Posts
Lantau Island, Hong Kong 12/7/06
Lantau Island, Hong Kong 12/7/06
It’s my last day. Well for this trip at least. I fly out for New York tomorrow morning. Then again the fun adventure doesn’t stop there. I wander around the U.S. for most of January, February, and now into March. After that it’s looking like Europe, around the 19th of March, will be next trip abroad. I guess that’s not too long to wait. Today is just my last day seeing “new” stuff for awhile and that makes me a little sad.
Lantau Island is home to “the big Buddha”, as everyone calls it here. Of course it’s just one of many “big Buddha’s” I have seen in the last 2 months. This one is credited as being “the largest, sitting, bronze Buddha in China.” Ooooooo! While it is impressive to see, I can’t shake the feeling that I am one step above seeing the largest ball of twine in Minneso
ta.
I am currently sitting in some woods, on a big rock, off the Wisdom Path, (or so it was marked, who knew the path to wisdom was so easy to find?) past the big Buddha. It is indeed a big Buddha but I think it could be more aptly named the Biggest Grossing Buddha in all of China. I don’t think that it’s any coincidence that you have to take the same train from Hong Kong Island to Disney World as you do Lantau Island. Welcome to Buddha World!
As I sit on this boulder I bet if I put a little sign on the Wisdom Path that said “American
Buddha” I could easily make a few hundred HK Dollars. At least enough for my bus and ferry ride back.
There are no Lotus petals surrounding me but my postures pretty good and with my bright yellow Jack Johnson t-shirt on it could pass for a saffron cloak. Instead of enlightenment I’ll just explain the complexities of the word “dude”.
Hong Kong has been fun and probably a nice transition back to the Western world for me. The city is like a maze. I have no idea how you could drive here. There doesn’t seem to be intersections just roads and ramps curving up, down, and around. It’s the same thing with walking. Sidewalks don’t follow roads. There are pedestrian bridges in every direction that go for blocks and blocks. In some areas there are even outdoor moving sidewalks that go for blocks. If you were to plot my walking routes through Hong Kong it would probably look like one of Billy’s adventures from Family Circus.
It’s a very dense city. Everything on Hong Kong Island seems packed between a bay and a low mountain ridge. Yesterday after wandering through the maze of the City I finally made it to the start of the trolley line that runs to a popular tourist spot, at the top of the mountain ridge, called The Peak. I skipped the trolley and instead hiked up. A nice climb once you get out of the city and the view of Hong Kong below got better with every switch back.
It took me about an hour to get to the top. I was expecting to find an observation deck, some coin operated telescopes, maybe a little gift shop. Instead I found a shopping mall. In Hong Kong even the nature escapes have been developed. At least all the shops had nice windows to see the view. Realizing I couldn’t beat’em, I joined’em and found a comfy chair at the Pacific Coast Coffee Shop. It had a great view and free internet access so I ended up hanging out up there for a few hours before making my way down the other side of the ridge and hopping a bus back around to the Causeway Bay area of Hong Kong and my guesthouse.
On my first night in town I met up with my other hiking pal from the Great Wall, Kristen. She took me out in the Ex-Pat area called Lan Kwai Fong. Dozens of bars and restaurants packed into both sides of streets still heading up and down hills in every direction. Each one packed with obvious business people who came right from the office. Once you get close you can hear accents that help you figure out which nationality has claimed each bar.
To keep with my international theme Kristen and I stopped in the French and Irish bars, and then had dinner at a Japanese place. We wrapped up the night at a unique karaoke bar. It was a wide open bar, like we are used to in the U.S., different from the other places in East Asia where you get a private room, but instead of some computer screen with the words and bad sequencer music there was two guys with guitars. They played the music as you read the words from a big binder sitting on a music stand.
This bar welcomed all nationalities as long as you
were drunk enough to sing in public. We were treated to a Chinese guy that wanted to be Sinatra, a German guy that wanted to be the 5th Beatle, and a few other random nationalities and artists that just blended in with the background conversations while Kristen and I discussed future travel plans.
Before she became a self proclaimed workaholic balancing offices in New York, Paris, and Hong Kong, Kristen was an accomplished Backpacker. She was providing me tips on India and Nepal when a performer took the stage that caught the entire bars attention.
I am of the philosophy that the best karaoke is the worst karaoke. I don’t like the people that get up there and obviously sing a song they know they are good at or a song by Faith Hill or Whitney Houston, unless it’s done Randy Watson style of course. By that definition I think I saw the best karaoke performance ever at this bar in Hong Kong.
As soon as this guy started you could hear the entire bar collectively mumble “Oh my God!” Kristen, already a not so proud POM said “Oh my God I think he’s British!”
I said “I think he’s autistic!”
At this unique karaoke bar in addition to the live guitarists backing you up you also basically get unlimited songs. You want to do 3 songs in a row they’ll let you as long as nobody else is dying to get up on stage. In the case of this particular howling seizure on stage the entire bar was screaming for the train wreck to continue, so he did.
I did start to feel a little bad when I realized this poor guy was serious. He didn’t realize we were laughing at him not rocking out with him. Oh well, he was having a good time and that’s all that matters. He was greeted by a handful of cheering co-workers when he finally got done. It was like a symbolic hug and medal, acknowledgment that he was a winner just for trying. I will probably never see another karaoke bar without thinking of his performance.
I don’t know how the Buddha’s did it. I’ve only been sitting on this rock for about 45 minutes and my butt hurts and my left leg is asleep. Maybe that’s why they are sometimes laying down or reclining?
Now it’s time to wrap this up and start my wandering journey back to the organized chaos of Hong Kong Island. I meet back up with Kristen tonight for my last night abroad in 2006. It has been an amazing trip that I will never forget but as usual I’m not content. I want more.
Buddhists believe you get multiple lives. Each one gives an opportunity to grow and evolve closer and closer to enlightenment. I find myself hoping they are correct because it’s obvious one life is not going to be enough time for me to accomplish everything I want.
I guess I better buy some stuff on the way back through Buddha World now. Maybe a sitting Buddha snow globe or a Path to Enlightenment bumper sticker. Pretty cheesy I know but I think they still count as earned merits towards my next life. Karma is all about the profit margin.
MJF
Lantau Island is home to “the big Buddha”, as everyone calls it here. Of course it’s just one of many “big Buddha’s” I have seen in the last 2 months. This one is credited as being “the largest, sitting, bronze Buddha in China.” Ooooooo! While it is impressive to see, I can’t shake the feeling that I am one step above seeing the largest ball of twine in Minneso
ta.I am currently sitting in some woods, on a big rock, off the Wisdom Path, (or so it was marked, who knew the path to wisdom was so easy to find?) past the big Buddha. It is indeed a big Buddha but I think it could be more aptly named the Biggest Grossing Buddha in all of China. I don’t think that it’s any coincidence that you have to take the same train from Hong Kong Island to Disney World as you do Lantau Island. Welcome to Buddha World!
As I sit on this boulder I bet if I put a little sign on the Wisdom Path that said “American
Buddha” I could easily make a few hundred HK Dollars. At least enough for my bus and ferry ride back.There are no Lotus petals surrounding me but my postures pretty good and with my bright yellow Jack Johnson t-shirt on it could pass for a saffron cloak. Instead of enlightenment I’ll just explain the complexities of the word “dude”.
Hong Kong has been fun and probably a nice transition back to the Western world for me. The city is like a maze. I have no idea how you could drive here. There doesn’t seem to be intersections just roads and ramps curving up, down, and around. It’s the same thing with walking. Sidewalks don’t follow roads. There are pedestrian bridges in every direction that go for blocks and blocks. In some areas there are even outdoor moving sidewalks that go for blocks. If you were to plot my walking routes through Hong Kong it would probably look like one of Billy’s adventures from Family Circus.
It’s a very dense city. Everything on Hong Kong Island seems packed between a bay and a low mountain ridge. Yesterday after wandering through the maze of the City I finally made it to the start of the trolley line that runs to a popular tourist spot, at the top of the mountain ridge, called The Peak. I skipped the trolley and instead hiked up. A nice climb once you get out of the city and the view of Hong Kong below got better with every switch back.
It took me about an hour to get to the top. I was expecting to find an observation deck, some coin operated telescopes, maybe a little gift shop. Instead I found a shopping mall. In Hong Kong even the nature escapes have been developed. At least all the shops had nice windows to see the view. Realizing I couldn’t beat’em, I joined’em and found a comfy chair at the Pacific Coast Coffee Shop. It had a great view and free internet access so I ended up hanging out up there for a few hours before making my way down the other side of the ridge and hopping a bus back around to the Causeway Bay area of Hong Kong and my guesthouse.On my first night in town I met up with my other hiking pal from the Great Wall, Kristen. She took me out in the Ex-Pat area called Lan Kwai Fong. Dozens of bars and restaurants packed into both sides of streets still heading up and down hills in every direction. Each one packed with obvious business people who came right from the office. Once you get close you can hear accents that help you figure out which nationality has claimed each bar.
To keep with my international theme Kristen and I stopped in the French and Irish bars, and then had dinner at a Japanese place. We wrapped up the night at a unique karaoke bar. It was a wide open bar, like we are used to in the U.S., different from the other places in East Asia where you get a private room, but instead of some computer screen with the words and bad sequencer music there was two guys with guitars. They played the music as you read the words from a big binder sitting on a music stand.
This bar welcomed all nationalities as long as you
were drunk enough to sing in public. We were treated to a Chinese guy that wanted to be Sinatra, a German guy that wanted to be the 5th Beatle, and a few other random nationalities and artists that just blended in with the background conversations while Kristen and I discussed future travel plans.Before she became a self proclaimed workaholic balancing offices in New York, Paris, and Hong Kong, Kristen was an accomplished Backpacker. She was providing me tips on India and Nepal when a performer took the stage that caught the entire bars attention.
I am of the philosophy that the best karaoke is the worst karaoke. I don’t like the people that get up there and obviously sing a song they know they are good at or a song by Faith Hill or Whitney Houston, unless it’s done Randy Watson style of course. By that definition I think I saw the best karaoke performance ever at this bar in Hong Kong.
As soon as this guy started you could hear the entire bar collectively mumble “Oh my God!” Kristen, already a not so proud POM said “Oh my God I think he’s British!”
I said “I think he’s autistic!”
At this unique karaoke bar in addition to the live guitarists backing you up you also basically get unlimited songs. You want to do 3 songs in a row they’ll let you as long as nobody else is dying to get up on stage. In the case of this particular howling seizure on stage the entire bar was screaming for the train wreck to continue, so he did.
I did start to feel a little bad when I realized this poor guy was serious. He didn’t realize we were laughing at him not rocking out with him. Oh well, he was having a good time and that’s all that matters. He was greeted by a handful of cheering co-workers when he finally got done. It was like a symbolic hug and medal, acknowledgment that he was a winner just for trying. I will probably never see another karaoke bar without thinking of his performance.
I don’t know how the Buddha’s did it. I’ve only been sitting on this rock for about 45 minutes and my butt hurts and my left leg is asleep. Maybe that’s why they are sometimes laying down or reclining?
Now it’s time to wrap this up and start my wandering journey back to the organized chaos of Hong Kong Island. I meet back up with Kristen tonight for my last night abroad in 2006. It has been an amazing trip that I will never forget but as usual I’m not content. I want more.
Buddhists believe you get multiple lives. Each one gives an opportunity to grow and evolve closer and closer to enlightenment. I find myself hoping they are correct because it’s obvious one life is not going to be enough time for me to accomplish everything I want.
I guess I better buy some stuff on the way back through Buddha World now. Maybe a sitting Buddha snow globe or a Path to Enlightenment bumper sticker. Pretty cheesy I know but I think they still count as earned merits towards my next life. Karma is all about the profit margin.
MJF
No comments:
Post a Comment