Hong
Kong had always been one of the countries I’d wish to visit. Besides being a
popular shopping destination for tourists, this city also boasts many cultural
attractions, heritage sites and Cantonese cuisine.
My
wife and I finally got the chance to visit this city this year. As first time
visitors, we needed to plan our trip efficiently because we only had five days
to stroll around the city (that includes a day trip to Macau). Remarkably, we
managed to do many things given our tight and quite compressed schedule.
Day
1 – Lantau Island and Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade
Our plane landed at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) at around 10:30AM and we went right away to Lantau Island. We rode a Lantau taxi (blue car) and it took us about 10 minutes to reach Ngong Ping 360 cable car terminal and the ride cost us HKD40 (SGD7). We bought what they call the "Land, Sea and Air" day pass which included 2-way cable car trip, unlimited bus ride around Lantau island and a boat excursion in Tai-O fishing village. The package was HKD450 (SGD 74) for two persons. The cable car ride took us around 20 minutes. While in the cable car, we got a stunning view of Lantau island, with its lush green mountains. Looking away from Lantau island and we saw HKIA's runway.
Behind me is a cable car heading towards the terminal.
My wife posing in front of Ngong Ping 360 terminal.
A big gate-like structure while heading towards Po Lin monastery and Big Buddha.
A great view of the monastery and a mountain behind it (while ascending to the Big Buddha)!
The 30 meter tall Big Buddha projects a calming presence.
After the Buddha experience, we rode public bus #21 and headed to Tai-O fishing village. The bus ride to Tai-O fishing village was quite dizzying because of several sharp curves while descending. After we reached Tai-O fishing village, it took us around 3-5 minutes walk to reach the boat excursion terminal. While heading to the terminal, we saw a number of seafood restaurants. Unfortunately, we weren't able to try those because we were feeling full from the snacks (i.e. egg waffle, fish balls and pork sausage) we had while at Ngong Ping village. The boat excursion took us about 15-20 minutes. Frankly, there's nothing really remarkable about the boat excursion. It's maybe popular to some because it shows how was it like during the old times, with the houses that appear floating on water but are actually supported by bamboo poles and beams.
@Tai-O village
After the boat excursion, we decided to go back and to check in to our guest house. Our first MTR ride in Hong Kong was at Tung Chung station. Hong Kong's MTR system is very much like Singapore. We earlier bought our Octopus cards at the airport and have used these to use public transport in our entire stay in Hong Kong.
At Tung Chung station. I was looking a bit tired already...
Selfie shot with my wife inside the train. The smiley poster points where are the priority seats.
We alighted at Jordan station and from there we asked a few folks for directions. Asia Travel House was located between Jordan and Yau Ma Tei stations so it took us around 10 minutes walk along Nathan Road to reach our guest house. Just like most guest houses in Hong Kong, the room was small but it was nicely prepared and clean. It was already 5pm when we checked in and we were really tired from our trip at Lantau. So we decided to nap for about an hour to regain energy for our night trip.
Our next destination was at Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade. It was already 7pm when we left but Tsim Sha Tsui station was very near so we reached the promenade in 15-20 minutes. Hong Kong's skyline was simply stunning. From our location, we saw the row of brightly lit buildings and structures at Hong Kong island. We also got the chance to see the symphony of lights show.
Struck a pose. Behind is Hong Kong Island.
In that same area was the Avenue of Stars. From what I read, this landmark was made to pay tribute to the professionals of Hong Kong's film industry.
Lights, camera, action!
@Sam Hui's hand print location.
Bruce Lee's monument. We forgot to take a picture with a Bruce Lee impersonator just beside this. lol
We capped the night by having dinner at Cafe de Coral. We had difficulty searching for it at Tsim Sha Tsui so we went to its branch near Jordan. We tried their rice meals, mine was the char siew pork while my wife chose the roasted pork. Both our meals have ample serving of rice, topped with broccoli, chicken wings and salted egg. Since it was very cold at night, we opted to have hot coffee and tea. Overall, the meals weren't bad. But if we have luxury of time, we would have tried out other food places in Jordan.
Bon apetit @Cafe de Coral
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