Hong Kong, day six
I actually wrote this entry three weeks ago but have only just finished editing the photos ¬_¬; Would rather not edit another photo of a lantern for a while now, kthx.
So, Hong Kong day six was one of those days you call an 'experience', which always means, absolutely horrible at the time, but you can look back at it later and laugh -_- Actually, there was so much experience that I'm going to have to tackle it in two posts. Not much happened on day seven, anyway. So, the first half, Lantau.
On Saturday we took the MTR to Lantau, one of HK's islands, and a cable car to Po Lin Monastery.
However. The weather was already bad, and as we went up...
...the cloud came down! For most of the 25-minute trip we could see absolutely nothing except the occasional other car suddenly looming out of the mist, going the other way. It was really, really weird. But we were sharing the car with a couple of very giggly gap-year girls and I think our combined hyperness was what stopped it from being scary XD Every so often an empty cable car would go past, or one with dead-looking people in... well, sort of, you get what I mean, we kept ourselves amused XD
Besides, the complete sensory deprivation meant that when the wind picked up, we had absolutely no idea how much the cab was swinging back and forth ¬_¬
When we got to the top of the mountain, it was very windy.
Very, very windy.
Which made for atmospheric, yet rubbish photos of the Big Buddha.
There were lots of steps.
It was so freaking cold too. And raining.
Then we went to Po Lin temple/monastery, which was totally worth the wind and the rain and the cold and the risk of death.
Just for this guy.
No, this is what it really looked like.
There were several monks sweeping up the leaves. What with the gale-force winds, I couldn't help but feel they were fighting a losing battle. Must be a zen thing.
Dragon love. I've never been much of a fan of dragons, but the ones in Chinese art are awesome.
It was just so darn pretty inside, I got a little crazy with the photos. I was also incredibly grateful for the rented Canon's f2.8 and IS.
No pictures of Po Lin village itself, because it was brand-new and touristy. Think Disneyland does Buddhism. That bad. We did have a very nicely warming hot chocolate at the Starbucks though ¬_¬ Yes, that touristy. Starbucks. On the top of a mountain.
Not long after we arrived, they closed the cable car for safetyness. I suppose the cars swinging and hitting the pylons as they go past could be a bit distracting. Apparently the weather doesn't usually get so bad, but I saw the padding they'd put on them :P
Dear Buddha, thank you for inspiring some awesome art and architecture. It's a pity the Communists destroyed most of it. Love, Claire.
Back a la island, we rushed to the harbour front to see the famed lightshow, which happens every night, lighting up all the buildings on both sides of the harbour with lasers, decorations, etc.
...unfortunately thanks to the weather, what we mostly saw was a few lasers and some flashing in the clouds. We gave up and went in search of food. Insert supermarket of awesome here. I need a whole post just to talk about food.
But the day didn't stop there, oh no. Coming up tomorrow, why not to visit Victoria Park on New Year's Eve!
Until then, here's the rest of the photos that I couldn't fit into the post.
So, Hong Kong day six was one of those days you call an 'experience', which always means, absolutely horrible at the time, but you can look back at it later and laugh -_- Actually, there was so much experience that I'm going to have to tackle it in two posts. Not much happened on day seven, anyway. So, the first half, Lantau.
On Saturday we took the MTR to Lantau, one of HK's islands, and a cable car to Po Lin Monastery.
However. The weather was already bad, and as we went up...
...the cloud came down! For most of the 25-minute trip we could see absolutely nothing except the occasional other car suddenly looming out of the mist, going the other way. It was really, really weird. But we were sharing the car with a couple of very giggly gap-year girls and I think our combined hyperness was what stopped it from being scary XD Every so often an empty cable car would go past, or one with dead-looking people in... well, sort of, you get what I mean, we kept ourselves amused XD
Besides, the complete sensory deprivation meant that when the wind picked up, we had absolutely no idea how much the cab was swinging back and forth ¬_¬
When we got to the top of the mountain, it was very windy.
Very, very windy.
Which made for atmospheric, yet rubbish photos of the Big Buddha.
There were lots of steps.
It was so freaking cold too. And raining.
Then we went to Po Lin temple/monastery, which was totally worth the wind and the rain and the cold and the risk of death.
Just for this guy.
No, this is what it really looked like.
There were several monks sweeping up the leaves. What with the gale-force winds, I couldn't help but feel they were fighting a losing battle. Must be a zen thing.
Dragon love. I've never been much of a fan of dragons, but the ones in Chinese art are awesome.
It was just so darn pretty inside, I got a little crazy with the photos. I was also incredibly grateful for the rented Canon's f2.8 and IS.
No pictures of Po Lin village itself, because it was brand-new and touristy. Think Disneyland does Buddhism. That bad. We did have a very nicely warming hot chocolate at the Starbucks though ¬_¬ Yes, that touristy. Starbucks. On the top of a mountain.
Not long after we arrived, they closed the cable car for safetyness. I suppose the cars swinging and hitting the pylons as they go past could be a bit distracting. Apparently the weather doesn't usually get so bad, but I saw the padding they'd put on them :P
Dear Buddha, thank you for inspiring some awesome art and architecture. It's a pity the Communists destroyed most of it. Love, Claire.
Back a la island, we rushed to the harbour front to see the famed lightshow, which happens every night, lighting up all the buildings on both sides of the harbour with lasers, decorations, etc.
...unfortunately thanks to the weather, what we mostly saw was a few lasers and some flashing in the clouds. We gave up and went in search of food. Insert supermarket of awesome here. I need a whole post just to talk about food.
But the day didn't stop there, oh no. Coming up tomorrow, why not to visit Victoria Park on New Year's Eve!
Until then, here's the rest of the photos that I couldn't fit into the post.