Last day at Hong Kong! Another walk-till-you-drop day :p
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| Avenue of Stars at daytime |
We stopped by Avenue of Stars again as we wanted to see the
Clock Tower. We passed by Hong Kong Film Award statue again for daytime pic :p
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| Clock Tower |
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| Clock Tower and Hong Kong skyline |
As today is Christmas holiday, there are many people already sitting near the clock tower, like they are having a picnic.
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| Star Ferry |
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| Star Ferry |
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| Central Pier |
We're actually right at Star Ferry Pier, so we decided to take Star Ferry instead of using MTR to go to The Peak. Star Ferry is very much like our Penang ferry :) we paid our fares using Octopus card so its very convenient.
The problem of finding our way starts after disembarking from Star Ferry. We deviated from our original plan, so we were kind of lost. In fact, really really lost. We stopped at one of the IFC building for toilet stop. Apala, such a posh and big place but so difficult to find toilet, maybe they just don't like the public to use. There's a Switch shop and packed full of people, there isn't a new launch at this time. We asked the guard for directions and he told us to follow the pedestrian bridge outside.
And off we go, more walking. No really clear sign until a long way away and 爸爸 asked for directions again. A distance away, finally we saw MTR and there's more signs to follow to 'The Peak' until we are lost again, in the middle of narrow streets and what looked like financial hub, cause every building seems to house a bank. Gosh, the road signs are really small compared to ours local ones, Hong Kong people must all have super good eyesight to see the words. And folks are starting to occupy the streets like they're going to have a street party, they look like Filipino workers. We stopped a policeman to ask for directions, so off we go again. I mean, i don't mind walking so much if I know where we are, but ambling around kind of gets on my nerves :p And some of the roads are at a slope too, I'm getting tired by now. Luckily the children are really good, they didn't complain and they were just taking in all the sights. The cool weather probably helped to keep their cool. It would've been useful to have this map, but we can't complain too much since we didn't plan on taking Star Ferry.
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| Map - To The Peak |
Ok, to cut the story short, after walking for ages, passing Citibank, HSBC and Bank of China buildings, finally we reached the road leading to The Peak Tram Lower Terminus (中环花园道山顶缆车终站). Oh gosh, this road called Garden Road is steep, and I huffed and puffed all the way,with the children laughing at me (hallo, try walking with a bump then you'd know what I mean). There's a church called St Johns Cathedral across the road which looked quite nice. Long queue to go at the station, but still orderly queue for now. We got return tickets for HK$75 per adult, and HK$36 per child. This ticket includes visiting the Sky Terrace 428. They have staff trying to get visitors to take photo too, I'm so tired of this gimmick at every place we go that I tell the guy "no photos!"
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| At the Peak Tram Lower Terminus |
Once inside the station, there's a gallery showing quite interesting stuff like the old tram engines, old peak tram carriage etc. Visitors are hurdled like a bunch of chickens, moving from one coop to the next ;p Finally board the Peak Tram at long last. The view is nice but since we're not sitting together, couldn't take much photos.
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| Inside The Peak Tram |
As soon as we reached The Peak, we looked for Burger King! Very hungry after all the walking and waiting. It's crowded too, probably due to public holiday. No sooner had we found a table,and halfway through, another family were already hovering around us waiting for our table. No peace even in eating fastfood :( And my feet, only got to rest for such a short time.
Looking for toilet at The Peak is another chore, its very limited and long queue, on certain floors of The Peak Tower only!
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| Sky Terrace at The Peak |
Next we went for Sky Terrace 428. It's the highest point at The Peak. Basically just view of Hong Kong. I've no idea where what is, there's a explanation plaque but too many people hanging around the areas taking photos.
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| Around The Peak Tower |
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| Road sign - Peak Road |
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| This is at Lion Pavilion |
Later it's walking around the grounds at The Peak. While 爸爸 bring the children around for photos, I sat on an outdoor staircase, together with a big group of Chinese tourists :p
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| Pacific Coffee at The Peak with view |
We had some drinks at Pacific Coffee. The babycino is really tiny, we had to order another full size for the children.
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| Queue for The Peak Tram to go back to the city |
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| The Peak Tram approaching! And inside the Peak Tram - backwards going downhill :) |
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Left: There's still a long queue for tickets going up The Peak.
Right: St John's Cathedral opposite The Peak Lower Terminus. |
On the way down, we just realized the Peak Tram just moved backwards! It's really scary, facing the hills with our backs to the slope. I'm really glad our Penang Hill tram doesn't torture visitors like this. But perhaps some people find it amusing? At least the children kind of enjoyed it, to them anything remotely resemble a roller-coaster which they can get on is good.
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| A monument in field near MTR station |
It's walking all the way back to MTR station now, and much more 'campers' along the MTR walkway now. We took MTR to Wan Chai for our next destination, the Golden Bauhinia Square.
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| Golden Bauhinia Square |
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| Wan Chai |
My, my, more walking from the Wan Chai MTR station.
Golden Bauhinia Square (金紫荊廣場) is like miles away from the Wan Chai MTR station as I was so tired of practically all-day walking with a bump. The directions from the MTR station is not clear, and have to pass through a big building. So we keep stopping to ask. Finally reached and I sent the children to take photo with 爸爸. They didn't have very good experience there, as there was a person manning paid-photo stall asking them to go away. What? It's your problem to solicit for business but you cannot turn away visitors from public place! So we just snap a couple of photos and out of there.
Then it's walking all the way back to Wan Chai MTR station. On the way, we stopped at a random 茶餐厅 for quick dinner. Again the yin yong and 奶茶 is super good! Food is so-so. After dinner, we stopped for 咖哩鱼旦 curry fishball at a random stall. Hm, taste is much worse compared to the ones we had at N
gong Ping, the size of the fishball is much smaller too :P We actually saw many people buy from roadside stalls to have the food near the Golden Bauhinia Square promenade.
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| Hong Kong Tramways |
From near the Wan Chai MTR station, we took one of the
Hong Kong Tramways (also known as ting-ting tram or 电车). Every single journey is HK$2.30 per adult, HK$1.20 per child. We paid using Octopus card again. However the first tram we were on was too crowded, I almost suffocated and there's no place to even trying to stand (we were standing on the stairs, so dangerous, for Pete's sake!) We squeezed our way through to exit (there goes HK$2.30). Then board another more empty tram. This time, we enjoyed it! Although we didn't know where the tram will go hehe. At one point, because it's so empty, the tram swerved quite a bit as it was moving quite fast. I think we took it to Happy Valley then to Kennedy Town, and our stop is Pedder Street which is near MTR. We then took short walk to MTR station to go back to the hotel.
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