Hong Kong: Home Away from Home (Day I)

I’ll have to be honest with you, guys. This trip actually happened 7 months ago. Yes, 7 months ago. The reason why I decided to write about this now was because I finally, finally, had the compulsion to. Back when I was in Kowloon, I told myself that I would write when I get home, but college struck and I kind of forgot about it.

So, to cease the digression, let’s take a stroll down memory lane on a grey-coloured day in the beginning of June.

Which is, in all honesty, quite false since I arrived in Hong Kong in the middle of the night. It was my second time to go to Hong Kong, and the first time I did with our family friends in tow. We were 12 in total, and well, it was really fun. The last time I went to Hong Kong, I was in fifth grade and it was just my family and I and I don’t remember much except for Disneyland and that was it.

International Departures at NAIA; an hour before departing for HK

The plane ride going to Hong Kong was turbulent, at best. There was a storm outside, and even from inside the plane, you can see forks of lightning hidden in the clouds. Also, the plane kept entering violent turbulence that I almost thought it was some rendition of Final Destination. I have a sick sense of humour.

Finally arrived at Hong Kong International Airport at Tsing Yi, waiting for our train to take us to Kowloon

A lot of us were down with colds and cough even before we left for Hong Kong. When we got to the airport, I had to bite back a laugh at the many infrared scanners, even though it was no laughing matter. Like I said, I have a sick sense of humour and I kept on thinking about the idea that we would be denied entry if we were deemed too sick to enter the city and had to be deported back.

BP International’s lobby; 8 Austin Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

We stayed at Baden-Powell International House, a three-star hotel and ran by the Scout Association of Hong Kong. It was a pretty okay hotel, mostly we just slept and abused the Wi-Fi there. lmao.

On our first day, we explored Tsim Sha Tsui. I think the better sentence would be “they all explored and I went off by myself, looking around” which is not exactly inaccurate as I did just wander off.

My mother went off to buy a bag. I just stood by the post in the junction in-between going to Kowloon Park and Jordan Road.

Tsim Sha Tsui is the main shopping district of Hong Kong. Yes, you got that right, this district is full with boutiques and shops and retail stores that could make fashionistas cry with ecstacy (and make your credit card cry in abject despair). Coach, Gucci, Prada, H&M, basically every name in fashion can be found here, sometimes with their shops encompassing an entire block! People line up outside before they open, hoping to be the first to get that brand new pair of suede shoes or that lavender Yves Saint Lauren coat.

I would have cried out, but I’m not exactly fashion-conscious. Give me a parka, a pair of combat boots and I’m good to go.

After that, we took off for Nathan Road, looking for the Big Bus Tour stop since my family and tito Nikki’s family were acting as guides for tito Joel’s, being their first time here in Hong Kong. It was a fun search, since we basically trekked across the entire expanse of Tsim Sha Tsui to look for that damned stop. Good thing we left the hotel early, so all that extra time was killed productively.

Nathan Road

We drifted off Nathan Road and into Salisbury Road. How I knew? Because of this:

Hong Kong Space Museum; 10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

We also came across the 1881 Heritage, formerly known as the Marine Police Headquarters Compound. The compound became a declared monument in 1994 and, in 2009, has become a heritage hotel with food, beverage and retail outlets in an architectural project headed by Daniel Lin.

Tito Joel, Tita Twinkle, Andrea and Nash by the fountain; 1881 Heritage

Finally having found the stop, we waited for the gigantic red bus to appear before we set off exploring HK. It is quite possible to circle the entire expanse of Hong Kong in a day, but you miss entering the deeper and more interesting facets of the mega-city. With the Big Bus Tour, you can view important points of the city, culture and tourism-wise. We rounded a bit in the Kowloon district, looking up government buildings that I wasn’t able to take photos of since it was raining and I was inside the bus (it had an open-air deck above). We also passed by St. John’s Cathedral, but that was under renovation, so no photos as well.

When we got another Stanley, another town, we had an hour to spend exploring before the next bus came to take us to Aberdeen.

Stanley Market

The main attraction of Stanley is the Stanley Plaza and the market. The Plaza is filled with boutiques, shops and restaurants in one large arcade. Stanley Main Street is, as the name suggests, a long street with food stalls lining up the entire way. There was even a stall that sold Budweiser with a gigantic bottle on display. Seriously.

We mostly spent our time at Stanley Market, which is where most tourists come to. Extremely cheap, counterfeit products are sold here, from sunglasses to bags to television sets to backpacks that are designed to look like owls and bugs. This is your typical “Chinatown” that you see quite often in movies. It looked so appropriate that I expected some sort of brawl or shoot-and-run action to happen. Sick sense of humour, I know.

So, we all split off and I chose to enter the market, looking for a Japanese fan that my friend, Kris, wanted me to buy for her. Most of the stuff here are sold at cheap prices if you lived in Hong Kong, but if you’re a tourist and using Philippine Peso to get Hong Kong dollars, good luck with that. Bargain the hell out of things here, mate. I bought a pair of shades that would have cost around Php 2,000 if I hadn’t bargained. I got it for Php 1,500. Not too bad for my first time bargaining.

Anyway, after having bought the fan and meeting back with the guys, we took a break at a nearby Starbucks coffee shop and I had to shoo away the people so we could get seats. There were 12 of us, there were only 6 chairs available. I had no choice, yo.

I don’t think they minded, though. I kinda looked like most of them so I guess it all seemed normal to them city-goers.

When the bus finally arrived, we took off for Victoria Peak, the highest mountain on the western half of Hong Kong Island. Generally, you climb up the mountain via the Peak Tram to get to the Peak Galleria and up the highest point of Victoria Peak, where you can basically see all of Hong Kong.

A wax figure at Madame Tussauds; I have no idea who he is but I really thought he was real.

Going up the Peak via the tram is quite the experience. You would be basically going up a steep mountain, your body in a perilous slanting position and you have to refrain from thinking about whether or not the train would lose the rails and topple back and kill everyone inside in a fiery explosion. I’m not joking.

Finally at the top; you can see Central, Kowloon and Victoria Harbour from here

The view from the photo was taken atop the Peak Tower, a large shopping complex. Yeah, the entirety of Hong Kong is probably every shopper’s wet dream. I’m not even joking when I say that everywhere you look, there’s a shop nearby.

We grabbed some food here before coming down, waiting for the next bus to take us to Aberdeen. Of course, mother had an argument with dad and my brother because the two of them were looking for rice and mom and I were like “hello, where the hell can you find rice with how tight our schedule is?!”.

Anyway, once we’ve gotten down, our next stop was Aberdeen. This place is known for its floating village. Yup, you got it right. The fishing Tanka people of Aberdeen live on barges and boats floating in the river, reminiscent of ancient galleons and junks.

Amidst these barges, you can see yachts that probably cost millions. Ironic.

Apparently, when we got there, there was also a canoe tournament. Not only were we toured around in a large barge, we also got to cheer for teams paddling by us. Viewers also cheered on from their positions atop other barges.

The Jumbo Kingdom Restaurant; made to resemble a Chinese Imperial Palace floating atop the river, this restaurant has been visited by the likes of Queen Elizabeth II, Tom Cruise and John Wayne

With that, we ended our first day at Victoria Harbour, viewing the Symphony of Lights and traversing the Avenue of Stars, Hong Kong’s own version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Clock Tower at Victoria Harbour; another declared monument of Hong Kong

Just a few popular guys in the Chinese film industry

Nighttime Victoria Harbour is just beautiful. The sound of the waves crashing against the docks, the distant, blurred city lights, strangers passing by you as you stand there, watch a ship’s lights stare back at you and you feel truly calm.

Beautiful

We returned to the hotel to rest our aching feet (and aching limbs because have you ever tried carrying 6-8 shopping bags and a camera for half the entire day?!).

The second day was the Disneyland trip, which I will be talking about in another post soon (check it out here!). We spent the last two days shopping, which I will also be talking about soon.

In the meantime, here’s some other fun photos (grabbed from my mom and my tita’s) on my first day: