Josh's Trip to Hong Kong Day 4- The Giant Buddha, The *DISNEY* train and 'Tai po' Fishing village (Pic heavy)

[josh.p.]

Can't remember what time we where up this morning, but I did know that we where visiting the Giant Buddah. We had to get the MTR to a shopping centre where the coach would meet us, and then take us to the giant Buddah (which was about a 40 minute coach ride.) You can get a cable cart here but it was non-operational which was quite sad, but none the less we got to go to the Buddah.

On the MTR there is a stop where you can stop and then take the free Disney Train to Disneyland. Since we didn't actually visit Disneyland (it's not supposed to be very good compared to other parks in the area), we got the train to the entrance as they told us it was pretty special You can imagine my excitement when I realised THIS is the train we'd be getting on:

It was a really cool train/MTR (that wasn't manned... fully automatic!) and I thoroughly enjoyed it.






We stopped at the entrance for a photo-op and then got the Disney train back to the MTR station:


Once we where back off the MTR we got the coach upto the Giant Buddah... most of us took this time for a power nap.
When we arrived we where greeted by a beautiful small shopping centre (with traditional Chinese gifts)

and then made our way to the Buddhist Monk's vegetarian restaurant. This was one of my favourite meals of the trip, we had a great selection and everything was vegetarian. It was mostly made from beancurd/tofu but made to look like/taste like meat. Our favourite was the lemon 'chicken' pancakes. From the left to right (starting at the silver teapot) there is; Baby Bamboo shoots (Meant to replicate squid I believe), fried lotus fruit, mixed vegetables, Sweet and sour dipping sauce, a type of pie (the name evades me, but it's a bit like a fish cake), mushrooms (meant to replicate turtle), and spring rolls. We also had lemon 'chicken' pancakes, vegetables in cantonese sauce, fried beancurd, rice and noodles along with plenty of Chinese tea

After lunch we walked around the temple (no photo's allowed Inside) and then payed our respects to the Buddah by lighting a giant Joss stick.


There is a 260 step climb to the top of the Buddah, which doesn't seem like much, but is really a lot in the heat and humidity!!









The views from the top where stunning, definatley one of my favourite days out in HK.





After we came back down from the Buddah we had a look around the shops (Where I had to try on a hat )

before getting the coach back to the station outside the shopping mall so that we could catch a boat to the fishing village, and then go on our search for the mysterious pink dolphin. Unforunatley we didn't see any pink dolphins but did get to see a lot of the fishing village and it was really interesting to see how other people live.


We then got off the boat and walked through the market;

into a small cafe to try a traditional HK desert, which was cold tofu and red bean-curd sugar;

Some of the HK people had theirs with sesame paste which tastes like peanut butter, but this was one of the only dishes I didn't like- I loved the taste but the wet, slippery texture made it unpalatable.

After the fishing village we returned back to the shopping centre, which wasn't all that impressive as it worked out a tad more expensive than the UK, when the fashion was about a year behind/ahead of ours (Depending on which way you look at it!)
We had our dinner at a convenience place as we split into separate groups and the HK delegates where given a set amount of money (funded by the HK government) to get our meals with. It was more than enough but we didn't have time to go to a full-service meal so we got convenience food then spent the rest of the budget on snacks for our hotel rooms
The vegetarians ('Veggies 'R' Us' as we where dubbed) had noodles;

Where as Siobhan chose to try some Japanese style sushi;

After a rather hectic and full day we got the MTR back to the station near our hotel, and had a walk around the market, bartering for a few things before bed-time!
Here is a pic of one of the snack stalls I talked about in an earlier TR;

[foreverducky]

Wow! He really is Giant! That's awesome Josh. What an experience this has been. I'm sure you have tons of memories to keep with you.

[lozzy]

I love that train, I want to go.
What great shots Josh, the Buddha is amazing I really think we will have to visit one day it looks like a great place. The only thing that would worry me is the food, I don't eat anything that lived in the sea.

[Claire]

The Sushi looks awesome! And that train! Loving the reports Josh.

[josh.p.]

I really do think everyone should visit if they get the chance. Personally, I'd stay away from the touristy areas like Stanley and stay in Kowloon, it's the main city part- like an eastern new york, but it's really amazing

I love that train, I want to go.
What great shots Josh, the Buddha is amazing I really think we will have to visit one day it looks like a great place. The only thing that would worry me is the food, I don't eat anything that lived in the sea.

I wouldn't worry, I don't eat meat or fish and I found there was loads, everything is cooked fresh so it's easy to ask for a dish without the meat/fish in it