Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery

The 2^nd day we started out again. We headed to the 10,000 Buddha Monastery. For Mike, this was better than the Big Buddha. It was less touristy and there were fewer people there. We climb the stairs lined with Buddhas to the Monastery area. Each Buddha along the path is different and unique. And signs are posted reminding visitors to remember to respect the Buddhas.

I was hoping if I kissed the water buffalo, the buddha would come to life but I guess it didn't work which I am kind of glad because he looked mean:

This one buddha has a very, very long arm.  He reminds me of the elastic guy on Fantastic 4:

T

This one is standing on a giant crab:

Flor reading about the monastery.  Well I can pretend to be reading..

Respect the Buddha

We ate lunch at the all vegetarian restaurant at the Monastery and Mike even enjoyed the meal (mom should be proud).

I have to learn to use chopsticks quickly as there were no spoons/forks available, except for the soup spoon.  But I somehow managed to finish my rice without problems.

As we headed down the stairs and back to the subway station, Flor's feet began to hurt. We decided to head back to the hotel so we could take a break and rest up for the rest of the day.

Afternoon at the hotel.  Little Toot taking an afternoon nap.

On a side note, we visited a Chinese cemetery before we found the 10K Buddha Monastery.  We thought we were in the right place because of the pagoda style structure that looks exactly the same as the structure of the 10K Buddha Monastery.  Because Hongkong is mountainous their cemetery is designed just like the high rise apartments.  The hill is steep but escalator and elevator is available for the public when visiting their dead loved ones.  One thing that amazed me though is that elderly ladies and gents can breeze through steep stairways while I am struggling and out of breath and I am younger than they are.  Doesn't that tell you something? LOL.

Thanks for following..please join us in the next post for the rest of the day's wanderings.

The View from the Peak of Victoria Harbour - Then and Now

After eating lunch at Nhong Ping, we took the cable car back down the mountain and worked our way to the Peak (known as Victoria's Peak 30 years ago). This is the thing Mike remembers most about Hong Kong, but thirty years ago, Mike do not remember having to wait in line.  We waited about 1 hour to get our tram ticket and sky view ticket. We probably could have had a shorter wait if we would have used our Octopus card for the tram and bought the sky view ticket at the top. From what Mike's memory serves, it appears it has become a lot more touristy now from 30 years ago.

The camera was held level, shows the angle of the tram

We got to the top about 4:00 pm, exited through another gift shop, and ate. Thirty years ago Mike remembers one or two traditional Chinese restaurants. Now there are several restaurants including a Burger King, a pizza place and a Bubba Gump. There are several gift shops, other sundry shops and a wax museum. And the building itself had been expanded and now taller. You take several escalator rides to reach the sky view deck now known as the "The Peak" touted as the highest 360 viewing terrace.

After eating we went up the the skyview deck and enjoyed the sunset. Thirty years ago, when Mike was there the night time view from the peak was amazing. I am sure it still is amazing, but the place was so crowded we left just before it got dark. The operators also had a camera man and helpers taking tourist pictures. Now there are lots of apartments on the skyline and the one picture that we were able to take just before dark shows it being different from 30 years ago.

About 30 years ago

About 30 years ago

About 30 years ago with USS Oldendorf in the picture

Same picture, USS Oldendorf is circled


Below is present day Victoria Harbour from the Peak, the same spot the pictures above were taken 30 years ago.

We took the tram back down and walked back to the subway station. We decided to get some night shots from ground level and lights are still amazing.

We then returned to the hotel about 8:00 pm to rest up for the next day's adventures.  We'll see you tomorrow.  Thank you for following.