Tian Tan Buddha, Ngong Ping & SAR Establishment Day

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A day of quiet contemplation at the Po Lin Monastery & what did we do yesterday?!!

Yesterday was very quiet because it was the Special Administrative Region Establishment Day and as such was a public holiday (bear in mind that even though it was a public holiday almost all the shops were open and it did not affect transportation systems!) We decided there was no rush to hurry out of bed so we very lazily got up, checked out our options, went down the road for breakfast and decided to head off a-wandering. We got across the Chatham Road South when the rain started. Not very heavy but enough to be a problem. We wandered around and found this Aussie pub owned and run by a Brit in Chatham Road South called Aussie Down-under. Very good food (but still with tomato sauce!) We ordered a toasted Cheese, ham and tomato sandwich and ended up with toast with ham, cheese and tomato! =)

We also found this little bottle shop where Mark purchased some Cognac (the one of few items he has really wanted this trip!) and then on to the VCD shop where we bought a few (yeah right!) more VCDs. I think we now have 18 all with bi-lingual language Cantonese/English and at least one which is French with Cantonese/English Subtitles!

Then slowly we made our way back to the hotel so the girls could have a rest as the days have been very active. We also bought some interesting books including one on Mahjong earlier in the day so we quickly flicked through it while waiting to organize dinner.

At about 5.30pm we decided to have an early dinner so we headed across to the Tsim Sha Tsui Building across the park where we had found a little Chinese Restaurant we wanted to try. Interestingly we were the only ones in there when we arrived. I for one felt like a goldfish in a bowl after ordering. 3 staff hovered at our elbows (I joked with Mark that maybe they were waiting for us to finish so that they could go home!!) So we ordered. That was a funny experience because half of what we wanted was “Sold Out” although we have not seen much movement in there since we came so perhaps they never had any to start with. I ordered the Noodles with Cabbage and Pork, for the girls was a Sweet and Sour Chicken nuggets (hunks of cooked chicken served with rice, corn and sweet and sour sauce and bean curd) Humongous portions too. We think we should have only ordered 1 between them! Mark had Peppered Pork Kebabs which came with seaweed through rice, corn. While it was one of the cheapest Dinners yet I am not sure it was our favourite. And so we wandered around the Tsim Sha Tsui Centre for a little while and then came back to the hotel. A very lazy day indeed.

Today was quite different however. We were later getting up, but were out the front door on the courtesy shuttle bus by 10 am heading to Kowloon MTR Station, to catch the train to Tung Chung. What is there you ask? It is the jumping off point for Ngong Ping and the Po Lin Monastery where you find the worlds biggest Outdoor, Seated, Bronze Buddha. Having got to Tung Chung by 11 am and not having yet had breakfast in our rush to get out of the hotel we wandered around to find somewhere to quickly grab a bite and then keep going. We had hoped to catch the Ngong Ping 360 but alas it is not yet open and is not expected to begin service until the 31st July (too late for us!) So we found the bus to Ngong Ping and hopped on (finding out along the way that our Octopus Cards were out of funds so we had to use cash - bummer!) and at a massive $25 per adult each way it was singly the most EXPENSIVE trip yet. Taking 45 mins to work around the island, up some very steep roads, sometimes the bus would have to stop to let other vehicles pass in the opposite direction) and looking at the sights (lots of them) including Prisons in positions of great beauty with tremendous views, road barricades made of empty 44 gallon drums with metal sitting on top, shrines and cemeteries by the road side etc etc we finally arrived in Ngong Ping.

The small township has built up around the Monastery which is now a major tourist attraction. There are more of the small stalls that sell everything from postcards to incense sticks, to woven bamboo hats to ice-creams and batteries for cameras. There is not a lot of options in terms of foods but that is okay by us as the food was mainly vegetarian with no meat of any type allowed on the premises. The toilets are a hike from the beginning of the steps (which should have warned us of the steep incline and the multitude of steps) but are thankfully Western which makes it easier for the girls to navigate their way around! These seem to be newly built replacing what was formerly there according to the guidebooks.

We then started the trek up the steps. They are so steep and nearly 300 of them so we were all hot and sweaty by the time we reached the top at about 12.00 (having taken us about 15 mins to make the climb) we then entered the Exhibition Hall. Very interesting with lots of images and script and the story of Buddha. We also managed to catch a glimpse of the Sacred Relic held in the very top of the building under the Buddha himself. Then came the time to make the trek back down the steps, which as previously mentioned seemed to take a lot less time and be a whole lot less exhausting. At the bottom is a shop which you have to go through to exit. There is also a beautiful gate and a round platform which is in a gradient of 3 heights representing the stages of enlightenment. A truly amazing feat of workmanship. We grabbed a quick Ice-cream and then hopped back on the bus to Tung Chung (another $25 each adult one way!) and arrived there at about 3.30pm grabbed a very late lunch, looked around the Outlet Stores at the Citygate Shopping Centre and then caught our MTR back to Central and then the connection to Tsim Sha Tsui and walked back to the hotel stopping for the girls to have their photos taken at the hats in the park next to the hotel.

We are all starting to feel quite tired but tomorrow being Marks birthday he will choose the activities, meals etc. We do know that Ice Skating is one of the items on the agenda for tomorrow as we could not go to Happy Valley Racecourse because we went to Disneyland early because of the Typhoon Warning so he was a little upset about that. Anyway that is all for today.

PS there seems to be a technical problem currently on the travelblog site which is why the photos are not showing up. As soon as this is sorted out I will upload more for you to view.
Bye!!

Interesting facts:

What is so special about the Tian Tan Buddha? The Tian Tan Buddha at the Po Lin Monastery was completed just before the handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese and interestingly is the only Buddha to face Beijing. There are 260 steps leading up to the Buddha (very very steep) and this brings you to the lower viewing area. Here there are 6 smaller statues of the Bodhisattvas and you can clearly sea the lotus leaf of which the Lord Gautama sits.

Happy hours that last more than an hour! Happy hour here seems to be a long stretch in terms of the use of the word “hour” because in most of the restaurants and pubs they can last up to 12 hours from 10 am until up to 10pm. It usually seems to include 1 for 2 standard drinks (ie for each standard drink paid for you get 2!)

Why are tables in restaurants so small? We think this may have something to do with making sure the restaurants can fit as many people into as small a space as possible, although there are certainly times when this may cause a severe fire risk!!!! We also there this may be exacerbated by the high price of rents in the city meaning that it is too expensive to utilize a high proportion of area for seating of customers.

Why are there arrows for directionality when no-one follows them? Well, according to the Head Bad Guy from Pirates of the Caribbean “They are more like guidelines” and no-one much follows them. It seems to make you really stand out if you do follow them religiously!

Why do the guidebooks say that entry is free to the Buddha when clearly it costs money?
Hmm, good question really, we hope that the money goes to the Monks and the Monastery but again cannot say for sure. It does seem obvious that given the amount of people passing through the doors this should be an extremely well to do monastery though! The entrance fee is waived if you buy the vegetarian meal however!

Marks Input

On the matter of small things, the standard beer and soft drink size is 330 ml rather than 375 ml. It is very curious that the standard size for most things is smaller. Plus they also have the older style tin ring pulls on the soft dinks cans.

We again collected a wayward American today while having a late lunch. This one just started talking to us about the soccer and why was the English players so stupid - don’t know and a bit hard to argue with given last nights performance. He prattled away quite happily through lunch then wandered off.

Charlotte’s Input

Today we went to the Po Lin Monastery where we saw a big Buddha. We went inside the Buddha and came out at his flower petals (lotus leaves) We saw lots of things inside like ancient scrolls and a man who cremated when he died and because he was so enlightened his body created crystals (well actually the story). On the way there we saw a big Bull and a waiting area with a covered surface which almost looked like a shrine. We also saw a little island which Mummy couldn’t get a picture of because the trees kept getting in the way.

I also bought a Teddy Bear for myself today. Elizabeth was also offered one but she said she didn’t want it.

Daddy’s Birthday is tomorrow and we are going to go Ice-Skating with him because I think it will be nice to experience our first time ever on ice together. Happy Birthday Daddy!

Elizabeth’s Input

Today we went to the Po Lin Monastery. We saw lots and lots of trees when we were on our way up to it. We saw the Outer Islands and they were quite beautiful and the scenery was beautiful too.

When we were up at the big statue we saw 6 statues giving offerings of flowers and other things in their hands for the Big Buddha. The Buddha was actually quite big and made of Bronze. It was actually very glary up there and it took us more than 200 steps to get to the top.

I had my own camera but inside it said no photos or cameras or videos allowed. There were lots of ancient scrolls, paintings writings and lots of treasures.

Tomorrow is Daddy’s Birthday and it will be fun because we are going to the Ice Skating Rink. We have cards to give to Daddy tomorrow morning and we wrote them all ourselves. One is Chinese script but says Happy Birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY! XXXOOOO

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Photos

A glorious windswept mountain
This photo was taken on our way to see the Tian Tan Buddha. The mountain was shrouded with mist - simply beautiful