Travelogue: Hong Kong

My original plan was to start writing about my travels in 2012, but I'm a little lazy to hunt up all the photos. Instead, I'm going to write about my Hong Kong trip in Feb 2013 instead. 

The trip was a total spur of the moment craze of mine. I found out that Jetstar was having flight promos while in class one day. Instead of listening to my Professor, I started hunting down flight deals. And lo and behold, Hong Kong! My next step was to hunt down a friend who was as crazy as me to travel in the middle of the school semester. But hey, I figured we were in our last semester of University. No harm doing something crazy. 

So a girlfriend and I booked our tickets and accommodations in the midst of mid terms, and during our mid-semester break week, off we went! I was seriously excited about this trip having never been to Hong Kong before. There's just something that lets of an adrenaline rush in me whenever I plan a trip. 

Hong Kong bound! 

Our first day in Hong Kong was spent wandering around, trying to navigate our way to the hotel (Dorsett Kwun Tong). I must say the MTR system in HK is so easy to navigate around. Finding the hotel wasn't as hard as we expected it to be. And while the room was small, it was nice and cozy. I unfortunately didn't take a picture of it because I'm not in the habit of doing so. The hotel is also new, which makes it even better! 

 After which we decided to head to Victoria's Peak since it was almost 5 pm when we set out to explore the area. And I must say, I absolutely loved the weather. There was an insanely long queue to take the tram up the hill. We waited for approximately an hour - thank god for the cooling weather. 

While the tram ride is definitely a novel experience for someone who hasn't done something similar before, the whole experience was somewhat marred by pushy Chinese tourist. Not that I'm against them or anything, but everyone was literally shoving trying to get on board. And the waiting time was only 10 minutes. My local HK friends have said that its more exciting to take the public bus up because of the journey around the hill. I'll try that the next time I head back to HK. Can't imagine what it'd be like - I should be in for a treat. 

Waiting for the tram up.

View of HK from Victoria's Peak. 

Simply gorgeous. 

Note: There is the Symphony of Light show at Victoria's Harbor daily at 8pm. The peak is one of the few vantage points to catch this show. 

We roamed around the peak, soaking in the gorgeous skyline and basking in the breeze blowing through our hair. We would have stayed longer if not for our hungry stomach's calling out for help. Now this trip was really badly planned, but we managed to chance upon Mak's Noodle House which is a Michelin recommended restaurant. The food was light, refreshing and good. We tried the beef brisket noodles together with some vegetables. Good and cheap food is always a plus point with me! 

Day 2 was spent in Ocean Park and shopping around Causeway Bay. Headed to Ocean Park bright and early. The bus service from Admiralty Station drops you right in front of the park entrance. We managed to score discounted tickets at the MTR station. We decided to head on over to the rides section of Ocean Park first, before the sun got too hot. Following which we then visited all the different animals. 

 Cable car ride to the thrill side of the park. 

 Animal show at Ocean Park. 

Crazy big Octopus.

  Dream-like jellyfishes. I developed an obsession for Jellyfishes after this. 

I really enjoyed Ocean Park, especially the Aquarium. But in my opinion, slightly more than half a day there would do you good. Unless you want to take all the rides. We headed off before closing to escape the crowd and decided to roam around Causeway Bay to hunt down some food on CNN's list of 40 things to try in HK. Everything on that list is worth a try. 

Day 3 in HK was our designated shopping day. But before that we decided to head to Avenue of Stars to do our little tourist act. I only recognised the really famous people - Guess I need to brush up on my Chinese/Canto dramas and movies. 

Shopping was insane. We walked till our feet hurt and bought random items. I don't even know where to begin with shopping in Hong Kong. We went to MongKok, Tim Sha Tsui and Jordan. Insane. Unfortunately I couldn't get much clothes because the stalls were mostly selling winter clothes, which is unsuitable for Singapore's hot and humid climate. But I did manage to find other items at a steal! Met up with friends for dinner after our exhausting shopping session. 

Beef Brisket Curry. Absolutely love this. 

Does anyone know if they sell this in Singapore? 

Our last day in HK was spent chilling. We slept in a little later after 3 days of non-stop activity. We decided to head to the APM mall near our hotel for some last minute dim sum before heading to the airport to catch our flight home. 

To sum up HK - Food, Fun, great company. I love that HK is only a 4 hour flight away from SG and that I can go back whenever I want. I'll probably be back soon to explore more out-of-the-city areas and for the food and shopping. HK is like Singapore, but yet different. 

After watching Running Man, I also want to visit Macau to bungee jump of the tower. But that will be another trip, for another time.