing at the entrance and as we go deeper into the park, there were some DIY art and craft stuff and some kiddy rides. The entrance to the park is free but everything else is chargable. We didn't make it far before the rain came down harder. The kids were bugging to go fishing, which fortunately was sheltered.

So, fishing we went. It cost us HK$25. The kids were given like some paper net to scoop fish. We were given extra net since we didn't intend to bring the fish home. The net broke so very easily. Zzzzzz. While we were fishing, more locals came to join us. Fishes caught and put back into the tank.

While we were fishing, 2 young adults/ graduates approached us. They introduced themselves as with the Youth With A Mission (YWAM), which I suspected is some Christian organization. They said that they had organized some activities for kids and invited us to join them in one of the houses near to the farm. They didn't seem to have a lot of luck with the locals that they approached. Since it was raining, we accepted their invitation.

They led us through some paths and we arrived in a nice little house, all dry and cosy. The other volunteers and some of the villagers were doing some cookie decorations as well as art and craft. The kids were more than happy to ice the cookies and whacked the fully sugar loaded and decorated cookies into their tummies.

We chatted up with the volunteers while the kids were happily working on the cookies. These youths come from all over the world to go on this 6-month mission trip. They have to pay for their own flight and accommodation. This was one of their Christmas outreach programs.

YWAM HKG was based in the Haborcity, right where we were. We got to know that this is one of the oldest villages in HKG. The intent was more to reach out to the locals. We saw some locals in the event but mostly the volunteers and us – the odd group of tourists. Haha.

Other than cookie decorations, there was song and drama to share the story of Christmas as well as games. You can tell that the kids had a blast.

The event ended with a final cookie. The kids had a total of 3 very sweet cookies each and were kept very full. We were very entertained for 2 hours before we headed back to the farm. What an interesting and pleasant distraction from our plan.

Back at the farm, we explored more. The farm was a lot more crowded but largely with families with young kids. Our “old” kids were also not interested in the bouncing castle (actually they were but it was wet and I think they are too old. LOL) or the kiddy rides. We saw a mini farm and fed some animals instead.

Finally, the supposedly highlight of the event – strawberry picking. Unlike the ones that we been too, eating is prohibited until we have paid for the strawberries. The strawberries were also freaking expensive at about HK$200 for a box. Still, the kids were excited. They had been warned to pick only the very red ones.

Where was I? I was the official photographer bcos the field was all muddy after the rain and I refused to step in. Lol. We eventually picked half a box for HK$100. 

The strawberries were washed but were a disappointment. They were quite bland, not exactly sweet or sour. I had 3 and Lil Shauna had some before asking Daddy Lim to polish off the rest. He was hungry and didn't mind. Lol.

With strawberry picking checked off, there weren’t much else to do. The kids bugged to go torture the poor fish again. This time, they found that it was much faster and more fun to catch the fish by hand. They did so for a long time bcos the owner were busy chit chatting and didn't check on us. We had to stop when we were eventually found out and the owner gave us a black face and a string of grumble in Cantonese. I did as best to pretend to be upset with the kids and then played my part as tourist by buggering off. Lol. We left the farm and back to the MTR via bus 601.

We caught a late lunch and went back to the hotel. We were all tired from the many activities-filled days and the kids were happy to be in the room with the TV and iPad, so was Daddy Lim. He even took a long nap. Lol. We left the room only in the early evening to explore TST. It is supposed to be one of the fabulous shopping areas but we only started exploring on our last few nights in HKG. There were a lot of things to see and buy if we had deep pockets. Lucky for our pockets, the kids weren’t very patient when it comes to shopping for not their stuff and we ended the night with a nice dinner at a cha chan ting. Then we went back to the hotel for mad frenzy packing. It was the last night. Sob.

It was Christmas eve and strangely, there as some Indian celebration on the road right outside our hotel in the late night. Shouldn't it be Christmas celebration? Oh well, Merry Christmas!

Mummy Lim