Hello Hello! This travel post will be the last in a while. I think it's time I blogged about something else than my travels...I don't want to bore you guys right?! Also, Flickr is being really mean and won't let me upload stuff normally...so it's a real pain in the ass to upload photos for the post. But I promise, I will finish the series some time later...what's left is practically a couple foodie posts anyway!
So this covers the day after I came back from Korea! We had morning plans to head out to NgongPing to visit the Big Buddha!!! Having checked into the hotel at like 1AM, I wasn't a happy trooper at 9 in the morning...but then I feel sorry for P; she had to get up even earlier to do official stuff... =="
And we went on the MTR to meet up with P's relative - who worked their connections so we could skip some of the queues. Then we met E at Tung Chung station ( I think...)
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| P, E & me waiting in line for the cable car! Excuse my lack of variety in wardrobe...living out of a suitcase doesn't provide too many options T^T |
From Tung Chung station there are signs which lead you up to the line for the ticket box for the cable car..There was this huge line for the ticket box - wanted to take a photo of it..but all the people were already really annoyed at waiting so I chickened out...
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| Ngong Ping Village - Gateway to the Buddha |
Arriving at Ngong Ping Village after a approx 20 minute cable car ride (lots of turns during the ride~) From the cable car, you can see there is actually a bush-walking/mountain hiking trail if you really wanted. However, there are also a couple graves.....so maybe you don't want to disturb the dead as you head up to the Buddha! So must take some pictures before we walk up Buddha mountain!
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| Getting closer to the Buddha!!! See top right~ |
Another gateway! It reads 南天佛国 - which I think means the Buddhist territory in the Southern Sky - from which I conclude this Buddha represents Buddhism in the Southern Sky....wherever that is...but anyway, still very pretty! ^^ We got there relatively early, so despite the huge queues for the cable car, the crowds here weren't that bad....but the crowds at the Buddha are a different story....
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| EXO's Showtime...wait no, it's FAADAN's Showtime!!! |
Now time to take on the stairs!
It's not that bad of a trek....but the sun was pretty annoying - started to sweat as I reached the top...the crowds are growing....
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| Fun times!!! |
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| We have arrived! |
This photo must've been taken at a really good time...with only 4 people obstructing the shot...I wanted to try this feature where you take a billion shots and then take out the "changes" (i.e. things that are in some shots and not others e.g. people) so you get a photo without all the people. But I need a tripod and at least 30 minutes for that to happen...so I don't think I'll ever get a chance to do that.
Please excuse my ridiculous pose against the calm Buddha...I followed the mums up the stairs and then totally lost them, hence the look! Photo credits to P! ^^
The view the Buddha looks at all day, everyday! It looks really peaceful too! Although there is an Asian vibe to the place, it doesn't have a sense of Hong Kong at all - more like countryside China (?) It's good to know that despite the pollution and concrete jungle we are in, there are still places like this where one kind sort of relax. Mind you I say sort of....this place is filled with people as the day goes by! Not really my idea of a rat race getaway.
Preparing to walk back down! For some reason it actually looks quite steep here...but you don't really feel it when you do the walk.
After we went back down, we went to eat Vegetarian at one of the places at the foot of the mountain...might as well right?! Sorry but no photos of it. Their tofu fa was pretty smooth from memory, but the ginger sauce/soup was really weak and me & E didn't taste it at all at first. When you go there, you have to watch out, there are 2 shops. One is like a legit restaurant which is pretty expensive...AVOID!!!! This one is on the side - pretty dodgy looking compared the former. However, it does make up for in price! We ordered enough food - and mainly desserts for 5 people and it costed only 200 something HKD! Very worth it! The restaurant one was like 70-80HKD per head...talk about a difference!
After, we went down the cable car and headed back to Tung Chung MTR. Before going home, we had a brief walk at the Tung Chung Outlets...filled with the 自由行 people from Mainland. And they are crazy!!! Crazy rich! There was a Samsonite store there which was on 50% discount - but still around $300-400AUD per suitcase...and these people are like "gimme all 3!!" Seriously??!!! I buy Samsonite suitcase here around $200AUD when Myer or DJ are on Stocktake Sales..
Went back to hotel to collect our luggage and head back up to Mainland..Had quite a bit of trouble because our hotel was quite a bit from the MTR station and catching a taxi at 5PM is a big fat ass because they are doing the shift change! Haggled a taxi driver who was getting off work to take us to the MTR station so we could go to TsuenWan Station - where we ran for the last cross-border bus back to ShenZhen. Talk about hectic.....Running across overpasses with a big suitcase and Countryroad back on top of it is not fun....especially during peak hour...
Well this marks the end of my travels! For the remaining time in the trip, I practically visited a lot more relatives and ate a lot...So this is my Post-HSC overseas trip!
I do have a domestic trip which I may share later on!
Stay safe,
Serena (Yii)
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