We got up and went to meet Ceci at Tai Wai Station, where she took us for breakfast/lunch/brunch. I had my trusty cheese and egg sarnie, this time in toasted bread, which was delish. Ceci and NM polished off a large bowl of noodles and spicy beef.With coffees it all cost me the princely sum of £6.
Then we walked round to the bike rental shop. I don't mind saying that both NM and I were petrified, neither of us had ridden in about 30 years, and neither wanted to let everyone down by not being able to ride or falling off! The guy brought out bikes for us to try, and we wobbled about the pavement before heading off.
And then things got better! There is a complete network of cycle tracks alongside the Shing Mun River, and we cycled the distance of 3.5 MTR stops, about 7 miles, before cycling back.
If we lived here, we'd be cycling every weekend. Or if we had such suitable cycle ways at home I'm sure we'd buy bikes there too. Luckily, yesterday wasn't as hot as it has been, and there was quite a breeze so the journey was pleasantly warm rather than burning!
After dropping the bikes back, Ceci took us up the 1000 steps to the Monastery of 10,000 Buddhas. What an amazing place! This is the view as you approach the climb...
The whole way up is lined with gold buddhas, every one with a different face, pose and position!
He was one of my favouritesWhen we got to the top, this is what we found
It's a beautiful place, so peaceful, and so far off the ground!!
From here we climbed to another monastery further up into the hill, which is being renovated and certainly has the WOW factor!
This statue of Kuan Yin stands about 30 feet high!
And the hillside is just covered with more buddhas
From here we climbed to another monastery further up into the hill, which is being renovated and certainly has the WOW factor!
This statue of Kuan Yin stands about 30 feet high!
And the hillside is just covered with more buddhasI have so many more photos I could publish here, but the internet connection is so slow it's taking forever, and we're going out again shortly.
We took ourselves back down to Tai Wai for some refreshments, then back on the MTR to Shatin, where the rest of Ceci's family had arranged to meet us for dinner. There were 8 of us sitting round a table in a very nice restaurant sharing many delicious dishes. The whole Chinese way is so sociable, with everyone sharing and helping each other.
We gave Charmaine, Ceci's daughter, her Christmas present which she was allowed to open. She's the excellent Latin dancer, so we bought her a DVD of Strictly Come Dancing and had great fun trying to explain the concept!
She also had some artificial snow, so she could pretend to be English and a chocolate Advent Calendar which was admired by everyone.
So today we're off to the Po-Lin Monastery and Big Buddha, and the Ngong Ping Village. Tonight we are having dinner with NM's brother and sister-in-law before we return home late Friday night.
We took ourselves back down to Tai Wai for some refreshments, then back on the MTR to Shatin, where the rest of Ceci's family had arranged to meet us for dinner. There were 8 of us sitting round a table in a very nice restaurant sharing many delicious dishes. The whole Chinese way is so sociable, with everyone sharing and helping each other.
We gave Charmaine, Ceci's daughter, her Christmas present which she was allowed to open. She's the excellent Latin dancer, so we bought her a DVD of Strictly Come Dancing and had great fun trying to explain the concept!She also had some artificial snow, so she could pretend to be English and a chocolate Advent Calendar which was admired by everyone.
So today we're off to the Po-Lin Monastery and Big Buddha, and the Ngong Ping Village. Tonight we are having dinner with NM's brother and sister-in-law before we return home late Friday night.
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