Hong Kong!

A day in a new city, all by myself! What an adventure. I read my guidebook and decided to explore Lantau, the island on which I was staying. I took a local bus to the main town and wandered around the market and beachfront. It had a faded glamour about it, but was very clean - there were people sweeping the pavements and roads. There were also large signs up saying anti-rodent campaign - perhaps I shouldn't have been there...

After a couple of wrong turnings (mini-adventures in their own way), I found the path that led up to the old silver mine. It also promised a waterfall, but I couldn't find that. Instead, a mean looking dog decided to follow me. I passed an old lady who promptly got rid of it for me by hissing and gesturing wildly at it. The dog ran off and the lady shuffled down the path, grumbling to herself. Every so often a Western-looking person would jog past, and one flew by me on a bicycle, going very fast indeed! After a good nosey around, I took the bus back to the transport hub of Lantau and took the cablecar up to the Big Buddha. The blip is of one of the Buddhavistas that surround the Big Buddha. The whole statue was amazing, and the museum inside was well worth the visit. My only dismay was that it was SO touristy at the base where the cable car stopped - it was Buddha Land (a bit like Disney Land, I imagine).

I bought a lunch token and had a vegetarian lunch at the temple. This was hilarious! I was on my own amongst many Hong Kong families, all of which knew how to eat with chopsticks. I did my best, but the food was quite slippery and the chopsticks were plastic. Several mushrooms found their way to the opposite end of the room. I giggled quietly. Oops! The lemon soya things were amazing! I'm drooling just thinking about them.

Once stuffed, I took the cable car back down and then caught the underground to Kowloon. There I explored the Bird Market, the Goldfish Market (shouldn't have gone really - lots of animals kept in small spaces), then settled down with a large tea to watch The Festival of Lights. I was entranced! Music is piped to people watching from Victoria Harbour and the buildings on Hong Kong Island light up in beat to the music. Brilliant!

I felt very pleased with myself that I'd managed this day on my own and had lots of fun. Of course I missed Fred's company, but he was having fun in New Zealand, and I don't mind spending time with me at all.