Hong Kong, Vol. IV: Buddha (on a biscuit)

Monday was our last full day to spend in Hong Kong. We planned to spend it on the island of Lantau, one of the dozens (hundreds?) of outlying islands surrounding the main area of Hong Kong. We left late, per usual, but arrived in time to grab some food before taking a cable car to see the world’s largest outdoor Buddha statue. After taking lots of pictures and reading about the construction in the inside exhibition hall, we walked to the recommended Wisdom Path nearby. Our appetite for the outdoors not having been satiated, we decided to continue hiking a bit on our own. After exploring lots of small paths near the Wisdom Path, we finally found some promising boulders in the distance. Walking up and down hills through tall brush and climbing through trees proved worth it when we all finally climbed onto the big rock to see one of the most gorgeous vistas that I have ever witnessed in my life: we watched the sun set over the Buddha in the distance, with the Wisdom Path behind us and the mountains around the water before us. Needless to say, we took lots of pictures - though, I might add, it is mighty difficult to fit four people into one photo taken with an extended arm, let alone to get the view in the background, let alone get all four of them to smile at the same time!

We nearly didn’t make it back to the mainland, as we left so late, but we obviously did. FUN FACT: it was in large part thanks to us just following a monk. Anyway, the glory of the day continued when, after a short rest in our room, we ventured out to treat ourselves to dinner at an Australian steakhouse called Black Stump. Really, we were only going because Karim had seen a coupon advertising kangaroo meat, and he wanted to try it, but all four of us ended up thoroughly enjoying our delectable meal. Later, Kathleen and I headed to Lan Kwai Fong to check out the expat haven that had been recommended to me for its restaurants and nightlife. It was, I think, the perfect cap to an amazing day.


Oh, about the title of this entry: it is an inside joke of sorts, but I’ll let you in on it: at the Museum of Art, we saw a porcelain sculpture entitled “...Buddha [something something something] on a biscuit.” Obviously, Buddha was not on a piece of bread or other food, but (he) was clearly sitting on a pillow of some sort...this phrase was the name that Kathleen and I chose for our trivia team at Zapata’s the other night, and if any of us ever opens a breakfast café, it will be the name of that, too.