Thursday, April 21, 2011

Miguel's Bachelor Party - Day 5 Part 1 - Macau/Giant Buddha

We had a long day ahead of us. We still had the plan to visit the Giant Buddha before our flight to Bangkok and we needed to get some food in us. After a long search for some dim sum in Hong Kong, we finally settled on the restaurant in the hotel. Not exactly your hole-in-the-wall experience, but still very tasty nonetheless. The waitresses had fun with us, simply because we could use chopsticks and they found that surprising. After a little playful banter with the one waitress that spoke english, we learned that in Hong Kong and Macau, they say, "do-jeh" for thank-you. They understand thank you in chinese perfectly, but it was nice to learn something specific to their preferred language (Cantonese).




Miguel, the Roulette Magician, decided to spend his last hours in Macau pissing off the natives surrounding the wheel and banking on the numbers with the greatest odds. Needless to say, when he hit on double zero, he wasn't making friends from those sitting pensively with their spreadsheets and calculations. He walked away from Macau generously up, which helped brush off the undeserved indignation of his rivaling roulette players. Let's just say, they tried to block him out of the table while softly murmuring under their breath, gweilo.

We now had cars, boats, trains, and planes to catch for the rest of the day. Did I mention a sky tram as well? Before jumping on the plane to Bangkok, we left Macau to visit the Giant Buddha. The Giant Buddha is one of the great tourist attractions that one must visit while in Hong Kong. If you have all day, you may hike from the base and over two sets of ridges to stand in front of the Giant Buddha. However, for those in a little bit of a rush, you can take the sky tram. They had two options, a gondola without a see-through bottom or, you guessed it, a gondola with a glass bottom. Bobby was, possibly is still, afraid of heights. However, those limits were about to be tested, because Miguel and I quickly chose the glass bottom. That decision was purely for you, Bobby. Little to our surprise, Bobby was breaking through barriers and walls like the Kool-Aid guy on this trip. He eased into sitting on the gondola very quickly.




The Giant Buddha sits outside of the Po Lin Monastery that welcomes millions of visitors a year. The serene nature of the Ngong Ping plateau is clearly evident and one can quickly assess why the Buddhist monks chose to build their monastery there. However, the placement of the Giant Buddha near the monastery has turned the area into a tourist zoo disturbing the tranquility. Oh, there is a Subway sandwich shop in the newly constructed Ngong Ping village as well. Yeah, so don't go because you think you'll be observing a setting that dates back thousands of years that remains as serene as it used. You can have your coffee, bagels, and Subway while observing Buddha.








We only had enough time to rush by the Giant Buddha and quickly visit the Po Lin Monastery, but I have a sense I could've spent a lot more time wandering the grounds. Next time, I'll visit the Wisdom Path.

Our time in Hong Kong is suspended until our return flight back from Phuket. However, our exploration of the area is officially over. I was thoroughly impressed with Hong Kong and all it has to offer. There is so much to the city that I foresee another visit in my future. It's a great city with great diversity and much more welcoming than I originally imagined.

With that, Hong Kong is now a memory, as we board our flight to Bangkok, Thailand. Our thoughts have shifted to the adventures that await us, the sand and sun, and crystal clear waters.

Full Album of Macau

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