Cuturally Stuff

  Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Sunday, February 4, 2007

Hey guys, I'm finally on the net doing a proper update so I'll be shuffling around some photos and fixing some little bugs if I get time.

Saturday marked the beginning of the end of our Hong Kong Disneyland fun, with us travelling away from the resort to enjoy the Ngong Ping 360 experience on Lantau Island.
The morning began with another scrumptious Chef Mickey buffet breakfast to fill us up before we once again embarked on that fun walk from the hotel to the park.  This time we detoured to the as yet unused ferry pier to have a look.  It's a big facility and it's completely empty - a bit spooky.

Arriving at Sunny Bay

As expected, it was somewhat difficult to continue to walk the extra 400m from the park entrance on to the MTR station, but we managed to acheive this, spurred on by the never-ending area music.  The whimsical Disney Resort line train connected us to the regular MTR Tung Chung line for the 5 minute trip out to Tung Chung, our first exposure to the real aspect of Hong Kong.
Belinda grabbed some batteries and we headed up to Ngong Ping 360 station to get our tickets and, of course, give Belinda some time to visit the loos.

The cable car was a lengthy experience, though not at all boring.  The mamoth gondolas carry a max of 17 people each, although they were only loading as many as could fit on the bench seats; 6 to 8 people.  We were able to enjoy some spectacular views during the journey, which involves travelling on 3 cable sections and going through 2 angling stations.  The longest section paralells the airport as it climbs the mountains, offering many a view of planes taking off and landing.

Cable Car

At the top we reached the Ngong Ping village, constructed for the recently openned cable car.  Here we enjoyed the Monkey's Tale cartoon movie show and the Walking With Buddha experience.  Out of these 2 we preferred the Walking With Buddha as it involved several auditoriums and used creative environments to convey its message in an interesting and engaging fashion.  Each viewer had their own headset that played tracks in the relevant language based on the infra red sensor information placed along the experience's route.

Of course we were also up at Ngong Ping to enjoy the Tian Tan Buddha and monastery. Like all good tourists we ascended the long flight of stairs to the summit where the Giant Buddha is seated.
After exploring the Buddha and its surrounds we made our way back down the stairs to the monastery for our vegetarian lunch. The food was interesting and different for us, with the chopstick only nature of the dining making for a fun meal.

Inspiration Lake Recreation Centre

Back down we travelled on the cable car, enjoying the relaxing ride, which was a pleasant contrast to my last trip on the bus. Once back at the Disneyland MTR station we decided to walk back to the hotel the long way, making a stop at the resort's Inspiration Lake. It was getting dark so our time at the lake was limited, moving us on to the hotel on foot one last
time.

We then had enough time for a very quick rest, a small dinner at Hollywood and Dine and then grab a last Mickey head shaped ice cream to enjoy whilst watching the fireworks in the park from the front of the hotel.