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The Chi Lin Nunnery was built in 1998 (yes - very very recent). It's a beautifully layed out monastery and garden grounds in the middle of urban sprawl. There were many various shrines, and we enjoyed peaking in at each one. The grounds were impeccable - it was a different experience to see a modern temple - so clean cut - yet using ancient Chinese architectural style. We enjoyed a half-hour of soaking in the ambience here.
Satisfied with all the bird noises, we decided to walk through a few street markets selling various clothes, nik nacks, etc along the way back. We also stopped in on the goldfish market, which had all sorts of fish for sale on the street (more pet fish than fish for eating). There was even a tarantula for sale, bunnies, chinchillas and several other kinds of pets. Interesting street :). We also stopped at a real fish market, where fish were literally jumping out of their tanks, and even splashing water on people walking by. With all the chopping of heads going on, we dashed quickly through this part :).
We headed back to our room, but a few minutes later, Jaimie and I headed down stairs hoping to get a small bite of noodles at the hotel restaurant. Unfortunately, the cafe didn't have noodles, so we "snuck out" for a small pizza from Pizza hut. Hong Kong Pizza Hut was interesting, there were people with suits, and they have a full Italian menu including seafood. It was funny to see Pizza Hut as a "real" restaurant :). But the pizza hit the spot for a small dinner snack, and we passed out content - ready for another full day of touring. View Hong Kong (& Macau) Photo Gallery Day 122 - Hong Kong < | Index | Photo Galleries | > Day 124 - Macau © 2007 Blue Ocean Studios, LTD. All rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Services | About | Contact Prints | Return Policy | View Cart World Travel Galleries | World Travel Blog | Links |
A slow start today, as it was raining outside. The funny thing about the rain here is that it's like Seattle's, in the sense that it downpours then drizzles and repeats the cycle forever :). Well, not knowing this, we were trying to "wait it out" in the beginning, but after a few cycles, we decided to head out to pick up our passports with our Chinese visa over at the Chinese consulate. We stopped at Starbucks for breakfast (yes - there's a Starbucks on every corner here too!). After coffee, OJ, and pastries, a short Star ferry ride across the HK bay got us to the Chinese consulate. It was a quick pickup, and we found ourselves back on the ferry before we knew it. Another morning task was to pick up our Japanese train pass (as you have to buy this tourist geared 7 day train pass outside the country). This was as easy as walking to the right travel office and paying.
After taking care of our housekeeping tasks, we enjoyed a short walk through the Peninsula hotel. We did it out of convenience, but it turned out to be quite an experience. Built in the 1920's, this hotel was unbelievably decadent, it rivaled some of the temples around the world we've been in!! Not to mention the string quartet on an upstairs balcony - which resonated throughout the lobby. We watched folks enjoy their mid-day tea and we wondered what this place goes for a night (quick internet check shows starting at $375!)! Funny thing is, later we realized this was listed under tourist attractions in the Lonely Planet - I guess we can check that one off :). 
We stopped briefly stop in our rooms and were then off to lunch. We walked around a few streets, and found an entrance to a shopping arcade. We guessed there would be food in there, and after looking around for a few seconds, we found an information booth. The information person told us there was only Indian food (we thought ok - only one Indian restaurant). He pointed to a sign, and there were 4 different Indian restaurants in this place!! We looked around, and realized we were in the "Indian" section of town. We were surronded by Indians (not a bad thing :)). We were excited to have Indian food again, picked one out of the list, and were walked to the restaurant by a worker who happened to be standing next to the information booth. The food was much less expensive than the other night (which was on a main street instead of on the 3rd floor of this shopping arcade). But the food did not suffer from the lower price - in fact, it was even much better! Lunch was incredible - if it wasn't for all the oil used, I could eat Indian food every day!
Continuing our tour of Hong Kong, we took off to the Chi Lin Nunnery via subway. The subway itself is excellent - very clean and excellent rates (only $1 to go about 9 stops for our Buddhist encounters). After getting off the subway, we were happy to find clearly marked street signs to our tourist destination - no maps needed! Good planning by the city! We followed the signs, and within a few minutes were at the Chi Lin Nunnery. 
From the nunnery, we headed back into town via subway - stopping off early for a few other destinations. On our way to the Yoen Po St. Bird garden/market, we passed through a flower market. There, of course, were some unusual/unidentifiable flowers (at least with our limited flower knowledge:). Just around the corner, we arrived at the bird market . It was pretty much a huge pet store of various kinds of birds. Jackie was interested in a bamboo bird cage, but I don't think we'd make it back with that :) . When we visited the HK park bird aviary, there were various signs to not touch any bird fluids, wash your hands, etc., but oddly none around here. Either way, we kept our distance a little from the birds, while we perused the various types. It's thought that the more/louder a bird chirps, the more luck it brings - so we were greeted with an ensemble with squeaking and squawking birds for sale :).
We were so satiated from our late Indian food, that "we" skipped dinner. After a short rest, we regrouped in Tom and Jackie's harbour view room, and enjoyed another night of the Hong Kong laser/building light show. We also did some research about tomorrow's destination - Hong Kong Disney World. We learned that there are very few attractions and rides compared to other Disney's (they are still in the process of making many of them), and that this wasn't going to be as fun as we thought. Oh well. We thought we'd maybe go to Macau tomorrow instead - TBD. 