As I am starting this entry I am still smiling. It was an awesome, amazing and wonderful day.
We set off early to beat the crowds to Ngong Ping. We only had to swap trains once to get there. Super easy. We got off the train and walked around 2 min to the cable car terminus. There were no huge lines so we got our tickets. We got the Sky, Sea and Land pass and upgraded to get a crystal cabin. We joined the crystal cabin queue which was shorter and within no time we were getting on. I had to laugh today as Anth and I were dressed in tshirts and Hong Kong had issued a cold weather warning for 17 degrees.
We jumped on the cable car and took off along the 25min journey to the top. The cable car runs for 5.7km across beautiful mountains as well as the south china sea. It was really beautiful. We were also lucky to have the glass bottom as it was amazing to look at your feet and sea forest or sea moving underneath them.
We arrived at the top in Ngong ping village and bought the photo from the cable car. The tried to sell us snow globes and key rings and mugs with our pictures to, but we respectfully declined. The village is a collection of many different shops and we had a poke around in them until the walking with Buddha show was ready at 11. I bought a garnet beaded bracelet from a shop.
The walking with Buddha show was included in our ticket and we were the only ones there for the 11 o’clock show. We picked up an audio guide for the show. In English of course and sat down. The show moved you through different rooms with huge multimedia videos showing how Buddha became the Buddha. It was really interesting and really well set out. After finishing this we set our eyes on the Big Bronze Buddha.
To get to the Buddha we had to walk through a small park which had the 12 warriors for the Zodiac. Pretty cool. On our way through there Anthony got some grilled BBQ Squid and ate it. If you see the picture of him with his Zodiac Sign he is armed with squid instead of an Axe like the statue.
At the bottom of the Buddha an American couple took our picture for us and they though Anthony was American. This is also not the first time people have thought he is American. We walked up the stairs and there were lots of them to reach the Buddha. The view from the top is beautiful. There are other statues up there too and people were throwing coins at them even though the sign clearly said DO NOT THROW COINS! We took some pictures and then made our way to the bus terminal to go to Tai-O.
The bus tickets were included in our Ngong Ping ticket so we took the bus around the mountain to a little fishing village down the bottom. From there we walked through all the market stalls selling fresh, swimming and dried seafood and made our way to the Tai-O Boat excursion. I found this village fascinating as all the houses and shops are built on stilts over the water. The boat tour took us through a bit of the village and then out into the sea to try and spot some rare pink dolphins. Unfortunately we did not see any but the boat ride was fantastic.
Back on dry land we looked through the rest of the town and Anthony found prawns bigger then his hand. Having enough of the fishy smell we headed back to the bus to go back to Ngong Ping.
We had a bite to eat and then headed back to the cable car. The trip down was nice too. Some of the haze had lifted so you could see a bit further. We made it to the train station and Anthony suggested as we were one stop from Disneyland we should go have dinner at the Disneyland hotel and try and find my bear. I was so excited what a marvelous idea. He is such a clever cookie.
We train hopped to Disneyland and walked down Park Promenade to get to the hotels. We didn’t see Disneyland as we didn’t want to ruin the excitement for next week. After a very nice 20min walk we arrived at Disneyland Hotel. We went into its gift shop and success there was Duffy the Disney Bear. I got Duffy, a small mickey, Duffy’s sailor outfit, some stamps, a watch and a earphone holder and then decided I should wait for Disneyland to spend more money. Duffy is so cute!!!!
We took a shuttle bus to the other hotel. Disney’s Hollywood Hotel and made a reservation for the chef Mickey restaurant. Chef Mickey is a all you can eat buffet and once we were seated we were both pretty excited. Dinner was amazing with tiny Disney touches everywhere. Anthony was happy with their seafood collection and cold meats. With dinner done and one very happy Amy. We traveled to the hotel with Anthony carrying Duffy is his bag.
It was one of the best days I have had. I cannot wait for Disneyland but first. Ocean Park tomorrow.