March 30 Friday & March 31 Saturday
Driving on the Kap Shui Mun Bridge. 
Ting Kau Bridge: The Ting Kau Bridge connects the west and northwest New Territories to Kowloon. The interesting part of this bridge is that it sits is on single post towers.
The park where the information centre was located
Looking out at Rambler Channel
Beautiful flowers again, that grow on leafless trees
Similar flower but this one grows on a bush. {John & Renée: Can you identify these? I haven't been able to find a plant yet that was actually tagged.} 
We stopped at a sandy beach along the way, on the southern part of Lantau Island. The South China Sea
And I got to put my feet in the water. Not too cold actually. The beaches officially open in April.
Got someone to take my picture here since it may be the only time I get close to this sea.
The market streets of Tai O Village
The hanging stuff are dried fish bladders (Yuck) some dried shrimp and some sea cucumbers
Talk about a colourful crab. They are still alive, but wrapped with a bow made of sea weed.
One of the pedestrian bridges in the village
These are some of the stilt houses they live in.
Some are brand new.... made of corrugated tin !
Although many are very old, they still have decks with plants on them.
Lola: I found some dragon boats for you !
Turtle soup anyone ?
In one of the temples we visited, a big drum to help with the chanting
Some blow fish hanging in one of the small shops
Beautiful setting really, with the mountains in the background
More of the homes with washing on the roof and decks along the water front. Open living concept !
Check out the colourful tails on these prawns. Many of these tubs are airated to keep the fish alive
Back on the bus we doubled back half way across the island and then turned off to make our way up the mountain to the Po Lin Monastery. Founded in 1906 by 3 monks and has grown over the years. There are temples where three golden Buddhas are on display. The main attraction however is a giant bronze sitting Buddha (constructed in 1993) sitting on the mountain top. It is the largest bronze Buddha in the world, 34 meters tall and weighing 250 tons. It was actually built in main land China, shipped here in pieces and reassembled onsite.
Doesn't look that big in this perspective, but wait until there are some people close to it. Oh wait, there are people on the upper staircase. Can you see them? That's how big the Buddha is.
He is absolutely beautiful. So life like that you actually expect him to more.
There are 3 statues on either side of him, at the front, making their offerings. Again, beautifully proportioned and artistically designed.
A view of the Po Lin Monestary grounds from the rim of the Buddha.
From the staircase leading to the grounds of the monestary below. There are people standing on the right side of the staircase. 
Looking forward from the gate
There are 12 Divine Generals guarding the road up to the monestary, each depicting a sign of the Chinese Zodiac.
A zoom on the Buddha from the grounds of the monestary. Oh, and I'm using my new camera today.
This is how far away I'm actually standing, in front of the main staircase going up to the bronze Buddha.
Beautiful lion guarding the 2nd set of gates
The gardens on the grounds of the monestary; large cauldron in the distance
The 2nd set of gates
A close up look at that cauldron. If someone was standing beside it, their head would barely reach the bottom
Welto Temple is the first one you pass through to get to the inner sanctuary
From that building, we get our first glimpse of Buddha Hall. They are putting up a new building “Ten thousand Buddha Palace” and are asking for donations to help pay for it.
We break for our veggan lunch. Everything was delicious ! On the right a couple from Arkansas and on the left a couple from mainland China.
Carvings beside the entrance doors to Buddha Hall.
One of the three Golden Buddhas inside the Hall.
Huge bell that was used to call the monks to prayer.
The second golden Buddha
And the middle golden Buddha
From the Buddha Hall, looking down at the inner courtyard and its centre piece of potted aloe
The bell they are presently using, with the tree trunk used to ring it. Sorry, not allowed to touch it !
Another lion guarding a gate, but from this angle it looks like he's nibbling at the mandarin oranges on that tree.
One of the small shops on site, with the administrative building in the background. There are those leafless trees with the flowers. You can also see that the day hasn't cleared up and the mountain tops are still covered in clouds.
Zoom on the second set of gates
On my way out of the grounds, past the 12 generals, towards the entrance gates.
We did not get to see any of the real monastery buildings, just the “tourist” parts with all its shops.
My last looks at the bronze Buddha
He is a beautiful work of art.
And this is the general depicting the zodiac sign of the "horse", which is my sign. Match that up with my "Taurus" sign and you have "the work horse", "dependable", "devoted".
The last part of the tour was supposed to consist of a 25 minute ride on the Ngong Ping Cable Car (5.7 km) from the monastery back down to the city. Unfortunately the entire system was undergoing maintenance and our return trip was by bus. (I’ve checked their internet site; it closed Feb 3 for approximately 2 months; too bad for me !) I had a few minutes before I had to get on the bus, so I walked over to the Ngong Ping Cable Car Station beside the monestary. It's a bit like Disney World with lots of tourist shops around it.
Driving back down the mountain and heading back to Lantau city to switch buses and head back to Kowloon
A water reservoir on the island
Here is an example of the "more than 40 stories" building, where you can clearly see the "evacuation floor" half way up.
Crossing Tsing Ma Bridge again. That huge tube angled above the truck in the other lanes.... that is the suspension cable for the bridge !
Passing near the harbour where all the ships come in to offload and reload their ships
Check these out.... Costco ! That's why almost everything they sell comes from China.
The Kowloon skyline and the maze of super highways
Some more strange architecture. This one has a whole in it. Again, it's one of these Fein Shei things.
New architecture everywhere
This building insures that everyone has a view to the harbour
Typical apartment building
There is always laundry hanging out of the windows. Either that or it's extra closet space ! ! !
The ride back to Kowloon was fairly quick and before I knew it I was back at the Stanford hotel. Time to shower, rest, get dressed and go down for a buffet dinner again. Lots of sea food tonight.
Took a picture of the picture the photographer took of me when I was on top of Victoria Peak.
Friday
Today was a really early wakeup call since the tour bus was picking me up at the hotel at 8 am. Going to visit Lantau Island and the Po Lin Monastery with its huge Buddha.We were only 11 passengers for this tour so it was quite nice. We drove west on a causeway that had been built on reclaimed land until we reached the first of three suspension bridges. Our first stop was at a lookout point and information centre, from which we could see the three bridges.
Tsing Ma Bridge: The Tsing Ma Bridge (2,160 meters long) and the Kap Shui Mun Bridge (820 meters long) link Kowloon to Lantau Island (this is where the new Hong Kong Airport is located). The Tsing Ma Bridge has the world’s longest bridge span carrying both road and rail traffic. For those of you interested in bridge engineering, check it out on the internet. It really is interesting.
Ting Kau Bridge: The Ting Kau Bridge connects the west and northwest New Territories to Kowloon. The interesting part of this bridge is that it sits is on single post towers.
The park where the information centre was located
Looking out at Rambler Channel
Beautiful flowers again, that grow on leafless trees
Once we crossed to Lantau Island, we made our way to the growing city center, where we transferred on to a different bus and guide that would take us on a tour of the island. The three lady guides I had had so far all had very expressive voices and were interesting to listen to. The gentleman guide on this bus however had a very low, very monotonous voice and we could hardly understand anything he was saying.
We stopped at a sandy beach along the way, on the southern part of Lantau Island. The South China Sea
And I got to put my feet in the water. Not too cold actually. The beaches officially open in April.
Got someone to take my picture here since it may be the only time I get close to this sea.
An exclusive residence complex? Kind of.... it's a Maximum Security Prison on the shores of Lantau Island. And NO, they don't get to enjoy the beach.
We made our way to the southern part of the island to Tai O village. The houses here are on stilts and many of its people live on houseboats. Another cruise on a small boat and a walk through the village streets
The market streets of Tai O Village
The hanging stuff are dried fish bladders (Yuck) some dried shrimp and some sea cucumbers
Talk about a colourful crab. They are still alive, but wrapped with a bow made of sea weed.
One of the pedestrian bridges in the village
These are some of the stilt houses they live in.
Some are brand new.... made of corrugated tin !
Although many are very old, they still have decks with plants on them.
Lola: I found some dragon boats for you !
Turtle soup anyone ?
In one of the temples we visited, a big drum to help with the chanting
Some blow fish hanging in one of the small shops
Beautiful setting really, with the mountains in the background
More of the homes with washing on the roof and decks along the water front. Open living concept !
Check out the colourful tails on these prawns. Many of these tubs are airated to keep the fish alive
Back on the bus we doubled back half way across the island and then turned off to make our way up the mountain to the Po Lin Monastery. Founded in 1906 by 3 monks and has grown over the years. There are temples where three golden Buddhas are on display. The main attraction however is a giant bronze sitting Buddha (constructed in 1993) sitting on the mountain top. It is the largest bronze Buddha in the world, 34 meters tall and weighing 250 tons. It was actually built in main land China, shipped here in pieces and reassembled onsite.
Doesn't look that big in this perspective, but wait until there are some people close to it. Oh wait, there are people on the upper staircase. Can you see them? That's how big the Buddha is.
He is absolutely beautiful. So life like that you actually expect him to more.
There are 3 statues on either side of him, at the front, making their offerings. Again, beautifully proportioned and artistically designed.
A view of the Po Lin Monestary grounds from the rim of the Buddha.
We went up to see the Buddha first; then drove down to the main entrance gate of the monestary to walk in.
The main gates to enter the Po Lin Monestary grounds
The main gates to enter the Po Lin Monestary grounds
Looking forward from the gate
There are 12 Divine Generals guarding the road up to the monestary, each depicting a sign of the Chinese Zodiac.
A zoom on the Buddha from the grounds of the monestary. Oh, and I'm using my new camera today.
This is how far away I'm actually standing, in front of the main staircase going up to the bronze Buddha.
Beautiful lion guarding the 2nd set of gates
The gardens on the grounds of the monestary; large cauldron in the distance
The 2nd set of gates
A close up look at that cauldron. If someone was standing beside it, their head would barely reach the bottom
Welto Temple is the first one you pass through to get to the inner sanctuary
From that building, we get our first glimpse of Buddha Hall. They are putting up a new building “Ten thousand Buddha Palace” and are asking for donations to help pay for it.
We break for our veggan lunch. Everything was delicious ! On the right a couple from Arkansas and on the left a couple from mainland China.
Carvings beside the entrance doors to Buddha Hall.
One of the three Golden Buddhas inside the Hall.
Huge bell that was used to call the monks to prayer.
The second golden Buddha
And the middle golden Buddha
From the Buddha Hall, looking down at the inner courtyard and its centre piece of potted aloe
The bell they are presently using, with the tree trunk used to ring it. Sorry, not allowed to touch it !
Another lion guarding a gate, but from this angle it looks like he's nibbling at the mandarin oranges on that tree.
One of the small shops on site, with the administrative building in the background. There are those leafless trees with the flowers. You can also see that the day hasn't cleared up and the mountain tops are still covered in clouds.
Zoom on the second set of gates
On my way out of the grounds, past the 12 generals, towards the entrance gates.
We did not get to see any of the real monastery buildings, just the “tourist” parts with all its shops.
My last looks at the bronze Buddha
He is a beautiful work of art.
The last part of the tour was supposed to consist of a 25 minute ride on the Ngong Ping Cable Car (5.7 km) from the monastery back down to the city. Unfortunately the entire system was undergoing maintenance and our return trip was by bus. (I’ve checked their internet site; it closed Feb 3 for approximately 2 months; too bad for me !) I had a few minutes before I had to get on the bus, so I walked over to the Ngong Ping Cable Car Station beside the monestary. It's a bit like Disney World with lots of tourist shops around it.
Driving back down the mountain and heading back to Lantau city to switch buses and head back to Kowloon
A water reservoir on the island
Here is an example of the "more than 40 stories" building, where you can clearly see the "evacuation floor" half way up.
Crossing Tsing Ma Bridge again. That huge tube angled above the truck in the other lanes.... that is the suspension cable for the bridge !
Passing near the harbour where all the ships come in to offload and reload their ships
Check these out.... Costco ! That's why almost everything they sell comes from China.
The Kowloon skyline and the maze of super highways
Some more strange architecture. This one has a whole in it. Again, it's one of these Fein Shei things.
New architecture everywhere
This building insures that everyone has a view to the harbour
Typical apartment building
There is always laundry hanging out of the windows. Either that or it's extra closet space ! ! !
The ride back to Kowloon was fairly quick and before I knew it I was back at the Stanford hotel. Time to shower, rest, get dressed and go down for a buffet dinner again. Lots of sea food tonight.
Saturday
Took a picture of the picture the photographer took of me when I was on top of Victoria Peak.
Stayed in and rested. Gloomy day again.
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