High Hong Kong

So once again I found myself back in Hong Kong a place where you can get a cat with your magazines (Insert your own Chinese food joke here).

I was back just for one night so I decided to spend it in the backpacking centre known as TST because no backpacker can pronounce Tsim Sha Tsui.

 

I went to an infamous building that was big, old, full of backpackers and probably a fire risk.

It’s called Chung King Mansions and has lots of cheap guesthouses.

Found a place where I got my own room with ensuite and wifi included.

Being curious I wanted to see what was out the window. I do these things so you don’t have to and I don’t recommend it as behind window number one was an internal shaft that was dank and dirty.

 

Set off for the one day I had to hang out in Hong Kong ready to learn something about the place.

At Chuck’s suggestion I went to the Hong Kong Museum of History. He had good advice as it was worth the hk$10 (about US$1.30) entrance fee.

There was everything from the geological periods in the creation of Hong Kong to the recreation of old fashioned street scenes.

Real water and a fake backdrop were used for a display of boats in the harbour.

My personal favourite was towers of buns. They were from a festival where people would climb them. But I believe the practise was abandoned for being too dangerous. I do wonder where the idea that climbing a huge pile of pastry was a good idea started.

 

After my education in Hong Kong history I headed to Tung Chung on the MTR to catch the cable car up the hill.

Ngong ping 360 has 2 types of gondolas normal and the not for any acrophobics Crystal Cabin glass bottom version.

Not a fan of heights (or paying a premium) I went with the normal capsule.

 

Reading up on the operation now I am pretty shocked at the safety record. The service is currently closed due to a technical fault and it has been shut down numerous times in the past.

Including a time when a cable car fell off the wire!

 

This reminds me of how my parents always told me a story about how we nearly ended up in a similar situation in Singapore. There is a cable car to Sentosa Island and according to the parentals we were going to go on it one night but ended up going the night before.

The night we were going to go a ship sailed under the wires but it was too tall, hit the wires and caused some cars to fall into the sea.

For a while I thought that this was just a fanciful story. Then one day I googled it and it turns out its true!

Well the bit about the accident. I of course can’t prove or disprove the story that we were supposed to be on it at that time.

 

Anyway back to Ngong Ping 360 and their atrocious safety record. It’s probably a good thing I didn’t know anything about this while I was riding it.

So all I thought was wow the view of the airport is amazing.

 

At the top of the hill I first headed to the Po Lin Monastery as they have a vegetarian restaurant and I was hungry.

The system works whereby you buy a ticket for the number in your party (in my case that would be 1, devil duckie is cheap to feed) and then take it to the restaurant.

I decided to splash out on the luxury set meal. The best bit was the tofu with lemon sauce and I had so much food I couldn’t finish it.

 

The other main attraction is the Tian Tan Buddha which is very big and made of bronze. It is up 260 steps. But with a full belly I had even less inclination than usual to exert myself to see a religious artefact that as Chuck put it “is all fake anyway”.

Although I think he just means that it was built recently as opposed to some ancient relics that were built to just as fake deities but have some history.

 

Walking back to the cable car station there were animals wandering around. Sacred cows perhaps?

And what was that? Was it a bird? A plane? Spiderman? No it was a display of cable cars from around the world.

 

An Ice cream man display wanted to be shot not sat on.

It made me wish I had a gun with me (in a major oversight on my part I never picked one up in the USA. I should have got one in my cornflakes box right?) Then I could have aimed and fired and been all “what it said I could shoot him!”

 

There was a display of weapons but they were not of the shooting variety.

But it did seem a bit violent isn’t Buddhism supposed to be peaceful?

I am not sure but there was a book that could have help me.

In the gift shop, always a good place to look for wacky things did not disappoint, is where I could have picked up a copy of Buddhism for dummies.

Or the very cute MTR styled office accessories.

Seriously who wouldn’t love a subway train stapler? Or a turnstile tape dispenser? Ticket machine notepaper or penholder, the gift for the person who has everything.