The train ride, coupled with the bus ride to Lantau peak too us about 1 1/2 Hrs.. The bus ride was really scary and death defying! The bus was like drifting UP the mountain.. even faster than the way Jay Chou drifted DOWN the mountain in Initial D!
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Upon reaching the Lantau Peak.. we were greeted by the magnificent sight of Buddha.. This is so cool.. comparable to the Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) Statue in Rio de Janeiro.
Now.. to complete the Pilgrim's path... The only thing between us and Buddha.. are some small pathetic steps..
Buddha Voice: Can you keep up, baby boy, make you lose your breath.. with cheese.
The view from the half way mark.
Phew.. we're finally THERE! Yipee!!!
A group of Singaporean students took this shot for us:
The statue in the pic shows... some heavenly maidens kneeling in awe of Gautama Buddha's presence. Notice the hand sticking out.. As if offering something to Lord Buddha? Instead.. people misintrepreted the hand gesture and mistook the statue as begging/demanding things instead.
So, u see a great number of coins all over the floor as people try to throw stuff to see if it lands on the palm. (maybe they wanna offer Buddha their money.. which Buddha doesnt even need because he has escaped Samsara.. DUH!!) The authorities even had to erect signboards telling the public not to ruin the statues by casting coins on to them.
A beautiful tribute to Lord Buddha, the Great Teacher.
In the wise words of Siddartha Gautama:
The thought manifests as the word;
the word manifests as the deed;
the deeds develops into habit;
and habit hardens the character;
So watch the thought and its ways with care;
and let it spring from love born out of concern for all beings...
As the shadow follows the body, as we think, so we become.
Ok! Nuff ' said.. time to head back DOWN.
The journey down was much less tiring and the view was terrific. Next we headed to the temple.
After oaying our respect to the Bodhis, we had.. Fresh Soybean and BeanCurd! Supposedly made from the mountain spring water. But I still kinda like our own Rocher Beancurd more.
After our refreshments.. we were ready to head back down. Our bus almost had an accident with another bus and almost knocked it off the side of the mountain.. but apart from that, rest of the bus journey was relatively uneventful.
A sad little girl.. Not because she was about to leave the presence of Buddha but rather, because it was so damn hot!!! HK winters arent really big on the snow and low temps.. probably cause its not in fashion yet..
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Back to the MTR! We survived the horrific bus journey!!! Yipee!!! Now time for some shopping at City Gate, the factory outlet mall of HK. Everything was so cheap here! But I didnt buy anything.. due to time constraints.. A must go for all students and price savvy shoppers!!
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We also made a shocking discovery here.. there was a FOOD REPUBLIC in there... YES!! Singapore Grown FOOD REPUBLIC has established a beachhead on HK island shores hehe.. So next time you get bored of Singapore food, just head to and FOOD REPUBLIC in singapore and order the original HK DIM Sum there... be sure top it up with cheese.
After that, we met back with the rest of the gang for dinner.. By then I was feeling like zombie. I have food poisoning.. remember??
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After a simple dinner of Wan Tan Mee @ Central, we headed for Tsim Sha Tsui. I wanted to go back to the hotel but.. I didnt want to miss the opportunity to see HK Island at night.
Next thing I knew.. I was at the Arena of Stars. A very long beautiful, cold and windy stretch.. like our Clarke Quay/Esplanade.
HK looks much more beautiful at night..
Next Morning.. We gathered at a Dim Sum restaurant to meet my relatives from HK. My relatives are actually my Paternal Grandfather's Mother's sibling's (not sure bro or sis) son (my grand uncle, his Wife and his Son.
The food looked great.. but I couldn't eat due to my condition, which had deteriated rapidly over night.
Ah.. That's how I look after my 4th visit to the toilet.
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HK public toilets are really unforgiving..
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The look.. the smell.. even the FEEL.. of the toilets.. just thinking of HK public toilets make me want to *puke*. In my bro's own words, 'the toilets here are so.. I AM LEGEND' and, 'the toilet bowl looks so disgusting, I feel that my ass would get infected the moment I sit on it... Good luck, Beng'. Obviously, luck was not on my side that day..
Despite my obvious debilitation, my relatives including my FAMILY (parents) chose to ignore my pathetic pleas to return to the hotel.. Instead, they decided that I should go up to the PEAK.. by foot.
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So we walked..
and walked.. Escalators, followed by more escalators.. we trudged up the peak.
Interestingly. I chanced upon a Krispy Kreme store on .. ELGIN STREET.
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And all of a sudden, a wave of nostalgia hit me on the head like a wall of bricks! ( or rather, the food poisoning and fever could have accounted for the feelings of vertigo and unstable feet I experienced on the peak). I was back in Melbourne!! I was reminded of my student days in Melbourne where I used to.. wait.. I STILL AM A STUDENT... NOOoOOoo!!!!
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Xiaoping: Wake UP!! Why are you screaming like that!?
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Huh? Was I hallucinating..? I thought I was back in Melbourne for an instant.
After walking for over an hour.. My relatives finally took us to the cable car to go up to the Peak. By then.. I was really burning up. My parents simple refused to acknowledge my need for medical attention. So in a fit of anger, I hopped onto a cab and headed back to the hotel.
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Back @ the hotel, I took a nap. My parents returned only 2 hours later and in a sudden fit of concern, they decided to sent me to the hospital. It was only after seeing me motionless on the bed in the hotel room, were they finally convinced that I wasn't joking about my condition. My bro also had the symptoms of food poisoning.. but said that he'll rather wait till he returns to Singapore to visit our family GP.. his corpse, that is.
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Next thing, I was at the hospital, the triage nurse took my history, charged me SGD$120 for A&E charges (it was a Sunday). The GP gave me a jab, some medicine and the green light to go! They also wanted to know how many of us got the food poisoning.. my in order of severity.. Me, my Bro, Uncle Kok Tai followed by my Ah Gong.. all had the prob. But I was leaving HK for Macau so the heath authorities didnt really get the name of the problem causing restaurant from me in the end.
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Ugh.. HK.. I dont know if it was the food poisoning or what.. But truth be told, I feel that HK is a good place to have a shopping holiday but apart from that.. HK is not really a place I wanna live in. The somewhat haphazard planning (no distinction between commercial and residential buildings), overcrowding, stressful way of life, VERY BAD AIR POLLUTION and somewhat dirtier streets really puts potential migrants off. Or.. it could simply be blamed on the food poisoning holiday fiasco I had while I was there..
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No offense! My HK friends hehe..
