The Big Buddha

Our first day in Hong Kong we went to Lantau Island to see the pink dolphins and the Big Buddha. This was my favorite day of the trip. I really enjoyed seeing the islands jut out of the ocean. They are so beautiful, especially since it was kind of stormy so everything was misty. They looked so ethereal and mystical. I loved seeing that. I absolutely loved seeing the monastery and the Big Buddha. We read all about Buddhism and how this Buddha came to be. It was so interesting and sounded so nice. I would love to leave the world and head up to the mountains to meditate right now. It's kind of noisy at our place, haha. I loved it! The paintings/murals about the Buddha were beautiful and just looking at them made me feel more at peace. I think I reached a state of nirvana by the time we left. Not really, but it made me think a lot, which is what great art should do. I loved it. I wish we could have spent a lot more time going to the different temples. It is so different from anything we have in the West. And just thinking of the differences between the East and West, how we view religion, etc. It really made me think a lot. 

We stayed with my mother-in-law's cousin, who she was really good friends with growing up. They were so gracious and let us stay with them the whole week and we had never even met them before this trip. I am so grateful for their hospitality. They really made our trip great. The kids had so much fun spending time with them. Charisse picked us up from the airport showed us how to get to their flat, and showed us around HK. She went out with us a few times. It was so nice having a "local's" inside knowledge. She took us to Tai O to see the pink dolphins and showed us how to get up to the Big Buddha from there. She was so great. She helped hold a baby or someone's hand. She made our ratio with the kids even. 

The thing about Hong Kong is since it is made up of a bunch of islands (like 250 total) often times to get to places you have to take the MTR (what they call the subway), a boat, a bus, another train, etc, etc. Our journey to get to the Big Buddha we took the MTR, then took a boat, then a bus, then we were at Tai O to see the pink dolphins, then we took another bus up to the Big Buddha, and then a cable car back to the MTR, and then the MTR back to our flat. We were very very tired by the end of that day. Mommy and Cosette selfie she asked for at the beginning of the day.
Those islands! I'm so in love with them. They have been one of my favorite things about Asia since our trip to the Philippines. The ones we saw in Korea were absolutely breathe taking. 



View of Hong Kong Island from our boat.

Fishing boat we saw on our search for the pink dolphins. 
Sadly we did not see any pink dolphins. When we arrived at the entry to the Big Buddha village Henry saw this poster and exclaimed "look! We found the dolphins!". Natuarally we had to document "seeing" the pink dolphins.
 
Cosette took this picture of me.
The boys were asleep for the whole hike up to the Buddha and visit to the monastery.  They missed out, but we got to take our time and enjoy it a little bit more.
There were cattle and dogs roaming around the area. Luckily the dogs were not inside the Buddha's area. They kind of freaked me out. A group of big dogs in a pack freaks me out. But seeing the cows was funny. They were just walking around like they owned the place. 
There were statues 


Cosette was really excited to find the rabbit. She is really into the chinese zodiac. She knows who everyone 
This sign said The Big Buddha, and I joked with Cosette saying that we had made it. The joke went over her head and she kept asking where it was. 


It was stormy that whole day. We could barely see the Buddha even when we got to the top. 












We got to hear the monks chanting! That was Cosette's favorite part. We were able to go up and watch them while they chanted. She was completely memorized and thought it was the coolest thing ever.

My favorite picture of the day. I don't know why, but she insisted on wearing the camera bag on her head. It was hilarious.
I thought this was such a beautiful shrine. 

Lyndon thought this tree was really cool. I called it the Dr. Seuss tree because it looks like it popped off the page of one of his books. 

The monastery was decorated with most vibrant colors. 
We took the cable car back to the MTR station. The kids like "flying" and looking at the "jungle". It was beautiful. We were so lucky we were still able to see something even with the bad weather. My favorite was seeing a small waterfall below us. And we freaked out the other riders in the cable car with us with our crazy kids.

Before we got on the cable car the kids made a couple of friends. There was a little Thai boy who started running around the square with them while we were taking a break. It was so cute. And then Henry went up to a little Middle Eastern boy who was probably 12-18 months old and started talking to him. The little boy was so excited for the attention and that was the cutest thing I had ever seen. Henry was so sweet holding his hand. Cosette gave him hugs. Us parents were going gaga over how cute it was. It was a beautiful to watch these children from different parts of the world playing and laughing together. Jesus was right when he said we should be like little children. They have the ability to look past all the things we see as hangups and get along. I just thought that was a lovely experience.


We taught him good manners.
This picture of Henry with his meatballs cracks me up. And Lyndon and Cosette's faces are pretty awesome here as well. 
This little babe was all worn out. He slept pretty good on the trip.

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