Thank goodness for Starbucks! That’s a big Buddha!

DAY 2 in HKG... start time 8:30AM
We leave Starbucks with our coffees and hop on the subway which takes us to a cable car that will bring us to the Po Lin monastery and the Tian Tan Buddha. Melissa and Russell still have their coffee and we cannot figure out why people are staring at them. Then an announcement “Food and Beverages are prohibited on the subway and in paying areas” WHOOPS!!! Let’s hide those and we promise to take them to the trash can on the way out!
The subway is full of people with iPods, cell phones and these hand held video games. There was a kid next to us who was frantically moving a pen across the screen. We tried to sneak a peek at what he was doing but he had it so close to his face that made it difficult to see. Plus we didn’t want his dad to think we were nosey American tourists! Bad enough we were photographing on the subway.
The cable car was amazing. The transition pole areas always made me nervous when riding those things – just because they are generally bumpy and you can feel the swing through. Not these. VERY smooth!!! I wasn’t quite as bold as the others in the car to stand up and take pictures out of the open windows. Which would explain for some of the reflections in my pictures. Sorry! Oh well. As we climbed in altitude, we went into the clouds and eventually could not see anything but the cable immediately infront and behind us. It was a little eerie! When we arrived, it was still raining but that did not stop us from climbing the 268 steps to get to the Buddha. Ryan had been here before we arrived in Hong Kong and was able to see it before you climbed the steps. Hopefully I will get his pictures soon and post them so you can see the difference a day makes.
The Buddha was incredible! Even in the cloud and drizzle there was a peacefulness that encompassed you. I do not know much about the Buddhist beliefs and certainly respected the request to not photograph their sacred areas inside the Buddha itself. There were several books opened to various pages
that were kept in glass cases. Unfortunately all writing and signs were in Chinese, so I have no idea what these were. I would imagine some of the oldest texts about the religion, but cannot speculate any further. The higher you went the more winds you encountered. I wish we had better weather, but it was still an amazing experience.
The Jade market closed at 2:30 so we had to hurry back. It was the fast track through Tian Tan and we were not able to see the monastery. But the Jade market was cool… however unlike pearls we had no clue how to tell if it was real jade or if we were overpaying for greenish colored glass. So, we’ll go with the hope they weren’t trying to screw tourists (riiiiiiiiight!)
Next on tap – the Star Ferry & then to Hong Kong Island for the Peak Tram and Victoria Peak. Well there was a great package for 2 people that was $160 HKD for the Harbor tour & Peak Tram. NOT BAD! (or so we thought) The Star Ferry was neat – however a bit overpriced. Granted it was an hour long tour, that you could not hear the recording unless you sat INSIDE, which kinda defeats the purpose of a BOAT tour! HAHA But we rode around for a while. I was a little disappointed that we did not see any junk boats that day. Only saw them one time when we first arrived. Maybe they are trying to clean things up for the Olympics. Who knows. After the Ferry we asked okay, now that brought us back to Kowloon and we purchased this “All inclusive pass” for these tours. Is there a separate ferry to shuttle us across? The guy said no, you need to purchase a regular ferry shuttle pass to get to Central dock.. then you will need to purchase a bus fare to get you to the Peak tram. Wait a minute… we thought it was all inclusive. Well, live and learn. So, we grumbled a little but really had no choice in the matter. Got our green token hustled back across the Harbor to find this bus. Paid that fare, which did not give change, so you had to have exact or lose some. We lost a little in it but no biggie. And stood in a queue line. This is probably the only time we felt like “tourists” this trip. Completely unorganized – but it’s all part of the adventure. And believe me, when we got up the Peak, which was at night, and went through 3 more queue lines, we forgot all about the things not included. WOW. It’s no wonder you can see Hong Kong from space! The pictures do it NO justice – in fact, I think we look like we are standing in front of a backdrop for the pictures! But I promise we really were there!!!!! Beautiful.
The evening was finished off with dinner at a French style café (look, we needed somewhat normal food) another queue line to get to the Tram followed by a taxi to the subway. We couldn’t take the ferry back across – it had stopped running for the evening. It was a long day but we saw a lot!!!! FINISH TIME 11PM
Sadly the next morning we would be leaving. Well, me, Melissa & Russell would – Ryan didn’t fly out until that night. And we thought Russell was going to be stuck in Hong Kong Airport. We didn’t know we needed to have our flight information that showed we would be leaving Manila for the U.S. with us. They were able to look up my flight and Melissa’s flight – which we are both on Korean air… Russell’s flight was not able to be completed. Now keep in mind, our flight from HKG to MNL was on Philippine Air…. Russell’s flight from MNL to USA is on Philippine Air! “Why couldn’t they do his flight?” you ask… well… apparently it was not shown as “ticketed” just yet. He doesn’t fly for another week and a half They show a confirmation number but not ticketed. And since he didn’t have his statement proving that he had already PAID for that ticket they couldn’t book based on the confirmation number. Again, making no sense since he flew from Charlotte TO MNL on the front leg of that flight. So his first comment to them is “I know I have paid because you would not allow me to fly from CLT to MNL without having paid for this ticket.” After several trips back and forth, Russell with the passport and the manager… then just his passport and the manager… then just the manager… he ended up having to BUY a refundable ticket from MNL to HKG so he could prove he was leaving MNL! How crazy is that!?! Thankfully he was able to get on the flight – but only because our initial flight was delayed. It was ridiculous and they were not easy to work with. So, the thought of our corporate using this airline based on his suggestion – since it is less than Korean Air – is pretty much gone. Oh well. Korean is nicer anyway!!! The plane, the food (our food was disgusting – hence the clear rubbery noodles in the picture) and the service on Korean is better.

So, be sure to check out this last album on our Hong Kong adventure!!
http://picasaweb.google.com.ph/dnole2/LantauIslandHongKongDay2InHongKong