NEWS

New routes to the Country Park

Since the pandemic, local visitors to Sai Kung have increased significantly. Flocking to the town for hiking and beach trips, many visitors are stuck waiting for a bus into the Country Park for hours. Double decker bus company, KMB has recently revealed that they are considering opening new routes to public areas in the Country Park. “KMB will study the possibility of establishing temporary routes to go to hotspots for picnics, such as the recently popular hotspots Lau Shui Heung Reservoir, Fanling and High Island Reservoir, said KMB Communications and Public Affairs Department Director Addie Lam Tze Ho. While this may clear up some of Sai Kung’s traffic problems, the new routes may encourage even more visitors to the town.

Park smarter

Last month the town welcomed a set of new smart parking metres to 15 on-street parking spaces on Yi Chun Street. The new metres operate daily from 8am to 8pm and charge $2 per 15 minutes. Drivers top up the parking metre via the mobile app, HKeMeter for up to two hours. While the classic metres only took Octopus payment, these smart meters can be paid using Visa payWave, MasterCard Contactless and UnionPay QuickPass along with Alipay, WeChat Pay and Union QR.

Cathay Pacific cuts major international flights

As of February 20, Cathay Pacific temporarily suspended a bulk of its flights to Australia, with Sydney now the last remaining destination for the Hong Kong carrier. Other international flights to be slashed include Auckland, San Francisco, Vancouver, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh City. Cathay said the Hong Kong SAR government’s latest announcement over hotel quarantine was behind the moves. “Our Hong Kongbased pilots and cabin crew are required to undergo 14 days of hotel quarantine, plus seven days of medical surveillance when they return to Hong Kong,” the airline said in a statement. “We are actively managing

Hong Kong Living is proud to announce the launch of the Hong Kong Education Awards, a new initiative to celebrate the outstanding achievements of Hong Kong’s top international schools, principals, teachers and the wider education community. For the past six months, we have worked with teachers, consultants and education experts to put together a comprehensive program that reflects the changing nature of education and its importance in the community. The results will be decided by an independent panel of education experts, academics and consultants covering the 2020 academic year. This year’s jury panel will be made up of experiened education experts from across the education sector. Voting for the readers’ choice categories is open until May on our website.

hongkongliving.com/education

in your backyard

Star ferry converted into luxury yacht

A classic Star Ferry, formerly known as Golden Star, has been converted into a luxury yacht. The yacht, now named Dot, took 18 months to convert with a full-time project manager on board. Dot’s owner is passionate about keeping Hong Kong’s heritage alive. He retained some of the original workmanship from the Star Ferry, including its original teak deck and upstairs deckhead, but added floor to ceiling windows and a mezzanine level. Larger than most Hong Kong apartments, Dot is 6,000 square foot and includes four cabins with en suite bathrooms, a cinema room, office, living room, kitchen and alfresco dining area. The yacht is currently for sale in Tai Tam for $21 million as its owners relocate to Europe.