マイク＆サム·ヘッド東！- A journey to Hong Kong & Japan - May 2014 - Day 3 - TIAN TAN BUDDHA & HONG KONG RACES

[soarinfan]

Day 3 - Wednesday 7th May - Tian Tan Buddha & Hong Kong Races

4:30am, the land of jet lag. It seems to be the common trend when flying east merely by the trip reports I’d read in the run up to my trip, and I seemed to be no exception. Its weird because I’d never once suffered with jet lag apart from the following morning of returning from Orlando where I’d be up by 5am, and that would be that. This would prove to be a whole other kettle of fish - but onwards with Day 3!

First thing I thought of at 4:30am was..ahh….late evening yesterday back at home, I’ll check my phone. Sure enough everyone was chatting to me on Facebook like I shouldn’t actually be asleep (thank god for wifi!). By about 5:30 I figured I should probably try to get some more sleep and I was feeling a little dopey, so nodded off again until just before 8am which wasn’t too bad in the end!

Today was had some activities planned, we wanted to see the Tian Tan Buddha which was unfortunately back by the airport (as seemingly were most things) and also we had plans to visit the Hong Kong Happy Valley Racecourse this evening. But first thing was first - breakfast! On our travels around the streets of Hong Kong yesterday we had noticed there was an awful lot of bakeries around, so we took full advantage and grabbed some pastries to eat before we set out. The bakery was on the way to our subway station so it wasn’t really an issue. I loved the etiquette of going to the bakery in Asia - you are to select your items with tongs and place them on a tray, which you then hand to the cashier who bags them for you whilst you arrange payment - how civilised. None of this shouting over the counter malark you get in England!

MTR Hong Kong Map

Our route today was fairly straight forward - we were taking the Island Line from our hotel at Fortress Hill to Central, and then walking through the connection tunnel to Hong Kong, to take the Tung Chung Line through to Tung Chung at the end of the line, journey time being just over 35 minutes.

Cable Car station to Ngong Ping 360

On arrival at Tung Chung you leave the MTR station and walk across a plaza, and past a shopping centre (which we would be visiting later) to the Ngong Ping 360 cable car station which is well signposted, with lots of employees trying to coax you in to buy a ticket - hardly the kind of thing many people would do on a whim I'm sure! The price is HKD$150 which equates to about £11 for a return trip so not too bad! Now I knew this was a cable car and we would be going up a hill but I didn't expect it to be this kind of hill...luckily I don't mind heights!

Goiiiing up!

You can also purchase a ticket in what they call a "Crystal Cabin" for about a hundred or two more which basically just has a glass floor - something I really don't recommend unless you have fantastic weather else it is just a waste of money. As you can see from the photo, you soon end up in the clouds.

Hong Kong Airport from above

Thankfully it satisfied the "avgeek" in me and I got a nice (yet misty) view of Hong Kong Airport where we had arrived yesterday. Always cool to see aircraft taking off from above, and only ever had the chance a few times before. Unfortunately as I said in Day 1 - I had decided to leave my big lens behind for my DSLR camera, meaning it was impossible to get wonderful photos, but you get the gist.

Still going up - and we hadn't even entered the clouds yet!

We continued to ascend up the 'hill' until we were completely surrounded in cloud. What came next was very Silent Hill. Everything was quiet. Everything was eerie. Everything was white. Literally could not see a thing. And it just kept going...and going...and going. We had absolutely no idea how long this cable car was, how long it was going to take, or where exactly we were. In reality it was probably only about 10 minutes but it felt like an age. The only thing we could see is the cable disappearing into the cloud just in front of us, and then every so often a cable car would shoot past in the other direction before disappearing to nothing.

After a few turning stations later we soon arrived up at Ngong Ping which was our main destination. The cable car ends here and you don't have an option to get off before hand, merely as theres nothing there but trees, so this was where we were to get off...

Ngong Ping Village

Ngong Ping Village is a nice little place, and I bet it would be fantastic in the sunshine, but somehow I cannot actually even begin to picture it in anything other than a village in saturated mountain cloud. It's main walk way through is full of touristy shops, selling lots of souvenirs and bits and pieces you'd stick on the wall, as well as plenty of small eateries which cater for a variety of tastes. There looked like some good Chinese eateries on the way, but first we wanted to explore and see what we had come here to see. Plus it was still only about 10:30 in the morning so we had plenty of time until lunch.

Once you leave the touristy shop area, you move along into a small local market, where locals from up the mountain have come to flog you some of their goodies, most of it was a load of tat to be honest which was a shame as it kind of cheapened the mood, but some stalls seemed incredibly authentic with wood carvings and incense which was nice. We didn't stop around to look though as we were entering the main area of culture we had come to experience.

Sam & I heading towards the Buddha statue

The entrance to the area leading towards the Buddha was really my first cultural taste in what mystified me so much about the Far East. I had studied Ancient China at university one term so it was great to finally get to see some of it in the flesh so to speak.

The walkway lined with warriors

The pathway leading towards the Buddha and Po Lin Monastery is lined with stone warrior statues which are presumably guarding the Buddha. Each has its own inscription in what I imagine is Mandarin (or could be similar!) and all seem to have their own facial expressions which (if I remember!) is meant to mean/show something different. Either way, without knowing the meaning, its an awe inspiring avenue to walk down.

The never ending climb up!

After turning right at the end of the pathway we were faced with the mountain to climb to the Buddha. I forget how many steps there were. 200 rings a bell. Either way it was incredibly steep, it was lightly raining, and it was misty! It felt like a long and arduous climb, and it was interesting to see so many people taking breaks along the way - one lady seemingly sitting down eating a mini picnic half way up! The stairway was littered with inscriptions offering prayers to Buddha and other notices. Unfortunately being able to read them, we had no real meaning of what they meant, but it was nice to take in the culture anyway!

The Buddha Statue itself

On arriving at the top, despite the heavy mist and light drizzle, it was an awe inspiring sight as you can see for yourselves. The Buddha statue itself is absolutely massive. You are able to walk around it and go inside underneath where there are a few small gift shops and places to pray.

There was also a restaurant inside which seemed to be an all you can eat buffet - however it seemed fairly expensive for what it was so we didn't really bother with this. We had originally planned to eat in Ngong Ping village however, as we later found with the cloud really rolling in, it would be best to get the cable car down and eat somewhere on lower ground incase they closed the cable car due to inclement weather (now theres a term we've all heard before in Orlando!)

It was also really interesting to see many locals outside the front of the statue praying, as we would see more further along the trail later in the day.

After we had spent a good half hour admiring the big Buddha statue, we descended the many steps taking pictures as we went. As I said we could see the weather rolling in and we did want to visit the monastery before we descended back down to ground level. However on the way in, I just had to spend 10-15 minutes sitting and looking at this...

Prayer with incense - mesmerising!

This was the China I felt I was really here to see. To take in culture like this is something I don't think I have ever really done before in my lifetime. Watching locals pray using incense sticks was absolutely mesmerising because its something you just do not see at home at all. The worshipers would approach a vendor to purchase their incense (which I think was by donation) and then would, stick by stick, approach the small furnace looking creation to light their incense. A series of bows and waving of the incense stick, presumably whilst reciting prayers took place, before placing it in one of the holders, followed by more prayers. Absolutely mesmerising.

Heading into the monastery, worshipers offering fruit to deities

Further prayer was taking place inside the monasteries. You can see a bowl of oranges in front of the deity - this is common practice I believe in Buddism to do so. Inside the building was lots of other statues of I can only imagine different deities representing different things, again mesmerising watching the non-western technique being displayed towards religion and culture - amazing.

After what must have been a good 45 minutes watching all this culture unfold before us, we decided to head towards the monastery itself where we found of course more to see and witness!

Entering the monastery - the ritual

Something similar to this seemed to be present outside each building which was used by all of the worshipers and locals before entering. Each person would use the small wooden device to pour water over the statue's head several times before entering. I felt it was only right I should do the same, even though I did not know the meaning of it we were obviously in a place that deserved a form of respect

Inside the monastery was amazing, unfortunately quite dark with no natural light apart from that coming in from the door, but you get the kind of idea of its ornateness by the decor which was on the roof alone.

Inside the monasteries buildings - such beautiful interiors

Unfortunately when we came out of here it did seem the weather was really starting to close in. It became nigh on impossible to see much further than about 100 yards in front of your nose due to the thick cloud we were walking along through, so we decided to start making our way back through Ngong Ping village. We walked past the Buddha one more time which had now completely disappeared from view as we were at the bottom of the gigantic staircase and the statue was up the some 200 odd steps we struggled up earlier. As we walked down the alleyway of market stalls it seemed some wild dogs were going at each other's teeth fairly violently which someone was trying to stop. Sam gave the dogs a bit of a wide berth and hid behind me whilst we walked past - can you tell she doesn't really like dogs? Never mind ones foaming at the mouth...

As we walked through Ngong Ping I saw so many establishments I'd like to eat at, and despite begging Sam to stop and have lunch, she did talk sense and suggested we get the cable car back down to the bottom of the mountain/hill/clouds before it might shut due to the weather and find somewhere for lunch down there. So I agreed. On the way down it was another eerie journey, spending most of the time in a complete white out in thick cloud, randomly begininng to plummet everytime we went across the invisible until the last minute cable car pylons. I didn't take any pictures here because it would be quite frankly - pointless!

When we finally reached terra firma again, we had seen a buffet all you can eat restaurant from the cable car on the way out we were intending to try out for lunch for what was about HKD$60 I believe - it however seemed incredibly closed even though there seemed to be people eating inside. Not wanting to venture in, we decided to head back across the main road towards where the MTR station was that we arrived at this morning. Next door to this was a massive several floor shopping centre which contained a huge food court where you could buy different cuisines from around Asia for quite a reasonable price. Being in Hong Kong we decided to head for the Chinese counter, where I chose Beef in Black Bean Sauce with Noodles for my dinner for a remarkable HKD$45 (£3.30).

Beef in Black Bean Sauce with Noodles - not bad for £3.30!

Sam had some Sweet & Sour Pork Spare Ribs with rice, however seemed to find it incredibly hard to use the chop sticks! I went to fetch her a knife and fork but this being Hong Kong, there was of course not a sign of any. Instead I picked her up a ladle which is seemingly what everyone eats their staple (soup) with over here, but it just didn't seem to float her boat unfortunately...so we did end up in McDonalds with Sam eating (from what I remember!) chicken nuggets! I had some of the pork and thought it was absolutely amazing The only thing which tasted a bit odd was their Coke Light which was clearly watered down to nothing. But for what I think was about 20p I didn't have much of a right to complain!

We were by this point absolutely shattered. We had had an incredibly long 48 hours with not much sleep in between. Our original plan was to visit Mong Kok and see some of the market life there, but we were literally falling asleep on each other on the MTR ride back towards the hotel, so we decided to forgo Mong Kok (which I really wish I had visited now! ) and retreated back to our hotel for a snooze - which ended up being a good 3 hour snooze!

[soarinfan]

Darkness was now starting to descend on Hong Kong, being around just after 6pm, so we began to get ready for tonight...and this is where we were heading...!

The Happy Valley Racecourse - Hong Kong

I saw the Happy Valley Race Course in an episode of Michael Palin...I think it was Around the World in 80 Days (or similar!) years ago, where he stopped off in Hong Kong and won some money on the horses. Ever since then I had always wanted to go there. I think its certainly a good night out and its something completely different you don't usually do on holiday - also quiet weird to have this huge vast race course slap bang in the middle of a packed vibrant city like Hong Kong! I had said to Sam before the holiday I really wanted to go, and race nights were always on a Wednesday so she had arranged this for me

We had a couple of choices upon entering the race course. We could pay (I think it was) HKD$20 to enter the general admission area, or, as we decided to do, we paid HKD$130 each to enter the VIP area (as we thought - we are only here once) - what a let down! As we entered the betting hall laced with gold we thought...wow this was worth the extra spend! We proceeded out to the race track and took our seats in the grandstand, but I couldn't help wonder what all the people in the grandstand were doing further down the race track, on the basis we were roped off from them. There was a small gate down at ground level which we were allowed to go through being VIP's into the general admission area, and it was here we learned of the errors of our ways. We could have actually paid 20 bucks to enter this area and still got a seat in the grandstand just a bit further down the track if we really wanted to sit - what a waste of a tenner!

My betting slip...though it didn't go all that well at all!

Brushing that all aside, I followed in Michael Palin's footsteps and decided to pick a horse with fairly good odds, and stuck down 20 bucks on it (about £1.30!). I have to say, with deep regret...it came 4th...betting fail. Thus ends the evening of betting!

Happy Valley Racecourse - Grandstand

After the race I had bet on finished we decided to head down towards the general admission area. The VIP section is very nice but it really is just full of the hardcore race goers. There was lots of things to see and do in the general admission area including multiple marquees where you could sign up to win cars and drinks and things. There was also a stage where a group were performing that were quite good, but unfortunately the heavens then opened, and so most entertainment came to a complete halt, with the guy on the stage pleading people to stay in the rain and enjoy their set. We upped the umbrellas and stayed out, making the most of the bad situation! Plus it also meant all of the lines at the eateries completely dissipated, so we headed their for dinner first.

Dinner time - Siu Mei!

I decided to go for the Siu Mei (which is traditional Hong Kong style street food) - I ended up with BBQ Pork and rice which was absolutely gorgeous! The sauce was so delicious. I was on Facebook chat to a friend back home and he was tempting me to go and buy another bowl! Sam settled for Fish & Chips as she was unsure if she would like some of the Chinese food they had to offer. Mine was HKD$45 but Sam's fish and chips was HKD$100! Absolute rip off! But whatever floats your boat

Before the next race a horse escaped from the traps throwing its rider, and literally spent half an hour running forwards and backwards around the entire length of the track. It seemed no matter what the people on the track would do, they just couldn't slow it down or bring it in! Finally they did so and the next race could continue very delayed!

Annnnnnd they're off!

This was the last race which we watched that evening. Funilly enough about 2 minutes before the beginning of the race, EVERYONE who had dashed inside because of the rain came storming out of the Grandstand and proceeded to crush us up against the railings waving newspapers and betting slips. The guy standing next to me was Australian, and it seemed he owned one of the horses from what he was talking about... not quite sure what he was doing in General Admission but never mind!

Overall it was a good evening at Hong Kong races, it was something completely different and Sam and I both said we enjoyed it. Plus by leaving by about 9:45, we were able to beat the exit rush (I think the last race was about 2 hours later than this) and also it gave us time to explore some of Hong Kong by night.

Times Square Jumbotron

I had said to Sam I didn't want to go home quite yet, so we made our way down the length of the stadium, and across the main road heading back towards Hong Kong centre. We had seen on our maps somewhere that "Times Square" was around here. I can tell you now its nothing in comparison to New York's version, though it does have that gigantic TV!

Myself in Times Square

We went past some of the local grocers and shops which disgusted Sam with the smell of raw fish and guts all over the floor - but when in Rome!...

We finally turned up in Times Square where we spent some time taking some photos, but there isn't really much to see here. I suggested to Sam we carry on going and just follow the crowd and see where we ended up. I took note of where the nearest MTR station was and had already planned a route home back to the hotel for when we were shattered and needed bed!

The general hustle and bustle of Times Square and its surroundings

It may not have been a patch on NYC but Times Square in Hong Kong was a hive of activity for a midweek evening at 10pm. The hustle and bustle in the alleyways surrounded by street food outlets and small stalls selling a variety of stuff from handbags to high end cameras and electronics was madness. We passed by a shop...or actually I'm not quite sure what it was. We were both quite childish laughing at the name of it, I won't post it on here because of it being a family friendly site but you get the gist!

I was feeling a bit peckish for a dessert by now as I didn't end up getting a second bowl of dinner at the racecourse, and I didn't opt for the ice cream either as we decided to leave after that next race, so we found a McDonalds just opposite the MTR station - so we popped in for what we thought was a quick McFlurry. How wrong were we? This experience literally puts any of the English outlets to shame - the fact that any McDonalds in the world could give worse customer service than the ones at home is mind boggling - but we had stumbled across it right here. There was no greeting, I was told "WOT U WANT" by the staff member, who spoke perfect English to the guy next to him. I then waited whilst they seemingly had lost my order but made absolutely no attempt to find it, just kept serving people who had paid some ten minutes after me. After kicking off and demanding my McFlurry or my money back I finally got it - lets hope they don't adopt the same custom of adding additional toppings to products that the staff in our British restaurants do...!

7Eleven - The saviour of late night munchies!

Time was nearing 11pm by this point and we were getting a little tired, so we decided to head home. We popped into 7Eleven on the way to pick up a couple of nibbles/drinks for the room, before heading back into the hotel - luckily we have one next door so it was a bonus! After we had both showered I spent a little while talking to some friends back home and watching a little One Foot In The Grave on my iPad, whilst Sam had already drifted off into the land of nod. Come about 1am I though I really should try and get some sleep, even if merely for one reason...


...Tomorrow we were off to Disneyland!


Thank you all for reading Day 3 - stay tuned for Day 4 and expect a LOAD of photos, for it was my first and only time this trip to Hong Kong Disneyland!

[SallyPatterson]

Absolutely fantastic trip report Mike. Really enjoying reading...please keep them coming.

Sally

[Cyclospora]

Originally Posted by SallyPatterson

Absolutely fantastic trip report Mike. Really enjoying reading...please keep them coming.

Sally

See more...

Same from me too! Thanks for posting

[hross42877]

Fantastic read!

[Bobsledwheels]

Great day - thanks for sharing!

Races sound interesting for sure - and glad to see McDonalds still manage their pitiful service around the globe - nothing if not consistent...