Hong Kong Trip: Hong Kong Day 7

It is the last day of our Hong Kong trip and we didn't have much plans for the day as the flight is in the evening and we will need to leave for the airport at around 5 pm. We went to Dao Xiang Restaurant for dim sum breakfast as all of us felt that the price is affordable and the food is good. After the full breakfast, Jim, Gs and I decided to go to the Hong Kong Science Centre at Tsim Sha Tsui, while Edwin and Shiqi went shopping around Mongkok area.

The entrance fee to the science centre is quite cheap as we produced student identifications.

Rockets

Sitting on a rotating gyroscope

Pinhole Camera projection

Spacesuit

After spending about an hour in the science centre, we proceeded to Avenue of the Stars to take several photos before leaving for Mongkok to buy some local delicacies.

A band performing at the waterfront

Avenue of Stars

Jackie Chan handprints on the ground

Bruce Lee

We took the MTR back to Mongkok and bought "Lau Po Bing" and some other "bing" at the famous 恒香 bakery store.

Outside the store

After we bade farewell to the hostel people, we took our baggages and waited for the bus to the airport.

Along the busy Hong Kong Street

The sun was setting along the journey and i being the resident photo shooter, didn't sleep on the bus journey while most of the rest were taking the chance to grab some sleep.

Sunset on a bridge

Sunset behind airport lighting towers

Sunset behind Hong Kong International Airport aka Chek Lap Kok Airport

To conclude the Hong Kong trip, it is definitely jam-packed with activities everyday and it was quite a good trip as we covered most of the Hong Kong attractions plus Macau and Shenzhen. The highlight was definitely the fireworks and Hong Kong people do know the right buttons to push when it comes to tourism. STB should learn more from them.

Read more...

Hong Kong Trip: Hong Kong Day 6 (Part 2)

We proceeded to Hollywood Road as it was indicted in "Hong Kong: A Traveller's Guide" as a theme shopping street.

A Neo-Renaissance looking Hong Kong Police building along the way

However, the shopping street was not what we had expected as there are many shops selling antique furniture, antiques, and expensive souvenirs. We decided to cut the tour and detour to Sheung Wan MTR station.

Inside Sheung Wan MTR Station

We proceeded to Causeway Bay (铜锣湾）via MTR for some shopping instead. Once we stepped out of the station, throngs of people 'greeted' us and it was worse than Orchard Road on a public holiday. As we are all not shopping addicts, we browsed through the shops rather fast and avoided places with too many people.

At the heart of Causeway Bay

All of us didn't buy anything (as i remember) although there are so many shopping centres there. Perhaps the massive crowd put us off and we decided to "siam" the crowd and leave the place after about an hour or so.

We took the MTR back to Central and walked over to Star Ferry Pier to take the Star Ferry for the last time in our trip.

Walking from Central MTR Station to Star Ferry Pier

There were many people taking the Star Ferry with us as it was around 6 pm when the working people go back home.

The cityscape in sunset

Panoramic view of Hong Kong Island in sunset

The sunset was lovely as we viewed it from the ferry. We reached Tsim Sha Tsui at around 6.30 pm and proceeded to take some night shots of the brightly lit harbour there. As the Symphony of Lights begins at 8 pm, we decided to grab a bite first before catching the fireworks extravaganza.

We walking along Nathan Road and all we found were expensive restaurants serving really expensive Christmas dinners. Man, we wish we were in Mongkok at that time but we settled at a hotpot Chinese restaurant. The prices were quite steep and we opted for only a few dishes to satisfy our stomaches for a while.

We proceeded to Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade at around 7.45 pm and it was very very crowded.

The iconic symbol for Avenue of Stars (星光大道）

(A Symphony of Lights is displayed on both sides of the Victoria Harbour every night with good weather at 8pm Hong Kong time. The show is an orchestration of music, decoration lights, laser light displays, and pyrotechnic fireworks. The multimedia light and sound show lasts for about 14 minutes.) Extracted from Wikipedia. This laser show is a must watch for every tourist in Hong Kong.

Below are the numerous photos taken during the display

It was a really nice and entertaining display of lights, colours and sounds and we all enjoyed 'A Symphony of Lights'. We walked along the densely crowded Nathan Road towards Jordan MTR Station and there are many shops along the way. We were headed to the various street markets and Bowring Street Market was our first stop. Jim, Edwin and I bought some Hong Kong tees at a price of around S$6 which is quite cheap.

We then proceeded to Temple Street Night Market where there are many 'interesting' things sold there. Those who had been there will know what i'm talking about. I bought 2 kinetic powered torchlights for only 2 dollars each.

We walked and walked and walked over to Ladies Market which is very near our hostel. They don't just sell ladies goods but also some clothes for men as well. We had walked the length of 3 MTR stops and it was a little tiring. Luckily, there were many shops and stalls for us to see.

Me and Jim @ Ladies' Market

The 5 of us had a very late dinner at a food court near Mongkok MTR and we proceeded back to our hostel to rest. The next day is our last day in Hong Kong!

End of Part 2 (3 pm to 10.30 pm)

Read more...

Hong Kong Trip: Hong Kong Day 6 (Part 1)

It's Christmas Day! We woke up at around 9 plus and we set to go at around 10.30 am. We asked Stanley, our super friendly hostel owner, for breakfast recommendations and he told us of a nice dim sum restaurant not too far from the hostel.

We followed his instructions and found the restaurant. There were really quite a lot of people in 稻香超级鱼港 restaurant. We waited for about 20 minutes before finally getting a table. We ordered quite a lot of food and it was indeed quite yummy. The bill was also very reasonable and each of us paid around S$12 for a very full meal.

In the restaurant

Outside the restaurant

After our nice breakfast, we headed to Central (中环）via MTR to visit the Mid-Levels Escalator. It is the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world.

Taking a shot of a tram along one of the main roads

A lot of maids picnicking and chatting inside one of the covered walkways

At Mid-Levels Escalator

There are actually many escalators forming the chain and some do not lie in a straight line

We had a break at one of the cafes along the way and continued up all the way until we hit Conduit Road which is the border of Mid-Levels. Jim used to stay at one of the housing along Conduit Road.

Jim and his ex-house

We walked along the road and proceeded to HK Zoological & Botanical Gardens. The admission is free and we decided to go there and take a look.

One of the road signs along the way

We followed the directions on the map and reached the zoo within 20 minutes of walking. Passed by many condos with mostly expensive cars in the carparks.

Cutesy looking tortoise

Me with the animals which cannot be seen in this photo

Really nice looking herons, i think

Leopard-time

We toured the entire compound of the zoo and it was not very big. We didn't really tour the botanical part of the compound and proceeded back to the Central area.

Fountain near the zoo

An interesting fengshui-influenced architecture of HSBC building (note the fake cannon)

To be continued...

End of Part 1 (9.30 am to 3 pm)

Read more...

Hong Kong Trip: Hong Kong Day 5 (Part 5)

Continuing the Madame Tussauds tour...

The musicians and singers section

Some singers


Michael Jackson


Beatles


Joey Yung


Twins


Miriam Yeung


Ex-James Bond aka Pierce Brosnan

We spent quite some time in the wax museum and finally left the place after a few hours. We proceeded back to the viewing gallery to see the cityscape at night. There were tons of people there and we had to squeeze our way through.

I tried to take a clear picture without the use of a tripod

It was very hard for us to take photos there were many people blocking and the use of tripod was essential to take good night shots. Thus, Edwin and Shiqi engaged the photo personnel to take a good shot and bought the photo at the photo shop inside the shopping centre. We went around looking for food as it was already past dinner time. However, the shopping centre only had really expensive restaurants and we went over to the another shopping centre opposite.

It was the same over at the other shopping centre and we decided to find some food at other places. We queued up at the long queue at the station and waited for around half an hour before sitting on the tram that takes us down to the city. We decided to walk over to Lan Quee Fang, a bars and restaurants area.

My expert navigational skills brought us to the street and there were many policemen stationed there. We then realized that there will be a Christmas Day countdown and thousands of people were swarming the area.

At Lan Quee Fang


Check out the massive crowd!

We tried to find some restaurants there with reasonable prices but to no avail. It's the holiday season and restaurants in prime locations all have jacked up prices. We stayed there only for a while as we did not want to squeeze here squeeze there with other people with growling stomaches.

We took the mrt back to Mongkok as the variety and price of food around Mongkok is still the best! We went to a nice cosy restaurant near our hostel and we loved the food there. The only thing that i don't like is that smokers are allowed to smoke inside the restaurant.

Anyway, we bought a cake for Gs as it was his birthday and celebrated in the small hostel room. Poor Gs had to rest in the hostel coz of his stomach flu after he went to the clinic.

The 5 of us

End of Part 5 (8 pm to 11 pm)

Read more...