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Hong Kong: Lantau Island The Big Buddha, Po Lin Monastery, Wisdom Path; Tai O, Symphony of Lights

Hong Kong: Lantau Island The Big Buddha, Po Lin Monastery, Wisdom Path; Tai O, Symphony of Lights

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When you are in Hong Kong, eating dimsum is highly recommended, if not compulsory.

I have read from Miss TamChiak about a dimsum place called Saam Hui Yaat, which is just a few blocks from my hotel at Best Western Harbour View Hotel (now Ramada Hong Kong Harbour View) in Sai Ying Pun.

We kicked off our first morning in HK with breakfast at this place. I don’t speak Cantonese so I basically used body language 🙂

We were greeted and seated by an old man, he gave us 2 tea bowls, a kettle of tea for drinking, and a bowl of warm water for washing utensils. Once settled, I walked to the counter and pointed to the food that I wanted. Then the old man at the counter heated them up and served us not long after. Four plates of dimsum later, we were pretty full.

Dimsum breakfast from Saam Hui Yaat, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong

Dimsum breakfast from Saam Hui Yaat

And we set off to our first destination: Lantau Island. Our initial plan was to do hiking on a segment of Lantau Trail, starting from Pak Kung Au, passing through Lantau Peak (which is 2nd highest peak in HK), followed by Wisdom Path, and finally ending at the Big Buddha in Ngong Ping. This route is suggested by Itishk.

However, I got stomach cramp on that day, and my sister was not confident to do such hiking. So we took the easy way out: take cable car from Tung Chung MTR to Ngong Ping Village!

Ngong Ping 360 cable car, Hong Kong

Ngong Ping 360 cable car

Ngong Ping 360 cable car, with HK aiport in background, Hong Kong

Hong Kong Airport in the background

Lantau Island

The cable car return trip cost $185 for adult, standard cabin. More details about pricing here.

We explored Ngong Ping village, Po Lin Monastery, and climbed the stairs to the Big Buddha. They are all within walking distance, you will not miss it.

Tired from the exploration, we bought lunch from Deli Vegetarian Cafe just beside Po Lin Monastery. The trick to buying food here is: you must queue from the back of the line even though the item that you want is located at the front of the line.

We went straight to the front of the line and nobody served us. Lesson learnt. And for the vegetarian main dish, there are 3 types of dishes to choose from, no matter how many types you choose, the total combined portion will be same, so you will pay the same price regardless of how many types of dishes. For me, the food was mediocre and too sweet for my liking.

Ngong Ping village, Big Buddha, Hong Kong

At Ngong Ping Village

Ngong Ping village, Po Lin Monastery, Hong Kong

The road towards Po Lin Monastery

Ngong Ping village, Tian Tian Big Buddha, Hong Kong

The Big Buddha

Ngong Ping village, Po Lin Monastery, Hong Kong

Po Lin Monastery

Ngong Ping village, Po Lin Monastery, Hong Kong

Visitors may bathe the Buddha

Ngong Ping village, Tian Tian Buddha, the Big Buddha, Hong Kong

The high and long climb to the Big Buddha

Ngong Ping village, Tian Tian Buddha, the Big Buddha, Hong Kong

Climbing the stairs to the Big Buddha

Ngong Ping village, Tian Tian Buddha, the Big Buddha, Hong Kong

The Big Buddha

Ngong Ping village, Tian Tian Buddha, the Big Buddha, Hong Kong

Descending the stairs from the Big Buddha

Ngong Ping village, Deli Vegetarian Cafe, Po Lin Monastery, Hong Kong

Deli Vegetarian Cafe

Ngong Ping village, Deli Vegetarian Cafe, Po Lin Monastery, Hong Kong

Vegetarian dishes

With the newly loaded stomach, we headed to Wisdom Path. It was probably 10 mins walk from Ngong Ping, but not many people went there. To my surprise, I love it there.

There are plenty vertical wood planks written in Chinese characters, located on the hill. Coupled with Lantau Peak and blue sky as the background, it makes a great photo-shooting location. Man, I really love the mountain and wish that I climbed to Lantau Peak.

Well, I thought, I should just try to hike Lantau Trail from Wisdom Path and see how far I can go. And I did it! Alone, because my sister was tired and her shoes were kind of damaged. I hiked for about 500m, yay!

The trail was full of concrete stairs and gravelled paths. The view was great. Without training, I felt my legs were starting to feel like jelly, so I turned back. Next time, I’m truly gonna hike this Lantau peak!

Ngong Ping village, Wisdom Path, Hong Kong

The arrows pointing to Wisdom Path

Ngong Ping village, Wisdom Path, Hong Kong

Wisdom Path

Ngong Ping village, Wisdom Path, Lantau Peak Trail, Hong Kong

Arrow pointing to Lantau Peak trail

Ngong Ping village, Wisdom Path, Lantau Peak Trail, Hong Kong

View of Wisdom Path from Lantau Trail

Ngong Ping village, Wisdom Path, Lantau Peak Trail, Hong Kong

Lantau Trail

Tai O

Done with Ngong Ping, we took bus 21 from Ngong Ping bus terminal to Tai O. The bus ride costs $6.3 one-way, and can be paid with Octopus card. The bus schedule is not frequent, refer to bus route and schedule here to plan for your itinerary. Tai O is a quiet fishing village with many shops along the narrow roads in the so-called market. At the bridge, some women asked us if we wanted a boat ride, but we didn’t have time so we didn’t take it. Maybe next time! We spent only 30-40 mins there because we had to catch the next bus that leaves Tai O before it’s late. Tai O is definitely worth a visit as a retreat for your eyes.

Tai O Fishing Village, Hong Kong

Tai O Fishing Village

Tai O Fishing Village, Hong Kong

The small town of Tai O

Tai O Fishing Village Stilt houses, Hong Kong

Stilt houses

We took bus 21 again from Tai O to Ngong Ping, then cable car from Ngong Ping to Tung Chung, followed by MTR from Tung Chung to Tsim Sha Tsui.

We wanted to visit Avenue of Stars but got lost because there was an ongoing construction around Victoria Harbour, so a lot of walkways were blocked.

After few rounds of walking, google mapping, and googling, we finally realised that Avenue of Stars is closed for renovation! How stupid were we, lol! According to Discover Hong Kong, Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui is closed for repair and improvement works, which are expected to be completed around the end of 2018.

A selection of the Avenue of Stars exhibits is displayed at Garden of Stars and Starry Gallery in the meantime. So we hung around the promenade, taking photos and enjoying the breeze.

Construction is ongoing at Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Construction at Tsim Sha Tsui which is blocking many places

Victoria Harbour building skyline, Hong Kong

View at Victoria Harbour

Victoria Harbour, Tsim Sha Tsui promenade, Hong Kong

Tsim Sha Tsui promenade

We walked about 1 km from Tsim Sha Tsui promenade to Star Cafe (Address: Shop No. 36, Champagne Court, 16-20 Kimberley Road). This cafe is not easy to locate, however it receives numerous positive reviews from Singapore bloggers, such as DanielFoodDiary, so I reckon that it’s worth a visit.

The price is not cheap, $37 for a bowl of tomato cheese beef noodle. My sister and I shared a bowl so that we can eat other things later. Our next food was egg waffle from Mammy Pancake (a Michelin-starred street food). We had an original and a green tea egg waffle. They were great.

Star Cafe food menu, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Star Cafe food menu

Star Cafe drink menu, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Star Cafe drink menu

Tomato cheese beef noodle (before mixing)

Tomato cheese beef noodle (after mixing)

Mammy Pancake, original egg waffle, green tea egg waffle, michelin starred street food, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Egg waffles from Mammy Pancake

Symphony of Lights

We ended our night with watching Symphony of Lights at Victoria Harbour. It starts at 8pm daily and lasts about 13 minutes. About 40 buildings are lighted up; laser beams and music are present too.

The show is free of charge, and it is always jam-packed with visitors. If you want uninterrupted view, consider getting there early and setting up your “spot” before crowd arrives.

Symphony of Lights, Victoria Harbour, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Symphony of Lights


This is Part 4 of 10 in my “Hong Kong Trip in 2016” series. Read other parts of this series:

To see all articles I’ve written about this country, visit my Hong Kong page.


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