Hong Kong: Last Day and Night

Time has really passed by fast since I arrived in Hong Kong. Today was the last day of my trip. I resolved to see one more sight before I left. But first I had to move out of my hotel. I had originally booked the hotel for only 3 nights, and on my last day and night I booked a 5 star hotel - like a BAUS. I started my day (after admiring the view from my 37th floor harbour vantage point.

The room is actually smaller than I expected. I paid around $200 Canadian for this :( But I guess this is HK where real estate is like gold.

 

I quickly checked the hotel HK guide to see what I should do today. A feature about HK having the cheapest Michellin starred restaurants in the world caught my eye. So first up I headed to the closest restaurant on the guide and ordered some dim sum.

After stuffing my face, I took a doubled decker tram to Central station then a bus to Stanley village and market. This location houses a street market and the oldest building from British colonial rule - Murray House. The bus ride there was probably scenic, but I wouldn't know because I was so tired and dozed off. After arriving at Stanley, I casually strolled around and checked out the attractions. To be honest, I wasn't too impressed, it was much of the same as days gone by. There was one item that was pretty cool. A vendor had a shirt with Obama's face wearing a Chairman Mao's hat. A satirical homage to Obama being a purported socialist. I wanted to buy one of these, but when I came back to the shop they were closed already :(

Oh God the people. I don't think I can ever live in a city this populated and dense.

Murray House next to Stanley village

double decker trams. All of them have colorful advertising on them.

After Stanley the weather was beginning to clear. So I took the Star Ferry across the harbor to try to catch the symphony of lights once again. This time the view did not disappoint :D

Star Ferry leaving port from Kowloon side of the harbour

Finally I trotted back to my hotel to crash for the night and wait for my 20 hour flight back to HOME.

I am coming home Canada!

Peace from Hong Kong.

Hong Kong: Day 3

I feel like my feet are about to fall off after the amount of walking I did today! But it was well worth it.

So today I went to Lantu island which is west of the main HK island. There ontop of the mountain there sits the biggest bronze statue of Buddha in the world. The journey there itself was an adventure. There is a cable car with a clear bottom floor which takes you up to the top of the mountain. The ride itself is a long 25minutes. The fog from yesterday still didn't dissipate, but when combined with a natural landscape it actually looks pretty cool.

There is a ban on Falun Gong in mainland China. Even here in HK you can find posters (the one of the right) that say that it is a cult. Probably from the government. What is interesting is that the poster on the left is pro Falun Gong. Perhaps democracy at work?

5.7km cable car ride. 25 minutes.

Once I arrived at the top I wandered around. The HK government built a commercial village right before the big Buddha with souvenir shops, cafes and even a subway sandwich shop. I guess they didn't see the irony of putting all these commercial enterprises right before the Buddha, but I digress. Anyways the hike up to the Buddha was teeming with people. In terms of largeness, I would say it is about the same size as the Big Buddha in Phuket which stands at 40m tall. It was impressive nonetheless.

 After the big Buddha I took a bus down to Tai O village - an idyllic fishing village nestled at the foot of the mountain. All the shops and buildings were on stilts and navigation can be done via boat or foot. I got on one of the tour boats and came full circle around the village. Once I was back on terra firma I checked out the various shops. By this time my stomach was in full give me "nom noms" mode. So I tried the first weird thing I saw - chinese pancakes. It was a chimera of crepe and Chinese fish crackers and chives. The first bite was pretty good, but the more I ate it the more I felt like puking. Anyways with the sun about to set I began to make my way back to the main city.

One bite is good, two bite is ok, three bite and you want to puke.

making Chinese pancake

bean curds and fish balls.

Around 6pm I made my way to Temple street night market by Jordan station. And similar to the nightmarkets of Phuket hawkers were showing their goods to the throng of tourists. I liked the layout of the market, it was concentrated on a long narrow road as opposed to a square. This made window shopping and getting lost almost an impossible combination.After buying some souvenirs for back home, my stomach was once again being an asshole. So I sat down on one of the outside stalls and had some Chinese seafood. The stir fried crab was really good.

nom nom nom on crabs.

So that was my third day in HK. Tomorrow I check out of my hotel and move into a 5 star hotel for my last night - like a BAUS.

Peace from HK.

Hong Kong: Day 2

I decided that I would check out Star avenue and Temple street night market tonight since they were in close proximity to each other. But since the night market doesn't open until 4pm, I decided to take it easy during the day time and just explore my surroundings near Wan Chai.

So after packing my bags I set off to check out the local market at Tai Yuan Street. But first my hunger got the best of me and I resolved to find an authentic dim sum restaurant. Using human traffic as an indicator of authenticity I settled on a hole in the wall dim sum restaurant at the end of the market. And I gotta say, this time the food did not disappoint. The place was packed and I ordered by sight since I didn't know any names.

the line outside was huge and inside it was tiny

looks like china town

subway

After satisfying my appetite I continued walking and tried to check out some old architecture from colonial era. There was suppose to be an old Post Office at the foot of the mountain. But it seems it is under renovation and you can't really see anything. But I did stumble upon a scenic walking path up into the mountain. And like the botanical garden from yesterday it was a fusion of both organic and urban elements as I climbed the steep incline.

Upon reaching the top I got another glimpse of the awesome skyline. After that I slowly made my way back to the hotel for rest and planned to head out again once dusk sets in.

trees fusing with the walkway were a common sight

A high rise going up on the side of the mountain. the heavy machinery were like 1 meters away from the steep cliff.

old victorian building I found while on the hike. It looks abandoned and would probably be really creepy at night since there are no ostensible lights around.

Once I got back to the hotel I rested for 2 hours and headed out again. This time to Tsim Sha Tsui station. This area is renowned for the Avenue of stars, a road similar to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The sidewalk contained the handprints of famous Hong Kong celebrities. The physical location is right on the waterfront (we are across the harbour from Hong Kong island and are now on the Kowloon side) and thus pedestrians were presented with a spectacular view of Hong Kong island. But unfortunately there was a heavy fog overhanging and you can't really make out the structures that well. It was just as well because I hate asking strangers to take photos of me (one of the bad things about traveling alone). It was now approaching 6pm, and I decided to go get some grub and come back at 8pm to try to catch the symphony of lights. The symphony of lights is a music + light show of the skyline presented by the HK tourism board. 

the legendary Bruce Lee

statue of HK film award

So I walked back to Nathan road, the most famous road in Hong Kong and found a highly trafficked restaurant. As I was eating my order, a bewildered looking girl appeared in the doorway and also indicated table of one to the waitress. Since they try to save as much space as possible they put her across to me in my booth. Anyways I sensed she was a tourist and started a pleasant conversation. Turns out she is from Seoul here on a business trip and today is her last night. I wowed her with my Korean skills and told her about my adventures. Anyways suffice to say we hit it off immediately and she decided to tag along with me to catch the 8pm show after dinner. 

damn Nature you cool. Tree growing into the walkway again.

Infamous apartment complex for food and second hand phones

The first floor of ChungKing Mansions

signs on Nathan road

Now with my friend in tow I can get some good pictures from the harbor. And we played some games to pass the time and after that I won some tea from here so we went to a Starbucks for her to fulfill her obligations. We parted ways around 9pm since she had to go back to her hotel and catch a flight. Anyways it was too bad that she had to leave that night but already I can see the positives to learning new languages - meeting new friends everywhere you go :D 

obligatory Muay Thai pose

getting a free tea

By the time I was ready to head to the night market it started to drizzle and I was dead tired to I decided to save it for another day. 

Peace from Hong Kong.