Hong Kong Adventures: Day 2
I am trying to be as hardworking as I could on this so here's my day 2 account of the Hong Kong trip. Everything gets a little more localized and hectic from hereon, much like the lifestyles of true Hong Kong residents. We headed out fairly early on our second day and walked from home down to the Avenue of Stars in order to reach the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station by The Peninsula Hong Kong. Mind you, I used to walk from school back to my sitter's house in Bangsar but this felt like one of the longest stroll ever.
And it was also freaking hot. I don't know how mum took this picture, my background looks so fake!
Jacky Cheung's hand prints! This is proof that I have been down the Avenue of Stars.
McDull! I super love this pig. If you understand Cantonese, click on this, this and this. Entertainment guaranteed.
I tried to be a director...
I think I make a very good Bruce Lee looking prodigy okay, don't laugh!
A picture with Chef and mummy!
The fantastic view of Hong Kong...albeit a little shrouded from mist haze. I think it's haze. I have to say it shocked me, I thought Hong Kong had super clean air; clearly a lie now.
The Peninsula Hong Kong. It was opened in the year 1928 and has a whole lot of history within it. Have fun on Google!
Clearly a tourist if you need a shot in front of The Peninsula Hong Kong...even when you don't stay there.
From here on, we hopped up the MTR (Akin to the LRT in Malaysia but a LOT quicker) and stopped at Central station only to walk over to Lin Heung Lau for breakfast. You'll get to hear about it much later when I get on with my "Hong Kong Eats" tabs but I'll just summarize it as that it was disappointing. Our trail didn't stop there as we hopped over to Sang Kee porridge in Sheung Wan before deciding that we should simply wait for the roast duck in Yung Kee to be ready.
From hereon, we did nothing but walk. It made me feel very localized because it really is how locals move around and if there's one thing really amazing about Hong Kong, it is how clean the streets are. You don't find discarded cans or UHT boxes nor will you see cigarette boxes, packs or butts. It's just really clean. Heck, you don't even see it wet and smelly at unnecessary spots where you're walking! Our hike included Lascar Road or Mo Lo Gai ( 摩羅街) in Sheung Wan; a street famous for antiques and everything old.
From hereon, we did nothing but walk. It made me feel very localized because it really is how locals move around and if there's one thing really amazing about Hong Kong, it is how clean the streets are. You don't find discarded cans or UHT boxes nor will you see cigarette boxes, packs or butts. It's just really clean. Heck, you don't even see it wet and smelly at unnecessary spots where you're walking! Our hike included Lascar Road or Mo Lo Gai ( 摩羅街) in Sheung Wan; a street famous for antiques and everything old.
I am assuming this is a town hall for those who reside in these streets. Yes, you'll be amazed that Hong Kong locals do stay in places like these due to housing prices being crazy.
Lots of antiques to go around.
A whole street of it, in fact. We were there too early so they're not open yet.
Excuse me while I parade a little of my father - daughter time here.
Also visited the Man Mo Temple (文武廟) that comes with a history since 1847. It is currently managed by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals and opens for visitors from 8 AM to 6 PM daily.
A random photo of Chef and I.
As if the strolls weren't already bad, my uncle thought that we should visit the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Museum on Castle Road. Don't get me wrong with my sentence, I am all for museum visits because of how historical it feels with a big pang of local touch to it. What was bad about this little museum however was that we had to...
Climb.
These.
Stairs.
That's right, we had to first conquer what is known as Ladder Street in Hong Kong. I must have climbed more steps on this street than I do in a month in Malaysia!
Only to find that the museum was closed for the day. WHAT?!
I was obviously dissatisfied.
Because after THAT long climb, I just have to go down and we came up for nothing.
However, it still was not time for the famous roast goose yet because it apparently comes out around 2 PM and my uncle thought, "How else to experience Hong Kong but to take the tram?" And that was exactly what we did. I think it's something everyone should seriously try out in Hong Kong, okay? Ride the tram or 叮叮車 (Ding Ding Che) as they call it because you get to look out the streets and the throngs of people all around. Plus it's always in the movies so why not?
It's really famous in Hong Kong to see it going around!
Shin Yi took this picture of Chef being very fixated while waiting for the tram, I love it!
And it's double decked as well so here's a view from the top!
Running on these tracks just like a train, the trams are run by Hong Kong Tramways Limited and has been around since 1904.
It's windy and open aired so you get to put yourself to good thoughts.
That's a lie, I was falling asleep in this picture because I was so sweaty from the walking. My fats cannot stand this.
Chef and his girl.
The thing about these tram rides is that they are really courteous and they have stops almost every 2 minutes in. They stop just like cars on the roads at red lights and they do share the street with other vehicles. It sounds like a whole lot of mess but I think it's amazing how Hong Kong has everything so planned out for the public to utilize. The tram rides costs HKD 2.30 regardless where you embark and disembark. Our ride took us from Central to Kennedy Town (That's in the west part of Hong Kong!) and it took almost an hour for our through and fro ride.
Oh and did I mention how close they drive to each other?
Our trip back!
Passed by what is known as "Dried Goods Street" (海味街） by the locals.
Finally though, we got to try out Yung Kee after the tram ride and I didn't know how sad I could get until I've been there. Our next destination by the MTR to Sham Sui Po station proved to be a famous local fare that was fairly similar to Chinatown in Malaysia: Apliu Street (鴨寮街). Spanning through 4 streets from the crossroad of Cheung Sha Wan Road between Yen Chow Street and Nam Cheong Street, it is a serious flea market affair in Apliu Street!
Yeap! This is it!
Phone covers.
Camera tripods.
Plugs, anyone?
Or cable ties if that tickles your fancy?
Bags sold here too!
Heck, there's even this huge collection of magnets for you to pick!
And the best of all...CCTVs for your home and black boxes for your car.
There are even old men sitting around playing music together.
I absolutely love Apliu Street! It's so happy and joyous all around, there's absolutely no way anyone can feel sad here. Unless it's raining then maybe you'd get dampened spirits of the vendors covering the space up. Oh and I got to finally try Hong Kong's "Kai Dan Zhai" (雞蛋仔), almost akin to the kaya balls in Malaysia except there was no kaya inside. I thought it was really good too. Daddy got his curry fishball try and we thought it was just mediocre so that was disappointing. One thing however is that the sugarcane drinks in Hong Kong is unusually sweet though I'm not sure if it's really just SUGAR loaded in sugarcane. Geddit, geddit?
This was really yummy and it's HKD 6 only!
Daddy looks so happy with his curry fishballs, I had to GIF him!
We ended up empty handed and decided to hop on the MTR again; this time to Mong Kok! Sure, it's a familiar name to Malaysians now with the cafe shrooming around and I trust it needs no introduction. Our aim was Fa Yuen Street (花园街), a street between Boundary Street and Dundas Street. To the locals however, it is also called Sneakers Street (波鞋街) because there were endless shops that sold nothing but sneakers! We ended up with 3 pairs of sneakers that day; daddy got a pair of New Balance for HKD 388 while mum got herself Rebooks for HKD 229 and I snapped off a pair of Nikes for HKD 442. You'll never find such a steal in Malaysia, okay? Don't judge my love for sneakers!
We continued our walk to an early dinner at Xin Dou Ji (新斗記) just nearby and were pleasantly filled to the brim with much thanks to a recommendation from daddy's old classmate, Uncle Patrick. My day still had not ended when we decided to head to Temple Street (廟街) just to get a feel of Hong Kong's night market. It was really hilarious because if you walk down the right aisle, you get this whole row of fortune tellers trying to get you to have your fortune looked at. I'm sorry, I trust only in myself! *Flares in pride*
Fake Pradas available here.
Along with beads for prayers.
And ridiculous signs like these. Check out the King of Fart one!
We finally hiked down Nathan Street after that over to the bus station to catch bus 212 back to Hung Hom and en route...
We stopped by the headquarters of ICAC!
I think it's pretty vital to take a picture in front of ICAC because you keep hearing it on TV whenever they have all these cop series and movies so it's nice to just be there (CHOI!) outside the place and it does represent Hong Kong in some ways, right? We went back to the malls near home and I also got 2 other pairs of Converses that night for a total of HKD 618 while dad invested in another pair of Reeboks for HKD 259. Here's a thank you to my Uncle Edwin who sponsored me HKD 1,000 to spend on whatever I wanted! I bought Converses!
And this was all in Day 2. You can imagine how exhausted I was, both physically and mentally. My feet no longer felt like mine by the end of the day and my mind was completely baffled over whatever I had seen. That, and I am still baffled over the cleanliness of Hong Kong throughout our walks of whatever streets we've been at. The thing about the lifestyle in this country is that people are always rushing somewhere. It's like they're constantly stressed out and in such an amazing pace, they WILL shout at you if you stop and block their paths.
So until my Day 3 post...here's a picture of the mango sago I had in the Hui Lau Shan near home. Seriously, they're everywhere in Hong Kong!
You may drool now. And you're welcome.
Just so you don't get bored with these long updates of my experience in Hong Kong, the next talk about it will be up NEXT WEEK. You know, to give you a break from all these things to process. Midway though, let's see what comes through my days that I'd update on. Otherwise, you may stalk me on Dayre instead! I update there daily on the rubbish that runs through my life so yeah...see you around!
Tags:
Hong Kong Adventures
10 comments
all the pictures of you were taken by ur mum?
ReplyDeleteThey're taken by my mum, brother, brother's girlfriend and myself but it's all jumbled up so I have no idea which is who's now! ><
DeleteYour HK trip looks so much fun than mine ! hahaha.. I have totally forgotten to visit the ladder street... >.<
ReplyDeleteOmg don't ahahahaha it's a torture! I've got 7 days more to update on, do keep a lookout on my posts! :D
Deleteohhhh man~!!! i would like to get a tripod somehow :P
ReplyDeleteBefore I left to HK tak cakap!!! Now too late, please go buy in Lowyat... :P
DeleteThe Ladder Street will change to Escalator Street one day. Those who enjoy hiking better go now.
ReplyDeleteEscalator street @.@ Tell me when it has changed, I will go again!
DeleteFun! We were just there last weekend. We enjoyed that walk around the waterfront.
ReplyDeleteWe enjoyed it lots too! Wish it was a little more cooling when you went because when I left, it was around 19 degrees in the afternoon.
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