Asia Holiday 2013, August 15 (Four Winds)

The free breakfast options were pretty standard stuff for a Holiday Inn - cooked stuff like eggs, sausages and vegetables (what kind of lunatic bothers with any of that), cereals, fruits, juices, etc. I picked up this white bun called "man to" which looked a bit like a small custard bun, but it turned out to just be a plain bun - waste of time. The cereal I had was labelled "cookies fruities" which doesn't sound quite right...

Despite the late arrival, I had to get out on an early train to Tung Chung station to get the Ngong Ping cable car at a pre-arranged time - otherwise you have to wait in line somewhere between hours and forever, at least that is what I have read about it. The line that ends at Tung Chung is also shared by HK Disneyland, so it was packed full of kids. I went up to the Ngong Ping cable car station to find that it was closed due to high winds! So the options I was given were:

• Come back in the afternoon and hope it's open (NOT doing that)
• Get a refund

The staffer didn't point out that another option is to take a bus up instead, but I went with that option since I'd already come this far. The bus ride wasn't particularly pleasant due to all the uphill and downhill and twists it makes as it circles around Lantau Island to reach the top. Not sure how long the cable car would have taken, but I figure it would have been better and much more enjoyable than the 45 minute bus ride.

To describe Ngong Ping in one word: windy. Also foggy. From the bottom of the staircase you could hardly make out the Tian Tan Buddha at the top, and it came out even worse in the photos. It was even a bit challenging at the top to avoid getting swept off your feet. After I'd had a look around up the top I walked out on along one of the paths - again there was terrible sign posts. I walked along the Lantau Peak trail (maybe) for a couple of kilometres or so, the views down to the bay were pretty stunning with the altitude and weather factored in, but since I didn't know where the path would lead and how long it would go for I eventually turned back. Also when I came up with a bus load of people, but not one of them is out on this path, it's possibly not a good idea to be too adventurous...

Well I got one clear shot at least.

There is something at the top.

It's not a bad zoom job, that's what it was like up top.

And it wasn't much better on the way down.

Some kind of park.

Hike solo.

The long road back.

Ngong Ping village.

Some kind of tree.

At the bottom I filled out a refund form for the cable car that I wouldn't be coming back to, and thought I'd have some bonus "free" spending money! - but instead they would only refund my credit card. By the train station (and cable car station) they also have City Gate Outlets. Keeping in mind this is the Asian version of an "outlet" mall I didn't find any great value, although the prices in the Quiksilver were quite reasonable.

So it was back to Kowloon then - that's I refer to as everything on the north side of the harbour. I got off at Tsmi Sha Tsui and headed to the promenade of the same name. Since I only arrived at night yesterday, this was the first time I really got to take in the harbour view and all of the building on the Hong Kong (south) side. I'd seen various photos of Hong Kong as everyone probably has, without paying too much attention, but taking in the whole scene for the first time is just amazing. Walking down the promenade they have constructed an Avenue Of The Stars, which is like the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, only I've heard of absolutely none of the names.

Avenue Of The Stars.

At the end of the promenade are all the piers where the ferries and junk boats depart to the south island and wherever else they go. After walking past I ended up in this shopping centre called Harbour City. This place was THE WORST. It seemed like it was three shopping centres combined together, and the store directory was total chaos, as if it was created for a video game with some complicated 3D overlay representation of each of the floors, but just made no sense at all. I couldn't get out of there quick enough.

HK skyline.

Tales Of A Junktown Jerky Vendor. Nobody got that either...

Ferry clocktower.

I walked along Nathan Road until I got to Kowloon Park. It seemed pretty average at first, as far as parks go, until I found a McDonalds kiosk right in the park! They had a bunch of interesting products on sale, I got this chocolate biscuit McFlurry thing. Then there was an aviary with some cool birds, even had a toucan, and some public pools.

McDonalds in the park!

Aviary.

Toucan.

I didn't see Chance anywhere.

I had to take a couple of trains to reach Diamond Hill next. Outside the station was a big shopping centre (of course) and the Nan Lian Gardens. I assumed this would be just another random park, but it was really fantastic. Lots of cool little houses, water features and plants. Across the road as well was the Chi Lin Nunnery, which I think was just another one of these temple things. It was just about to close at 4:30pm so I didn't get a chance to go inside and get a good look around, but I had no planned to say long anyway. This serves as a good tip for holiday planning, check the opening and closing time of the places you are going to, as well as any days it might be closed or partly unavailable (this is an even better tip for places like Bangkok and KL).

Nan Lian Gardens.

Also Nan Lian Gardens.

More Nan Lian Gardens.

Even more Nan Lian Gardens.

Last one!

Chi Lin Nunnery.

Obviously being unable to apply my advice from the future, I took another couple of trains to Sha Tin to visit The Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery. I got there just before 5:30pm and there was some signs saying closed at 5:00pm and others 5:30pm. I cannot confirm there was actually 10,000 buddhas, but running up the steps to try and make it to the top in time I certainly passed a lot of them. It looked like they were just starting to close some of the gates at the top as I got there, but I think the main point is going up the steps.

Approximately 10,000 buddhas.

Ran to the top, then back down again.

So back to central Kowloon again to find some dinner. I went to the Elements shopping centre and managed to locate Triple O's By White Spot (apparently a Canadian fast food chain but I can't recall seeing any in Canada), it wasn't easy to find as it was down in some sub-basement level with a kids ice skating rink. Finally I have found a place that sells a vegetable burger, it was pretty fantastic, as good as any I've had at a Nando's or Oporto's. The blueberry shake was a little strange as they still had some whole blueberries in it, it was more like having one of those milk bubbles teas.

Best dinner yet?

Instead of getting yet more trains I thought the Star Ferry would be a better trip back to Hong Kong. It was just into the early evening, so the buildings of Hong Kong were now all lit up.

Maybe a hotel, had some cool chess pieces.

HK from Star Ferry.

Also HK from Star Ferry.

STEP-O-METER: 38026 steps