Blogs from Kowloon, Hong Kong, Asia - page 9

The White Party should be known as the after-morning headache party. Today was definitely a very slow day as the group packed and headed out to the Ko Samui airport at 3PM. The good news is that this time we got a standard plane and not a propeller plane. I will say that the Ko Samui airport is one of the most unique airports as the shops combine to form an outdoor mall. (see pictures) We arrive in Hong Kong and the city is one of the grandest I have seen in a long time. Skyscrapers and bridges extend out to the farthest I can see. (see pictures) THANK GOD, there is not any unbearable levels of humidity. Southeast Asia is nice and all, but staying in the humidity sucks worse than the band My Chemical ... read more

Another date within the 24 solar terms, today call "Gingzat" in cantonese. legend said this is the day when spring thunder begin，that would scare insects and animal out from their hibernation. that's why it call "Gingzat" - "insects waken", but here in Hongkong we all commonly use the term "Dasiuyan" for today. With the climate change, disease and sickness bubbled up. our great ancestor brought the issue to the superstitious world, with great imagination the white tiger had to be blame! and a paper tiger had been created, to calm and tame it they fed it with fat and stuffed it in their mouth so the tiger wouldn't come out to hurt people. anyways...the main idea is to avoid misfortune and sickness. Came down until today in Hongkong, probably the only place in China still practice ... read more

After a long and tiring journey which involved two flights and a lengthy stopover in Sydney airport, we arrived back in Hong Kong on Wednesday evening at about 11.00 pm. Next morning, after a refreshing sleep, we decided to try our hand, using Penny Pathfinder skills, at getting to see the Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island. To get there we had to use the underground railway system, which involved purchasing a ticket from a machine, all in Chinese , and changing lines part way through the journey. Despite these obstacles we arrived at the right place and joined a very long queue to get the Ngong Ping 360 cable car. This cable car takes 25 minutes to get to the top of the mountain and is 4 miles long. It was well ... read more

We have spent the last two days exploring this fascinating city and have both fallen under its spell . Hong Kong is vibrant busy city that is full of colour, sights, sounds and smells that are sometimes familiar but often to our western senses, exotic. We have explored Hong Kong island and Kowloon using the " Big Bus Company" travelling all three routes and using the Star Ferry harbour crossing. On Wednesday we went to the top of Victoria Peak using the Peak tramway that travels to the peak up an almost impossible steep slope passing many of the skyscrapers that seem so close together. The views from the top are breathtaking and you can see the whole of the city, the harbour and the other side of the island. There are more skyscrapers in Hong ... read more

The main reason I planned to spend a week in Hong Kong was to have time to apply for a new Chinese visa. The all process was a lot easier than anticipated. It took only 4 days. I have been sick since Thursday morning, I think I didn't digest the Japanese mushroom very well. So the only think I did on Thursday was getting my passport back. On Friday, I gattered some forces to go to the Ten Thousand Buddhas monastery. The entrance is not easy to find, I knew it was up a hill. I first got it wrong and ended up taking elevators to some sort of cemetery for cremated people. The entrance of the monastery was hidden a bit further. What a crazy idea to climb up there in that heat (it's warm ... read more