Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Yahoo! First day in Hongers and I already love it.
Even though we didn't get to bed until 2:30am, Shannon was awake and getting us up by 10am. I would've been happy to sleep longer but I think it was for the best that we got moving.
After showering and dressing, we went up to the reception to pay and then headed out to start exploring the city. We bought some breakfast at a bakery but there were no chairs to sit down and eat so we took the metro to our destination, Central. At Central there was a park so we sat and enjoyed our treats. There was a lovely group of ladies nearby meditating in the park which was nice to see.
We walked up to the Victoria Peak tram station after that but there was a massive line to buy tickets to go up and we just weren't sure we wanted to waste our time standing around. Instead we strolled across to the nearby Hong Kong Park and found a free bird aviary to explore. We grabbed a brochure a played a bit of bird bingo as we strolled through the big enclosure. It was really beautiful and peaceful.
After the aviary we walked around to Tai Chi Square, another section of the park that was nicely landscaped and had an open courtyard. We saw one guy doing some Tai Chi and we climbed a small tower to get some views of the area. There was also memorial sculpture in the park to commemorate a number of medical workers who volunteered to treat people with SARS and ended up contracting the virus and dying themselves.
A bit further along was a conservatory which was also free and we strolled through there admiring the succulents and colourful orchids.
We stopped for tea at a tea house nearby where we tried an oolong and white tea and had a small plate of jasmine sesame dumplings and pork and cabbage dumplings to share. It was great to sit and enjoy the tea together and there was free wifi and a clean toilet which was a bonus.
After tea we attempted to visit the observation floor at the China Bank building but the security guard informed us that it was closed indefinitely which was a shame. Instead we walked towards the bay where we saw a carnival was on, the Great European Carnival to be exact. We bought tickets to get in and got given ten ride and game tokens each. We spent a few hours strolling around the carnival and went on one fun ride and played games. I won a small toy duck at the fishing game but Shannon won nothing. We had kebabs for a late lunch slash snack.
After the carnival we took the metro back to our station and explored the shops around that area a bit more. We are within walking distance of the Avenue of the Stars but it's under renovation. We found a brochure at the hostel reception that offers a free walking tour around our area so we plan to join that tomorrow. We stopped for some dinner at a Japanese restaurant and discussed what to do next.
We decided to head one metro station away to Jordan and go to Temple Street markets. They were actually really decent markets and we bought a few things including USB sticks, earrings and a magnet. We shopped for just over an hour before walking back home.
It took 15mins to get home and we arrived at around 10pm. It's been a pretty full on day but we still have so much on our list of things to do. I really love Hong Kong so far. It's like a mixture between Japan and China and it's a really beautiful city. Shannon and I have already agreed that we would definitely live in Hong Kong.
- comments