I really wanted to go see the Big Buddha last time I was in Hong Kong. I went when I was a kid, but have no recollection of it. Unfortunately, black rain made it impossible (well, highly not recommended) to go, and we spent our last day wandering around Causeway Bay and Victoria Park instead.
So this year, I was determined to go. As there was a first-timer to Hong Kong this trip, we all went together.
We had a traditional Hong Kong-style breakfast in the morning; I got eggs and sausage with a bun covered in condensed milk. Breakfast wouldn't be complete without a side of HK milk tea.
It was a bit of a gloomy day with fog and light rain adorning the skies as we made the journey to Lantau Island. Upon exiting the MTR, we spotted a stand selling breakfast, and I bought a bor lor yau (菠蘿油), a pineapple bun sandwiching a thick slice of butter. As I already had breakfast, I shared it with my dad, who promptly split the bun very unevenly and gave me the half with 1/3 of the bun and 2/3 of the butter. I prefer regular pineapple buns - but my top pineapple bun is still the ones with custard inside.
There were so many wild cows on the road to Ngong Ping; the bus went up a very windy road, and even those who were not so easily carsick as I felt a little woozy during the ride up. Once there, we spotted a dai pai dong and decided to have lunch - the whole morning had consisted of eating and sitting on public transit so far. We got some pretty standard fare; tea eggs (茶葉蛋), curry fish balls (咖哩魚蛋), chow mein (炒麵), wonton mein (雲吞麺), and lor mai gai (糯米雞) with a whole chicken wing inside! Never one to forget dessert, we got two servings of dao fu fa (豆腐花) and black sesame paste (芝麻糊) prepared in a way my dad prefers - I fail to recall why.
Ngong Ping was crowded, and at first glance, decidedly very touristy. It didn't help that it was a public holiday, so locals and tourists came to visit the Big Buddha.
The sky was grey as we started up the stairs, but the Buddha was still visible from below. The clouds started rolling in as we got higher up, and when we reached the top, the Buddha was no longer visible.
Fed up with the grainy photos, I took this time to reset my camera settings.
We spent awhile looking over the view of the island, and it was here that I learned some newly-discovered family history.
We headed down and browsed some of the shops; there were some curious toys and trinkets that we tinkered with before walking back towards the bus stop. There were many wild dogs cows roaming the sidewalks - the fellow above even graced us with some freshly-made manure.
Instead of crowding on the buses back to the subway, we opted for the bus to Mui Wo.
We walked along the harbour, searched the food market for soy milk, and then realized the public holiday ferry schedule was more limited, and there was a longer wait time than expected.
The ferry arrived at Central, and I ran to the subway to meet my friends at Causeway Bay. Thankfully, the area from the pier to Central Station was familiar to me, so I managed to Times Square first.
I was feeling chilly, so once my friends arrived, we went on a fruitless hunt for a cardigan at Uniqlo. I came away with a dress shirt instead, and we went to Little Bao for dinner.
After some 'coffee and bagels' for my friend, we headed back to the shopping area, and upon my introduction to GU and Bershka, I was three sweaters heavier.
We were about to grab dessert when we realized that our original plan had been to see the Moon Rabbit display, on its last night, in Wan Chai. We hopped on the streetcar and were greeted with the many lanterns and floppy-eared rabbits, my friends favourite.
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