just a little bit of me: hong kong continued...

day 2 ~ kowloon

day 2 was much cruisier than day 1. probably cos I planned it *grin*.. After a little sleep in, and then yumcha lunch with the rellies, we jumped on the Star Ferry and headed over to the other side, Kowloon.

Though the day was cruisier, we still walked an absolute sh*tload. Once arrived at Kowloon, we caught the MTR 5 stops up to Prince Edward and started making our way back through the famous markets in Mongkok. This side of Hong Kong is no

where near as nice as the island... there are some incredibly old buildings, which may shock some people but i personally think it adds character.

We weaved our way through the Mongkok markets & Temple St, and bargained hard. It is truly a sport over there and i dont care if I'm squabbling over AUD$1. It's the principle that matters! Throughout the day we snacked and drank at various stalls and I discovered a new favourite dessert spot - Hui Lau Shan!

*yummmm*

Back at the hotel by 11pm, ordered room service (as you do), and had a relatively early night.

day 3 ~ a buddha, a carnival & a foot massage

another panu day - busy busy busy! We had the buffet breakfast at the hotel and stuffed ourselves silly knowing that there is only vegetarian food available at our destination today. Once sufficiently porky, we jumped on the MTR all the way to the end of the Tung Chung line, and hopped on the cable cars for 30 minutes. At the peak of the mountain sat a big bronze Buddha, supposedly the largest in the world. Let's go check him out.

while the Buddha itself was impressive, i have to say that i was extremely appalled by the commercialisation of this temple. well, ok the temple itself wasn't touched (despite the thousands of tourist feet that walked through each day) but leading up to the temple there were restaurants, cafes, numerous sourvenirs shops and goddamn, is that a starbucks?? Incredible!

the temple was beautiful and peaceful, and we ate within the temple at the vegetarian stall. i had a bit of a giggle whilst in the toilet ~ a squatting toilet ~ eavesdropping on some american tourists who didn't know how to use the facilities!

after the trip back from Ngong Ping, we had a power nap and headed out to the Hong Kong World Carnival! I love carnivals because if there's one thing i'm good at, its the games! We played a whole multitude of carnival games from shooting to darts to bumper cars! I also convinced panu to jump on a couple of rides with me! he was ok on the rollercoaster but probably a little queasy after the Tornado, or whatever it was called. Soooo much fun!

and finally to top off the night, my uncle took us to a local foot bath for a massage ~ reflexology, in my opinion, is the most finest of lines between pleasure and pain. Man do you want to scream and cry but it feels sooooooooooooooo good!

day 4 ~ wanchai & causeway bay

our last full day in Hong Kong was spent walking (again), starting from a devine Japanese restaurant in Admiralty, back through Wanchai and to Causeway Bay. We shopped and ate, making sure we stopped at our favourites Tsui Wah & Hui Lau Shan at least once!