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I went to Hong Kong for a couple of weeks to visit a few friends, and besides I had nothing better to do.
On the plane over I was reading about the Bun festival held in May on Cheung Chau island. I had been to Hong Kong a number of times but had never heard of the bun festival. Also I didn't realise that Hong Kong had other islands besides Kowloon and Hong Kong island. As luck would have it, the bun festival was on the next day, which was also a public holiday for Buddha's birthday.
The next day we caught the MTR from Central to Lantau Island. Surprisingly it is almost twice the size as Hong Kong Island. I picked up a few tourist brochures from the airport and there were actually a few festivals on that day. One of them was the "Bathing of the Buddha" ceremony held at Po Lin Monastery atop a mountain on Lantau Island. From the MTR we caught the Ngong Ping 360 cable car to get up the mountain. It's quite a distance, 5.7km. You can walk it if you want as there is a trail going all the way there.
On top of the mountain is the Giant Buddha which is the world's tallest outdoor seated bronze Buddha. One thing I've noticed about travelling around Asia is that every place claims to have the biggest Buddha of some description, indoor lying down Buddha, outdoor standing up Buddha, standing on his head Buddha...you name it, you can be assured some city in Asia has the biggest Buddha for it. Anyway the actual bathing of the Buddha ceremony didn't turn out to be much. Just people pouring water over a statue of Buddha standing in a small fountain. They also had a stage setup with kung fu demonstrations by some Shaolin monks.
From Lantau we had to get a bus to the ferry port on the island called Mui Wo, in order to get to Cheung Chau Island. The ride took quite a while on some pretty narrow, winding roads. By the time we landed at Cheung Chau it was early evening and we had missed the street parade. Apparently they have these kids flying through the air during the parade, using rod and wires. We did see a number of towers some 15 to 20 metres tall, covered in white
buns. Not something you see everyday. There's a couple of different versions to the story to why they do this. One is that it is to placate the ghosts of pirate victims who roam the island in search of food, another is to thank the local deities for delivering the island from a plague 200 years ago. After the buns are handed out to the villagers. In the past I believe they had races to climb up the towers and pick the highest bun for good luck. One year the tower collapsed so they put a stop to it.
Unlike Lantau, the only way to get to or from Cheung Chau is by ferry, hence the line was extremely long. To get an idea of how long it was. From the ferry terminal we walked left towards the Pak Tai temple. Took us about 5 minutes to reach the temple and the line for the ferry was still going strong. In the end it wasn't too bad, had to wait about an hour to board the ferry.
Walled Villages
In the northern part of Hong Kong, the New Territories, there remains remnants of the ancient
walled villages belonging to the different clans of the region. I went to two sites in Fanling and in Kam Tin.
Fanling
Fanling is on the overland East Rail Line but interconnects with other MTR lines. It's like the 3rd last stop North and must be damn close to China. From the station I set about walking to the Lung Yeuk Tau Heritage Trail which began at Shung Him Tong. I was immediately assulted by the most aggressive donation seeker I have ever met. Despite me having headphones on and constantly shaking my head and waving her away, she kept following me shoving things in my face and babbling on about something. I was pretty close to telling her to f*ck off when she finally gave up. Anyway that encounter distracted me and I started walking the wrong way. Anyway I managed to see the largest Taoist institue in Hong Kong, Fun Ying Seen Koon by going the wrong way. I eventually started walking the right way and it probably took around 25 minutes to reach the first site. You can also take the minibus 54K from the station if you don't want to walk.
Shung Him 
Tian Tan Buddha
The world's tallest outdoor seated bronze Buddha at 34 metres tall.Tong - Hakka Lutherans founded this village in 1901. All there is here really is a church called Tsung Kyam Church. It was constructed in 1926, and extended in 1951 which is probably why it has 1951 written on the building.
Ma Wat Wai - a walled village which has the front gate still in tact with the gun platform on top built in 1740. I was rudely made aware that people still live here when I saw a quite overweight Chinese guy running around in his white underpants.
Lo Wai - This was the first walled village in Lung Yeuk Tau and people still reside here. Most the outer wall is still in tact and you can see how just how thick they built these walls. This is the most impressive site on the trail and the only time I saw any other tourists. I guess most people don't come to Hong Kong to check out ancient walled villages.
The Tang Chung Ling Ancestral Hall - main ancestral hall of the Tang clan and dedicated to Tang Chung Ling, the founding ancestor.
Tin Hau Temple - built to honour Tin Hau, protector of fishermen and
Po Lin Monastery
It's 268 steps to the top. her guards, Chin Lei Ngan (who had eyes to see things a thousand miles away), and Shun Fung Yi (who had ears to hear as far away as heaven). So basically Tin Hau had the bionic man and the bionic woman guarding her. Inside their are two old bells dating around 1700 given to Tin Hau as an offering.
Kam Tin - Kat Hing Wai
Unlike Fanling, Kat Hing Wai is just a short walk from the Kam Sheung Road MTR station on the West Rail Line. To go in you need to make a donation of about $3 Honkey. You can also take a photo with the old Hakka women sitting in the front for $10. I read that they would be wearing their traditional black trousers and tunics but these women were just wearing normal clothes and put on their traditional hat. Anyway the village looked like there were quite a few people living there with a couple of stories of decent looking apartments with aircon etc.
Markets and dodgey DVD's
I went to quite a few markets (Luen Wo Hui in Fanling, Apliu Street Market, Stanley Market, Tung Choi Street (Ladies) Market,
Statues surrounding the Giant Buddha
Giving praise and offerings to the Tian Tan Buddha. Temple Street Night Market) while in Hong Kong. I must admit, the only things I usually end up buying are illegal DVD's and copy t-shirts. However unlike most self respecting Asian cities, it's surprisingly hard to find pirated DVD movies. Although if you're after porn you only have to walk outside, walk in any direction, and you will come across somewhere that sells it. You can also get legal VCD's everywhere for around $20 although who can be arsed changing discs midway through a movie? However I did find a couple of places that did sell them. The only problem is that they don't have much selection and I did get one DVD where only a French or a Chinese person could watch. They did all work though which was good. Anyway here is a brief description of where to get what.
Luen Wo Hui Market, Fanling - wet market where you can buy a chicken for $60, or even a frog or a turtle. What you do with them in the privacy of your own home is entirely your business.
Apliu Street Market, Sham Shui Po - mainly electronics and computing stuff.
Stanley Market, Stanley -
Buddha bathing ceremony
Wasn't what I expected...a bit lame I thought. brand name shoes, fake rugby jerseys, ladies clothing, handbags, souvenirs. There's a main drag along the water with several restaurants where you can have a meal and a beer.
Tung Choi Street (Ladies) Market, Mong Kok - fake handbags (can look through a catalogue and pick the one you want), copy t-shirts (about $30 for one, $100 for 4), porn, souvenirs.
Temple Street Night Market, Yau Ma Tei - prostitutes (yes there are some hanging around the market), same fake stuff as Ladies Market although shirts tended to be a bit dearer, outdoor eating available.
298 Hennessy Road - computer parts, illegal games for $30/CD, $40 or $60/DVD (I can't remember). When you buy a copy game or movie, you have to wait between 15 to 40 minutes (depending on the place), while they arrange to get your order brought to the shop. I bought a game here and the guy actually just copied it on the spot.
Golden Arcade computer center, Sham Shui Po (exit signposted at MTR) - computer parts, 3rd floor there are some DVD's covers stuck on a wall (3 for $100), illegal software downstairs at $30. Some software like Vista, MS
Shaolin monks demonstating Kung Fu
I had a bit of a disagreement with these guys after the show about who had the better Kung Fu master. All six were taken to hospital shortly after. Office at $120, games I think were a bit cheaper $30-$40/DVD I think.
Shop in Kweilin Street near Sham Shui Po MTR exit - had a selection of some of the latest DVD's. 4 for $100. It was here that I bought a DVD only in French or Chinese, plus another one defaulted to Russian, but I managed to change the audio to English.
Macau
From Hong Kong you can get the ferry (takes about 1 hour) over to Macau Peninsula or to Taipa Island. The islands are connected by a bridge so you can easily get from one to the other. We took the ferry to Macau Peninsula and after leaving the terminal you are immediately greeted with a host of courtesy buses from the various casinos. We had a look at a few casinos which included James Packer's Crown Casino on Taipa Island. It was pretty crappy to say the least but I think it may be a temporary casino...well I hope so for Packer's sake. We also went to the Venetian Macao which is very similar to the Venetian in Las Vegas. Has the same sky-like ceiling inside with canals throughout. One difference I noticed
between Macau and Las Vegas is that although both have themed casinos, Las Vegas take it one step further with the staff dressing accordingly to the theme. Macau they all seem to dress in normal casino type outfits, Las Vegas 1, Macau 0. Although in Macau you don't have to tip the waitresses with your free drink, Las Vegas 1, Macau 1.
The rest of my time in HK
Was spent just wandering around the streets of HK. Just blending in with the locals, meeting people and integrating into the local culture. If I could have a penny for each time one of the locals said to me, "What you are not from Hong Kong? I do not believe it!"...well I'd be a rich man.
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