Ch Lin was quite beautiful and serene. It's quietness was even more surprising given the surrounding skyscrapers and roads. There were a number of extraordinary altars featuring the Buddha and several of his followers but sadly we were not allowed to photograph these.
The gardens featured a lot of bonsai trees which were much larger that the usual plant pot size.
By contrast Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin was loud, noisy and very busy with vast numbers of pilgrims lighting their joss sticks and waving them at various altars. Lots of people had brought offerings to the various gods (I'm sorry I am no expert on the Taoist religion), including one woman who appeared to have brought a cooked chicken. Several people also came to have their fortunes told using chim (bamboo "fortune sticks") which are shaken in a quiver type box until one falls to the ground. This is repeated many times and the results are interpreted by a fortune teller. However, many people seemed to be adopting a DIY approach to fortune telling and one chap was making detailed notes after each stick fell to the ground. All absolutely fascinating.
We had decided that it was now time to unleash the LLW on the shopping malls and I had done some (extremely unselfish research) and identified a highly regarded shoe shop in a smart mall in the centre of Tsim Sha Tsui district. However, when we arrived there the LLW was much more concerned about finding a cafe for some refreshment and to rest her tired feet. Having accomplished this and ensured she was suitably reinvigorated with a couple of glasses of wine we set off for said shoe shop only for the LLW to declare that nothing on sale was suitable for her extremely discriminating taste. Well I did try!
Off then back to Hong Kong island and a planned ride of the famous old double decker trams which move slowly and not so serenely from west to east and back again. It was great but very busy, and having opted for the upper deck we had a terrific view of the chaotic bustle that is HK. Back on the Star Ferry to Kowloon before returning to our hotel for a short break (we must have walked at least 6 miles today). Our dinner this evening with be our last on this holiday which has been fabulous and we have enjoyed every minute of it.
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