Big Buddha and Bye Bye Hong Kong

I remember Sunday being bright and breezy, which made it a perfect day to go down to Stanley Market where we haggled for cheap sunnies and had some lunch on the promenade by the sea side. Janice's boyfriend was playing in Professional 7s (rugby for those who aren't in the know - myself included) so we went to Stanley Fort where the matches were being played. That was a rather surreal experience as the PLA (People's Liberation Army, China) are still based there and were saluting us and made us go through rigorous security checks before we could chill out with beer and burgers by the side of the pitch.

In the evening we went down into Kennedy Town for a Japanese barbeque which should have been renamed the Japanese BANQUET - I have not consumed so much barbecued meat and fish in my entire life!

On Monday we decided to go to City Hall which is infamous for its Dim Sum restaurant. The hall was elaborate, decked out with chandeliers and fancy trolleys that brought the dim sum round like they used to do it in the old days. Full of har gau and spring rolls, we then took the ferry across to Kowloon to view Hong Kong Island from the other side. I couldn't get over how cheap the fare was (equivalent to about 10 p I think!) - I think we need to write a letter to old Boris to tell him how it ought to be done! An hour was spent wandering around the Museum of Contemporary Arts (we like a bit of culture, sometimes) and then to the Peninsular hotel just to say that we had been there!

And that takes us to today. Sophs decided to stay in and do some house tidying and job searching, so Leon and I took the opportunity to visit the Big Buddha on Lantau Island. Off on the MTR and then another bus ride later and we were there, in the corner of the island that was beautiful; lots of secluded beaches, forests and peace and quiet. When we got to the Buddha we were greeted by quite a bit of construction and then, looking up to the skies, there it was - the Big Buddha. Big Buddha is incredibly impressive, and I am glad we went to visit it. I have to go now - off to our last supper in Hong Kong which will be sushi in Causeway Bay.