Introduction
Star Alliance Business Class Lounge LAX
Eva Airlines Royal Laurel Business Class LAX-TPE
Eva Airlines Infinity Lounge – Taipei
Eva Airlines Royal Laurel Business Class TPE-SIN
Grand Hyatt Singapore
Ayam Penyet Ria Restaurant
Newton Hawker Center
People’s Park Hawker Center
Paradise Dynasty
Por Kee Eating House
Tambuah Mas Restaurant
Rainforest Airport Lounge
Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur
Petronas Towers
Jalan Alor
Cathay Pacific Business Class KUL-HKG
Grand Hyatt Hong Kong
Victoria Peak
Tim Ho Wan
Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui
The Big Buddha
Ferry – Kowloon to Macau
Grand Hyatt Macau
Din Tai Fung – Macau
Old Town Macau
Restaurante Litoral
A Lorche Restaurant
Ferry – Macau to Kowloon
Grand Hyatt Hong Kong
The Bridge Cathay Pacific Lounge – Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific Business Class HKG-BKK
Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok
Ban Khun Mae
Thai Royal Orchid Lounge – Bangkok
Asiana Airlines Business Class BKK-ICN
Gwang Yang Korean BBQ Restaurant – Seoul
Asiana Business Class Lounge – Seoul
Asiana Airlines Business Class ICN-LAX

Getting out to the Big Buddha is an easy day trip using public transportation. You must first get an Octopus card to utilize the MTR trains.

We started out from the Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui. Take the MTR West Rail towards Tuen Mun.

You will then switch to the MTR Tung Chung line at the Nam Cheong station.

After getting off at the last stop at Tung Chung there is about a 5 minute walk towards the Ngong Ping 360 ticketing office.

After getting off at the Tung Chung station, there is an outlet mall which is fairly large but does not contain any stores of interest to me.

You have two options to get to the Big Buddha. By far the easiest option is to take the cable car. There is the option to walk, but it is mainly along a dirt trail that goes over many hills and mountains and the 2-3 mile walk would likely take 3-4 hours. I don’t know where the trail starts but there were a number of adventure seekers seen below when taking the cable car.

The two options using the cable car are the Crystal Cabin, and the Standard Cabin. There is also the option of taking the Crystal Cabin one way, then taking the Standard Cabin in the other directin. I would suggest taking the Crystal Cabin on the way to the Big Buddha, as you will wait in a much shorter line. Depending on when you leave the Big Buddha the line for the return trip can also make for long lines. For an extra $3.25 you can take the Crystal Cabin in both directions.

There are other entertainment options at Ngong Ping.such as the Tai O Boat Excursion, which takes you on a cruise looking for pink dolphins.

We opted for the 360 Sky-Land-Sea Day Pass, taking the crystal cabin to the Big Buddha and returning via the regular cabin.

In taking the crystal cabin there was hardly any wait at all in getting a cable car, while taking a regular cabin would have meant waiting in line for approximately 30-45 minutes.

The cable car ride to the Big Buddha takes a good 15-20 minutes. You will go over several hills before even getting a glimpse of the Big Buddha.

Once you get off the cable car there is a 10 minute walk through a shopping area. At the base of the Big Buddha you are faced with a steep set of 268 stairs.

Once you get to the top there are a set of smaller statues known as “The Offering of the Six Devas” which encircle the Big Buddha.

Your ticket only allows you to get to walking around the Big Buddha. If you buy a meal or snack from the monastery, it allows you entrance into the Big Buddha which is a museum of sorts which includes relics, scripture and a bell. The relic allegedly contains some of Buddha’s remains.

Unfortunately no pictures are allowed to be taken on the inside of the Big Buddha.

To get you meal or snack, after descending the stairs you will have a 10 minute walk to the monastery area. There is a restaurant, as well as a snack bar. Since we purchased the snack, we went to the snack bar. All dishes are vegetarian, and contained dim sum type offerings. The food was not very good.

In order to get to the Tai O Boat Excursion you must take a bus which is about a 15 minute ride, and your ticket includes round trip bus transfers.

The water was very rough on the day we went, and the cruise was cut very short. It almost felt like the small boat was going to capsize on several occasions. Needless to say, we didn’t see any pink dolphins on this day.

I think a day trip to the Big Buddha is totally worth it, but the other attractions seems more like a tourist trap.