Nan Lian nunnery
Nan Lian Gardens
Symphony of lights
On the 23rd May, we left Sydney and arrived (after a 14 hour flight, in which i got my tongue stuck to an ice lolly, and had to have it ripped off by Nick who was in hysterics) in Hong Kong. It was a bit of a culture shock after Sydney! We were attacked by hawkers telling us to come to their hotel, it was much better than the one we had booked, but eventually found Kowloon New Hotel. It was... interesting. There was no kitchen or living area, and the mattresses we were sleeping on were about 2 inches thick. The bathrooms were about 2 metres square, in which was crammed a toilet, a sink, and a shower unit. You had to squeeze in, as the door ricocheted off the toilet. You showered in the small area not taken up with the toilet and sink, and only on the last day could I get the hot water to work. The hostel was on the 13th floor of an apartment block, and out of the (tiny) window in our 6 bed dorm you could see lots of washing and air conditioning units. Otherwise, the hostel was fine!
Hong Kong is an interesting place to be - skyscrapers and neon lights everywhere. At first we thought it was cloudy, but were later told that the constant mist was actually polluted smog from the factories. We had dinner pretty much every day in the same place, apart from one time when we went to TGI Fridays, without realising how much it cost, and spent about 4 times as much on a meal as we would in a chinese restaurant (which is about 6 pounds for both of us). The place we usually frequented was lovely, and they had an english menu! They also gave us unlimited refills of jasmine tea. Tea in China isn't served in teacups, rather plastic beakers or glaases with no handle. However the tea is usually lukewarm rather than hot.
We went to Nan Lian gardens and Nunnery, which were beautiful. The nunnery was filled with golden buddhas, and it was a shame that photos were prohibited, although it was obvious why - they were obviously very important to the chinese. We also went to the Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple, where I was asked to have my photo taken with some Chinese! A little girl came up and held my hand whilst her Dad took a picture - apparently we have to get used to this, as many Chinese have never or rarely seen foreigners (or 'aliens' as the chinese word translates to). We also visited the museum of history, which was interesting, although I think the chinese government might have had a hand in what was said. At night, we went to see the 'symphony of lights', a tourist attraction. Basically music is played as you stand by the water's edge, and you watch neon lights on the building on the opposite side of the water flash and move in time to the music.
Hong Kong is an interesting place to be - skyscrapers and neon lights everywhere. At first we thought it was cloudy, but were later told that the constant mist was actually polluted smog from the factories. We had dinner pretty much every day in the same place, apart from one time when we went to TGI Fridays, without realising how much it cost, and spent about 4 times as much on a meal as we would in a chinese restaurant (which is about 6 pounds for both of us). The place we usually frequented was lovely, and they had an english menu! They also gave us unlimited refills of jasmine tea. Tea in China isn't served in teacups, rather plastic beakers or glaases with no handle. However the tea is usually lukewarm rather than hot.
We went to Nan Lian gardens and Nunnery, which were beautiful. The nunnery was filled with golden buddhas, and it was a shame that photos were prohibited, although it was obvious why - they were obviously very important to the chinese. We also went to the Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple, where I was asked to have my photo taken with some Chinese! A little girl came up and held my hand whilst her Dad took a picture - apparently we have to get used to this, as many Chinese have never or rarely seen foreigners (or 'aliens' as the chinese word translates to). We also visited the museum of history, which was interesting, although I think the chinese government might have had a hand in what was said. At night, we went to see the 'symphony of lights', a tourist attraction. Basically music is played as you stand by the water's edge, and you watch neon lights on the building on the opposite side of the water flash and move in time to the music.
duck tongues? with bones?
ReplyDeletequite adventurous you are i see