On our last full day we decided to visit the Big Buddha Hong Kong. I didn’t know much about the Tian Tan Buddha, I just knew it was a must see in Hong Kong.
We woke up to a cloudy day with drizzle. It didn’t look good but we weren’t going to waste the day.
First up breakfast!
Breakfast waffle with fruit, jam, condensed milk and a croissant
Getting to the Big Buddha would take a couple of hours so we made an early start. It was good that we did because the fog and mist were getting thicker.
On the way to Causeway Bay MTR station we stopped at a McDonald’s because Miss14 wanted a hash brown.
Miss14 with her McDonald’s hash brown
We’d become so familiar with the walk to Causeway Bay MTR station and catching the trains it didn’t feel like a long journey at all. From Tung Chung MTR station it was a short walk to the Ngong Ping Cable car terminal. We bought return tickets for the crystal cars so we could see through the bottom of the car.
The cable car ride would be spectacular on a fine day or even a cloudy day, on this Sunday we were enveloped by foggy mist and at times couldn’t see the next car in front of us let alone anything around above or below us. When we got to the Ngong Ping station high up on Lantau Island we couldn’t even see the ground at sea level.
Ngong Ping cable car terminal at Tung Chung stationSelfie from Ngong Ping cable carAt Ngong Ping Station near Tian Tan Buddha (this required a lot of post process editing in Adobe Lightroom).
There was a whole “Hello Kitty” thing going on up at Ngong Ping with the Ngong Ping 360 company. I don’t understand the Hello Kitty phenomenon. It’s beyond me. That said, I know people who are into it so here is one photograph.
Hello Kitty Ngong Ping Station (again lots of post processing editing in Adobe Lightroom).
I felt a touch cold up there
Me at Ngong Ping cable car stationNgong Ping and the path to the big buddha
There are 268 steps to the Tian Tan “Big” Buddha. Fortunately it’s not a continuous climb, while steep there are flat sections every dozen or so steps. The cool misty morning was a good time to do a stair climb.
At the top the foggy mist was such at seeing the Buddha’s visage was impossible. I had to do a lot of post process editing to get this amount of detail.
Tian Tan ‘Big’ Buddha in the foggy mist
At the top there are signs asking visitors to refrain from photography. Inside the buddha is a lot of information material on the construction and history of the statue itself. Nearby is the Po Lin monastery and a temple of gold buddhas which is beautiful.
After visiting the Big Buddha and monastery we spent some time in the Ngong Ping village looking around the shops.
Feeling hungry we decided rather than eating the monks’ vegetarian delights we’d head into Tung Chung and try some more food at the Food Republic.
Miss20 and I had a Japanese inspired rice omelet with pork chop and scallops.
Rice omelet with crumbed pork chop and scallops
Ms18 had mentioned a few days earlier that she would like to visit the Dragon Garden in Sham Tseng which was a bus ride away from Tung Chung.
When we arrived at the front gate we discovered it was closed. On further inquiry the garden is only open one day a month. Ms18 was quite annoyed.
Ms18 at Dragon Garden gate
So what to do when there are no gardens with dragons to walk around? More shopping of course!
We went to Mong Kok and spent some time in Langham Place.
We also had afternoon tea.
Double chocolate almond croissantSinging in Mong Kok
For dinner we went to a cheap and cheerful place called Eat Together. Like Toby Inn on our first day this place had character. The owner sat at one of the tables when we entered and offered us her table. She sat with another customer. After we received our menus she was at our table again expecting us to have decided what we wanted to eat. This place was where locals ate. We had some of the best fried dumplings there we’d had on the whole holiday.
Eat TogetherEat TogetherDeep fried porkDeep fried vegetable and pork and shrimp dumplingsDeep fried pork neck
After our meal at Eat Together we went back to langham Place so Ms20 could have some green tea ice cream.
Green tea ice cream
Our plan had been to return to McDonald’s near Times Square but when we arrived the ice cream machines were broken. We were disappointed.
While the weather had been less than ideal the day turned out to be quite enjoyable. As a last full day in Hong Kong we were pretty happy.
Ocean Park Hong Kong is a place I’m in two minds about. I loved the rides and I loved learning about the fauna there but that fauna is held captive.
Before we get to Ocean Park Hong Kong we need to show a photograph of my breakfast from the Cosmopolitan Hotel.
Scrambled eggs and jam on toast
Prior to leaving for Hong Kong, Ms20 had arranged ground transport with Buffalo Tours from our hotel to Ocean Park Hong Kong. After breakfast we waited for our shuttle bus. It was delayed but not too delayed. The guide on the shuttle bus was very good at explaining what we should see and do when we got to Ocean Park. He was also very careful to explain our pick up point and pick up time.
The Grand Aquarium Ocean ParkThe cable car at Ocean Park Hong KongOcean Park cable carInside an Ocean Park cable carOcean Park from a cable carDeep Water Bay Hong Kong after a lot of post processing in Adobe Lightroom. The haze was very severe.
The Hair Raiser Roller Coaster at Ocean Park Hong Kong
The Hair Raiser was the best ride we experienced in Hong Kong.
I found this YouTube video which shows just how much fun it is.
Best ride in Hong Kong.
Miss14, Ms18 and Ms20 with Deep Water Bay in the backgroundAll the Christmas treesColourful plastic vegetables and fruitColourful plastic vegetablesMiss14, Ms18 and Ms20 with a Giant PandaGiant Panda doing what giant pandas do best
There are four giant pandas held captive in Ocean Park Hong Kong. Two are kept in the open and the other two in a closed in enclosure.
Miss14, Ms18 and Ms20 with a giant panda in the backgroundA panda eating. I couldn’t get a decent shot of its head.Giant panda faeces. It looks like a tangle of bamboo shoots.
After the cable car ride and visiting the Giant panda and panda exhibit we went back to the area of the rides. We went on two roller coasters which were great. As good as any roller coaster ride I’ve had in Australia and as good as Space Mountain at Hong Kong Disneyland.
After the rides we went for lunch. We thought we’d try the Terrace cafe. It looked nice but the maître d’ was incompetent beyond imagination. we walked away after 20 minutes of waiting and being ignored while others (who could speak Cantonese) pushed through and got tables.
We ended up in the cheap and cheerful eatery. I had roast duck and pork with rice.
Roast pork and duck with rice
After lunch we went to the arctic and antarctic exhibitions.
In the arctic exhibit there were seals and a couple of walruses. The walruses were huge.
Sea lionSea lionWalrusThis walrus has very ugly mouth partsThis walrus has very ugly mouth partsPenguins in the Antarctic exhibit
After the arctic and antarctic exhibits we went to the dolphin show. I shot about a hundred photographs but when I looked through them all I saw were dolphins held in captivity. Ocean Park Hong Kong makes a strong point about conservation, animal welfare, protecting marine ecological systems and zöological research. I still feel uneasy about these animals being trained for entertainment.
A dolphin leaping highParakeet
In the south American rain forest area there were some Capybara. These rodents are huge.
CapybaraMiss14 and a Capybara replicaMs20 and a Capybara replicaMiss14, Ms18 and Ms20 with tree giant pandasFarewell Ocean Park Hong Kong
It was an enjoyable day at Ocean Park save for the lunch episode at the Terrace Cafe.
After we left we went to Times Square in Causeway Bay and enjoyed dinner, albeit an expensive dinner at Greenhouse.
I had Singapore noodles with lobster and bacon.
Singapore noodles with lobster and bacon
After such an expensive main course we went to McDonalds for dessert
Strawberry Sundae
And so ended Saturday in Hong Kong. It was a good one.
After a late evening out watching the new year’s eve festivities we slept in a little on new years day. We didn’t get back to the Cosmopolitan Hotel until about 1.30 am and we weren’t ready for bed and sleep until about 2 am. Of course I was awake at 6 am because I don’t really sleep in but the girls were out until about 8 am.
We took our time about getting breakfast. When I got there I was hungry so I went with the abominable breakfast, i.e., scrambled eggs and baked beans on toast covered in condensed milk and served with a croissant, jam and butter along with dim sum. Have you ever had such a combination? I say fusion cuisine and my daughters said, “That’s disgusting Dad!”
This is my new years day breakfast
The abominable breakfast with scrambled eggs and baked beans on toast covered in condensed milk and served with a croissant, jam and butter along with dim sum
After breakfast we went on a bus to a local temple to take a look. The Man Ho Temple is an historic building and monument in Hong Kong.
Man Mo TempleMan Mo TempleMan Mo TempleMan Mo TempleMan Mo TempleMan Mo TempleMan Mo Temple
Unfortunately the museum was closed on New Year’s Day.
We discussed our options and the girls want to travel to Lantau Island to visit the Citygate Outlets shops. These are discount outlet shops near the airport and apparently travellers will check in to the flight and then catch a bus there for last minute bargains.
The girls found this place to be ideal for their needs.
I found the black sesame and vanilla soft serve ice cream at the local McDonalds to be delicious. A lovely new years day treat.
Black sesame and vanilla soft serve from McDonalds
After phase one of shopping we went to Food Republic for lunch and had yum cha.
Roast pork and riceFried wontonSteamed pork bunMixed dim sumMixed dim sum
After lunch we found a grocery store called Taste. This place was awesome.
Almond RocaYummy Piggy
After an afternoon of shopping we went to Causeway Bay MTR and walked to Time Square and found a place for dinner, viz., Chungs Kitchen.
Apparently when it was Chungs Cuisine it was a pretty good place. We had mixed feelings. The food was good but the service was not so good. The food was served one dish at a time rather than all together and it took nearly 45 minutes from the first to the last dish. That said, this was my first goose and the beans were the best I’ve ever eaten. I also love wood fungus. This wasn’t as good as Mum’s but it took me back.
Half a gooseScallops and riceGoose head and riceMixed vegetables with beans and wood fungus. These beans were so crispy.Pan fried rice vermicelli noodles with scallops. I love wood fungus.Taiyaki with brown sugar and green tea custard. A great new years day dessert.Yep we visited Victoria’s Secret so many times I became mayorMiss14 with her Victoria’s Secret bags in Victoria’s Secret bags
When we got back to the hotel the girls put all the purchases to date on a bed. It was a huge haul. I remain surprised they fit everything in their bags to bring back to Brisbane.
It’s new year’s eve 2015 and what better way to start the day than visit a wet market. I had explained to Miss14, Ms18 and Ms20 before we embarked on this holiday that while I was happy to spend hours in shopping centres, there would be times when I would need to indulge my own interests.
After a breakfast of toast with scrambled eggs and baked beans combined with dim sum and pickles we were off.
Scrambled eggs and baked beans combined with dim sum and pickles
We caught the Number 10 bus from outside the Cosmopolitan Hotel and went to Chun Yeung Street where there is a wet market.
Wet markets are my idea of the best part of an overseas holiday. I was very conscious I was with my daughters who do not necessarily share my interest in seeing raw flesh, raw vegetables and live animals being dispatched and butchered fresh for the consumer. One of the things I think we really miss out on with our ‘modern’ approach to food technology and processing is freshness. Sure our modern approach is safe and I’m the first to stand up for food safety and food security, however, there is something to be said for watching a fish monger pull a live fish out of a tank, club it on the head and immediately remove it’s head, bleed it and then fillet it. If I was alone I would have tried to video record the process. I was conscious my daughters wanted to keep on the move.
I’m also fascinated by seeing how produce is presented. I love seeing a pig’s chest pluck hanging up as well as a whole pluck in some cases. Being able to identify organs and see how clean and smell how fresh they are is amazing.
When it comes to vegetables, being able to see how fresh the vegetables are is really good. That’s not to say there wasn’t a good supply of preserved and dried foods. My father would have loved some dried sea scallops. I didn’t want to appear on an episode of Border Security so I refrained, after all I’m also a human quarantine officer.
I love seeing bamboo scaffoldingIntestines, livers and hearts under a sinkFresh fishFried seafood my Dad would love
I should also mention I had ample opportunity on this holiday to eat shark fin soup. I refrained. My grandmother used to cook me shark fin soup when I was a little boy. I loved it. I will no longer eat it because of the cruelty to sharks being finned alive and then dumped to die in the ocean depths.
Fresh vegetablesMore fishMore meat and offal for grindingSweet cornShrimp and pork filling for wonton soupSquidMore fishMiss14 and Ms18 outside a fresh meat jointChest pluck from a pigThis guy was very funnyMore sweet cornTrotters and intestinesHave a heart
I’m so proud that none of my daughters gagged or objected to what they saw, smelt or heard. The wet market is really a place a food lover should visit. I would have loved to have visited more wet markets but time wasn’t available. Have you ever visited a wet market?
After the wet market we caught a bus back to Causeway Bay MTR station and looked to have lunch at Times Square in Causeway Bay.
Millenium Falcon at Times Square. I still think the NX-01 is a better looking ship but then Star Trek is better than Star Wars.
We ended up in Cooked Deli and I went for a laksa.
Indonesian prawn and chicken laksa
It was a nice laksa but the prawn was well and truly over cooked. The egg wasn’t too bad and the chicken was tender. The soup was delicious.
After lunch we made our way back to Mong Kok to check out Ladies Market and Langham Place again. Miss14 and Ms18 were keen on some bargains there.
Ladies Market
Miss20 bought us some egg custard tarts.
Miss20 with egg custard tartsEgg custard tarts
These tarts were pretty nice. Not too eggy and they were still warm.
During the afternoon the girls spotted a Sasa. I had no interested and waited outside. I spied these men in comfortable “Dad seats”.
Men in “Dad seats” outside Sasa in Mong Kok
After shopping we had dinner at Chee Kei in Mong Kok. We were keen on something light so I had some deep fried wonton, a crumbed pork chop and some rice.
Deep fried wontonCrumbed pork chopCrumbed pork chop and rice
After dinner we made our way to the Star Ferry Pier to prepare for the NYE festivities. We got there at about 7 pm and staked out an area.
A big wheelNew year’s eve Hong KongRed sailed boat in the harbour on new year’s eve Hong Kong
As we’ve experienced the people have no sense of personal space nor spatial or situational awareness. People crowded in on us and really had no idea how offensive it was to have such close contact and to ‘trespass’ onto staked out territory. When I say ‘staked out territory’ I mean about 30 cm around each of us. It got to the point closer to the countdown to midnight and I had almost full body contact with strangers.
Close to midnight I started experiencing colicky abdominal pain. As someone with irritable bowel syndrome a sense of urgency developed and I started to look for a rest room. The closest one was quite a walk away. When I got there the only toilet was a squat. My last bowel motion for 2015 will long be remembered for the duration of the event, the discomfort and the quadriceps burn I felt. I’m just grateful the flushing mechanism worked and that I had brought ample hand sanitiser.
Squat toiletThis is where we celebrated New Year’s Eve in Hong Kong
Here is a gallery of the fireworks. These photographs are not processed. I’ve run out of time.
The number of people watching the fireworks was huge. I have no idea how many of thousands of people who were there. It was amazing to see so many thousands of people move to trains and then disperse so quickly at the end.
The best thing was there were very few drunk revellers. The most drunk were English and very few Australians. The local Hong Kong people and other Asians were all sober. As far as I know there were no coward punches and no one punch deaths unlike the situation in Australia and other non-Asian centres.
How did you celebrate new year’s eve? Have you ever been to a wet market? What did you think?
One of the reasons for holidaying in Hong Kong was because of Hong Kong Disneyland. I explained in the first holiday post that our planned holiday in Florida fell through and because that included a Disney World visit, considered other Disney options.
To start the day I went with plain congee and dim sum. Not quite a breakfast of champions.
We elected to purchase in advance two-day tickets. We’d heard that Disneyland is bigger than places like Dreamworld and Movieworld on the Gold Coast so we figured a two-day pass would help us see everything we wanted to see and not be disappointed.. We caught a series of trains from Hong Kong Island to Disneyland.
The final train is a special Disneyland train fitted out with Mickey Mouse shaped windows and hand holds. I have no idea who the bloke in this photograph is.
The Disneyland TrainWelcome to Hong Kong Disneyland (We didn’t stay in the resort)
At the entrance before the ticketing area is a big whale fountain. Atop the fountain is a surfing Mickey. The column of water moves up and down.
Surfing Mickey on a whaleWe have ticketsFantasyland CastleWe went into AdventurelandThe Adventureland treehouse was exploredMiss14 and Ms18 in AdventurelandGrizzly Gulch Jail
The second best ride is the Grizzly Gulch Mine Car Ride. I found a YouTube point of view video which is better than any photograph I could have shot.
Ms20 really likes Toy Story and so does her BF apparently.
Toy Story Land
We went on the parachute ride.
Toy Story Parachute Ride
It was okay. Nothing like the Big Drop at Dreamworld or Batman at Movieworld.
We also rode Slinky Dog.
Slinky Dog
We walked back to Adventureland and got on the Safari Jungle River Cruise.
Daniel from the Safari Jungle River Cruise
Daniel was pretty funny in his own way.
Safari Jungle River Cruise
Safari Jungle River Cruise
Safari Jungle River Cruise
Safari Jungle River Cruise
Safari Jungle River Cruise
Safari Jungle River Cruise
Safari Jungle River Cruise
Safari Jungle River Cruise
Okay, Yummy Lummy is a food blog so I need to add a little more about food. The most appalling and disappointing thing about Hong Kong Disneyland is the quality of the food. I expected the prices to be high. That’s the norm for theme parks unfortunately. But in most places I’ve accepted the meal as at least mediocre.
I should have gone with my gut and stuck with Asian food. After all we were in Hong Kong and there were Asian options. Even Chinese options. I was hungry and we were in Fantasyland and Ms18 was keen on a Mickey Mouse shaped pizza. Rather than waste time looking for another outlet I asked for what I thought might be reasonable. I knew the Chinese should never have shared any food with Marco Polo. The European versions of Chinese food don’t rate. I went with what was described as a creamy mushroom pasta.
The photographs tell the story. The pasta was stuck together. It was tepid. It was too salty. The mushrooms were chewy. It was disgusting. My advice is do not ask for this from Fantasyland’s Royal Banquet Room.
Royal Banquet Hall FantasylandCreamy mushroom pasta served by the Royal Banquet Hall Fantasyland
Okay, rant over until next time
So here is a gallery of some random photographs from the afternoon.
Here comes another food rant.
For afternoon tea. Yes, on holidays we enjoy afternoon tea. I ignored tried to forget my body mass and my expanding waistline.
We went to Main Street and noticed a cafe selling High Tea. Now I’ve had high tea at Raffles in Singapore, the Hyatt in Canberra and a few other places. That said, my expectations were suitably set for Disneyland.
It all looked nice and there was appropriate Mickey Mouse branding on some of the products. The chocolate drink which I had assumed to be cold was hot and limp is how I would describe it. The plates had mixes of sweet and savoury on a plate which got a little confusing. I don’t mind a sweet and savoury high tea, but keep them separated on different plates. There was a scone which was just awful. It was tough and chewy. There was also a layered pastry which looked like it should be sweet but it was salty. The mouthfeel from the macaron suggested it was a few days old.
Here’s a gallery of high tea photographs.
High Tea from Main Street
High Tea from Main Street
High Tea from Main Street
High Tea from Main Street
High Tea from Main Street
High Tea from Main Street
High Tea from Main Street
High Tea from Main Street
High Tea from Main Street
High Tea from Main Street
High Tea from Main Street
After high tea we settled into a spot for the parade and fireworks. It was during this five hour period that my patience was sorely tested. I’ve already mentioned in a previous post about our encounters with people who do not have a similar understanding of personal space and both situational and spatial awareness. The girls were really keen to get a good view for the evening parade so we staked out a place on a street curb which impeded no one else and we sat/stood there waiting. From time to time one of us would break off to visit the rest rooms or go looking at something. As night fell the crowd grew. Officials roped off an area near us so the frail and infirm could get a good view. Behind me I felt people poking and prodding. People were coming off the street in front of us and just pushing Miss14 aside to get through. I man spread to protect her and stood my ground buffeting shoulders of passers by. One bloke behind me then started poking me in the shoulder and told me he expected me to sit on the ground when the parade started. I’d already planned to do that but being told by someone just annoyed me. Then he started pulling at my camera bag. I nearly took a swing.
After the parade we turned around getting ready for a wait for the fireworks. Again, people just streamed in front of us. Two women came and stood right in front of Ms20 while she was photographing the fireworks. No consideration whatsoever. It was just unbelievable how rude people could be.
Here is a gallery of some images from the parade and fireworks. I haven’t processed any of these images. I was too annoyed to focus on the photography at the time.
The fireworks finish at 9 pm and then there is the crush to the exit, boarding the Disneyland train and the making connections with two more trains before the 10 minute work from the Causeway Bay MTR station to the Cosmopolitan Hotel.
It’s true what they say, Hong Kong is for people who like to wake up late and stay awake late.
We came back the next morning after breakfast.
Toast with scrambled eggs and baked beans with a hamburger rissole and deep fried potato
I’d say our favourite rides were Space Mountain and Grizzly Gulch Mine Carts. Both were reasonably fast with good twists and turns. The Grizzly Gulch has a long backward stretch making it exciting. The Space Mountain ride is mainly in the dark with projections on the ceilings and walls. It made me wish we had a Star Trek theme park with rides on the NX-01, NCC 1701 A, B, C, D and E, as well as shuttle craft and the Defiant. Most of all it would be great to have battles with Klingon and Romulan Birds of Prey.
Anyway back to Disneyland. One ride we waited over 60 minutes to do was the Autopia car ride. Miss14 was my driver and I took a time-lapse video of the track work.
The girls at Welcome to DisneylandMs18 jumping for joy
Opening ceremony
The teacup ride was fun and had its momentsThe mad hatter tea cups
The next ride was “It’s a small world” which was very colourful.
Ms20 with a paratrooper from Toy StorySpace Mountain. No turning back after this point.No selfie sticks
For lunch I couldn’t go past the Star Wars Darth Vader cheeseburger. As much as I prefer Star Trek, my favourite character is Darth Vader. I love the dark side of the force.
Me eating my Darth Vader cheeseburgerMiss14 and Ms20 with Toy Story’s Woody and JesseFantasylandFantasyland castle
We wended the second day with an egg custard tart
Farewell Hong Kong Disneyland
For dinner we agreed we’d stop at the Kowloon MTR station and look around. We came up the Tasty Congee and Noodle Wantun Shop where we stopped and enjoyed a nice meal. We craved vegetables so we asked for some Chinese vegetables along with our noodles.
So ended another day. We were pretty tired and happy for a relatively early evening.
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