Wednesday 11th Feb - Desert again and Buddha statue visit

Today we got together at around 11.30am so that we could have lunch together at the Rotary Club of Kowloon. Before that, PP Joseph fetched Jonathan and took him to new home hosts in “Hollywood Heights”, Mid-Levels, Hong Kong Island. It is really a lovely home with beautiful views over the Hong Kong Bay and is very central and very comfortable. The hosts are delightful people, PP Ram Tolani and his partner Sandra Logan. PP Ram is a past president of the Wanchai Club.

When we got together we were greeted with the news that after rugby practice last night, Brendan was selected to play lock for the Hong Kong Tigers 1st Team. How’s that!! So, on Saturday evening at 7pm, the team are going to watch rugby and support our GSE rugby star!! We are going to get a lot of Rotarians to come and watch as well.

Picture: Siyanda catching up on some South China News

We had lunch with the Rotarians of Kowloon Club. It is the home club of DG Albert Wong although he wasn’t there today. It is a Cantonese club like Hong Kong North City, and so apart from welcomes, the meeting was conducted in Cantonese. The talk was by the Chairman of the Civil Aid Association and surrounded the topics of Civil Aids involvement in natural disasters like flooding, earthquake, landslides etc. They are a largely volunteer organisation supported by the HK government to the tune of HK$88 million per annum. We know this because the indubitable PP Joseph Chan interpreted for us. Another first was a taste of South African cuisine – there was braised oxtail on the menu and was it delicious. Once again (eat your hearts out guys) the desert was spectacular! Picture: Another Rotary desert (OK, that's the last one, I promise)

The afternoon was taken up by going with PP Joseph to the most amazing place. On Lantau Island, near the Hong Kong International Airport is a Cableway called the Ngong Ping skyrail that takes you to Ngong Ping, the home of the Po Lin Monastery and the Tian Tan Buddha (also known as the “Big Buddha”). Getting there on the cableway is breathtaking. Guided by PP Joseph Chan, we went on this cablecar ride of a lifetime. Picture: The view back towards Hong Kong City from about halfway to Ngong Ping

As one gets over the mountain from the airport side, the enormous Tian Tan Buddha comes into sight. It is absolutely huge and until 2007 was the world’s tallest outdoor bronze seated Buddha. It stands 34 meters high. Apparently it can be seen from as far away as Macau when the weather is clear. Once you have got off the skyrail and walked through the beautiful small villagey type of approach to the statue, you reach the base of the mountain on which the Buddha sits. You then have to climb 268 steps to reach the top. Picture: Ngong Ping with the Tian Tan Buddha in the background

It is a truly spectacular sight and something not to be missed when you come to Hong Kong.

The trip back on the skyrail was just as spectacular and we were able to watch a number of large aircraft taking off from HK International to join us in the sky.

As we were free this evening, Joseph took us to a Korean restaurant. We cooked our food at the table and really enjoyed it – but mostly the company. Things are really going extremely well for us – the hospitality is out of this world and we are doing our best to make a good impression for our country and the GSE programme.

Tomorrow, Thursday 12th, is a busy day. We visit a vocational training centre in the morning and have two presentations – one at a lunchtime club meeting and another at a evening meeting. Take care and thanks for all the good wishes we have received from home. Another update tomorrow.