klam_chowder

Hit submit before I added:

I'll just do the regular lunch and I'm sure even 3 dishes and soup will be lots of food. I was talking to someone who said having lunch there was a good way to give back to the monastary. Great to hear it's reasonably priced ~$9USD.

Thx for the details - enjoy-la!

yk

BTW, if it's crowded at the restaurant at Po Lin, chances are you will need to share a table with others. It's pretty common practice though. If that bothers you, you may want to consider getting the VIP lunch, as it's served in a separate room with plenty of seating.

rkkwan

If you go on a weekday, you will likely get your own table. Weekends, share. But you're only sharing the table, not the dishes (unlike in the old days - which yk might not remember ). Each party will still get their own 3-4 dishes, and my recent experience is that there's more than enough food.

Yes, the meal service is a way for the monastery to get some money, so you can see it as a donation. But in recent years, I feel that they're running the place more like a tourist destination. In short, they've "sold out". During the past few months, they've torn down their original main buddha hall to build a much larger building. And the fact that they let the government and MTR to build that Ngong Ping Marketplace next door with Starbucks and French restaurant (non-vegetarian!) is pure sacrilege.

While I enjoy the cable car ride, and I still recommend visitors to do that same, after visiting Po Lin Monastery for perhaps 100 times since a kid, my urge to go back has greatly diminished.

klam_chowder

Thx a mint for the extra replies.

I'm completely fine with sharing a table (tho relieved to hear that the food is not shared). Actually, sometimes when travelling solo I find it's more interesting to talk to others at a shared table.

Too bad to hear the monastary has become commercialized. I wonder whether the monastary had a choice in "letting" the government build the marketplace or even the cable car? Did the monastary own the land? If the Chinese Gov't wanted to build something, do you think the monastary had enough clout to refuse even if they owned the land? I agree having Starbucks in that location is distasteful.

I've had dim sum many times before but am looking fwd to experiencing it in HK. Of course as a solo traveller, it will not be as much fun since I will only be able to have 2-3 dishes. I guess I will have to go multiple times...do you think seating a single will be an issue? Sharing a table will be fine.

Enjoy-la!

rkkwan

About sharing tables in Hong Kong, it just depends on how busy the place is, and what level is the restaurant. If if it is filling up, and it is not a high-end place, then they will put you at a table with someone, or have someone sit at your table. That won't happen at a high-end hotel restaurant.

As for Ngong Ping, initially Po Lin Monastery objected, but then they changed their mind after realizing how much more tourists the cable car and the marketplace can bring up to Ngong Ping. It has nothing to do with the Chinese government. It is all about the Hong Kong government trying foolishly to do every stupid thing to get tourists (like that white elephant of Disneyland HK). And for the quasi-government MTR Corporation to earn money.

One of the more infamous photo was the opening ceremony of the cable car two years ago. They brought up three huge roast pig for the ceremony, right in front of the Big Buddha. ROAST PIG! In Ngong Ping. That's how culturally insensitive and classless these government and business people are.

If you wander around Ngong Ping outside the Po Lin Monastery area, you'll find that it's a very tranquil place with some hiking/camping facilites as well as many smaller Buddhist monasteries and nunneries. Probably most "sacred" place in Hong Kong.

But Hong Kong is all about money. And the corruption (in a very broad, moral sense) of mainstream Buddhism in China has spread to Hong Kong. The Ngong Ping marketplace is a prime example.

BTW, if you don't have time to visit Po Lin Monastery, you may want to go to Chi Lin Nunnery at the Diamond Hill MTR. Nice architecture and some nice gardens there. They also have a nice high-end vegetarian restaurant at its Nan Lian Gardens.

klam_chowder

rkkwan, since you are very familiar with HK and obviously keep abreast of its issues, your insights are particularly interesting. Do you travel there for business? How often do you go to HK?

I can't help but wonder whether the Po Lin monastary really had a choice tho. They can object but if the gov't is going to go ahead with or without their blessing, they really wouldn't have a choice. Of course this is just musing since your post was the first time I'd even heard of the issue. It is very sad to hear that there is/was very little consultation with them at least. One would think that they would be the primary consultant on a Grand Opening, and surely they would have spoke up if they had known about the roast pig. That it could happen is quite shocking.

I will poke around outside Po Lin a bit as I've seen some listings for nature walks, etc.

Your Lantau Island "tour" is something I will definitely make time for. Thx for mentioning the Chi Lin Nunnery - I will check that out as well since this isn't a shopping trip.

I don't plan to do much shopping or much time at malls - I'm not a mall shopper at home either - but will probably visit one or two just to see what they are like. With Harbour City being the largest one and Times Square being the busiest, would you happen to recommend either of them or another one for "the experience".

Enjoy-la!

rkkwan

Oh, I forgot to answer klam_chowder's question in the last post.

I am Chinese and grew up in Hong Kong. When growing up, my parents took me and my sister all over the territory - hiking, biking, etc - (and adjacent Macau) too.

I still have tonnes of relatives and many of my friends there, so I tend to go back around once a year, though more frequent recently.

Here in the US, I read online version of Chinese-language newspapers nightly; and on most days I watch nightly TV news (when I was in Houston, it was through a DirecTV subscription; here in L. A. there's free Cantonese over-the-air channel 18-6). So, I know what's going on over there better than what's going on in Southern California locally.

Cicerone

For the "experience", I would go to Harbour City just becuase it is so so huge you really can't believe it (It is actually two connected malls), I always joke that every outlet of every major and minop shop in the world is located there, and that is really not far from the truth. It is also right at the Star Ferry so it is coneninet to pop in just if you are sightseeing. But it is huge to walk and not set up like a mall you may be used to in the US with anchor stores and atriums, its really several different long somewhat narrow hallways on several floors all full of shops. The Habitu Cafe has outdoor seating and some nice views, and there are other restaurants as well, some of which have harbour views, IMO, Habitu's is probably the best.

Times Square may be a bit more traditional or what you are used to in that is is a big atrium with all the shops around it. It is also not far from the Wan Chai area and you can ride the tram to it (take any tram going east that says Happy Valley on it.)

However, if you really want to see a nice mall with many elegant shops and a number of very good restaurants (some with good views like Lumiere/Cuisine Cuisine), I would suggest the IFC Mall in Central. This is at the Airport Express station and also an easy walk from the Star Ferry pier on the Hong Kong side, or a quick walk from Central, you can also connect to the Mid-levels escalator from the IFC Mall.

klam_chowder

Strange - someone had posted about cell phone options before rkkwan's last post but it seems to have been deleted. Didn't know that could be done! I've got my quad band in hand now so I'll be all ready to pick up my SuperTalk card from the airport's 7-11 (=

rkkwan, I didn't mean to ask such a personal question - it's hard to impart tone in e-mail/forums sometimes. I was asking only because of your level of knowledge about the area and its details, and also of its issues. (=

Cicerone, thx a mint for your thoughts on the malls. I think I will enjoy visiting the non-typical mall and I'll check out the ones you listed, with a walk thru and I am sure a snack. Even tho I won't be going into the elegant shops (I bypass the knock-offs on Canal Street - never understood the allure of owning fake stuff), it's appealing to see the fashion trends.

I also wanted to thank you for your many detailed posts, particulary on walks/hikes. I have copied many of them into my trip planning folder; I'm sure like many other posters/lurkers. I'm excited to see which ones I actually end up doing. Your level of description makes me very comfortable that I won't be lost on the back side of a mountain wandering around in circles. (Don't worry, I'll get a map before I go just in case...lol!)

This trip was planned on short notice and I'm really looking fwd to it: flocking to tourist attractions, checking out often-mentioned highlights and just wandering around HK taking in the scenery. Thx a mint everyone for so much help!

Enjoy-la!