Jumbo Kingdom - The Floating Restaurant!

Today was one of the coldest days of this season in Hong Kong! With temperatures hovering around 7-8 degrees, hiking or cycling were definitely ruled out, and a few us family and friends decided to go for delicious yumcha! (Chinese cuisines). The fascinating Jumbo Floating Restaurant at Aberdeen (south of the HK island) had been on the bucket list for a while now and we decided to tick it off the list today.

The Jumbo Floating Restaurant has four restaurants to chose from. We went to Dragon Court on the first deck. The fine dining restaurant serves delicious authentic provincial cuisine. The restaurant has an outdoor seating arrangement on the long balcony, but today was just not the day for that. We chose to sit indoors and enjoy the contemporary and traditional Ming Dynasty interiors.

I ordered the Lychee Red Tea to warm myself (it was highly recommended by the staff there) and it was a good one. We ordered for vegetable and fungus rice wrap, vegetable dimsum, shrimp dimsum, shrimp and pork wontons. They were all absolutely lip smacking! 

Lychee Red Tea

Pork & Shrimp Wonton
Baked Pork Bun

Vegetable Rice Wrap

I love the Hong Kong steamed pork bun, but today we ordered the baked pork bun. It was really yummy but would have loved to have more pork inside it. The vegetarian fried rice was good too. The highlight of the meal was the mouth watering shrimp and duck meat puff. 

Shrimp & Duck Meat Puff

How to get there - from Aberdeen promenade there is a free ferry service provided by the restaurant. It is a 8 minute boat rite from Aberdeen. Meal for two would make your wallet lighter by HKD 500 approximately. 

Free Jumbo Ferry!

Man Mo Temple

Hong Kong has some thing in store for everyone. If you like spending time outdoors, you can explore the various hiking trails that Hong Kong offers or go cycling up the New Territories. If you like experimenting different cuisines - there is an option for every palate. If you like visiting scared places - then Hong Kong again has enough to offer for you to explore.

On a lazy Sunday afternoon, I decided to go explore one of the popular scared places in Hong Kong - The Man Mo Temple!

The Man Mo Temple is a temple for the worship of the God of literature (Man) and God of War (Mo). Built in 1847, it is said to e one of the largest Man Mo Temple in Hong Kong. The temple is situated in the heart of the concrete jungle of the Central / Sheung Wan business district.

My favourite part of the temple is the ornate arrangement of  the hanging incense coils. They are simply beautiful!

The temple is open Monday to Sunday from 8 am to 6 pm. You can either take a cab to Hollywood Road or take the MTR to Sheung Wan (Exit A2). If you are taking the Big Bus tour, Man Mo Temple is one of the attractions on the tours.

Aqua Luna!

T o me, Hong Kong is a city of lights! And one of the best way to take in all the lights and sights of this magnificent city would be to go on a boat ride.

There are many options for a boat ride in Hong Kong but one of my favourites is the Aqua Luna. The Chinese red sail junk boats offer a relaxed 45 min ride across the Victoria Harbour. The boats leave from Central and Tsim Sha Tshui.

I have always taken the evening cruise from Central which is approximately  HKD 195 / person (includes one complimentary drink). It might seem a bit exorbitant to some but the crew on board do make you feel special and ensure that you have a great 45 minute cruise.

 They do have cruise to Discover Bay and Stanley in the afternoon. If you are planning to take the junk boat from Central - it leaves from Central ferry pier 9.

Big Buddha!

Ever since I moved to Hong Kong, one of places I really wished to visit was the Big Buddha! Finally after being here for almost 8 months, we made our first trip to the famous tourist attraction.

Tian Tan Buddha, popularly known as the Big Buddha, is right next to the Po Lin Monastery in Lantau Island. It was erected in 1993 and is a 34 meters high bronze statue. You have to climb around 260 steps to get the base of this majestic statue.

There are six smaller bronze statues at the base of the Buddha statue known as 'The Offerings of the Six Devas'. From the base of the Buddha statue you also get a panoramic view of Lantanu Island.

Opposite the statue is the Po Lin Monastery which houses the 'Grand Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas', which is an absolutely must see. 

Another must do at the Big Buddha is the Wisdom Path. It is a 15 - 20  minute walk from the entrance to the Buddha statue but it totally worth it.

Big Buddha is a very popular tourist destination, hence it is a good idea to get there early, especially if you are going on a weekend or public holiday. The Buddha and the monastery is open to public from 10 am to 6 pm. There are many ways to get there - you could take a bus from Tung Chung to the monastery or take the cable car. We took the cable car. :)

We opted for the crystal cabin cable car with the glass floor for our 25 minute ride to get to Ngong Ping. The bus ride from Tung Chung is about 45 minutes. While the cable car is more expensive, it is definitely worth doing it one way.