Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Why I've Not Written Anything On Here For Ages - Part V
Part V
The Final Episode!
I put my parents on a plane to the UK, and promptly went home and packed - it was Eid and Hong Kong was calling.
My sister had been to Hong Kong about 2 months earlier, so she gave me a list of 'must see' sights. Top of the list was Tian Tan, the giant Buddha on the top of a hill on Lantau Island.
You reached the Buddha by cable car...and as you probably know, I'm not good with heights. You probably know this, my sister claims she didn't.
Anyway, clearly I wasn't the only one who was scared of heights...
...and these signs were definitely not helping:
At first sight it looked like quite a short cable car ride, but it soon became clear that it wasn't. It was nearly 6 kilometers long, and took about half an hour. It was made extra-long because it kept stopping...which was reassuring.
Finally we got to the Buddha...only 268 steps left to go!
As you can imagine, I enjoyed the return cable car ride just as much! When we got back to Hong Kong Island, I needed to calm my nerves. A lovely cup of tea would sort me out...in a tea house suggested by my sister.
The menu was clearly going to be a problem.
I decided to ditch my sister's Guide To China, and head off to Macau for a spot of gambling.
The Chinese answer to Vegas is a funny old place. Part of it is bright lights, gambling, drinking and working girls, and the other half is an old colonial town. Still, as it was Christmas they still threw lights at it until my retinas started to melt.
It was definitely worth a visit, but if you're going to Macau any time soon, and you need to catch the ferry from Macau straight to Hong Kong Airport, I have a few words of advice for you:
When they say that the boat's check-in closes half an hour before the boat leaves, they're not joking. Turning up with just 15 minutes to spare means you have to bin your very expensive ticket to the airport, buy another one to Hong Kong Island, get a tube to Central, then get the train to the airport. This is rather stressful and time-consuming, and made me more anxious than the Big Buddha’s cable car did. Constantly losing your tube/train tickets doesn't help time-keeping either...although proves a constant source of amusement for the other travellers.
Merry Christmas!!
The Final Episode!
I put my parents on a plane to the UK, and promptly went home and packed - it was Eid and Hong Kong was calling.
My sister had been to Hong Kong about 2 months earlier, so she gave me a list of 'must see' sights. Top of the list was Tian Tan, the giant Buddha on the top of a hill on Lantau Island.
You reached the Buddha by cable car...and as you probably know, I'm not good with heights. You probably know this, my sister claims she didn't.
Anyway, clearly I wasn't the only one who was scared of heights...
...and these signs were definitely not helping:
At first sight it looked like quite a short cable car ride, but it soon became clear that it wasn't. It was nearly 6 kilometers long, and took about half an hour. It was made extra-long because it kept stopping...which was reassuring.
Finally we got to the Buddha...only 268 steps left to go!
As you can imagine, I enjoyed the return cable car ride just as much! When we got back to Hong Kong Island, I needed to calm my nerves. A lovely cup of tea would sort me out...in a tea house suggested by my sister.
The menu was clearly going to be a problem.
I decided to ditch my sister's Guide To China, and head off to Macau for a spot of gambling.
The Chinese answer to Vegas is a funny old place. Part of it is bright lights, gambling, drinking and working girls, and the other half is an old colonial town. Still, as it was Christmas they still threw lights at it until my retinas started to melt.
It was definitely worth a visit, but if you're going to Macau any time soon, and you need to catch the ferry from Macau straight to Hong Kong Airport, I have a few words of advice for you:
When they say that the boat's check-in closes half an hour before the boat leaves, they're not joking. Turning up with just 15 minutes to spare means you have to bin your very expensive ticket to the airport, buy another one to Hong Kong Island, get a tube to Central, then get the train to the airport. This is rather stressful and time-consuming, and made me more anxious than the Big Buddha’s cable car did. Constantly losing your tube/train tickets doesn't help time-keeping either...although proves a constant source of amusement for the other travellers.
Merry Christmas!!
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Merry Christmas Steff :)
Very interesting pictures, I liked the worried pic before the cable car, however i think looked a bit underdressed for the occasion.
In the tea room, did you plan to have a sun beam into one of your eyes. Was that pure genius of a ramdom person taking pic for you.
Did you really keep losing your tickets? Sounds expensive if had to re buy at every point of the trip.
I hope 2009 brings your more fun Adventures! xxx
Very interesting pictures, I liked the worried pic before the cable car, however i think looked a bit underdressed for the occasion.
In the tea room, did you plan to have a sun beam into one of your eyes. Was that pure genius of a ramdom person taking pic for you.
Did you really keep losing your tickets? Sounds expensive if had to re buy at every point of the trip.
I hope 2009 brings your more fun Adventures! xxx
# posted by 
: 9:25 AM
: 9:25 AM
Hi Steff,
Have you seen the news of the Cat upstaging the weather reporter on German TV?
I think it be really cool if you had a Puppy on your weather report, there will be much more awww factor.
The main thing is, try not to make it look like a Andrex advert.
:)
Have you seen the news of the Cat upstaging the weather reporter on German TV?
I think it be really cool if you had a Puppy on your weather report, there will be much more awww factor.
The main thing is, try not to make it look like a Andrex advert.
:)
# posted by : 10:45 AM
: 10:45 AM
How was I supposed to know that you were scared of heights?! And I thought that maybe the words 'cable car' would have suggested some height may have been involved ...
And I'm still convinced Doha is the missing half of Stonehenge.
Chicken x
And I'm still convinced Doha is the missing half of Stonehenge.
Chicken x
# posted by : 9:11 AM
: 9:11 AM
A cat? What?! Where am I supposed to find a cat from?! Oh hang on, there are millions of stray ones here in Doha...but they're all pretty mankey. Do you think that matters?
And yes, ok Chicken, you DID mention the cable car, but you didn't mention the fact that it was reallllllllly long, realllllly high and reallllllly scarey.
I can't believe you didn't know I was scared of heights. It's the only reason I didn't grow as tall as you or Mark.
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And yes, ok Chicken, you DID mention the cable car, but you didn't mention the fact that it was reallllllllly long, realllllly high and reallllllly scarey.
I can't believe you didn't know I was scared of heights. It's the only reason I didn't grow as tall as you or Mark.
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