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Published: October 28th 2012
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So yesterday we took a shopping day. Much needed and perfect timing because my head was starting to spin every time I kept passing stores but not going in them. I have to say I did some reasonable damage, I'm pretty pround. We spent most of the day in Causeway Bay Area. It's so overwhelming because at first glance it seems that there is no shopping at all. We would enter these buildings that were a bit bare at first, empty with an escalator going to a second level that looked over the first, and I could see from the ground the stores were mainly jewelry Or beauty products. Our shoulders would slump a bit in disappointment, but we would peek upstairs to see..I tell you it's like being in a empty green space and pulling back the bush only to find lush landscape with sparkling waters and unicorns. But our uniorns were a dizzing array of escalators zig zagging in every different direction and 14 floors of shopping. We also went over to HK time square, plain And unassuming by day, a bit more glitzy at night, ( yet nothing compared to nyc. ) It was a good day for
filling my suitcase.
Next day. It is all about Buddha. First stop is ten thousand Buddha monestary In Pai tau vilage. This monestary was started by a reverand Yuet Kai, who devouted hos life to Buddha, and set fire to the cut flesh from his two fingers and used it to light up oil lamps in front of Buddha to show his devoution. He helped to construct the momestary until his death in 1965 and according to his death wishes had his body exhumed after 8 months, and his body filled with chinese laquer and painted in gold foil and put on display in the temple. That is really complete devoution. The day was overcast and humid. The area around the monestary is lush and tropical. I let my friends go fisrst so i could walk this alone. It was peaceful and calm. The winding steps had golden buddhas on each side, with painted red lips ,each budddha had a different unique face and pose. I felt each told a story and half the fun was making one up. The steep climb takes 10 mins until you reach the temple which literally took my breath away. From
the outside of the temple you can see grande gold idols, Buddhas incased in glass, there to protect and to pray to. The 3 walls have rows upon rows stretched up into the celing of tiny buddha statues. The sheer scale of that many buddhas is impresive. Outside the rail has the golden statues of the chinese zodiac, and the temple opens up to the courtyard, which has more goldenBuddhas lining the perimeter. We grab a huge pack of incense and light them up releasing its fragrant smoke. Each Buddha as its own pot full of ashes that you pray and bow 3 times and put some incense in the metal pot. Its a very calming andserene ritual, although i do not practice Buddhism, i felt comfortable with its practices and learing what everything means and the stories behind It. It was a facinating temple a definite must see.
On the other side of Hong Kong is another buddha. This time not 10,000 but a giant Buddha. To get there we hop back on the metro and make the long trek to Lantau island. From there to get to the Buddha there are two choices. It is taking a
bus ride up to the summit, or taking a Cable car. And not just any cable car, but a glass bottom one! How great! We opt for the latter and get comfy in our choice of transportation And once it starts to move, it has a little gusto, not unlike a roller coaster. The cable car swoops out beyond the platform and here we are at with the ocean beneath our feet, making a steady but fast incline higher up to go,over the mountain. The feeling was exhilerating as we watched the terrain change from rippled sea water to lush tree tops and greens. With the mountain range beside us the whole trip takes 20 min. As we neared the end, over to the right in the distance we saw the bighest buddha statue i have ever Seen. Looking at it to scale with the rest of the landscape it seemed almost proportional. when we land, to my surprise, we end up at a make shift village full of Eating and shopping. Feels like a theme park almost. I decide to not waste time right now on the souvieners and walk past the throngs of consumers towards the real reason
im here. The reason i lugged 10 lbs of camera equipment on my back. I make my way until i reach the steep long stairway leading up toward the idol. This in itself is a very picture worthy Moment, however, the hundreds of people and tourist with back packs, point and shoots, all clamoring and making thier way up towards the same destination seem to de value any hopes i had of the perfect shot. I reach the top and its very impressive visually. over the top large, looking up towards the face of the idol, one palm facing forward, the other resting on its knee. I walked around the grounds and discovered towards the back the temple, huge incense burning, thick clouds of smoke. Tiny restaurants away from the " tourist village" with local vegetarian cuisine. i walked back towards the cable car and we got in line like cattle to make our way back. This buddha was cool, but with the throngs of tourist and souvenir shops, and the fact that this buddha was recently built,it is a far cry from the morning of self sacrificing reverands building a true buddhist place of worship with all money made
going towards the temple.either way im glad i did both.
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Kirsteen
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That is Din Tai Fung?
I recognise the dumplings, it's DTF right?