Blogs from Lantau Island, Hong Kong, Asia
April 17th 2012
So here we are back in Hong Kong after however many years. A six hour wait in Auckland was made easier because Bruce and Tanya and the boys met us there and took us to Mission Bay for artery-clogging fish and chips. They went down a treat, all the more so as we've been on rations for the last couple of days trying to run down the food in the fridge. Plus, it will be a last taste of kiwiana before the onslaught of Asian food. Dim sum is a must, and I'm up for anything else I haven't tried before apart from chicken feet. The thought of all that toe jam from hens walking around in knee deep crap in their coop is too much for me. We had a few bumps somewhere over The ... read more
March 29th 2012
Well we awoke to a semi clear day outside and cars still bumper to bumper on the roads outside. Our window view is over the harbour and looking straight across to Kowloon. Our apartment is in a pretty good spot and close to the MTR (Train) and the ferryies to go up and down the harbour. We are about five mins walk if you want catch a ferry anywhere. The girls were up and Frankie was asking for brekkie so we got the girls and lil man sorted and worked out what we should do for the day. Abby’s dad had said if it was clear we should head up to the peak to see the view of Hong Kong but to me it was semi clear so we decided to head to Disney land which ... read more
March 4th 2012
Day 3 Today we headed to Lantau Island to see the Tian Tan Buddha (or big Buddha as I call it) Its a bit of a trek away from the city, up amongst the hills and mountains. We were meant to get a cable car up but it wasn't running so we got a bus instead. At one point on the journey we could see the big Buddha up on the mountains in the distance. When we arrived at Ngong Ping we headed over to see the Buddha close up. We approached a long staircase and at the top, perched on a giant lotus flower sat the Buddha. It was such a fantastic sight to see. We headed up to the top of the stairs to get a closer inspection. Afterwards we went for a walk ... read more
December 19th 2011
Hong Kong is the sui generis of eccentric lifestyles. Talk about cramming into a train and a city that never sleeps and Hong Kong would most likely be no.1 on the list. However, an energetic city like this is not to be taken for granted. Among the crowds and craze, one can always find a characteristic about this city to fall in love with. I, for one, love the food, shopping and convenience this city provides. 90% of my diet is Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese. Maybe I'll try Thai tomorrow. I haven't chose to eat "Western" food because I need to savo(u)r every minute I have with homemade Chinese food. We do, however, have an electic choice of restaurant such as the Belgian restaurant I went to the first week I arrived. There's pretty good ... read more
December 11th 2011
This is the first time I have ever been on a Disneyland experience and it was quite painless – probably due to the fact that we went midweek when most people are at work. It starts from the time you get on the underground the last rail section that is devoted to Disneyland. The train windows are in the shape of Mickey’s head the grips on the overhead rails are in the shape of Mickey’s head and there are little cabinets between the seats that are filled with statues of cartoons. You can see the children on the train rev up a notch. There is a long lovely walk to the entrance with a huge fountain at the end with who else? but Mickey riding a surfboard on the spout of a whale. We bought our ... read more
October 2nd 2011
(I realise my blogs are getting longer and longer, and this is not cool. I have started dividing the blogs into chunks, so if you start a story and get bored, you can skip to the next story in the next chunk. I will try to cut down in the future) Thursday brought about a little wind. In Hong Kong this is defined as a type 8 typhoon resulting in the closure of all transport, shops and general amenities. In all fairness we didn't feel it much in Clear Water Bay but from what i've heard Central felt it. With a type 8, comes the cancellation of all classes. We had a free day! First off i went straight back to bed. I had worked over twelve hours solidly the day before for homeworks and deadlines, ... read more
October 1st 2011
Four days in and Winne went off with Irene to meet her brother. I took the opportunity to head out to Lantau Island to see the temple complex there with the largest bronze seated Buddha in the World (Tian Tan Buddha). I got chatting to Idske, a Dutch girl and Julia, a German girl on the ferry ride over and we took the trip round the monastery up there making star jump photos. The way home was via a glass-bottomed cable car over mountains and ocean, which was pretty cool, but not good for my vertigo! By chance I'd learned it was a Chinese National Holiday (note to self - consult guidebook) and so I headed down to the harbour to watch the firework display, which was pretty awesome, especially hearing the explosions reverberate through the ... read more
September 3rd 2011
Hello everybody! So last time I made a return to Shanghai to finish up the city, see a bunch of art, even though I generally don’t like (western) art, and become the Shanghai socialite I always knew I could be. And now to Hong Kong Island! Aug 25th: So about Hong Kong Island. I woke up, packed up, and then pulled out my laptop to double check where my hostel was. And as it turned out – there was a mix up in the hostel reservations. The first few days I would be at Ngong Ping, on LanTau island. This is very west of the actual Hong Kong city, stuck up on a mountain top, and a good 40 min bus ride to the metro station, which is then another 40 min metro ride to where ... read more
August 1st 2011
Well - still unable to upload any photos! But I will ramble on for a little bit instead - what a treat! Went to Lantau Island today on the Ferry, then by bus to see the gian Buddha and the Po Lin Monastery. What a fab day we had - the best so far. It was very hot and sunny and I am slightly pink... in fact I did what all the locals do and bought a brolly! The Buddhist Monastery was lovely - so peaceful. The monks were chanting while we were there and I lit some incense for lost loved ones. Very good feeling though in that lovely place. Then we had a vegetarian lunch in the Monastery cafe - 3 courses for 5 quid. The soup was a bit like washing up water, ... read more
July 27th 2011
Just 5 of us for breakfast in the hotel this morning as Tux has gone off in search of a new memory card for hi camera, which he finds and cures his problem. With no definite plan for the day we headed over on the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island. We decided to catch another ferry to another island, but which one and which village should we aim at? Along comes a very bronzed looking Brit who was very helpful with advice and afterwards Eryl said that she thought it might have been Sir Paul McCarthy’s brother! Needs checking out but I know what she meant. So we decide to take the ferry over to Lantau Island and the village of Moi Wo. The trip was in an airconditioned catermaran and took about 45 minutes, ... read more
