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?"

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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!


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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!!!!"

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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 .


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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?! =

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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!!


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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.


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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)


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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)


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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.