The Big Buddha & Po Lin Monastery - Lantau Island - Hong Kong

The Big Buddha is probably one of Hong Kong's most famous sights, on my first trip to Hong Kong we unfortunately couldn't visit due to bad weather so I was hoping on this trip I could finally take my mum there to see it and kept a close watch on the weather, the night before there was a storm so we were worried it be another trip we'd miss out seeing it but luckily the weather cleared up in the morning and we were able to take a cable car up there.

The cable care to the summit was a longer ride than I thought but a really enjoyable ride which gives you a great view of Hong Kong from above, some cable cars also have a glass bottom so you can see the view below but we just took a regular car, but when you reach the summit the journey doesn't end there it's still a walk to reach the Buddha through shops and restaurants and a tiring climb up 268 steps to reach the base, I was sweating by the time I reached the top but it was great exercise and totally worth seeing this massive creation up close.

Next door to the Big Buddha is Po Lin Monastery, a temple where the monks live. The atmosphere was very calm and peaceful there in complete contrast to the craziness of Hong Kong city, mostly tourists come visit pay their respects there and buy good luck charms.

I always enjoy visiting temples and shrines as they have a whole different atmosphere and beauty. In the past I've only had the chance to see the city areas of Hong Kong and not much of it's natural beauty so this was a whole new experience for me and it was nice to have a few quiet moments before returning to the hustle and bustle.

Po Lin Monastery also has a vegetarian cafeteria where you can buy all sorts or Chinese foods and desserts, I had already eaten a large breakfast so didn't try the food on offer but I just couldn't say no to trying some desserts, Chinese desserts are one of my absolute favourite things so I picked up a few dumplings to try and I had the best mango mochi of my life, seriously mangoes in Hong Kong always taste really good and this dumpling has fresh ones inside, I was almost tempted to buy a box to bring back to Thailand with me for everyone to try.

After exploring the religious area, we walked back to the cable car station and visited some of the shops to buy souvenirs to bring home for the family. Our first visit to Hong Kong we really wanted to take my grandmother to see the Buddha but unfortunately due to bad weather we couldn't go and now due to ill health she can no longer travel so didn't make this trip with us but we still made sure to pay our respects for her and buy her a good luck charm so she was there with us in spirit.

There's just so much of Hong Kong to see and my time there never seems to be long enough so I'm so happy after all these years we finally got the chance to visit and see The Big Buddha, it was definitely worth the wait and I would love to explore more of the area if I ever get the chance to go back to Hong Kong.

What places would you like to see in Hong Kong?

Love & Dumplings

Cate

xoxo

Vivienne Westwood Cafe - Hong Kong

Vivienne Westwood is one of my all time favourite designers, I just love her style and everything she stands for so when I found out there was a Vivienne Westwood cafe in Hong Kong I had to go and check it out for myself. Fashion and food are my two most favourite things so this was the perfect marriage of the things I love most.

The Vivienne Westwood Cafe is situated in Harbour City, Tsim Tsa Tsui next to the Vivienne Westwood store, it's only a small place but full of charm with the walls, cutlery and dinnerware all decorated in her signature prints. The menu offers a wide selection of teas and other drinks and some desserts, you can also enjoy a traditinal afternoon tea there, very British and very Westwood style!

If you've been following me for a while you might have seen my Vivienne Westwood bag which I actually received as a gift for my 20th birthday so it's very precious to me, the day we visited also happened to be my birthday and thus the birthday of my bag to so you could say it was a special visit for the both of us.

With it being my birthday I of course had to order myself a cake and I loved that this cake came adored in her signature orb made of white chocolate, the cake was really nice to strawberry and passionfruit flavoured on a bed of chocolate cripsies totally to my taste and I ate every crumb. I also ordered myself a rose, lychee soy milk tea as I wanted to try something different and it was really good to, maybe a little sweet for my liking but still delicious.

I'd love to come back and try the Afternoon Tea one day, but this was just a quick visit before going to watch the nightly light show and my trips to Hong Kong are always over so quickly but I know I'll come back one day as it's a great city! All in all it was the perfect way to celebrate my birthday and yes while it was a little pricey, birthdays only come once a year so it was totally worth it.

Who is your favourite fashion designer?

Love & Oolong

Cate

xoxo

Psssst if you want to see more awesome cafes from around the world you can click the button below, buy me a coffee, get treats & a shoutout on my next post

A Quick Visit to Hong Kong Disneyland

I only had a couple days stopover in Hong Kong before my visit to Seoul, South Korea and although I had visited Hong Kong once before many, many years ago one of the things I wanted to do the most but didn't get to do was see Disneyland so I made it a priority to finally visit there this time. It's one of my life goals to visit every Disney theme park in the world and I'm not doing too badly so far with Paris, California, Tokyo and now Hong Kong crossed off the list.

Hong Kong is probably the smallest Disney Park I've visited but it didn't make it any less awesome and I loved seeing what exclusive items and rides they had there, although it was a rainy day I still managed to have lots of fun and I loved seeing Toy Story Land and the Mystic Manor which is their own special "Chinese" take on the Haunted Mansion. Unfortunately though as I was there on a quiet day in the off-season I couldn't find much in the way of food, I really wanted some of the Disney themed dim-sum I'd seen pictures of online but I couldn't find them anywhere but I still managed to get myself some Chinese egg tarts and an Iron Man waffle so my cute food cravings were somewhat satisfied.

Of course I couldn't help but buy a bunch of souvenirs while I was at Disneyland so here's a video of me showing some of the things I bought including an exclusive Hong Kong Disneyland Lucky bag which I had no idea what was inside but *spoiler alert* I LOVED EVERYTHING!!!

Hong Kong is just a few hours flight away from Thailand so I'm pretty sure I'll be back one day soon to explore more of the city and eat all the delicious dim sum so look out for more adventures soon!

What is your favourite Disney Park & which one would you love to visit?

Love & Lightsabers

Cate

xoxo