Oh man, I am both excited and dread to write this post - excited because I had such an amazing trip, and dreading it because it will inevitably become VERY long, and it sounds really daunting. My almost week in Hong Kong was a blast - I met some incredible people, had several adventures (including a solo rollercoaster feat and a friend getting pickpocketed), and took a million and a half photos.
I arrived in Hong Kong about four hours before everyone else I was traveling with did. I took a cab from the airport to our air bnb, only to realize upon arriving that the address I had looked up was wrong - I was staying at 271, not 27, so I was on the completely wrong side of the road. I also didn't have phone service, so I had to find some wifi in a nearby hotel and find the right place. When I finally arrived at the very inconspicuous entrance to the building, I realized the reservation didn't have an apartment number or codes to get in, so I waited for someone to come out, went in, and the guard took me upstairs to a hostel, that was definitely where I wasn't supposed to be. The desk lady finally let me use her phone to call our host, and I got into the apartment. I got settled, had a practice for my song the next day, and went to dinner with some ladies I met at the church a couple blocks away. The burger place we went to had POUTINE, which I thought was hilarious. Here are some photos from the first night:
The church building in Wan Chai is huge - It has ten stories, and key card access above floor 7 so that the area presidency can live there and work. So cool! It was also really clean in comparison to the surrounding buildings.
The view from our bnb was awesome - the inside a little less so, but it was clean! It was hard to squish five of us in the tiny apartment, but we had a great time together.
I met up with Karen to see the sights of our neighborhood.
There were chicken heads everywhere, so I knew I was in Asia (in case I'd forgotten):
I took this picture specifically for Taggart and Brandon (PARTY CAT!):
There were tons of 24 hours spas open, and we really considered going, but this is where we drew line... what does this even mean? I'm not sure I want to know...
Once the rest of our group arrived that evening, we had almost a full day to go see cool stuff. We decided to set off in the morning to visit Ngong Ping. The sights on the way were awesome - the city is such a melting pot of people and cultures, way more than Korea (though I LOVE Korea!). It is a little overwhelming, like living in sensory overload.
The cabs are also cute and British:
One of the most interesting things I got to see on the trip was this cemetery just built into the side of a mountain. We were on a train, so it was hard to get the best shot, but the graves are so tightly packed, and tucked aay in every nook and cranny... it was an incredible sight. You should definitely click these next pictures to view them full size:
Here are some of my lovely traveling companions (I love the candid shot):
Another one of thecity/harbor:
I didn't get a great shot ever of the cargo shipping containers I saw a few different times while I was there (you know, the ones you always see in any action movie ever where they can easily blow things up). I was shocked to see how HUGE the container boats and rigs were, not to mention the containers themselves. I know that sound stupid, but it was so cool to see them in real life.
This is a building that just doesn't make sense to me. Why?!
Another lovely travel buddy! (Look JoLee, it's YOUR buddy, too!) :)
We took the cable car up to the village, which is in the hills. The weather during the whole week was not great in terms of sunshine, but we can the most epic fog I've ever seen. It really sealed the deal of the whole "rolling, Chinese hillside" package, and the lush greenery was gorgeous:
The cable car goes over over 6km, which is kind of surreal.
Apparently you can also take the option to hike the whole way to the top, which sounds dreadful. :D
The coolest part, however, was about 1/3 of the way through the ride, when we basically entered a cloud, and lost all visibility - Riding in the air and seeing nothing is a strange and eery experience.
Then the tower suddenly loomed out of the air, with Christopher Nolan dubstep bass alongside:
Finally we made it! This is sadly the best shot of the giant Buddha I got - the fog was SO bad!
The village was emptier than usual because of the weather, so it only added to the "lost village" type of feel...
...but the decorations were still left up from New Year!
I saw this random plaza with no one in it and jumped on a cool empty shot...
...then proceeded to ruin it myself :)
Here is the entrance gate to the grounds:
The walkway is flanked by the 12 guardian generals, who each represent a specific time of day as well as their respective Zodiac sign:
Finally we made our way to the base of the steps to the big Buddha.
It was so weird to not have any idea what you were walking up to. I've compared this with my friend Brad's pictures, and the visibility factor makes a huge difference to the sightseeing aspect. It was pretty cool, though, to suddenly - after walking up all of these stairs with no end in sight- see a giant Buddha appear before you.
I did get some good clear shots of the Boddhisatvas, though.
Here's my friend Karen and then yours truly!
We opted to eat lunch at the monastery, which was a vegetarian dim-sum style meal. It was DEFINITELY worth it, and was one of the best meals we ate the entire trip. Here's Roxanna being cute with her new scarf, and a sweet family shot of some people walking in the rain:
Like I said, the place was almost deserted, or so we thought.
The monastery itself was absolutely gorgeous! People were suddenly everywhere, praying, burning incense, and walking around taking pictures. The incense they use is really intricately detailed and hand painted, you can buy it there at the monastery.
The grounds were lovely - and there were flowers! There isn't any greenery yet in Korea, so I've been feeling a flora withdrawal. (That's a thing, right?)
I loved the colors here, so bright and cheery.
I snapped a shot of the monks here - I'll never proclaim to know much about the differences between Korean and Chinese Buddhism, but I did notice differences in the dress, the bows, and the decor.
Oh, and Carl, if you see this - I took this picture not knowing what the sign said, but I knew you would know its significance!
More monastery:
They allowed us to take photos from the outside looking in to the shrine only. I forgot to mention before that the Buddha statue housed a sacred relic - a bone from Buddha himself, the size of a grain of rice, and encased inside of a crystal and gold bottle that was sealed, and far enough away that I couldn't actually see the bone itself... hmm.
Here's a shot from our AMAZING lunch. It's bigger because you know how important food is to me.
Another shot of the gate as we left, and headed to conference for the opening session. I would love to return again on a clearer day to compare, and maybe to eat that amazing food again.
After conference and choir practice ended, we wrapped up our first full day in HK by going to Times Square (yep) to shop and eat. Karen and I couldn't even count the many escalators we had to take to get out of the subway station, and then even more up to the food court (the subway station is directly under a giant mall). It was over 10 escalators winding up through a labyrinth of tunnels...
Hong Kong feels like I'm in Asia, no doubt. Just look at that Apple store!
Stay tuned for Part 2!!!
Awesome post, I enjoyed your blog!!
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