adventures before school starts :(

So I have been trying to cram a few explorations in this weekend before I have to face the responsibility of school. Things started off a little rough...I was planning on taking a bus to a trains station on the green line. From the directions I had in my orientation packet, the bus I got on would go there and the sign on the bus said it would go there too. So I had no reason to believe I would end up somewhere else. When the bus stopped at the end of the purple line and all the passengers were getting off, I figured something went wrong. But after a little damage control and extension to my excursion, I made it to where I wanted to be.

That night, I went out to dinner with my buddy to a thai restaurant in Sai Kung that could give Taste of Thai a run for its money (although I'm sure Taste of Thai needs its money anyway after the little problem it has now...). Following dinner, we went to this chinese dessert place. They had things like ice cream and smoothie like things, but the majority of their desserts are kind of sweet, cold soups with bean pastes, fruit and jellies. I tried the Mango Glass Jelly. Here is a picture of one I found online (I need to start taking pictures of my food like somebody I know...), but it was basically a sweet, creamy milk with ice chips, a chunk of fresh mango, and flavorless, gelatinous black cubes called "grass jelly". Overall, was surprisingly good!

Today, couple of people I have metand I headed across all of Hong Kong to the Po Lin Monastery and "Big Buddha" on Lantau Island. It took about an hour to get there, but after a bus, 3 different train lines and a cable car ride up to the top of the mountain, we made it. It was quite busy since it was Sunday and part of the new year, there were many people who made the trek for religious reasons as well as many tourists. The cable car ride, while comparatively expensive (107 HKD! or approx 14 USD) showcased wonderful vistas.

The Buddha itself was pretty neat, as was the monastery. The incense at the monestary was so thick it was hard to breathe! It was kind of weird to be taking pictures while many people around us were praying to the Buddha. Another strange thing about this place is that it is relatively new...its only been around about 30 years, even the Buddha and parts of the monasteries Parts of this place seemed akin to Disney World or Six Flags...toursity and ridiculously over priced and complete with a Starbucks. All in all a good and tiring day.





More pictures of Po Lin will soon be posted on facebook albums. Due to poor lighting, the pictures are kind of yucky. Maybe I will photoshop a few of them when I have the time. I also recently posted a few more pictures of campus that I took with my phone.