My husband found a job at a multinational company in HongKong. We lived in a paradise called Discovery Bay (DB) in Lantau Island. It is only about 20 minutes from the airport by bus and 23 minutes to Central via ferry (open 24 hours), which brings you straight to IFC Mall, the tallest building in HK (heard there's much taller building being constructed). Walk a few minutes and you will find other ferry stations that will bring you to other islands or destinations like Tsim Tsat Tsui which will only take you about 5-6 mintes to get there. There are two other ferries stationed in different areasof DB that will bring you to nearby islands like Mui Woo (10-20 minutes) and Peng Chau.
DB is surrounded by mountains and two bays. It boasts of a golf course on one of its peaks where a residential area of private houses was built for the more affluent. It is organized perfectly that every residential area or village (there are 19) has its own playground/s and park/s nearby. The bigger parks were a blend of well manicured gardens abloom with flowers, water and rocks. It is also the only development in HongKong that allows pets to roam freely. Every afternoon, you see high-breed well-trained dogs roaming the parks/grounds without leash, following their masters.
No cars were allowed in DB. There were buses that had specific routes and time to go from one village to the DB plaza where all commercial and entertainment activities were located and where, the ferry from Central is stationed. Special buses ply the route to the airport every 20 minutes, to Tung Chung which will take you to a huge outlet mall, the cable cars to Tung Chung Village (a tourist attraction where the largest Bronze Buddha can be seen from a mountain top) and to Sunny Bay Station that takes you to Disney Land. There were taxis too that goes within the community and if residents want some privacy and more freedom to move, they can buy or rent golf carts.
I think half of the residents of DB are foreigners that is why, aside from the Chinese School, an International School was also built. There were many programs for mothers, babies and toddlers combined as DB is a community of young families. Its Club House even has swimming pools for babies as young as 3 months old. It has soft rubbery ground and giant water toys. There were 5 pools in the clubhouse, mostly for chidren.
The DB Plaza is the meeting place for residents and visitors alike. It is also the heart of the parties and happenings. The main and only grocery of the whole community is located there as well as numerous restaurants (Indian, Chinese, of course!, Japanese, Seafood, Brazilian, American ,etc), shops, pharmacies, bookstores, pet shops, beaty salon, medical and dental clinics, dance school, etc. The most attractive part is the latest line of restaurants overlooking the bay.
We had fantastic view of the place where we lived. We can see the bay stretching to Central HongKong with big ships and ferries both modern and typical Chinese. At night, it is more spectacular because of the multitude of lights from the vessels and the community itself. At the back of our unit were the mountains.
DB is also open to tourists as some condo unit owners allow short-term stays. When I go back to HongKong, DB will definitely be my destination to stay.
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discovery bay,
hongkong,
lantau island
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My own "Exodus"