Dharma & Nita travel blog

Day 3, the plan was to visit the Big Buddha

Yesterday we went for buffet breakfast quite late and only had 20 minutes to complete it all, today decided not to shower the kids and headed to the buffet breakfast straight after Nita and I had showered. Lucky for that, Neha & Pooja got yummy waffles 

(breakfast time)

By the time we finished breakie and showered the kids, it was close to 11:30, also had to head back to GAYLORD (indian restaurant) to check if Pooja had forgotten her bag there – Luckily they kept it safe.

Took the MTR to Lantau Island, which took close to 40 minutes. Along the way we saw the disney train – which got the kids more excited for tomorrow.

Got out of the station and had to ask a couple of taxi drivers which way the cable car was to get to the NGONG PING (site of Big Buddha), realised it did not require a taxi, rather it was right behind the station we were at!!
Went that way to find a massive outlet shopping mall, CityGate Outlets, loads of shops and even more crazy shoppers, Nita got a nice pair of rockport shoes – in preparation for walking up the 100 Buddha steps!!

Next was the queue to get into the Cable Car, the queue was long and the time to get in would be close to 1.5 hrs, by the time we made the first turn in the queue, Pooja was whinging again on how tired she was.
Decided to take the coach to the NGONG PING which was empty and leaving in 15 minutes.

(waiting for the coach, coach no)

Love the transport system here, used our Octopus cards to pay for the bus as well, infact I have seen people pay for the groceries with their Octopus cards at 7-11!!
 
Am glad we took the Coach option, we would have missed some very nice landscapes and hidden beaches on the South China Seas.
The scariest bits where the descents which were very steep, the driver did well, however I all along was having second thoughts on why I took the coach option. Neha on the other hand was enjoying it and calling it a roller coaster ride!!

(view from the coach, and a dam we passed, interestingly the lower side of the dam is a correctional facility, I guess if an accident does occur these people are expendable – well it seems that way!)

The coach had us on the peak in around 40 minutes, stepping out, the feel of the place was very different – calm & peaceful without the hustle of the Hong Kong city.
We were all awestruck by the first view of the Buddha. Such a massive statue and so beautiful
 

Took a leisurely stroll through the gates along the pathway leading to the base of the steps leading to the Big Bhudda.

Along the way, a crowd had formed around a cow, everyone was patting it, Neha & Pooja also joined in, Pooja went one step further grabbing the cows tail – luckily Nita was quick and got Pooja to release it, wonder how the cow felt after that!!

Looking at steps from the base, Neha & Pooja were both very eager to conquer the massive set of steps, however that enthusiasm was short lived, Pooja after the 2nd set was already asking to be picked up. Neha on the other hand was great and kept encouraging us all to continue and take it in small strides. She was announcing breaktimes at the end of each set of stairs (approx 14 steps), the breaks normally lasted for around 5 – 10 seconds and then off we went again. 

Reaching the top felt great, Neha and Pooja were so proud of climbing the steps all by themselves. Seeing the Buddha was surreal, the pictures taken do not do justice to what you see there.

After a long stay up on the peak with Buddha, it was time to head down, walking down was soooo much easier.

(heading down the steps)

Heading back thru the village to catch the cable car back, again the same problem – the queue times were 75 minutes, there was a guy holding a sign at the end of the queue. Asked the guy what was the fastest way to go ahead – it was to purchase the slightly more expensive Crystal View tickets – did that and instantly we had pushed ahead by about 80 – 90 % of the queue.
Only realised what Crystal view was when we got in the cable car, its entire floor was made of glass, very cool, Kids loved that, myself and Nita were enjoying the sights around us and they were busy looking through the glass bottom floor.

(notice the glass floor in the cable car)

Once back at base, we headed to a chinese restaurant in the CityGate mall for Dinner, turned out to be excellent food, so far we have had a good run with restaurants – no duds.

Took the MTR back to our hotel. Enroute, Pooja being too tired (not blaming her, we all were) nodded off. This would not have been a problem if the one train would take us all the way, unfortunately from the moment we switched train lines, we were standing and holding Pooja was proving a difficult task, half way thru Nita was able to find me one seat, felt so nice to take the weight off my hands and back.

Back at the hotel, compiling the blog, Nita had already nodded off, Pooja and Neha were wide awake fooling around. Around 9:30pm took the kids for some Ice Cream, Neha selected a Vanilla Tub, Pooja being the different one, had to pick a different ice cream with chinese characters all over it – we had no idea what it was, and after many failed attempts of convincing her to get something safer, she took that weird stuff. Just for backup, I bought an additional vanilla tub, and was that a lucky move. Her ice cream or what ever stuff that was tasted like crap – surprise surprise!

Kids are now in bed all excited for tomorrows Disney trip, infact so am I! (time for me to be a kid as well)

We were (I think) over the jet lag, all woke up nice and early for a quick start to the day, however NO-ONE managed to get out of the beds!! Just kept talking to each other and soon we realised it was 9am – Nita pushed us all around till we were all showered and ready for another day.
The plan was to visit Hong Kong Peak and the evening was a boat cruise in Hong Kong Harbour.

To Hong Kong Peak
Took the MTR to Central Station – upon getting out of the station, we had our first glimpse of the HK city centre and high rises

We could not find a wash room near the MTR, so the next best thing – go into a designer label shopping centre

(notice how Nita comes out empty handed…. no bargains in there lady!! tops were starting from a mere 4000 HKD!)

Only a short walk to Hong Kong Peak Tram Station, being a Saturday, seemed like half of Hong Kong were there to visit the peak, lucky the wait times were only around 45 minutes to get in the tram

(waiting in the sun)

Boarded the train…..unfortunately the rush was such, that we did not get seats, had to stand, which would have been ok for normal trains, however not the most comfortable on ones going up a steep incline close to 45%!! Luckily, Neha and Pooja were offered seats by a very kind family.
 
(Kids squashed on a small area, incline of train heading up)

The peak, one of the highest points in HK, was more like a small shopping town. Taking the escalators up the many levels of the sky tower, we say the very expansive views of the great city!!! just breathtaking

This was all being made very more enjoyable by the clear weather –  zero cloud cover …. we were very lucky to get such a view.
View from the top was wow, HK does look sexy from the top!

(I tried a panorama feature built into the camera, worked great except for the hand rail line)

Taking in the sights was godly for us, however not for the young ones, the whinging started soon after, time to head back in to sky tower for a quick lunch @ 3pm.
What was surprising is the number of small shops @ the place selling not souvenirs but normal HK stuff – including loads of electronics. Pooja (esp) & Neha started getting drawn to a couple of stores which offered things that would compensate for the lack of toys being sold!!! took some convincing to get them out of there and straight to this amazing Chinese Restaurant in the tower called “TIEN YI”, ordered a Sweet & Sour Chicken and Chicken Fried Rice with Brazilian stripped Chicken…. it was brilliant, one of the best we have had so far! (And the kids loved it)

(Tien Yi Chinese restaurant @ the peak)

It was a hasty exist from the Peak (3:45pm), had to be at he Kowloon Pier for a 6pm cruise departure. Walking back to central station from the Peak Tram station was not too bad, going downhill is sooooo muh easier.
Pooja and Neha were not giving us trouble at all considering the walking being done – they were just being worried about missing the cruise.
Time to get back to the hotel was quicker than I had anticipated, we had a spare 30 minutes to rest the kids and freshen up, then headed off to the Kowloon Pier – luckily it was only a 10 minute walk from the hotel – and soooo glad we took the walk, all the 5 star hotels are along the harbour and what a sight they are,

(outside the Peninsula, definitely out of my budget)

At the Kowloon Pier, strangely there is no tour desk or any signage, the only information I had was to be at Pier No 3 – which was closed for renovation, asking around finally found someone who knew about the cruise and pointed us to Pier No 4.

View from the Pier, Hong Kong City at Dusk.

Finally the cruise boat arrived and what a let down it was, a small crappy boat with smell of diesel everywhere, looked in from outside and it would have to have the dodgiest food available on it, decided not to go on it.

Walked along the harbour walk, and came across a giant Toy Story stage, Pooja and Neha enjoyed going around that.
 
(I was suffering with Pooja on my shoulders)

Next to this was a massive mall called Harbour City, filled with branded shops, but the place was packed to the rafters with people –these people really like to spend some serious $$$. Neha and Pooja spotted Toys-r-us, ended up getting a Barbie for Pooja and Squinkies for Neha!

Finding a place to eat was proving difficult again, every restaurant we could eat in was super busy and the wait times were crazy. Decided to head back to the hotel to eat there!! However no luck there as well, the buffet wasn’t great – well not for us anyways. Waiter recommended a good Indian restaurant a short walk away,  decided to head there and with some asking around and taking a few wrong turns, finally got there, its name is to remember “GAYLORD”
 (awesome Indian restaurant, what a name)
The first question the guy asked as we walked in “do you have a booking” and again my heart sank, oh no, not another full place, luckily this time around, they were able to accommodate us – only had to wait a couple of minutes.
This place is great, food was very good, plus they have live singers – they were great, made the night pass away very well. Downed a few beers, Neha & Pooja had there fav Butter Chicken, and we tried a veg Mirch Paneer Masala (A+).
 
(live singers right across our table, playing some excellent songs – Kabhi Kabhi, Humne Tumse Pyar Kitna, and many other great oldies)

Pooja was asleep by the time we finished, carrying her back was an effort, requiring lots of time-outs. Called it a night – Day 2 over.

Settling back at the hotel – after a long long day plus a bit of jet lag.

Arrived into Hong Kong @ 7:30 am local time, even though we had no customs process and immigration was a breeze, it took us close to 1 hour to get out of the terminal….. being a massive airport , with lots of walking, legs just finally gave up saying ram ram !
  (Long escalators at the airport)
Had to have a short break at the Arrivals area – girls were too tired and complaining of tired legs, coffee break to the rescue, also found out they had free Wifi access! 
Following Nita’s friend instructions – we bought the MTR octupus cards (train family pass)
Train from the Airport to Kowloon took only 20 minutes, which also included transfers to hotels from Kowloon station! 
Stepping out of the coach into the hotel – COLD Wind!!! was not expecting it to be that cold! Lucky Nita packed lots of skivvies for the girls.
(@ hotel lobby – Holiday Inn)
First problem for the Day – hotel room was not ready! – left baggage at Hotel and started our Nathan Rd excursion.

Second problem – Nita had issues with the people smoking and the smog!! which I had no issues with.

Third problem – Kids were really getting cranky now and whinging – kept entertaining themselves by going thru Hong Kong visitors brochures looking for Disney  stuff, which was ok, however they were finding places where they could go for fun – one of the places a Christmas Ice Skating ring, this place we did visit.
Nathan Rd, is a very busy, lots and lots of shop and people everywhere, walked a few blocks and again the legs were giving up on us.
Found an Indian restaurant in the Miramar Towers, which the girls enjoyed quite a bit. Back to basics – Butter Chicken & Garlic Naan!!

Finally got our hotel room at 1pm, we all crashed, except for Pooja, who had slept all along in the flight and had no jetlag at all, she did very well at keeping me awake for most times.

6pm, we are out an about again, took the girls to the Xmas Ice Skating ring, luckily we did not have any major mishaps!

Finding a place to eat (which was edible for us!!) was proving very difficult – there is a food outlet every few meters, however finding one with no “pigs” hanging on the front windows is another matter. After searching long and hard & too tired, we got a cab back to the hotel for some Italian – a good move indeed.
Pizzas and Pastas were excellent. Highly recommended eat @ Osteria @ Holiday Inn.

Night was still young, well according to locals, so off we went to the night markets, Neha and Pooja managed to get couple of fake Gucci bags, Nita did what girls do best, buy shoes!!
(waiting for Taxi outside hotel to go to Night Markets)

Neha had issues with me bargaining – she noticed I bargained the price of her handbags down, so after the sale, Neha: “Papa you cheated, you paid less money” crazy kids, is there some issue with me spending less money!!!

Got the train back to Tsim Sha Tsui (station near out hotel), and called it a night around 11pm.