On the day we had to leave for Hong Kong, we had to wake up super early. We bought one luggage and a large athletic bag along. We also had to bring two bags full of zongzi to give to people. Once we got on the bus, it was a 2 hour ride; everyone have to get off later to cross the border and then meet up on the other side. There was a long line up and it was quite confusing to determine which line you're supposed to in; we had to ask one of the guards for help. Most people entering Hong Kong were holders of a China passport.
This is the bus that we rode on after cross the border- not the same bus. The bus to the border was so scary; I afraid that the bus might get into an accident because the lady in charge kept on talking to the bus driver - NONSTOP; and the bus driver was using his cell phone quite frequently while on the highway.
At the boarder, I saw a whole bunch of kids lined up ready to cross
the border too. It's such a hassle having to wake up early and travel long distances daily in order to go
to school in Hong Kong- better education. After crossing the border to
Hong Kong, we must a bus with the same number as our ticket and board it, it took another hour or so to reach the city. The driver would stop at certain stops in Hong Kong so you need to
know where you need to stop at. Once we got off the bus, we called a family friend to pick up the zongzi that we have for them. It took him so long to get here- I think we were waiting for almost an hour. It was semi-raining too. He was nice though, he bought us to the train station and told us we needed to buy a octopus card. The octopus card is used to load in money so that you can just swipe it to go through and out of the metro station, also used on buses. We loaded 150 HK on the card and by the end of the 3 days it was not depleted yet. The MTR is very straight forward but the station is very big with a lot of PEOPLE. You don't have to be afraid to go hungry at the stations since there are so many convenience stores, bakeries and food stalls.
The stop we got off at; waiting for family's friend.
The stop we got off at was actually quite far away from the hotel. Our hotel is located near "Prince Edward" station, perhaps an 10 minutes walk away. The hotel we booked at is the "Oriental Lander Hotel" located in Mong kok, Kowloon. You can also choose to walk to Mong Kok station where all the shopping are; it's a walkable distance. We walked from couple of station passed Mong Kok to the hotel once. The hotel is surrounded by places that we would not go into, no shopping places or bakeries; you have to walk to Prince Edward station to get to the good stuff. When we arrived at the hotel, I couldn't believe that the outer appearance of the hotel looks so old. The lobby is clean but very small. We booked a three-person room for 3 nights; it was quite expensive per night since it was a last minute booking, I believe it was around $150 CND/night.
As you can see, there's two LCD television; 3 paper thin slippers are also provided for you for free at the hotel. There is AC, a fridge with 3 water bottle inside, and some tooth brushes, tooth pastes, and tea. We didn't know that you have to pay for the water, the rules was very vague due to bad translation, so we had to pay for the water when we checked out. The room is super cramped; there's no room to put your luggage except near the door. The bathroom is the tiniest thing I've ever seen. The shower head is right next to the toilet, and it is only separated by a shower curtain. It was very difficult to get out of the bathroom after doing your business cause you have to pull the door inwards. Initially, our sink was leaking water, I also slipped, and we had to call someone up to fix it.
Once we quickly grabbed something to eat and drink we went out exploring. It was so HOT. I think it was even hotter than Kaiping because I could not stop sweating. My skin also became better in China/Hong Kong probably due to the sweat. It's like a sauna here.
First stop was shopping at ladies market. Well, I got to say, the initial price they tell you are always so high. We didn't buy anything from "ladies market." When we got there, there was an English man around 25 years old looking at mini-Chinese fans with a friend and he asked the salesperson how much it was and she said, 100 HK? and the guy was like "no" and puts it down and started walking away. And then the salesperson was yelling at him 50 HK, then 10 HK, and lastly 1 HK. LOL. The guy was laughing but he never looked back. Salespeople here expect you to bargain so they will jack up the price, if you don't bargain then you are not very smart. If you don't like the price, walk away and 90% of the time the salesperson will chase you with a lower price. I was looking at shoes and my mother asked her how much and she said 200 HK. It was too expensive so I walked away and she was like 150 HK. No, thanks, I want it for 100 HK or less. As we reached the end of ladies market we encountered a woman selling little turtles! SO CUTE! It was so cheap too, I think only 10 HK each and there was a elderly Caucasian man looking at those turtles too. We had a nice little conversation. The lady selling the turtles think we were in the way since we were not buying; well, that's what I assume.
Some stores along the streets near the ladies market. I bought 1 pair of flats for 120 HK (~$17CND), but later I found the same pair for on 90 HK (not in the tourist areas); I got ripped off! We walked around Mong Kok or a couple of hours, and I've noticed that there are a lot of jewelry stores here! There's security guards in each of these shop, but it was mostly mainland Chinese tourists buying gold bracelets and the like inside. Later on, we encountered this convenience store and people were just grabbing baby power, baby milk, etc. and they were dragging their luggage around and putting those baby formulas inside. CRAZY.
A random park near Mong Kok.
By this point we were quite hungry so we went for a early dinner at 7PM. It was so difficult choosing a place to eat mainly because we were unfamiliar with the area and a lot of places looked very sketchy. We went inside this nice looking little restaurant and my mother ordered two drinks, 1 plate of rice and a plate of soy sauce noodle rice. I didn't have to go to the toilet all day. It was that HOT. Everything I drink, it feels like I just sweat it off. The dinner cost 106 HK (~$20CND); we didn't know if we needed to pay "tips." My mother told me that we had to and I told her "no," so we got into a argument. I told her I will go up and pay, so I did and the boss didn't say anything, thus I conclude no tips is needed. Also, while eating dinner something TERRIBLE happened; as I closed my camera it stopped working and it said that my files are corrupted. I had to restore my camera but I lost like half of my pictures. I was devastated. It happened twice during this trip and I bought the camera brand new just 1 week before I've left for Asia.
Afterwards we decided to go down to the "Victoria Habour" to catch the light show- A Symphony of Lights. We took the train down to the Tsim Sha Tsui Station and once we got out of the station we had trouble getting to the other side because 1. The street was blocked with gates 2. There's no crosswalk. So, we had to find some stairs that brings you down and across the street.
Hong Kong has some crazy long trains, though I think they need to crank up the AC some more.
As you walk to the waterfront towards Avenue of Stars.
The light show at Victoria habour begins at 8PM, free entry, and we got there a bit early. When we got there, there were already a crowd of people at the habour waiting for the show. It was drizzling a little bit. Once the show started, there was music and lights, but I had a high expectation for the show; in conclusion, it was not that good. The lights doesn't really sync the music; it was all over the place and it was short, say 10 minutes?
There was message displayed intermittently on a building. "My heart is with you always." Perhaps a proposal?
After light show we walked around the avenue of stars, but disappointed that most of the monuments were gone -it was in construction. So sad. We didn't even see the name plates on the ground. (╥_╥) We did manage to see these statues and figures.
The Beijing 2008 Olympic torch statue.
Clock tower landmark near the avenue of stars.
As we walked further away from the Avenue of Stars, we encountered this place. We didn't know this was a tourist attraction too. LUCKY. This is the "Former Marine Police Headquarters", now known as "1881 Heritage" site- though it was built in 1884. It is also one of four oldest government buildings located in Hong Kong. This place has been redeveloped with many luxurious stores underneath.
There's a little tower that you can climb up and situated in the middle is a very large tree. The tower is pretty cute looking and it also provide a great view from the top.
Saw two couples taking wedding photos here.
This is the "Signal Tower"; back in the day it was used to guide ships in the habour . There's a brief history of this tower and how the signaling works.
The second level of the tower.
After this we went back to Mong Kok and found some malls still opened at 9:30PM so we went and shopped. I believe malls close quite late in Hong Kong, perhaps 10-11PM. We were exhausted by the time we reached the hotel. LONG DAY. END.
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