World's largest (seated, outdoor, bronze) Buddha

I'm posting from the airport as we've made it here 2 hours before check-in time for our flight to Singapore. (We're not quite the blase 21st century travellers yet).

Yesterday we ate traditional Hong Kong chinese breakfast of congee - kind of rice porridge stuff with dumpling stuff. It was...interesting. The porridge tasted better when we put sugar on it, but then we thought the waitress was sneering at us so probably that was the wrong thing to do.

We spent our last night in Hong Kong at Ngong Ping on Lantau island, an area in the mountains which consists of pretty much just a giant Buddha up a huge flight of steps, a temple and the Po Lin monastery. The advert for the youth hostel that we stayed in says something like "if you think Hong Kong is just a concrete jungle, then you should come here", and it's so true; it was so different from Kowloon and Hong Kong island. Really mountainous and remote and felt so much more foreign.

We got there on a crazy bus journey up narrow mountain roads, and towards the end of the trip it started pouring with rain, a real tropical storm, and the bus started leaking and people were jumping up from their seats - it was hilarious. As it turns out, Vic has packed a waterproof jacket and a waterproof cover for her rucksack. I have neither of those things, so we stumbled into the rain and I rapidly got incredibly wet. This caused a moment of hysterical laughter which culminated in us purchasing some wide-brimmed, flat, straw Chinese hats like the tourists that we are. I felt like we were being ripped off, but then they only cost $30 (<3 pounds) each, so bargainous!! Also, the toilet attendant in the loo we were just in really admired them...or pointed and laughed. Whatever.

The youth hostel was pretty deserted except for some schoolkids camping and a couple of Buddhist monks...so I've now shared a bathroom with a Buddhist monk: something to cross off the list of "things to acheive before I turn 23". Vic encountered him in a semi-undressed state which has got to have been pretty exciting for everyone concerned.

We got up at 6am today to go on a sunrise walk in the forest. (The really hardcore people get up at 4 to climb the peak for sunrise, but we weren't really feeling the need). It was really misty, warm and beautiful. We found a mysterious circle of wooden posts with Cantonese writing carved on them, and a bird statue. There were lots of signs which presumably would have explained it all if we could have read them, but we couldn't.

Then we made it to the airport ridiculously early, on a bus full of Buddhist monks. We arrive in Singapore tonight. In some ways I think it will be so relaxing because we're going to be staying with my cousins, so it will be a)incredibly money-saving and b) really calm, no need to find hostels and lug bags around etc. However, I'm also kind of scared. I have met these cousins only once for one day last summer, so staying in their house could be intimidating. But they have little kids, and also a nanny/housekeeper, so hopefully it'll be incredibly comfortable and we'll get our washing done.