Last full day in Hong Kong.

I spent my last full day in Hong Kong doing yet another typically touristy thing, however there was culture involved so I hope that wins me some points. My sister and I took the MTR to Tung Chung and then got onto a cable car up to Ngong Ping, home of the Tian Tian (Giant) Buddha; this is something that a lot of people tend to do on their last day in Hong Kong due to it's close proximity to Hong Kong International Airport.

I have decided that I probably have a tiny fear of heights, not anything that's going to make me freak out but I'm not exactly enthusiastic about being high up and being able to see how far away the ground is. The cable car ride up to Ngong Ping was slightly more settling than the Ocean Park cable car as the cars were much larger and because the ride was 25 minutes, I was able to relax a bit. I don't think I would have had the same opinion if we had opted for the 'Crystal Cabin', a car with a glass bottom, why anyone would happily fork out more for that experience is bewildering to me, much to my sister's disappointment.

Due to also wanting to make the trip to the Tai O stilt village but not really having any knowledge of how to go about it, we opted to go on a coach tour which guided us down to the village as well as giving us a bit of history about the Po Lin monastery and the Tian Tian Buddha once we got back. I would love to go back to Tai O again, just to take more in, it's a really interesting-looking place even if there isn't much in the way of things to do there; there was also a tour operator offering a dolphin seeing tour for $HK20, which I would love to do. The sense of community in Tai O is really felt, as we were being touristy with our group on a bridge, a man came waltzing along with his shirt up wanting to talk to his 'Dai lo' (big brother) and all the women working in the market were chatting away, it's just a very beautiful, undisrupted place, hard to find in somewhere as built-up as Hong Kong.

Everything about the area and what we did today, despite being a 'must-see as a tourist', lacked that touristy-feel which was great because we were in such close proximity to people's homes as well as being on sacred ground. There were a few snap-happy people, myself included, but the atmosphere wasn't as busy and interfering as it has been in other places. The most enjoyable thing about today was the weather, up in the mountains it is much cooler and because of the rain it was even cooler, it was probably still around 28ºC but that's still cool for here and this time of year. The weather was also on our side when it came to visuals, once we walked up to the Buddha we were literally in the clouds!

I'm so proud of myself for making it to the top of the 268 stairs to see the Buddha close up, I think I would have been disappointed in the back of my mind if I hadn't, it's pretty daunting but definitely worth it and not as hard as it seems. Going back down was much worse for me and my legs slightly turned to jelly because I could see how far up we were and how far we still needed to go. (Wuss).
I'm beginning to look forward to going home now and wonder how I'm going to round off my holiday with the free time I have tomorrow. Here are some photos from today.

Just incase you'd forgotten that they really do have Starbucks everywhere.

The prospect of going back to the real world of slobbing-out searching for work all day is not exactly instilling excitement in me, but I've had a well-deserved break and am in the right mind-set to approach it again, kind of hoping that I won't have to return to the Job Centre though.

Hello from HK.

I thought that I should finish the day with a quick post to let you know what I've been up to, otherwise I think that I would start to get behind, I took so may photos to day anyway!

Even more walking has taken place and my legs are basically killing me, but the good news is that I may finally be used to the weather. However, saying that, it has been much cooler in the last two days due to the threat of small typhoons. I experienced my first one yesterday, it lasted about five minutes, but it was some pretty intense, heavy rain. I'm glad for it anyway though because it equates to this slightly cooler (but still boiling) weather.
I still haven't managed to see 'A Symphony of Lights', but I'm only five days into a two and a half week holiday, so I'm not crying about it. Nearly everyone we have told about it gets cross because you can watch the show for free along the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade, but that's not at all like a boat is it?

It's actually quite good to keep the blog going while I'm away, because, despite the short amount of time, I'm already losing track of days and it feels like I've been here forever. I think this problem may be related to the heat and the slow pace at which I'm then forced to do everything. It's not as though I am complaining because our days have been very packed, although I am glad for the 'day off' tomorrow.

I'm hoping that we can visit more of the New Territory next week because things seem to be cheaper there, and I'm not really much of a one for designer clothes and brands; although I may be tempted to treat myself to something before I leave.

So, despite the last couple of days being a bit of a blur, I can tell you that the weather hasn't been brilliant and we have been very touristy. On Thursday we did a bit of shopping and hung out in Tai Koo Mall, and on Friday we visited some traditional Hong Kong monasteries. Due to the fact that Hong Kong is part of such a large spiritual heritage by default, I was surprised to hear my BBC cousin, who now lives here, talk about the lack of 'culture' in Hong Kong. We visited both the Wong Tai Sin Temple and the Chi Lin Nunnery, they were a bit of fresh air from the bombardment of over-saturated shopping complexes, but I enjoy both in different ways.
Today was a very busy, not to mention long, day, so I will more than likely update tomorrow on the planned day off, although my Mum is slightly threatening that we might leave Causeway Bay, I might protest and be a bad holiday-maker. I've had more activity in the last five days than I have had in five months. I thought holidays were about rest, but in somewhere as bustling as Hong Kong it was probably always going to be out of the question, at least I'm experiencing new things and taking it all in.

Nearly every shopping complex we have visited has had this kind of stage area, I'm unsure of what was happening, but we have passed several performances now. This photo was at the mall in Tai Koo and seemed to be related to Guiness World Records...

I felt remorse over the lack of arms in this sign.

My sister and I got our fortunes told when we visited the temple in Wong Tai Sin, get your diaries out, apparently I'm getting married in 2013, it's good that I was wearing all my lucky colours too.

Ongoing Flickr set
Lookout for another post tomorrow. It's so odd with the time difference here, my sleeping pattern is more than ruined, despite probably being jet-lag free now.