Hong Kong - Day 20

May 15, 2014

The first thing on our list to do was to go to "The Peak Galleria" to admire the view of Hong Kong from the top of the mountain. Our day started early and we took the MTR from Prince Edward station to Central station. Once we got to Central station, we got out of the platform and encountered a park. In that park there were statues and water fountains surrounded by skyscrapers. Holy crap, the buildings were so TALL. What if an earthquake hits. Only in Hong Kong can you find skyscrapers this high. （゜◇゜）

 Statue of Sir Thomas Jackson, Bart. - HSBC Banker

There was another park nearby, or was it connected? Well, anyways, this park is bigger and apparently the washroom here was cleaner, I did not go, it was the modern kind.

Oh right, by the way, I saw so many "Man in full-pledge suits" that it blew my mind. They were wearing blazers, ties, shirts, pants, socks, and pretty much everything that wearing a suit entails. I was in shorts and a t-shirt and sweating buckets while fanning myself with a map. How do they do it??! What's their secret??! It was well over 30+ degrees. Also, we were lost, we didn't know where to take the bus to the peak galleria. My mother found a janitor and asked her and then we walked a bit and had no clue where we were again, but luckily we found an officer and asked him and he pointed to a certain direction.

We were now trying to look for the bus terminal so that we can take the special bus to "The Peak Galleria." I think we were wondering around the same building for approximately 30 minutes before I went up to a security guard and asked him where to take the number 15 bus. He told us to go out and down the escalators and the bus terminal is inside the building. It was HIDDEN. I think we walked pass that gap already. No wonder the GPS said the terminal was here, but it doesn't tell you where the entrance is. Once we got on the double Decker bus, we climbed to the upper seating area. You only need to scan your card when you go in, but you don't have to scan out; there's a fixed fee if you are going to "the peak," but you have to scan out if you are getting off at certain stops.

Yes, this is the place the GPS pointed us to. We could not locate the bus terminal. We didn't know that the terminal would be inside a building.

Taking the bus to the peak was quite scary because the roads on the mountain was quite narrow, and while seating on the upper deck, it feels like the bus could tip over anytime. I couldn't help but let my mother know what I am thinking and she said she had to get away from me, and so she switched seats. As the bus was ascending the mountain, you will notice a lot of apartments and houses built on the mountain. I was quite surprised that there were apartments that high up on the mountain; I guess they are not acrophobic. "The Peak" is the terminal stop so you don't have to worry about missing your stop. When you get off and walk outside, you would be welcomed by a mall like structure. Inside the mall there are a lot of EXPENSIVE brand-name stores. Another option to get to the peak is to take the tram up, conversely you can take the tram down the mountain too. When we were going up to the terrence we saw a super long line up to take the tram down the mountain, and the cost wasn't too appealing- so it was a NO from us. 

Inside the peak galleria there is also a wax museum but tickets were quite expensive, I believe.  And good thing there was a cheap option for lunch, Mcdonalds - $63 HK for a meal, an wrap and a coffee.

 The mall at the peak

 A very cute cottage-like restaurant.

 

Here you can take all the elevators to the top of the mall. 

 The observation deck at the terrence on the top floor of the peak galleria.

Initially when we got up to the terrence it was foggy and we couldn't see anything, but luckily after waiting a while it cleared up. Those apartment buildings are so TALL, it must be so scary living on the top floor. I don't know how they even built this.

 I believe the view here is of the Victoria Habour.

We took the bus down the mountain and we sat at the upper deck again; it was so scary and I can feel my heart pumping like crazy. Honestly, we didn't know where to stop at so we got off when most people got off. We didn't know where to go next so we just walked around the city.

For dinner, we went to "Wing Shing Cafe" - total cost was $104 HK (~$17 CND). It was okay, I didn't like my drink though- to many random fruits inside.

Later on we ended up at this really really big mall with around 8 stories. The top couple of stories are arcades and rides. There's a roller coaster coiling the elevator, though I think it would be quite scary to be so high up.

We also went to "Apliu Street" which is a electronic street in Sham Shui Po. They sell a lot of electronic things- plugs, lamps, CDs, DVDs, phones, batteries, toys, music players, fans, etc. They are open till very late, so no worries; it's just that the actual stores close early.