Our nearest temple is a five-ish hour flight to Hong Kong, which was all the excuse we needed to go to go over spring break! After a red-eye, we were all a little blurry as we made our way to the hotel. A quick change of clothes and we took the metro to the temple. Unfortunately, it started to rain the last block of our walk (we definitely weren't adequately prepared for rain on this trip). Brandon and the kids got some lunch while I attended the temple, and then we switched and the kids and I went back to the hotel while Brandon went to the temple.
After another clothing change, we caught a taxi to the 10,000 Buddha Temple. It was a little bit of a hike up to the top, but with so many Buddhas to look at, the time went by quickly. Plus--monkeys.
The next day we rode Asia's longest bi-cable car to Ngong Ping village! It was a bit of a wait to get on, but it was also completely worth it. Especially since we opted for the glass bottom car. The views across the ocean and hills were amazing!
We stopped in the village for lunch and then went to see the Big Buddha.
Then we took a bus to the opposite side of the island to see a village famous for its stilt houses. We took a boat tour, which CJ slept through, and explored the village before heading back to Ngong Ping.
Our last stop of the day was to the Po Lin Monastery.
The next day we went to Disneyland! It's a pretty small park, and the lines weren't too bad, so we got to go on all the rides we wanted.
We had a great time at Disneyland, but E woke up that night with a stomach bug and by morning Brandon was sick, too. We're thinking it was the hamburger at Disneyland, since they were the only ones that ate it. The rest of us stuck around the hotel long enough to know that Brandon and E were going to be ok on their own and then we walked the few blocks to the Hong Kong Science Museum. We were dry until the last block when the sky opened up and let us have it. We explored for a few hours, long enough to get dry, before heading back to the hotel. (Apparently it didn't make enough of an impression for me to take any pictures.) Unfortunately, the rain didn't let up and the three of us were thoroughly soaked by the time we got back to the hotel. So the last day of our trip kind of a bust, but I guess that means we'll just have to go back again!
Also, just as an FYI--our hotel happened to be next to a Coco Curry House, which we fell in love with when we visited the Wilson folks in Tokyo. Everyone had it at least once and some of us had it three times. Katsu curry for the win!
One last thing: we were met with a surprise outside of our bedroom once we got home.
Yes, that is a dead, decomposing rat. My guess is that a hawk dropped it on our deck. We had watched a hawk drop a rat outside our building just the week before, so.... Nothing says 'welcome home' like dead rat.
After another clothing change, we caught a taxi to the 10,000 Buddha Temple. It was a little bit of a hike up to the top, but with so many Buddhas to look at, the time went by quickly. Plus--monkeys.
The next day we rode Asia's longest bi-cable car to Ngong Ping village! It was a bit of a wait to get on, but it was also completely worth it. Especially since we opted for the glass bottom car. The views across the ocean and hills were amazing!
We stopped in the village for lunch and then went to see the Big Buddha.
Then we took a bus to the opposite side of the island to see a village famous for its stilt houses. We took a boat tour, which CJ slept through, and explored the village before heading back to Ngong Ping.
Our last stop of the day was to the Po Lin Monastery.
The next day we went to Disneyland! It's a pretty small park, and the lines weren't too bad, so we got to go on all the rides we wanted.
We had a great time at Disneyland, but E woke up that night with a stomach bug and by morning Brandon was sick, too. We're thinking it was the hamburger at Disneyland, since they were the only ones that ate it. The rest of us stuck around the hotel long enough to know that Brandon and E were going to be ok on their own and then we walked the few blocks to the Hong Kong Science Museum. We were dry until the last block when the sky opened up and let us have it. We explored for a few hours, long enough to get dry, before heading back to the hotel. (Apparently it didn't make enough of an impression for me to take any pictures.) Unfortunately, the rain didn't let up and the three of us were thoroughly soaked by the time we got back to the hotel. So the last day of our trip kind of a bust, but I guess that means we'll just have to go back again!
Also, just as an FYI--our hotel happened to be next to a Coco Curry House, which we fell in love with when we visited the Wilson folks in Tokyo. Everyone had it at least once and some of us had it three times. Katsu curry for the win!
One last thing: we were met with a surprise outside of our bedroom once we got home.
Yes, that is a dead, decomposing rat. My guess is that a hawk dropped it on our deck. We had watched a hawk drop a rat outside our building just the week before, so.... Nothing says 'welcome home' like dead rat.