Beautiful.....

B E A U T Y and the.....

NGYARKS!!
Insert photo caption please.

Suggested:

"Wolf there it is! Wolf there it is!"

"Don't wanna be your beast of burden"

"I will huff and puff and blow your house down".....

Any others?

JAPANESE HUMAN TETRIS

Whew!
Finally finished with the HK Trip Blog.

Now I can move on to other things.

Like...

JAPANESE HUMAN TETRIS!!!!
*guffaw guffaw guffaw*

The Hong Kong Trip (Day One/Ocean Park)

Whattatrip!

We had such an AWESOME time over at Hong Kong.

Stayed for a magnificent 4 days and 3 nights.

We explored, did a LOT of sightseeing, went shopping...........

And, BUT OF COURSE .......
We hit Hong Kong DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!!

Wahooo!!

***********************

We left Manila on the 8am Wednesday flight to HK.

With us on the trip were the Supah FAB Castillo's:
Lola Luz/Mom, Eman, Yvette, Albert, Jen, Zachy's SFO based cuz- Ryan, Jay, Meg, Cousin Nikki and Zachy's bestest buddy/cuz- Raffy.

After a smooth and uneventful flight, we arrived in Hong Kong International Airport (Chep Lap Lok) at around 10:30 am.

We then took the ultra-convenient and ultra-fast Airport Express train to Kowloon.

Zachy was "infinity" amazed with the speed....



It takes around 24 mins to get to downtown Kowloon via the Airport Express.
It's super clean and the train station is real spacious which is kinda weird for sardine-can Kowloon.

One of the neat things about the Airport Express is that when the time comes to depart-- you can check in - right at the train station.

Yes -- the Airport Express station has a fully functional check-in facility.
It looks exactly like the check-in counter at the airport except.... it's at a train station and the airport is like 30 km away.

Whatta truly great way to avoid the long lines at the airport, especially since most of the passengers will check in over there.

Anyways, once ya get to the Kowloon station, there's a free shuttle to the numerous hotels dotting the Kowloon/Tsim Tsa Tsui (TST) area.

We took the next shuttle to the place where we would stay for the next few days.

The Marco Polo Prince Hotel.


***********************

After checking in and droppin' off our luggage, we had a quick lunch over at the City Super Deli, Harbor City located right under/adjacent/next to the Prince........

The Momster recommends ordering the sesame seed noodle soup with chicken and fried rice from the food stall right next to the White Spot counter.

The Dadster recommends the Burger Mushroom combo from White Spot.

Eh!?
White Spot in Hong Kong??
Yuppers!

I miss me White Spot. :)
Me used to eats there every once in awhile over at Vancouver, BC.

***********************

Anywayz, once we finished our well-deserved lunch, we made a quick beeline towards our first great HK adventure --

OCEAN PARK!!!!!!!


Now Ocean Park holds a whole lot of memories for moi.

My beloved Mom first brought me to Ocean Park when I was around 5.
The same age as Zachy is now.

I can still vividly remember my first cable car trip on Ocean Park.
I also remember being vividly scared coz it was so dang high and it was perched on the side of a mountain.

I kept wondering.... how the heck can these cables support all these cable cars??
And would we be able to survive the drop if the cable cars fell??

I guess the Zachster felt the same way too.


Since we arrived at around 1:30pm, (Ocean Park would close at 6pm) we decided not hit too many attractions/rides and just concentrate on the ones that the kids would enjoy the most.

The decision was made easier by the fact that Rose and I toured the ENTIRE Ocean Park - rides, lowland, headland-- you name it - the last time we were here in 2003. (Phew!)


Our first stop was the Shark Aquarium.

The Shark Aquarium has an underwater tunnel walkalator much similar to the one in Underwater World, Singapore.

Howevs, the walkalator in the Ocean Park Shark Aquarium is shorter and just goes straight instead of around in a circle.

D'sharks in the tank sure look a lot meaner and tougher than the ones in Sing though!

After saying our sharky goodbyes, we then headed off to the majestic ATOLL REEF!!

The Atoll Reef Aquarium is a truly spectacular, one of a kind experience.

Not too many aquariums in the world can come close to the size and depth of this baby.
It holds over 2.2 million liters of water and is home to over 2000 fishes from 200 species.

It's even got a giant grouper (Lapu-Lapu) that's over 80 years old and 7ft long!

Hmmmmm...this might be Mr.80 yr old fishy......

Not too sure....
But that's one HUGE FISH!!


The pathway around the Atoll reef slowly spirals down.
And by the end of the journey, you're probably around 4 floors down from where you started.

So basically you see small tropical fish like Nemo, Dory and Gill at first.
Then after you head lower down to the depths you see the medium sized fishies.
And then soon after......the Big Boys.


Cara:"Yang!"
(Her fave word for describing things)



Rush Hour Traffic



Zachy's ultimate fave fishy was the Manta Ray.
We got a real good video of the big Manta "flyin" by.

Hmmm..
Manta Ray = Giant Underwater Bat??
Definitely, some similarities there......


After the Atoll Reef, we huffed and puffed back up the hilly pathway to catch the 3:30pm Dolphin Show.

For some reason, we found the show kinda boring.

Maybe it's because we've seen our fair share of dolphin, seal and whale shows.

Ya gotta admit though, it's still kinda interesting to watch dolphins somersault in the air
and
check out seals french-kissing their trainers,

Errr......

My main gripe was that the show was too dang short.
Not enough bang for your buck.
Aka Bitin.
"Like we waited in the heat for this?"

The Sea Jellies Spectaular Exhibit sure made up for the Dolphin Show though.

I mean check this vid out....

Wow pare...cooooooool................
I never knew Jellyfish could be so psychedelic.
May ambient music pa...
Double cooooool pare.............


The Jellies come in red colors too!

100 US dollars to anyone who'll dare swim in THAT Tank.


After a quick merienda and some souvenir shopping, we headed down towards the Ocean Park Lowlands to check out the other rides and attractions.


In case ya didn't know, Ocean Park has a huge Balloon ride that you can take.
The balloon ride will lift like 18 people way way up in the air for a few minutes.

We wanted to ride but Zachy wasn't up to it.

So we headed out to Kid's World for some kiddie fun!

Kid's World was sweet.

It had mini-rides for the kids like the mini ferris wheel and the Frog Hopper.
Zach had a blast on this one. :)
His stomach felt "weird" daw.
No doubt!

Kid's World also had a real cool playground.
The rubber playground flooring was so soft.
Not like the rock hard rubber playground matting here in the P.I.

And it had a Jump-around thingy.

Perfect for releasing the angst of feisty 5 year-olds like good ol' chap Zachy :)


It was then finally time to leave since Ocean Park was already closing at 6pm.
Plus we were sooooo damn exhausted since we woke up at 3am that day to pack and get ready for the trip.

So we bade goodbye to the fat Hippos,

the fat people on stilts...
and made our way back to The Prince.

(to be continued)

***********************

P.S. -- We took a taxi from Marco Polo Prince to Ocean Park in order to save some time (Since we finished lunch at around 1ish). The ride cost around HK$150 but it only took like 15mins to 20mins to get there from downtown Kowloon (TST) insead of the usual 1 hour by MTR/Citybus.

We also took a taxi back to Marco Polo Prince coz' we were so BUSHED!!!
It cost around the same but it took just a little longer becuase of the rush hour traffic.

The Hong Kong Trip (Day Two/Hong Kong Disneyland)

M - I - C...

K - E - Y...

M - O - U - S - E!!
YAHOOO!!
We made it to Hong Kong Disneyland!!!!!!!!!

And we got in for free too!!!

Thank you so much to our super cousin Yael Alano Pineda for the freebie!!

She's currently performing as The Storyteller at the awesome and beautiful Festival of The Lion King over at Adventure/Pirate-land.


Ladies and gents...
Here she is..
The supremely talented Yael Alano Pineda!

We're so proud of you Ya!
Ain't she grrrreat?!?!


Yael even got us some cool discounts over at the Disney Main Street Store.
Thanks again cuz!


Zachy got a snazzy Mickey hat and a Mickey Light Thingy.
While Cara stashed away a colorful Cat Light-Chaser!



We then headed over to the Main Street Bakery to grab some grub-a-dub.
The bakery's got some cheap goods.

The sausage dog is like HK$18
The pizza is around HK$20.
Perfect for bringing around the park.


Main Street is so amazing.

Each shop is neatly integrated into the Main Street Design Theme.
So you feel like you're in a Hollywood set, except everything's fully functional.

Every little detail is penciled in.
From the uniforms, the wallpaper and decor, the props, the fixtures.....

I kinda forgot about that since the last time I went to Disneyland was like a really long time ago.


********************

Anyway, we continued heading down Main Street and turned right towards....

(Yael said goodbye as she had to get ready for her afternoon show.)


We then moseyed on down to the first ride of the day:
Due to the stroller situation, Zachy and Rosabel took first dibs on Space Mountain while Cara and I explored Tomorrowland.

It was rainin' a bit so Cara and I chilled out by the UFO Zone - Water Park underneath the Autopia racetrack.

After a few short minutes, Zachy and Rosabel trooped out to meet us.

Rose was like:
"Gab! You have to try it!"

And I was like:
"Aight!"

Like I said earlier, it's been a real, real long time since my last Disney visit.
So I kinda forgot what Space Mountain was all about.

However, as I was heading into the ride, the memories started to flood back n.

OMG.
This ride is supposed to be SCARY.
I freaked out on this ride the last time out!

And of course, when I finally got to the space coaster -- they made me sit at the very FRONT.

ARG!!!!

So up and up and up we went into the dark, starry night...

(FYI - It's pitch black inside the ride. All you can see are simulated stars and galaxies. The ride is supposed to make you feel like you're hurtling around in space...DUH!!)

and down and very,very, very fast we went and bent!!

As I was turning pale in my seat, two things cropped up in my head:

Number 1: How the heck did Zachy get through this???
Number 2: Is my head going to be chopped off by a stray steel beam? Did they design this ride for 6'4" guys??

After a few more agonizing minutes, the ride was over.

Uuuuhhhhh..... dizzzzyyyy..........

As per Rosabel, Zachy was super excited of the ride at first.
And then, he had his head buried in Rosabel's lap the rest of the way.

I think I did the same thing with my Mom when we rode the ride together.

Like Dada, Like Son.



Now THIS Tomorrowland ride was more like it.
BUZZ LIGHTYEAR ASTRO BLASTERS!!



"Team up with Buzz Lightyear and spin your Star Cruisers 360 degrees while you fire movable, hand-held laser cannons.

Blast enemy targets and amass points, then compare your score with other Space Rangers or go for a personal best. Climb up the Space Ranger ranks as your scores soar to astronomical heights each time you play.

Save the galaxy from the Evil Emperor Zurg and WOW your friends and family."
Rosabel's top score was around 249,000. (Level 4)
Zachy almost matched her with 220,000. (Level 4 too!)
Whilst cousin Ryan beat us all with around 400,000 pts! (Level 6!)



There were hardly any lines to the rides at HK Disney that day.
So it was a breeze to check them all out!
Zachy rode the Buzz Lightyear ride like 6 times!!
The longest we had to wait was for around 10 mins only over at the Jungle Cruise.

It also wasn't too crowded in the park.
At times, most of the areas would be half-empty and "tranquil".
Sarap to just sit in a bench and relax.

That was probably because it was the off-peak rainy season.

According to Yael, Hk Disney can get super-duper full.

In fact, it got so crowded that one time during the peak lunar season '06, parents tossed their children up and over the Disney fences!!

So please - for the love of sanity - DO NOT plan your HK Disneyland vacation during the Chinese New year months!!
Around February-ish.

********************

We decided to head over to Adventure - slash - Pirate land next.

Cap'n Jack Sparrow was in da house.
We weren't able to take a picture with him though as he had to go on a (rum) break.

No problem...
Coz' we gots da Photoshop!


Our next ride was the classic
JUNGLE RIVER CRUISE.

It's basically a boat that goes around a man-made lagoon to simulate a "duh!!" --> cruise on a jungle river.

Oh yea?
But does a REAL Jungle river cruise have...

Animatronic Water Squirting Elephants?
Animatronic Crocs?
Animatronic Advanced Apes?
Animatronic Chompin' Hippos?



Animatronic Rhinos chasing Animatronic human porters up a pole?
Animatronic Natives Shooting Darts at you?

(No Gab --
they ALL real in Africa you dufus)

Heck!
Everything's animatronic...

Except for this part of the ride...



It was DISASTER- HEAT-O-TRONIC!!
We could really feel the heat from them flames!!


I wish our "English-speaking?" river guide was animatronic too.

Coz he had this really irritating, whiny pitched voice.

You couldn't understand a WORD he was saying!

It was like he was doin' it on purpose.
Purposeful High-Pitched Whiny Ramblin..



HEY YA DIRTY LITTLE SCOUNDRELS!!!


********************

There are 2 things you MUST see and do when you are at HK Disney.

(in no order - mind ya)

First - ya gotta watch the shows --
namely, The Golden Mickeys and The Festival of the Lion King.

Second - ya absolutely, definitely have to watch
THE DISNEY PARADE at 330pm


THIS
IS
THE
DISNEY PARADE.



We never knew that we would get affected so much by watching a parade.

I mean, I had tears in my eyes after Mickey and the others crossed by.

It was so enjoyable and sentimental.

And it was so vibrant and grand.

Disneyland’s the only place where you can see a magical-specatacular-spectacle like that.

Maybe it's also because we grew up with all those Disney characters.

(No Spongebob and/or Cartoon Network during our young days)

All those years watchin' em on the silver screen caused us to develop a special affinity and bond to most things Disney.

And now... seeing them in person... actually brings out an innate joy.

A childlike innocence that we haven’t felt before in a long time.

Something so pure and untouched... so clean and white… so neat and bright....

WHAT The?!?

Hehehehehehehe!!


THAT DISNEY PARADE REALLY, REALLY MADE OUR DAY!!
It was so wonderful!!!!


BTW, Here's Cindy... wasn't able to catch her on the earlier parade video coz' she was at the back of the castle.



********************

We finally caught/met up with the Supah Castillos at the entrance of the Festival of the Lion King at around 430pm.


They were just as exhausted as us and they were ready to go back to the hotel after a jaunt to Tomorrowland.

Not us though.

We still had to watch The Golden Mickeys and check out Fantasyland!!




I really loved the Royal Banquet Hall.

It had that super romantic fairytale feel.

Like check out the detail!
High-arched celings, ornate light fixtures and "carved" marble columns!

And I swear!
I felt like I was in Europe!!!

Or at Gaston's crib.

Whatta nicelooking chandlier!

The hall even had a beautiful mural of The Mulan, Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast couples dancin'.

How positively morantic!

Tale as old as time............... doo dee doo dee doo doo.......


The Dumbo ride was pretty neat.
Unlike The Pooh Adventure which Zachy and Rosabel found real boring

You can actually control Dumbo by moving the joystick inside the ride upwards and downwards.
50 centavos to you- if you can spot me and Zachy.



Make that 15 centavos....


We then moved on quickly to catch "The Golden Mickeys" show at 630pm.

My friend from De La Salle Zobel High school - Noel Rayos - was actally part of the show!!

He’s the surfer dude in the vid (carrying the surfboard on the left side) and he plays Quasimodo from the Hunchback of Notre Dame



(In case you didn’t notice the HUNCHBACK – he’s the dude in green!!)

I was so pissed about not catching his Quasimodo performance on my videocam.

Arg...

But someone else on You Tube was able to record the performance.
Yehey!

Here's the footage of Noel and his golden voice!



Somehow, we actually made eye contact during the show as he was carrying the surfboard through the aisle right next to us.

(I got to talk to him over Yael's cel earlier in the morning)

He kept on waving and saying hi to us at the end of the show.
And so did we.
Well, I hope he did.

Otherwise, I might have been hallucinating or somethin....



After the great Golden Mickeys, we doubled back to Fantasyland so we could ride the Mad Hatter Tea Cups!

And lo' and behold we all rode it at the same time!!!!!!!!
Zachy and Rose on one teacup.
Cara and I on another one.



Zachy loved the teacups.
He wanted to go for a 3rd time and we were like...
No Dizzyin' WAY!!!


Instead, we decided to head back to the adjacent Tomorrowland to zap some more of Emperor Zurg and his evil robots.

But before that, we tried out the Orbitron, which was now devoid of ANY lines whatsoever!
And we rode together ONE MORE G+R+Z+C TIME!!



Rose and Cara then went ahead to the Starliner Diner to order our dinner while Zachy and I trotted back to Buzz Blasters.

We rode it like 3 times over!
I had enuff of the Buzz Ride so and I just reviewed my precioussssssss camera footage as Zachy was blasting away!


We were so hungry and "happy" tired by the time we got back together at Starliner Diner.
Rose and Cara had already started eating by that time.
(It was already 730pm – we got to the park at like 11am)

HK Disney showcases fireworks as the last major attraction before the park closes at 8 pm.
So we moved our chow to one of the outdoor tables in order to watch the fireworks.

It was pretty relaxing where were were.

Chompin' down on some much-needed, tasty food and sittin down watchin some awesome fireworks.

(Albeit, the effect would have been a lil' better if we were in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle.)

After the fireworks, the Disney staff subtly closes the "lands" and then they politely shoo you away towards the park exit and the Main Street shopping areas.

(But of course!)



I can show you the world
Shining, shimmering, splendid

Unbelievable sights
Indescribable feeling
Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling
Through an endless diamond sky

A whole new world
With new horizons to pursue
I'll chase them anywhere
There's time to spare
Let me share this whole new woooo-rrrrr-llld!!


Disneyland was so much fun.

Many people say that it’s too small etc. etc.
It doesn’t compare to other Disneylands..... bla bla bla...

Heller! Didn't HK Disney just open only 2.75 years ago ??!

Let me tell ya this...

For 2 parents with a gregarious 5 year-old and a cutesy one.5 year-old

HK DISNEYLAND WAS AWESOMELY PERFECT!!!!

(to be continued)

********************

P.S.:

*The Golden Mickeys are narrated and conversed in Chinese but the songs are sung in English. (Donna worry, coz' they got flat screen tvs on the sides of the stage with English subtitles)

*Please wear good shoes. There's MUCHO walking involved. Running shoes/trainers should do the trick. :)

*Teenagers (like Ryan) would enjoy Ocean Park a little more because it has a fair number of teen/grown-up rides as compared to Disneyland.

*Holy Cow! Check out the new stuff to come in late 2007/2008!!

From Wiki and the HK Disney source:

On December 14, 2006, the Hongkong International Theme Parks announced three forthcoming attractions for 2007/2008.

1) It's A Small World

This update of the classic Disneyland ride will be located in Fantasyland and boast 30 additional characters from Disney films; previously unseen Chinese, Middle Eastern, North American and Hong Kong's scenes and a new optical effect not seen in other versions of the ride.

2) Mickey's WaterWorks

A summer water-themed parade, due to open in Hong Kong's Summer 2007.

3) Animation Academy

Where guests will learn how to draw Disney style.
It will be located on Main Street, USA.


Some other planned attractions:
* “The Haunted Mansion"
* “Raging Spirits”
* “Peter Pan’s Flight”
* "Pirates of the Caribbean"

Some other planned themed lands:
* Frontierland
* Mickey's Toontown

The Hong Kong Trip (Day Three/Tian Tan Buddha and The Ngong Ping 360)

"Let's do something different while we're in Hong Kong!! Let's visit the Big Buddha!!" said Rosabel.

"Huh? What the heck is that hon?"

*****************

So on our 3rd day in HK ----- we set out on our next great adventure....

THE TIAN TAN BUDDHA!

Getting to the Big Buddha is an adventure in itself.

You first have to take the MTR from Tsim Sha Tsui (or wherever you are in HK) to Tung Chung.

The Tung Chung Station stops right inside the Tung Chung Shopping Center which - lo and behold! - houses numerous outlet stores!

Like the Nike outlet store, the Adidas outlet store, the Giordano outlet store, the Esprit outlet store.....

Get it?
Capeesh?

We got some good deals while shopping there.

And lucky for me, they had a wide array of XL US shirt sizes at good prices.
I got another Barkley Shirt, a Force shirt etc. etc.

It's such a drag to go shoppin' for a big guy in the Philippines.
NO BIG SIZES!!
Don't even ask me about shoppin' for shoes!


Anyways, we window-shopped a bit while waiting for the storyteller from D'Lion King.

Yep!
Yael joined us for the Buddha trek.
(It was her day-off!
Tamang-tama no?)


She's such a camwhore!
Much like myself.. :)
Related nga!


Now we were a little apprehensive to go on this epic journey.

When we left the hotel, it had been raining cats and dogs.

Yael even texted us while we were on the MTR.
Asking if we were still pushing through.

But c'mon man!!

When would be the next time that we were going to be in HK?

And there was no way we could go the next day.

So we gave it ye olde college try and decided to go for it!


*****************

We finally met up at around 11 am and made our way towards the ride of our life.

The breathtaking cable car that would take us all the way up to the mountains were the Big Buddha was located.

The NGONG PING 360!!

"The Ngong Ping 360 cable car journey offers a 20 to 25 minute aerial alternative to the current one-hour Big Buddha bus journey via the Tung Chung Road. Allowing visitors to glide across Tung Chung Bay and up, up the high mountains in Lantau Island towards Ngong Ping Plateau and the Big Buddha." - mostly quoted from Wiki

Holy cow!
This cable car made the Ocean Park ride look like a lil' shrimp!!

And I mean a way lil' miniature, tiny, microscopic shrimp!!!!!!


What made matters worse was the awful weather!

OMG by the time we made up the mountain -- we were absolutely terrified!!!

The wind was howling, the rain was pelting and most of the time we couldn't see anything at all due to the fog!!!!

We were so worried that the cable car would be blown off its wires and we would fall all the way down to the valley floor and/or bay far below.....

Dang.............



At one pont, the cable car even stopped for like 10 mins in the dense fog.

The Mandarin couple (the cable car can seat like around 12 to 17 peeps) riding with us mentioned that the last time the cable cars stopped -- it took like 3 hours -- before the operators got the cable cars moving again!

We were so lucky that we didn't get stuck!!



Anyways, after an AGONIZING 20 to 25 mins. (+10 mins. for the stop) we finally made it!!!

Rosabel was like:
" WE ARE NOT TAKING THAT CABLE CAR BACK DOWN!!!!"

*****************

Now the Hong Kong tourism guys set up a "replica" chinese village called the Ngong Ping Village to compliment and add tourist traps/attractions for the Ngong Ping 360 cable car ride.

A sort of mini warm-up before you make it to the Big B.

Yeah?
Like how many authentic Chinese villages have a Starbucks and a 711?
Bwahahahahaha!!


We couldn't see the Big B yet due to the in-n-out fog.

Zachy was so excited to see it!

He was always like:
"Dad! Dad! I can see it!!... oh wait ... I can't see it anymore...... oh oh oh...I can see it now.. oh oh oh.... I can't see it anymore."

Well, before we made the trek up, we decided to catch the Monkey Tale Adventure which was included in our Ngong Ping 360 ticket purchase.

They actually made a theater for the sole purpose of showcasing a 20 min cartoon about monkeys trying to get a bunch of Bananas from a "buddhistic" statue.

And you know what?
It was surprisingly entertaining.

They even had leaves fall down from the roof and had some water fall down from parts in the theater to simulate rain.
It's like an interactive movie theater.

It's really not a must-see though when visiting the Big Buddha .


*****************

So anyways, after a quick tasty late lunch at the scrumptious Chinese fast food resto inside Ngong Ping village.....

We headed off to meet the Big Dude!!!

It's like a 5 to 10 min. walk from the village to the base of the Big Buddha - right adjacent to the Po Lin Monastery.


While we were at the base of the stairs.... right before we hiked our way up......

I caught Zachy muttering something to himself while looking up at all those steps.
(268 steps to be exact!!!!!)

"I won't be able to make it. I can't do this." he said.

Just a minute ago, he had asked me if i could carry him up the steps coz' he was already tired.

I was taken aback by the situation.
Coz I knew that I would have to somehow carry Cara too!

So I thought of "alternating carrying".

Carry Cara for the first ten steps and then carry Zachy for the next ten steps.

Rosabel would transport Cara if I was holding Zachy.
And if I was haulin' Cara, Zachy would have no choice but to walk up.

That way, I could give him a little break from the climbin.

But you know what??

Zachy didn't need me me or Rose to carry him

Despite his already tired state..

He climbed the 268steps all by himself!!

All the way to the top!

In fact, we had to ask him to slow down because we couldn't catch up.
He must have been real inspired to see the Big Buddha - up,close and personal!


I lugged the lovely Cararingring all the way up instead.
PHEEEYOOO...
Hahahaha! Nice pose Yael!


The tiredness and leg-cramping was soooooo worth it when we got to the top!!

The Big B was breathtaking and humongous!!!!!!!

"The statue is named Tian Tan Buddha because it's base is a model of the Altar of Heaven or Earthly Mount of Tian Tan, the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.

It is one of the five large Buddha statues in China.
The Buddha statue sits peacefully on a lotus throne on top of a three-platform altar.

The Tian Tan Buddha appears serene and dignified.

His right hand is raised, representing the removal of affliction.
His left hand rests on his lap in a gesture of giving (dhana).

The Buddha faces north which is unique among the great Buddha statues. (All others face South.)

It is surrounded by eight smaller bronze statues representing gods or immortals.

The Buddha is 34 meters/112 ft. high, weighs 250 tons, and was the world's tallest outdoor bronze seated Buddha.

Until this year, when a bronze Buddha in Korea beat the record by 2 meters.

It can even be seen as far away as Macau on a clear day.

The Tian Tan Buddha was constructed beginning in 1990, and was finished on December 29, 1993.

The construction costs of the giant Buddha were estimated to be up to $68 million.

It was formed out of 202 separate pieces of bronze. In addition to the exterior components, there is a strong steel framework inside the statue to support the heavy load and wind pressure."
--Mostly quoted from Wiki


Here are some assorted pics while we on top of the hill with Mr. Tian Tan:

= Family Buddha Time! =

= Fog rollin' in.... =

= Big Buddha's Back =

= Side =
= Z-exhausted =
= Closer! =
= Modellin' Time =
= Gods, Immortals and what the?! =

*****************

And then it was time to head back down.

I have a high center of gravity so it was pretty scary to go down the damp stairs with Cara on my arm.

I made sure that I went down the "SHELL" way.

Hold the handrails all the way down despite the fact that it was kinda grimy and mossy.

Yep! All Shell employees are obliged to hold the handrails of stairs going up or down.
Its a must due to the SAFETY-oriented Shell corporate culture.

That's why -- if you see a group of people in single file heading down a flight of stairs and holding the hand rail.....
They're probably all SHELL employees!

Or probably some sort of weird cult or something.
Or a bunch of blind people?


ANYWAYS, we made it down!

And took a pic of the cool Chinese gate by the road.

The weather was much better now.
The wind and rain were gone.

And the sun was starting to peek out.

So HON!

Do we take the 360 back or what?????

The ride back down was like the complete opposite of the ride going up because of the better weather.

It felt so safe and tranquil this time.

And that meant...
Better scenery pics for every one!!

= The No-Frills Cable Car =

= Yes. You can WALK to the Big B via the trail below. =

= Wow! Chep Lap Lok Airport! =

= Cables, Cable Cars and Greenery =

= Please don't break - Mr. Cable =

= Lookin' back =

Thanks Ngong Ping 360!!!!
Thanks for not killing us!!!

Hahahahahahahahaahahaha!!


*********************

We got back to Tung Chung at around 4 pm.

Tung Chung is a cool place.

The town is relatively new and not too crowded.

It kinda reminded us of American suburbia.

Which is so weird .....

Coz' you always tend to feel like you're in a sardine can when in Hong Kong.

Everything was so wide and open

And the mall had a distinct mall culture not unlike the ones you see in Alabang Town Center or any mall in the US or Canada.

Parents with strollers, teenage mall rats, students/kids going to Mcdonald's, lots of walking space for everyone... etc etc.

They even had their own South Supermarket/Safeway called TASTE.


*********************

We did a lil' more shopping at Tung Chung.

And then at around 5pm, we bade our final farewell to the Great Yael who had to head back to HK Disney for her ride.

So we MTR'ed/Taxi-ed back to TST and made our way to ZACHY's ulti-paradiso!

The one and only...

TOYS R'US
at Ocean Terminal, Harbor City!!
Zachy got some cool Spidey action figures.

While Rosabel (not my idea!) got Cara a creepy baby with matching stroller!!!!

Cara was so terrified of the baby!

Mostly coz' it looked so dang real!

She even cried because she thought Rosabel was replacing her with the baby toy.

And she wouldn't go near it at all!!!!

Even though we tried our very best to explain to Cara that it was a toy.

"It's just a toy Cara! It's just a toy!!"
Of course, Rosabel felt bad about her purchase.

We had to hide the baby in an undisclosed location away from Ringring.

But u know what?

After just one day...
Cara got used to the baby.

And she began pushing it in the stroller like it was her own.

:)

(More on the Creepy Baby+ Stroller during the next blog post)


*********************

After we got the kids ready for bed, I headed out to take a few pics and videos of the beautiful Hong Kong Night-Skyline.







WOW.


(to be continued)


*****************

P.S.

*Yael texted me on Wed June 13.
Just 5 days after we made our epic Big Buddha trip.
"GAB!!! ONE OF THE NGONG PING CABLE CARS FELL YESTERDAY!!!"
OMG.
The Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car service is now
SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
Holy cow!!!
Man - we were so lucky!!

*Want more Big Statues??
THE TOP 10 HIGHEST MONUMENTS IN THE WORLD.
(Mr. Tian Tan is a shorty compared to these guys.)
Thanks Tuna!!

*The KFC at Ocean Terminal is "different".
They serve gourmet meals!
We had a hard time looking for the usual one/two pc. chicken meals.

*The Pizza Hut at Ocean Terminal looked super sosy too!
A big difference from the Pizza Huts here in the P.I.