Tuesday 7th December

Oh wow, we had such a brilliant day yesterday I hardly know where to begin. Except to say that I have ached in every muscle of my body all night, despite a hot bath and Nurofen before I went to bed! Yes, it was the day of the Bike Ride!


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 favourites

When 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

I 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.

Monday 6th December

When we got up this morning, we didn't realise what the day would bring!


Our plans kept changing today, so I ended up going back to the bead shops to finish shopping for my daughter-in-law's wishlist. NM decided to come with me and make sure I went the right way out of the station, haha, then he could go on to do some shopping in Fish Shop Street.

A bead shop, just for Manda :)

After getting waylaid looking at mobile phone cases, we eventually got to the bead shops and he then headed back to the station. On his way through a side street, he bumped into his old best friend from when he lived in Hong Kong. They hadn't seen each other for 12 years! Neither of them would normally have been in that area; it must have been fate.

We all had a drink together and made plans to meet up for a meal and a proper catch up on Thursday before we go home. What a lovely thing to have happened, we are both so excited!

But then, when NM arrived at Tung Choi Street, it was full of fire engines, ambulances and Police. There had been 3 arson attacks at 5am, many shops and stalls in the next street were totally destroyed and about 200 residents had to be evacuated.

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Even 12 hours after the attacks, the emergency services were all still present, and the residents were sheltering in a small park, some of them still in their nightclothes.


My favourite shop must be amongst those destroyed. The majority of the shop and stall owners had no insurance, and their shops were totally stocked up for Christmas. I hope the Police catch the man responsible, and quickly, before he ruins any other livelihoods.


And then this was our tea. Not very Chinese, but delicious all the same. Thanks Pizza Hut!








And today? No laughing at the back, but we're going bike riding through the New Territories!

Anyone who knows us will be laughing hysterically at this point. I haven't ridden a bike for about 30 years, and neither of us are exactly built for the activity any longer, but Ceci thinks it's an excellent idea. It's pretty hot and sunny still, so we have to buy sunhats as well, but carry jackets for later. We've got a busy few final days coming up, with lots already planned, and I can see both of us being unable to move much tomorrow....

Until then, dear readers. Think of us and our saddle sores as you toddle off to work today ;)