Amy Caine Fitness

Saturday, February 11, 2017

Hiking: Cheung Chau

Cheung Chau is one of Hong Kong's 200 islands and is a great place for a day trip. It has a mix of hiking trails, shopping and waterfront eating. Cheung Chau is home to a thriving fishing village making it a very popular spot to get seafood.

A couple of weeks ago, I joined a group of AWA hiking friends to explore the island. It was very easy to get there on the fast ferry from Central (pier #5) and only took about 40 minutes.

The hiking trails are mostly easy with a couple of moderate climbs thrown in. If you follow the trail around the entire island, you will walk about 14km. We did about 8km before deciding it was time to eat!

Notable sites along our hike:

1. The fishing boats. There were so many colorful boats filling the harbour and all along the waterfront.

2. The Lookout Pavilion. This is the highest point on the island, so naturally there are great views, especially of the southern part.

3. Tung Wan Tsai beach ---> with lots of sea glass.

4. The Mini Great Wall, a quirky name from the granite railings, is the name given to a section of the Family Trail. I did not see the visual similarities the China's Great Wall except that the wall did seem to go on and on and on.

5. The many interesting rock formations including this one that looks like a dog gazing out over the water to me was actually named Vase Rock by the locals.

6. Views of the South China Sea. Even on a cloudy winter day, we stopped to enjoy the views. I think there is just something about water and waves and beaches and rocks that makes everyone happy and calm.

7. Shops ---> selling everything from handmade products, touristy souvenirs, boutique-y clothing and more.

8. Waterfront dining - there are so many options with outdoor prime people watching seating but also indoor seating if you happen to visit on a not so flavorful weather day. We choose the popular So For Kee and it was delicious! I'm still thinking about the sweet and sour chicken ;)

There is still more to see and do especially when the warmer weather returns!

Other fun day trips in Hong Kong:
Lamma Island

Sunday, February 5, 2017

Workout Recap - Mixing It Up

I remember when the only exercise I did was run. This week I did something different every single day. Not on purpose. It just happened that way, but I think it's a good thing. Keeps my body on its toes, so to speak. Plus my focus has started to shift back to the high intensity calorie burning workouts and scheduling them whenever I can.

Monday - Tried bootcamp. It was so hard that I thought I might vomit 🤢 a couple of times. I was thrilled to see how many calories I burned for the hard work I did ---> running, push-ups, mountain climbers, squats, carrying a tire, pushing a tire, pulling a tire, walking lunges, reverse crunches, planks, elevated up-downs, kettle bell swings, kb squats, kb lunges, jumped rope, power press with sand bag, burpees, power lunges, triceps dips, squat press...WHAT didn't we do?? And, the whole class was done outside. I loved that!

Tuesday - I woke up feeling a little tight from bootcamp, so I used Revolution Yoga day 11 (I'm REALLY behind on that challenge) to loosen things up. I'm so happy that my heel is better and yoga is even back on the table because I need to regain the flexibility I lost, especially in my hamstrings.

Wednesday - mrC and I went to Bodypump in the morning and then took a quick bike ride to get air in his tires. The ride wasn't far, but there's a big hill and we live on the top of it! This was my first ride in a long time and I had to stop and walk the hill. This got me thinking that I should maybe try to ride my bike at least once a week.

Thursday - REST ---> made protein bars for my hike on Friday.

Friday - Joined the AWA hike to Cheung Chau, another one of Hong Kong's 200 islands. I'm already eager to go back with mrC because there was so much to see and it was beautiful. Also, we had lunch at one of the waterfront restaurants and I had some really, really good sweet and sour pineapple chicken.

Saturday - I decided to do some low impact cardio for my low carb workout. I mixed it up at the fitness center while mrC was at Bodypump.

Sunday - It was #sundayrunday again!! We increased the walking WU to avoid running down hill at the beginning (my knee feels funny on down hills) and added a little out and back on the promenade. I still ran using 30:20 intervals, and finished with a solid one minute run for a total of 2.07 miles.

#tunnelselfie

Do you mix up your workouts or stick to the same exercise usually?
What's your go-to sore muscle reliever?
Favorite low impact cardio?

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Last Week's Workouts - On a High Note

What can I say about last week? It was a blend of fitness and social activities. This is my favorite way to live. In moderation. Enjoying life but also keeping healthy. My workouts were relaxing and intense, but surprisingly I didn't hike at all! The week ended on a really high note though.

Monday - I finally got my yoga mat back out after more than a week of slacking on my challenge. It was a powerful workout but the reclined cow pose gave me an awesome stretch in my glutes at the end. I might like it better than pigeon pose.

Tuesday - I headed to Central for a Feng Shui workshop (which was super interesting!) and then ran some errands. I was fasting, so I let my walking around be my fitness for the day.

Wednesday - Got in a good strength session at Bodypump. I'm slowly increasing my weights and learning it's a fine line sometimes between too heavy or too light.

Thursday - Started the day with a chill and thoughtful yoga session and then explored the popular Chinese New Year Flower Market at Victoria Park.

Friday - My favorite workout of the week was Step class because ---> look at those calories burned! This class is an updated version of the step aerobics I did back in the 90s at the YMCA. We still do those basic step moves, but there's also a round of circuit training. I'm so happy that my knee does ok during this workout because it feels so good to work that hard.

Saturday - 1000 reps (yes, 1000!!) at Bodypump. Got that bit of information at the start of class.

Sunday - For months I've been enviously watching runners in my neighborhood and wishing I could join them like I used to. Today I took my interval run to the streets and LOVED feeling like I'm back in the game. I ran for 22 minutes - 30 seconds running and 20 seconds walking. The last half mile or so was a good uphill climb too. Total = 1.70 miles.

How did your week start and end?
What was your high note?

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Hiking: Wilson Trail Stages 1 and 2

My SWIC hiking friends from Shenzhen have created a group of Hard Core Hikers to hike longer and more challenging trails, especially the ones in Hong Kong. We have already hiked all 50km of the Hong Kong Trail, so it is time to start on the Wilson Trail.

Here are a few reasons we can call this a hard core hike: (warning: LOTS of pics in this post!!)

1. We hiked 11.4km (basically across Hong Kong island south to north). Up and down. On concrete steps and rocky trails.

2. It was a rainy, windy, and cold. There were detours on the trail.

3. We checked out everything along the way. Stretching post. Bouldering. Wartime stoves.

4. We climbed 4 peaks, all more than 350 meters.

We started stage 1 in Stanley having taken bus 6A from Exchange Square in Central. The trail head is clearly marked. It's important to pay attention to the marker for the trail you are hiking since often trails overlap. Wilson Trail ---> follow the single red hiker guy.

The ascent is straight up the first of The Twins to 386 meters. There were so many steps that I didn't stop for a long time because I knew I needed to keep my legs moving. When I did stop and look around, this is what I saw.

What goes up must go down, but not before having a little snack. It is a good idea to bring plenty of water and some provisions on any hike. And it's nice to have enough to share.

The trail was a little difficult at times, but there was also an awesome tree line that protected us from the occasional wind and rain.

From the top of the second of The Twins we could see the trail veining across the ridge, Southside in the distance, and the Tai Tam Reservoir ahead.

Then it was down and back up to Violet Hill where we had a nice long break at 433 meters.

After winding down around the hillside, we made our way toward the Parkview Buildings and the end of stage 1.

At the start of Stage 2 there is an awesome BBQ rest area which was a perfect place for the group to lunch before heading out to tackle the final climb of the day.

From Jardine's Lookout we had great views of the Central and Kowloon skylines.

The views of Kowloon were even better during the descent into Quarry Bay ---> check out the old Kai Tak airport jutting out into Victoria Harbour.

The final section of stage 2 took us through Quarry Bay Tree Park.

Other Hong Kong long trail hikes:

Hiking: 3 Best Parts of the MacLehose Trail Section 2

Hong Kong Trail: Sections 1-4

Hong Kong Trail - Sections 5-7

Dragon's Back and Big Wave Bay

Intersted in long distance trails in the USA? Check out this article.

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Hiking: A Day on Lamma Island

Lamma Island is a great place to escape the concrete jungle of Hong Kong and it is only a short ferry ride away. There are great trails to explore and most are family friendly. It felt good to get away with the AWA hiking group and unwind, exhale, and relax for a few hours.

We met up in Central and took the #70 bus to Aberdeen where we caught the Lamma Island ferry at Aberdeen Pontoon.

From Aberdeen we arrived in the small village of Mo Tat Wan and were greeted by a couple of friendly dogs and this lovely little beach.

We followed the scenic coast path around the first big hill, Ling Kok Shan, passing through a couple villages on our way to Sok Kwu Wan.

Sok Kwu Wan is a farm fishing village that also has very nice restaurants and the Tin Hau Temple. You can also catch the ferry back to Central from here.

Near the Sok Kwu Wan Bay beach are the Kamikaze Caves which were supposedly built during WWII by the Japanese to house speed boats that could be used on suicide missions. The war ended before the caves were finished, so they were never actually used.

Along the path to Yung Shue Wan, we passed Lookout Pavilion which overlooks the closed quarry.

Our hiking day need in the village of Yung Shue Wan, the main populated living area on Lamma Island and where we had plenty of options for lunch on the waterfront before catching the ferry back to Central.