K-in-HongKong: The Big Buddha at Lantau Island
Anyeong! It's finally Friday again!!! Woot! Noona feels like she's coming back from the death everytime it's Friday. Although, actually this Friday, she has to wake up with a swollen ankle thanks to the injury she accidentally-self-inflicted the night before due to a Bulbasaur. Darn you, cute green little monster. Oh well lesson learnt, no more catching Bulbasaur without looking at where she's going again. The hard way. *sigh*
Okay, moving on. Where are we going today? Ah yes, let's transport ourselves to Lantau Island in W-kind-of-way.
"Noona summons herself now"
Anyeong! Welcome to Lantau Island. If you ask everyone in Hong Kong, what's so special about Lantau Island, Noona bets most of the people will answer "the big Buddha statue". So that's what we are going to check out today. But first, if you are taking a package tour, most likely you will be brought here by a bus. From where you alighted, you will walk on the path guarded by the 12 zodiacs. Noona's chingu proudly announced she's born in the year of Tiger. Oh gasp! Stop disclosing Noona's age, damn chingu.
Ahem, okay let's wipe the above scene from our memory. Other than the big Buddha, Lantau Island is famous amongst the Buddhist pilgrims because there is a Po Lin Monastery here. Although size-wise, it is not the biggest in the world (biggest is in Kaohsiung, it seems), the temple is huge enough to house a lot of god statues inside for praying activity.
The rooftop of the monastery looks very similar to Korean's palaces though. For a moment, Noona thought she has accidentally teleported herself to Seoul.
Anyeong Seo..? Oh wait, we are still in Lantau Island. Hahaha. There is still task to conquer here, people (okay, Noona hasn't recovered from W's effect). Hahahaha.
The Chinese gate here is the exact replica of the bigger (and original) one in China (this fact explained by the tour guide so it must be true?). And there is it, the big Buddha which is known as Tian Tan Buddha.
If you want to check out the big Buddha from closer look, you have to climb 250+ stairs (oh gawd) to reach the baseline where he sits. A lot of people climb of course, but the weather was humid and hot so Noona gave it a miss. Total princess syndrome she knows.
There is a vegetarian restaurant nearby too and some tour package include dining option here if you'd like to. If you want to explore Lantau Island, you need to allocate at least half day here plus the commuting time (i.e. cable car ride).