Day 2: Visiting the Giant Buddha

For first time visitors, I found the Discover Hong Kong Itinerary Planner extremely useful. It lists all the major attractions, groups them into days and comes with travel directions.



On day 2, we visited Lantau Island where the Giant Buddha sits. There seems to be a walking trek up but unless you're paid to walk, don't. The cable car ride is more relaxing.


At the top is Ngong Village. This place looks exactly like an amusement park except it doesn't come with rides. I guess it can't help itself now that tourist swarm the area. The shops sell very interesting items and food.



That's it, that's the Giant Buddha. 268 steps make for a tiring climb. From the top, you can see the Po Lin Monastery.



Po Lin Monastery has less shops and hence feels less like an amusement park.


I admire their dedication but walking is probably not the best way.



There's a Food Republic in the shopping centre near the cable car station. Did I already mention that food is more expensive here than in Singapore?

Let me break down what I had: apple orange juice for HK23, wanton noodles for HK24, mango snack for HK12. The mango snack shown in the photo is to die for. Oh, the Hainanese chicken rice is HK40.


Next stop Time Square at Tong Lu Wang Station. As you can see, there's a bit of a crowd here. There are plenty of shops and road side stalls around.


At Time Square itself is this ridiculously huge shopping centre called Lane Crawford. It has 13 floors!

The highlight for the day is this particular restaurant inside Lane Crawford. It's on the 10th floor by the corner. I don't have the name because I can't imagine I forgot to take down the name.

I guess Xiao Long Bao dumplings are always good.


This pig knuckles dish is extremely deadly. 70% fat, 30% meat. The fat has the feel of a hard boiled egg. It gets tiring very soon because of the fat.


The meat filling, to be put inside the bun, is very nice.


This torn apart chicken taste good with its chilli sauce, which is a bit hot to my personal liking.


There's a big bowl of vegetable soup by the side, good for 2 servings for everyone.

And all these for $HK474. It's really value for money!!

All the days in Hong Kong:
Day 1: Looking at Kowloon
Day 2: Visiting the Giant Buddha
Day 3: Ocean City
Day 4: Macau