freethoughtandmetaphor

I’ll begin in the bamboo section of the botanical garden, where I encountered the only Chinese panda of my trip.

A bigger event, in both senses, was our trip over to Lantau and our ride on the aerial tramway to visit the Big Buddha.  He was constructed in 1993, through joint corporate and private efforts, to watch over Hong Kong.  As we rode in one of the cars above the green hillsides, he was up in the clouds.

After we walked through the village and up the many stairs, he was still enshrouded, but worth the trip all the same.

Our hotel was situated on Hollywood Road (named for holly trees, not that other Hollywood) which meant that we often walked past antique shops, doing some serious window shopping.  It puzzled me that these figures were on the side of a building which was not selling antiques.  Who put them there?  I did not find out.  They seem to me to be guardians.

Further down Hollywood Road was a painted wall.  Like the statues, I think it could have used an explanatory plaque.

One thing these last two “discoveries” confirm: walking a city is the best way to see it.   Now it is time to walk toward 2014 and whatever new adventures the coming year brings.  May it be a good one for the planet and all its cultures.