Author: JT

HK: baibai! On ferry to Macau

Ferry terminal was much like the airport, without the annoying security measures. Checked my bag. Went through exit immigration; Macau immigration is on arrival.

Turbo jet is fast and smooth, gliding through the harbour like… oh, never mind.

Just got served an airline style meal. Wasn’t expecting that – just had a snack in the mall before entering the restricted zone.

Still very gray weather which doesn’t make for good photos en route.

HK: misc & some photos added to older posts

added photos to the following posts:

  • money shot – added photos of front and back of the HK$20 bills issued by all three banks.
  • hotel room – added a photo of my tiny hotel room

other misc:

  •  fast Internet: in my hotel room, I had 33/30 Mbps and 45/26 Mbps down/up on my two tests today, though I wouldn’t know it with this slow netbook :-)
  • there was a Bavarian restaurant in Stanley today

It’s finally raining for real

Downpour and cold. Put the damper on shopping in the market.

Because I travelled light today and didn’t bring my umbrella to Stanley near the south end of the island.

HK$9.9/US$1.15 one way by minibus, 15km and 30min for the route I took.
Saw some other seaside towns and beaches on the way.
I hadn’t realized how mountainous the entire island actually is.

HK: Day 5/Wed Summary

Here is what I managed on day 5 (Wednesday):

Dropped off laundry around the corner. Even though they spoke English, I’m not sure what the price is – it sounded expensive as I wasn’t sure if she was quoting me a per-pound price or not (it turned out to be reasonable, HK$42/US$5.40 for a few pounds of laundry, possibly up to 7 pounds).

Ate tasty dim sum at a resto called Dimdimsum Dim Sum Specialty that I found on openrice (a user resto review site, like Yelp) in Mong Kok (Kowloon). By oneself is not the optimal way to enjoy dim sum, as it’s meant to be shared, but I won’t let that stop me.

Walked around Tsum Sha Tsui a bit and stumbled on the (in)famous Chungking Mansion, a group of highrise apartment buildings that contain a lot of cheap guesthouses and hostels. I’m glad I chose Causeway Bay, even if my room more expensive. Area feels a little dodgy, but most annoying are the Indian touts (“SIM card!?”) who get a little too in your face compared to the rest of the city. The ground floor of the mansion is like walking through Little India (inc. Indian food) where you can apparently buy just about anything you want… That and there is only one little elevator for about 8 floors), which makes it very slow, especially when people have luggage. Interestingly, a monitor on the ground floor next to the elevators showed the elevator-cam images.

HK Space Museum – interesting exhibits, though I only perused the ground floor. It was free museum entrance day (Wednesday), so it was probably busier than usual and I didn’t wait in lines for the little interactive things. I’d go back and spend more time there on a future trip.

Avenue of Stars – like Hollywood Boulevard (i.e. stars and hand/foot prints of local movie stars embedded in the sidewalk) but much more scenic, as it is on the waterfront promenade looking directly south over the harbour at “Hong Kong” (vs Kowloon). There is also a statue of Bruce Lee (the only statue of an artist).

HK Museum of Art – skimmed this since it was free (you’d have to be an art junkie to appreciate it more, I think, or have specific art interests that match their collection)

I did a 1hr45min buffet dinner cruise harbour tour (which I had bought on groupon.co’s HK site a week before my trip). I chose the 17:45 sailing since I wanted to see both day and night views of Hong Kong and Kowloon. It was sprinkling a bit, but the view was still good and I got to see more than just on the ferry crossing, as it went deeper into
the harbour. The buffet was better than I expected from reviews, with lots of seafood. The boat was only 1/4 full – I’d hate to see the buffet lines if it was completely full. Oh and a live “band consisting of a guy on keyboards, a tambourinist (is that a word?) and a singer, playing recognizable Western songs, albeit a little lounge lizardy.
I sat at a round 10 person table with 2 nice Filipino women (and the
daughter of one of them) who have been living in HK for 20 years, both married to locals. They were supposed to be a bigger group of coworkers, but a few people couldn’t make it. They even bought me 2 drinks, which was a pleasant surprise.

HK: Finally sunny again, though hazy – so it’s up The Peak!

So I’m sitting in a Pacific Coffee Company cafe on The Peak, enjoying a latte at 9:00 with an incredible view of the city. But let’s back up a few hours…

I guess I’m still not adjusted to the timezone change, though I thought I was doing moderately ok.
Last night I fell asleep at 22:00 but woke up at 4:45 and couldn’t get back to sleep. After reading a bit, I left my hotel around 6:00 and walked to the Golden Bauhinia statue commemorating reunification (return of HK to China). This statue is on the waterfront in front of the HK Convention & Exhibition Centre. The water front is being further revitalized (in a good way – parks and open spaces and performance places) from Wan Chai to North Point.

Then I had a little dim sum on a side street in Wan Chai. Small place, full of locals, and no English on he menu. I sat at a communal table with 5 older men who didn’t speak any English. I asked for a Set A while pointing at the wall menu, though I’m not sure he understood, as what I received had a different price. Oh well, it’s not like I knew what I’d be getting in the set anyways – I just picked the more expensive one (though still under US$5) in the hopes of it being higher quality contents.
I ended up with shu mai (pork dumplings) and chicken on a rice bowl, plus tea of course. The damage: HK$31/US$4.

Then I took a tram to Central and walked through the length of Hong Kong Park (bigger, hillier and greener than I though, as I had only seen a little bit of it a few days earlier) on my way to The Peak tram station. It’s not really a tram per se, more of a cable car, and was built in 1888!
Tip: use your Octopus card for the ticket instead of buying one from the counter (hmm, I wonder if I could have bypassed the hour-long line last Sunday?), as then you don’t need to decide if you want a round-trip ticket or not (you can take a bus back, or even walk if you’re feeling particularly active and in hiking mode). Once up on The Peak, I see there is a 1 hour walk around the peak, or a 2.5 hour walk to the University in the western Mid-Levels, which happens to be where I’m heading for lunch to meet David. Not sure I want to walk that far in flip flops (though I have done that before), though it would stop some backtracking.

Anyways, The Peak is very commercial (albeit quiet and nearly empty at this early hour, in fact most shops and restos are closed). Though the cafes, including this one and St@rbucks and McC@fe, are all open. There are an upscale shopping mall and expensive restos. And nearby on the peak are expensive houses (including one that sold for US$67MM in 1997, according to the tourist info board).

You have killer views over the harbour (towards Kowloon and the mountains behind it), as well as to the west towards the islands – I can see Cheung Chau Island (where I went on Sunday) and Lantau Island (with its peaks) behind it.

Unfortunately it’s hazy so hard to get a clear picture further into the distance.