Monday, October 21, 2013
Ines Nsiri, Concordia University, Canada
Monday : Macau
one day Trip
On the first week in Hong Kong, many
exchange students need to get their student visa validated at the border. Some
of us needed to go to Macau to make the trip. For me a I decided to take the
full day to explore Macau
We took a one-hour ferry to Macau (300HKD
for round trip) and arrived there at 10am. We spent the morning and early
afternoon visiting A Ma Temple, Saint Paul’s ruins, Senado Square, St Domingo’s
church etc… and of course we ended the day with a visit the famous Macau
Casinos. An absolute must for anyone who likes make some money, or lose some….
Tuesday : Big Buddha Lanatau Island
The first week i arrived to Hong Kong was very busy with the university orientation events that i didn’t get much time to visit the city. Luckily our orientation program included a visit to Lantau island to see the big buddha.
The big buddha is located in Ngong Ping Lantau island and it is part of the Po Lin Monastery
Tian Tan Buddha statue (informally known as the Big Buddha) was built in 1993. It is 34 meters high and faces the north (Usual Buddhas face south) to look over the Chinese people. It is the second largest outdoor sitting Buddha in the World (The largest one is in Taiwan).
You can climb 286 steps to get to the Lotus platform where the status is sitting. It might seem like a sweaty climb up but the view is totally worth it
Inside the big Buddha, there are three accessible floors containing the relics of Gautama Buddha. Access there is limited and you can not take pictures inside. However the platform has an amazing view and you can also enjoy looking at the ”Six Offering Divas” surrounding the big Buddha and kneeing in front of him with offerings.
Wednesday : MongKok street food
Even if you are in Hong Kong for the first
time, you must have heard about MongKok. It is a great place to experience the
real Hong Kong street life.
MongKok is house to the famous ladies
markets on Tung Choi street, Sports markets on Fa Yeung street and the well
known Nathan Road.
When I first visited MongKok, I walked for
hours shopping and looking around. And I was very happy to have a wide range of
food options available for me. There are a lot of sit down style chinese
restaurants, food stands serving soups, bbq chicken and beef, fish balls etc..
These food stands are so famous that sometimes you find a lineup of people in
front. You can also grab of the Hong Kong famous Gong Cha (Bubble tea) on your
home home
Thursday : Sunset at
Lau Fau Shan
When living in Hong Kong, skyscrapers and
high-rise building always block your view. However it only takes 30min to get
away and enjoy a more natural landscape. This time, i went to watch the sunset
at Lau Fau Shan.
Lau Fau Shan is a fishing village on the North
coast of Hong Kong’s New Territories, facing Shenzhen in Mainland China. It
used to be known for oyster harvesting but not anymore. Now is it famous for
for its street of seafood restaurants.
It is also one of the most popular places to
see the sunset in Hong Kong, the old fishing boats, rafts and Shenzhen bay
bridge.
I arrived to Lau Fau Village, around one
hour before the sunset and there was already a lineup of photographers setting
up their tripods. So if you are really serious about getting good shots, you
should get there early. As the time passed by, i get to see the view turn from
gold to pink and afterwards the bridge lit up and the lights from Shenzhen made
up a beautiful night landscape.
Friday : Hike up
Victoria Peak
I arrived to Hong Kong in early September
and this year, the temperatures were above average. In the first couple weeks
the weather was so hot that i would think twice before going out. This made any
day hikes out of question, so i decided that my first Hong Kong hike would be a
night hike to Victoria Peak.
Victoria Peak is the highest mountain on
Hong Kong island with an altitude of 552m. It is one of the biggest touristic
attractions in Hong Kong offering views over Central, Victoria Harbor and Lamma
Island
The total length of the hike is 11 km with
an elevation of 500m. It took us about 2hours 30 minutes to finish the hike
with few (or many) breaks to take photos
The hike starts at Central MTR along
the Des Voeux Road. Then, we crossed through LKF until the Old Peak road . From
there, the road was very steep that i started sweating in no time and felt so
thankful for not doing this hike during the day. We stopped by the Peak Tram
station to catch our breath and take some photos.
We kept walking until we reached the
touristy observation point. Then walked around the Victoria Peak counter clock
wise on Lugard Road trail and had some great views over Victoria harbor.
Labels: 2013/2014 Semester A
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