Hong Kong, pt 2

Sadly the second half of my time in Hong Kong wasn’t quite as jam-packed and exciting as the first half.  There was lots that I wanted to do but two things got in the way; I got quite sick and the weather was terrible. I wanted to explore the smaller outlying islands, and make a trip to Macau but there was never a day when I fancied hopping on a boat, given the rain, the fog, the wind and general cold temperatures.

It seems to be a bit better at night, so most of my activities were night activities. One night I went on a harbour boat tour to see the lights show. I think HK is quite famous for its light show, but I thought it was a bit lame. The buildings are already mostly lit up, and it’s stunning, but then they only add a few laser-type-lights, and it just doesn’t make that much difference. If none of them were lit up and then they suddenly all came on, it would be much more impressive. Regardless, the boat tour is a great way to see the harbour at night. 

Chicken feet...

Another night I met up with Marc, a friend from Suara who moved to Hong Kong about a year ago. We went to Tim Ho Wan, a Michelin Star restaurant- the world’s cheapest Michelin Star restaurant!! It’s a yum-cha restaurant and we only ended up paying about $20(Aus) for the two of us. Marc made me try chicken feet. Ew. But hey, I tried! We also had the most delicious pork buns in the world. SO GOOD.

 

Afterwards we did a bit of market shopping. We went to the Ladies Market and Temple Street Market, two of Hong Kong’s most famous. Ladies Market is mostly bags, wallets, iPhone covers, similar things at each shop. Temple Street Market is more varied; glasses, magnets, sex toys, palm reading.. All sorts! Marc’s Cantonese came in handy for bartering :) We also had some herbal tea, which Marc tells me is popular in Hong Kong. It was deliciously sweet, but I’m told there’s no added sugar, just herbs!

The stunning view

I also went to the Peak. I was told to go at night, because it’s too foggy during the day. I got the tram all the way up (up the steepest hill ever) which was kind of cool. But it wasn’t until I was up at the peak that I was told that at the lookout it was too foggy to see anything. Annoyed that I had already come all this way I paid the extra $4.50(Aus) to go have a look for myself. Nope. They were right. Nothing. Bit disappointing.

  

World's longest escalator

On my last day in HK I finally felt well enough to actually venture out for a bit longer. I had lunch with Kath (from the hostel) and explored the shops near our hostel. We said goodbye and I headed for the Central area. Hong Kong is home to the world’s longest escalator. It’s not really that exciting but I went and had a ride on it. The streets around it are quite cool. There’s shops with everything varying from the expensive (Louis Vuitton) to the standard (Esprit) to the markets- super cheap. 

Busy streets of HK!

I went back up to the Mong Kok area (where the ladies market is) because Marc mentioned that there are two other notable streets there. One is shoe street (not it’s actual name, but how it is commonly known) and it’s pretty much covered in shoe shops; Adidas, Nike, Clarks, anything else you could imagine. Though, I spotted a lot of camera shops too! Camera shops are everywhere. The other street was meant to be flower street. However.. Either Marc made this one up, I’m too dumb to find it, or it’s a night thing. In any case, I couldn’t find it.

I’m now about to head off to the airport where I am going via Bangkok to Phuket..Where I will meet up with Jo! Weeeeeeeee!