Rainy day in Hong Kong

We were planning a walk along the hilltops today to enjoy the views, but the weather had other ideas. At times we could not even see the top of buildings, so we would have been walking through clouds.
Instead, we caught the Star Ferry across the harbour for the grand total of about 60 pence for both of us. We had a tiny bit of excitement as a buzzer sounds really loudly as the ferry is about set off. We heard it and had to sprint from the ticket machine to the gangplank, hopping on board just as it was about to pull away.
We spent the afternoon at the Museum of Art, appreciating some pieces more than others. I liked the traditional landscape pictures best, but there were also rooms filled with Chinese calligraphy and some wacky modern pieces.

Hong Kong island

So happy to leave our last hotel and go upmarket to Hong Kong island. It was like a huge weight being lifted off my shoulders as the train took us under the water and off to the glamorous Ice House Street.
I was extremely surprised to find Gucci, Piaget and other top notch stores sharing our street.
Not to worry though as we turned the corner and headed off up the other end of the street.
We were too early to check in, but happy with the Christmas treed reception area, we set off for a lovely walk around the local area.
The rush hour here is in reverse as there are few cars, so the roads are never busy, but the pavements are so crowded it is almost impossible to walk forward.
We had a great time at the Botanical and Zoological Gardens, see orchid photo, and then went up to our hotel room.
Huge shock - it is built for a tiny person who has no privacy issues!
It has a window with a great view, but only above the tiny toilet, which has a glass door on to the tiny bedroom. I went down to reception to check that we had been given a room for two normal sized private people, but apparently we have.
Come back Kowloon hostel, some things are forgiven.

10,000 Bhuddas monastery

Today we went to an amazing place on Kowloon called the 10,000 Bhuddas monastery.
The entrance is hidden behind a shopping centre but suddenly the pathway opens up and has life sized bhudda statues that escort you all the way up over 400 steps to the monastery itself.
Each statue is different, which when there are so many of them, must be quite an imaginative task for the sculptors who made them. There were so many different combinations of beards, goatees, moustaches, clean shaven, crossed legged, kneeling, standing, sitting on a fish, etc, etc.
Surely there must be a few repeats, but we didn't find one. Strangest was one with two little hands instead of eyes. That is when they must have been getting a bit desperate. 
Worryingly, there were warning signs saying to beware of pretend monks as they stand on the steps trying to con the tourists. We saw two of them on the way up and down. They looked so friendly and tried to give us bracelets and kiss our hands, but we resisted and I told them I knew they were fakes. Well I hope they were anyway.

Nan Lian garden

Just read yesterdays blog and sorry, it was rubbish. I got a bit too tied up with the room and not enough on Hong Kong.
On the off chance that you were wondering, the Bruce Lee statue and the one of Daz were on the waterfront Avenue of the Stars. Great place, really busy with thousands of Chinese tourists taking millions of photos.
This is what I also should have sent yesterday.....
Caught the train to Nan Lian garden which is a little oasis of green surrounded by tower blocks. It is joined to a nunnery by a walkway above a four lane highway.
You would expect it to be noisy, but it is beautiful and peaceful with relaxing Chinese music being played on loudspeakers.
We stopped for refreshments in the park and I had Chinese tea and a gluten and mushroom toasted sandwich. I don't know if it was a translation error, as the only time I have ever heard of gluten is in gluten free bread when obviously it has been removed.
For the record, it tastes a bit like cheese.

Statues in Hong Kong

Yesterday we left Phuket and caught a flight to Hong Kong. It was all very uneventful and going to plan until we got to our hotel.
It was fairly late at night and the 'hotel' was on the 16th floor of a large building on the Kowloon mainland.  Outside the building were dozens of pushy young Indian men trying to sell us fake Rolex's, dodgy handbags, hashish and hotel rooms.
We had already paid for our room so they lost interest in us, and eventually the lift arrived and we got to check in and find our large cupboard.
Fortunately, we are only here for three nights, but actually, it is not as bad as first feared. It has all, but small, mod cons and the location is fantastic.
I calmed down after a nights sleep and we had a good day seeing some sights today.
I have put together a montage of statues and might explain more tomorrow.

Big Buddha

You win some, you lose some.
Today we went on a city tour of Phuket, and the organisers obviously had trouble putting enough things together for us to see.
We started with a couple of viewpoints, but the weather was pretty hazy. We then went to see a baby elephant that was on a very short chain and looked quite distressed - it was upsetting to see. We also saw an orchid farm which had only one small flower in the whole place.
A cashew nut factory was interesting, but consisted of a lady at the door with a fancy nut cracker and a massive shop behind her. There were loads of different cashew nut based samples and Darren was pleased as he tried absolutely everything.
The Chinese old town was just a drive through, but the best thing was the Big Buddha on top of one of the highest hills on the island. It was only half finished, but it was a very religious place with lots of monks who were chanting loudly all the time we were there.
I also liked all of the little bells with messages on that were hanging from sacred trees.