Harbour City & Silvercord Shopping Mall, Tsim Sha Tsui

As the ferry embarks at the China Ferry Terminal, my one day tour of Hong Kong begins. The 1.5 hour aboard the ferry wasn't a pleasant one as the bad weather made the journey really rough and I was almost having sea sick. Anyway the weather was unkind as well as it was drizzling none stop when I arrived.



After getting my refund I then proceeded to Harbour City (中港城) which was just a stone's throw away after getting directions from a receptionist. My Cantonese passed! Harbour City is basically rows and rows of high end shopping brands which does not really interest me. My main aim at this area was to visit the H & M shop at Silvercord for some shopping and that's about it.



Hong Kong itself is really quite a busy city and everybody seems rushing around. It's hard to see any locals taking a stroll on the streets. Then again, it was during working hours when I was around. The buildings are all very well constructed and most of them are linked with each other, which makes life easier for visitors as they don't have to exit the mall to get to another mall. Size wise, everything is very compacted compared to the likes of One Utama or Sunway Pyramid. Personally I don't really enjoy shopping under such cramped conditions. Maybe I'm just used to the big open spaces in Malaysia's own shopping malls. :/ Nevertheless, shopping in Hong Kong is still a tad cheaper due to its duty free status compared to the Malaysia and that's probably why many flock here for this sole reason.











On a side note, free Wi-Fi is available everywhere in Hong Kong! Even on their public phones! But the problem is that you have to register your Malaysian number with the telco company which I couldn't figured out how. It's quite frustrating at times when you need to use the internet. Why can't just setup a simple broadband and provide WiFi password to customers? :/

yealah. my milk tea want to add ice also need to add 3 dollars. wtf

honestly i cant tell the difference but maybe i didnt go those special tea shop to drink la

cannot exactly compare lah. our teh tarik uses condensed milk where as theirs using another type of milk. sure will affect the taste more or less. i think should compare teh C with HK milk tea to be fairer

This post has been edited by zstan: Feb 22 2013, 11:21 AM

well one of the free wifi operators is by PCCW. to sign up for the free wifi you have to change your network to PCCW which i failed to do so, and hence giving up.

Heritage 1881 Square, Tsim Sha Tsui

As the rain pours on I continue my journey with an umbrella in one hand and my a77 in another. Both of my shoes are already quite soaked at that time. ._.||| Basically Heritage 1881 was the headquarters of the Hong Kong Marine Police decades ago and has since been converted to a high end shopping mall based on a Victorian theme. Actually this place is not very much of interest to the general public unless you are into branded shopping or maybe architectural photography.









Another point of interest at this place is the Time Ball tower. According to discover hong kong:

not true!! everybody queues the same line. if you plan to visit around a certain time, be there at least one hour earlier to queue.




DSC02285 by zstan, on Flickr


DSC02286 by zstan, on Flickr


DSC02290 by zstan, on Flickr

Star House & Hong Kong Clock Tower, Tsim Sha Tsui

After walking around drenched for awhile, I am starting to feel really hungry and then proceeded to the nearest mall to get some food! Hong Kong food! Like finally. The mall that I entered was Star House which was adjacent to the ferry terminal. It was completely random and I did not do any research for my lunch.








After walking and surveying around I then decided to eat at Cafe de Coral (大家樂). It's actually one of the most famous fast food chains in Hong Kong and can be found in Macau as well. I opted for this as I saw construction workers queuing up to get food from this restaurant, hence assuming the price should be quite cheap, which was not exactly the case. Maybe its cheap for Hong Kong standards though.






This set costed me HK$34 which is about RM13.60. The char siew pork tastes quite different from the usual meat in Malaysia. To my surprise there were no Char Siew Wanton Noodles combination on the menu though. Actually many of the so called Hong Kong or Taiwanese food in Malaysia are actually slightly modified to suit the local market.



After a hearty meal, i then proceeded to the next famous landmark in Tsim Sha Tsui- the clock tower!

Avenue of Stars (星光大道)

Moving on to one of Hong Kong's most famous landmark of all - The Avenue Of Stars, which is a long stretch of road commemorating Hong Kong's famous actors and actresses by the majestic Victoria Harbour.Unfortunately for me, the weather was still very cloudy after the rain has started to finally subside.


Hong Kong Island in its full glory

To be honest, apart from the 'wow' factor of all the stars, there's nothing much to do here. But come 8pm at night, a dazzling light show would be put on display which I gave a miss as I was more interested in going up the Peak. Shall return for the show another time.







On a side note, I saw this guy who was really busy taking pictures of himself, but not by the conventional way. To my amusement, he was actually using his camera on a proper tripod, set up the timer and run across the opposite direction to have his shot taken. Not forgetting to mention he's doing this in public space and asking passer's by to get out of the camera's line. This brings selca-ing to a whole new level.

Ladies' Market @ Tung Choi Street & Sneakers Street @ Fa Yuen Street, Mongkok

more pics at blog~

My next destination was no other than one of the famous shopping spot was budget conscious people like me - Ladies Market or more popularly known as 女人街! From the Avenue of Stars, I made my way towards the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station to get over to Mong Kok Station. Finding the MTR was relatively easy as signs on the streets are located everywhere.





Taking the MTR was pretty straight forward with all the routes and exits properly labelled. The only complaint that I have is the severe lack of public toilets at the MTR stations. Even at the biggest, or matbe longest would be more appropriate, MTR station which was Central station, there was not a single public toilet! In stark contrast there are always toilets available at Malaysia's LRT or KTM stations and even in most stations at Taiwan. I guess the lack of space in Hong Kong is really apparent in these situations.

And about 10-15 minutes later, I arrived at Mong Kok! Signboards everywhere. One of the distinct features of Hong Kong streets.





Interesting to see a cinema on its own. I guess Malaysia is the only place where the cinemas are present in most of the shopping malls. I've decided to try out the Hui Lau Shan (許留山) dessert shop at its home ground to see whether is it really better than its branches in Malaysia.






Needless to say its nothing really to shout about. At HK$45 it's a bit more pricier than Malaysia's branch . The mangoes that they used were not that great, probably just normal honey mangoes. The shop's size is also really quite cramped and the toilet is really one of the smallest I've ever entered. Expense of development I guess.


After a decent rest and filling up my tummy it's time for shopping!!! Although popularly known as Ladies Street, the actual name is actually Tung Choi Street. Technically it's Malaysian's version of Petaling Street with clothes, electronics, accessories being sold at a much cheaper price. I bought 4 T-shirts at HK$100 and the quality is really quite decent.







Adjacent to Tung Choi Street is Fa Yuen Street where most of the shops here are selling shoes at discounted prices. Didn't get anything from here though, can't really comment on the quality of the shoes sold. Ladies could really spend a lot of time at these 2 streets if not careful =P

i am perfectly straight. thanks.

Prince Edward MTR station area

My next destination of the day was another one of Hong Kong's iconic landmark - The Peak! Since I planned to capture the sunset moments and time was still on my side, I decided to head over to Prince Edward area to chill for a moment after all the shopping.





It's worth nothing that some MTR stations provide free Wi-Fi access through these computer stations. Do note that everything is in Chinese characters though. Interestingly the ticketing booth also offers free Wi-Fi within 100 metre range but you will have to face huge competition from the rest of the MTR population.




I didn't do any research regarding this place hence I just headed over to the McCafe for a cup of coffee to pass time and rest my legs. Which I will regret doing so in the next few hours.

Journey up to The Peak, Central

At around 4.30pm I've decided I have rested enough and then proceeded back to the MTR station and headed for Central station, at Hong Kong island to visit the final place I had in mine - The Peak! For Prince Edward it was a relatively straight forward journey to Central station which cost HKD11.50.





Central is probably the equivalent of the surrounding area nearby KLCC. As one of the longest MTR station in Hong Kong, many top business companies have their buildings built surrounding this station. There are many exits from this station and the distance from one end to another end of the station is relatively long. It's no wonder I hardly see any obese people in Hong Kong. So much walking to do!




And finally, I found a decent public toilet that is clean! It was located in the park right outside the exit of the MTR. On another note the park itself is really quite a nice place to hang out, especially in this cool pre-winter weather. Great avenue for those working in the highly stressed environments of Hong Kong.








From the MTR station to the Peak tram station, its a good 10-15 minute uphill climb. Signboards are, as usual, placed strategically along the roads for the convenience of tourist.

got. will post it in a seperate post

Journey UP the Peak

I mentioned in my earlier posts that I regretted lazing around McCafe before deciding to head over to the Peak, and this is why:





I got a real shock when I saw the amazingly long queue. I have completely forgotten to take into account that this place is one of the most popular tourist attraction of Hong Kong (besides Disney Land) and there is bound to have a huge crowd. I was contemplating whether to wait for the tram as I have to meet my friend by 7.30pm and it was already 5.00pm. There are other options up the Peak, namely by taxi and bus but I've decided to wait anyway since I am already here.



My tickets for the Peak tram costed HK$65 which does not include the wax museum tour. I didn't have the budget for it nor did I have the time so I skipped it. As time went on, the queue behind me just got more and more longer. @_@



And after a good one hour wait, my ride has finally arrived!





This ride up the slope reminds me of how Penang Hill used to be many many years ago before the new tram system was built. Seeing the whole Hong Kong bit by bit as the tram slowly climbed up the hill was really fascinating.




After a good 15 minutes I've finally reached the station atop of the Peak! Not wanting to waste my time, I immediately raced up the many floors to reach the observation deck as soon as possible before the sun set. I really didn't expect that I had to climb so many flights of stairs to reach the top. Quite a good exercise.







On a side note, the weather on the highest peak at Hong Kong was really really cooling! I think it was have been about 15 degrees Celcius as I can feel my hands feeling numb when I tried to take some pictures. I must be the only one in polo-T, fully enjoying the coldness while everybody else was wearing jackets to keep themselves warm. xD The only place this cold back in Malaysia was probably Genting Highlands hence I really appreciated every moment of the cold.

there's taxi and public buses as well.

http://zhishan90.blogspot.com/2013/04/hong...night-view.html

I was really lucky as the sun pretty much started to set when I was atop the observatory floor. It's probably due to the fact that winter is arriving soon hence the sun sets at an earlier time (~6.15pm).







Having said that the sunset moment was really really short and lasted like seconds before the whole sky turned into pitch black and then gets lit up by the sea of lights by the buildings situated on the island. Nevertheless it will still a very nice sight to behold. It was rather tricky taking pictures as all the tourists were basically crowding around the railing. I had to hold my camera in one hand and the freezing weather was not helping in stabilising my hand.









Apart from enjoying the night scenery, tourists can also leave their love wishes at this nicely built loved shape deco.



After that frantic picture taking I then took some time to visit the Peak's surroundings. As usual, there are many high end brands setting up shop here as well as well classy dining restaurants.





And after another 30 minute queue, it's almost time to say good bye to The Peak and my journey at Hong Kong.

Of course their salary is high to compensate the cost of living.. after minusing everything i doubt they have much to save.. for the cleaners i mean..