The Cadet Diaries #4

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YP cadet Ng Lok-yan
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YP cadet Ng Lok-yan |
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The view of Tseung Kwan O from the castle
Throughout the year, Young Post hosts a number of students to work full-time in our office for a period of two weeks. Here, the cadets will gain some valuable hands-on experience on what it's like to have a 9-5 job, working for a newspaper, shadowing reporters on assignment and participating in any of the wackiness that goes on here. The cadets will share their stories at YP in a series of blogs.

As part of the cadet programme, we needed to work on a project and one of us proposed the topic of hidden places in Hong Kong. My mouth dropped open instantly because Hong Kong is well-known for its small area and since I have lived here for all my life, I couldn’t think of any hidden or abandoned places. Not one. Yet, the idea sounded exciting so all four cadets agreed to work on it.

First I tried Googling "secret places in Hong Kong" and "hidden places in Kowloon" but most of the places weren't really hidden or as hidden as we wanted. Then I thought if the place is really secret or hidden, it won’t appear on the Internet, right? I was starting to think that I would never find one. But fortunately and thankfully, I came across a website a couple of days later that mentioned an abandoned castle-like building in Tseung Kwan O. I was over the moon and immediately made plans to visit it with a friend on Friday afternoon.

Under the scorching sun, we kept sweating as we slowly crawled up the hill of Mau Wu Shan. There were plenty of insects to keep us company. Mosquitoes enjoyed quite a feast that afternoon. But the more we hiked, the more we got accustomed to the environment. We forgot about our itchy mosquito bites as we were captivated by the stunning view of the blue sky and sea (with some annoying glimpses of skyscrapers). When we took a deep breath, wow, the air was so fresh and clean!

When we finally reached the abandoned fortress, we were exhausted yet surprised. The castle, though a bit old and needing repair work, made us feel like we have just arrived at some place in Europe. The structure was small because according to the website, soldiers observed the sea from there during Qing Dynasty. It's such a pity that the government hasn’t done any conservation work on it so people could visit anytime and see the historical structure.

Both my friend and I enjoyed our journey. Sometimes we need to try something new instead of strolling through shopping malls, though I do admit that the air-conditioning is quite refreshing during the summertime. And although Hong Kong is small, I’m sure there are so many places that you haven’t visited yet! So stay tuned to Young Post and we will introduce some ‘hidden’ places for your adventure!


"Good morning, please don't destroy the plants. Thank you for your cooperation. Everyone should be a good citizen and protect the environment."


Read the other blogs:

- [VIDEO] Life in a Day of a Young Post Cadet - produced by our cadets

- #12: Returning cadet Doris meets a couple of musicians and learns that they are just like any other person

- #11: Doing a story on retro games led to an afternoon of fun with the reporters

- #10: Being a journalist has its perks as cadet Amanda found out first-hand

- #9: While her fellow cadets were covering the dim sum competition, Winnie was in the office facing the pressure to beat the deadline

- #8: Our cadets were on the scene to cover the Dim Sum Talented Chef Competition 2013

- #7: Cadet Henry experienced just how much work goes into covering a news event like the HKDSE as he was among the team of SCMP and YP reporters who were out on the field

- #6: Giselle and the rest of the new cadets made it through their first editorial meeting at Young Post

- #5: Journalism is about so much more than sitting at a desk all day and writing news articles

- #3: Cadet Janet attends her first debating competition and witnesses what it's all about

- #2: Lunches at the Young Post office is a bit different than those at school

- #1: Working at Young Post is nothing like what cadet Melanie expected.

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