A Long Weekend in Hong Kong {Days Two and Three}

BBM KOREA | Hong Kong | After our busy first day in Hong Kong we were excited to continue exploring. Day two started out with a search for a pineapple bun, something our research told us was a must eat for breakfast. It’s essentially a crispy bun with a huge slab of warm butter in the middle. We supplemented our bun with some scrambled eggs and coffee for energy before heading out to Victoria Peak.

Upon our arrival to the cable car that would take us up the mountain to the peak we noticed that the weaving line seemed to extend for a mile and was filled with people anxiously awaiting their turn to get to the top. Though we felt some reservations about going through with our plan for the day, we decided to stick it out and wait in line. In hindsight I’m really glad we did. It was a beautiful day with clear skies and the view from the lookout really is spectacular with the lush green of the mountain meeting the cityscape which is divided by the harbor. We decided to take our time and soak in the views for as along as possible before heading back down.

After Victoria Peak our goal was to find the Man Mo Temple in Central. We strolled through the streets of Hong Kong appreciating all of the shops and restaurants along the way. We were in no particular hurry to get to the temple. When we did arrive, we realized that it was under construction, though this didn’t stop us from taking a peek inside.

The Man Mo Temple was beautiful. Spiraled incense hung from the ceiling and hundreds of gold lanterns with red fringe filled the tiny space. I’ll say it time and time again, I never get tired of visiting temples.

Following our visit to the temple we took to the streets once more just wandering and enjoying the sights before stumbling upon antique street. Otherwise known as my happy place. I could have spent the whole day there scouring through every store in search of the perfect item to take home. After an hour I found a cute pair of gold vintage sunglasses and called it a day.  On our way back to the ferry we treated ourselves to a scoop of ice cream which couldn’t be ignored.

BBM KOREA | Hong Kong | Antique Street

Day three would be short as we had an evening flight back to Korea, but we had one more market that we wanted to visit. We took the morning to wander a part of the city we hadn’t been to yet, visited the last market on our list, and found our way to the airport.

It was a quick trip, but it opened my eyes to a new city that I fell in love with and absolutely cannot wait to go back  to.

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#bbmtravelshongkong

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A Long Weekend in Hong Kong {Day One}

BBM KOREA | Hong Kong | Tian Tan BuddhaA three-day weekend in Korea called for a quick getaway across the East China Sea where we landed in Honk Kong.  It only took about 24 hours for this country to captivate my mind and soul. Hong Kong is the ultimate combination of eastern culture and western convenience. It reminded me of being in New York, but then we would simply turn a corner and be in the middle of a night market. I was hooked.

In planning for the trip I managed to talk my friend into taking a 4 am flight which had us at the airport around 2 am in a completely deserted terminal. After a few hours in the air we landed in Hong Kong around 7 in the morning and started our day with an unbelievable bowl of soup and dim sum.

Once we had eaten breakfast we were on our way to find a bus to get to the Tian Tan Buddha. The Tian Tan Buddha is an immense bronze statue of Buddha Shakyamuni that sits atop a lush mountain on Lantau Island.

BBM KOREA | Hong Kong | Tian Tan BuddhaA cable car took us to the top of the mountain where we walked along a shop and restaurant lined street on our way to the stairway up to the Buddha which is where we discovered the Po Lin Monastery also sits atop the mountain. We wandered our way to the Buddha and slowly made it up 268 stairs to the top where we stayed for nearly an hour soaking in the view from the peak of the mountain and snapping countless photos of the Buddha and the surrounding statues.

 

After making our way back down the seemingly countless stairs, we followed the scent of incense which led us straight to the Po Lin Monastery. The monastery is made up of a series of gorgeous brightly colored buildings each serving different purposes. The gateway housed statues of deities and guards, while another building held the main temple which was elaborately decorated with high ceilings and beautiful paintings.

Perhaps the most incredible was the Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas hidden just behind another building. We walked into the doorway and were welcomed by an outstanding room of gold with a focal point of five large shining Buddha statues surrounded by smaller figures and all under the most incredibly detailed painted ceiling in the same colors that flowed through the rest of the monastery. As difficult as it was, we respected the multitude of signs asking not to take photographs of the room, although looking back I’m wondering if taking just one would have hurt.

As we were leaving the monetary and on our way to head back down the mountain we were greeted by one of the mountain’s main inhabitants. A large brown cow wandering the grounds by himself seemingly hungry as he took special interest in the visitors with food.

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BBM KOREA | Hong Kong | Temple Street Night MarketOnce we were back at sea level we took a long yet relaxing train ride to the Tsim Sha Tsui part of Hong Kong which would be home for the long weekend. We spent the rest of the day sightseeing and exploring the city until late into the night. We ended our day at the famous Temple Street Night Market which lived up to all of the reviews of good shopping and great street food.

The first day in Hong Kong was wonderful and by the end of the night I was obsessed with this little pocket of the world excited for what the next two days had in store.

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#bbmtravelshongkong

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