Lantau Island - Day 2

Reached Tung Chung MTR at around 9.30am. Didn't have time for breakfast near my hotel area as I woke up a bit too late. Grabbed a butter bun from a bakery at the MTR and made my way to the cable car station. To my disappointment, weather was too windy and the cable cars were not operating. I was told that the cable cars will operate when the weather got better. Most of the shops at Citygate were not opened yet and I just walked around the shopping mall aimlessly. The shops opened at around 10.30am and of course, I went to Espirit. Scanned through the various tops that I wanted to buy, saw some that I liked but of course, I didn't buy anything from the shops yet. I didn't want to bring shopping bags to climb the stairs to Big Buddha. 11.30am, the weather didn't get any better and I made an impromptu decision to take a bus up to Tai-O. I had no idea how far it is from the town centre and what is there to see there. Without giving much thought, I took the bus 11, heading towards Tai-O.

Citygate is located just right in front of Tung Chung Station

My breakfast

Cable Car Station was temporarily closed due to bad weather.

I went to food republic at Citygate and found a seat with a view overlooking the cable car station.  Most of the stalls were not ready yet and I just ordered a cup of milk tea while waiting.

There were a good variety of different cuisine in the food court.  Hainanese Chicken Rice can be found here too!

After the trip from Tai-O, I came back to the town centre at 3.30pm. The cable cars were finally up and running. I quickly redemn my ticket and boarded the cable car. I could still feel the strong wind when I was in the cable car as the cable car was not enclosed totally. Could still hear the howling of the wind and the cable car also experienced slight oscillation. I am lying if I were to tell you that I was not scared. I didn't choose the crystal cabin which had a glass bottom, ie you can see through it. The ride took about 25 minutes which I found it rather long. The Buddha statue was covered with fog. On days when the sky is clear, you can actually see the buddha from the cable car.

Crystal Cabin - Bottom of the cabin is glass ie can see through!!

 It was so foggy that I couldn't see the Big Buddha right from the bottom of the stairs leading to it.

 This was the best shot I could get when the fog cleared for a very short while.

After spending half a day at Tai-O and here, I was totally famished and I had my dinner here.

 Chicken Chop Ramen. 

 Fried dumplings

 The food was good, especially the deep fried chicken chop.

 As I walked towards the exit, I turned back and I saw this beautiful frame of Buddha amongst the "lotus".  The fog had almost cleared but it was close to 6.30pm already and we got to take the cable car back.

 The famous dessert stall "Honeymoon Dessert" can be found here but by the time I went, many of their desserts were sold out already, including the durian/ banana pancake that I wanted.  Thus, I decided to give this a miss first as I knew I could find this in town.

 Bye Bye!  Lantau Island!!

 

 

Went back to Espirit at Citygate to shop and I managed to buy quite a number of items from here.

 

 

Went back to Jordan after shopping at Citygate.  Before going back to the hotel, I settled at this place

"Yee Shun Milk Company 港澳义顺牛奶公司" for supper!

Doubled steamed milk with red bean

 

A bowl of macaroni with ham 

 This marked the end of day 2 in Hong Kong.

Day 3 - Ocean Park

Tai-O, Hong Kong - Day 2

I had planned to travel to Lantau Island on Day 2 to see the Big Buddha.  When I reached Tung Chung MTR station at around 10am, it was really very windy.  I headed for the cable car station and the staff told me that the cable cars were not in operation as the weather was bad.  They would only operate only when the weather got better,  possibly in the afternoon.  With disappointment, I went back to Citygate to do a bit of window shopping.  Many shops were not opened yet until 10.30am.  I went Espirit and saw many tops that I liked.  As it was not advisable to bring my shopping bags to go Lantau Island, I didn't buy anything from Citygate in the morning.  After a bit of shopping, I went to Food Republic for a cuppa and at the same time, looked through the window to see whether the cable cars were in operation.  Near noon, the weather was still very windy and I decided not to waste time, made an impromptu decision to take a bus up to Tai-O.  To go Tai-O, the bus got to travel through mountainous route and it took near 1 hour to reach Tai-O village.  I didn't know the journey was so long and tedious, and I kept wondering whether I had made the wrong decision..... So how was my little adventure?

Bus 11 to Tai-O

Reached Tai-O

Many colour flags as they were preparing for the Dragon Boat Festival for the following day.

Dried sea products in almost every stalls

This stall still invited people to take photos.

So cute!

Stumbled upon this stall that looked quite interesting... Beancurd in wooden tub

Decided to give it a try and it was really good!  Yummy!  I should have ordered the eggs too!

Dragon boats!  I should have come 1 day later to catch the spectacular dragon boat race!

Scenery on the way back

Reached Tung Chung at around 3pm and the cable cars were finally operating!

Next post will be my visit to the Big Buddha at Lantau!