Day 2 in Hong Kong began feeling fresh. I slept for more than 10 hours and the jet lag had nearly worn off. I repacked my bag and left the hostel to begin my photography for today.
A whole lot of luxury brands in the mall to the rightThe IKEA store was only a minute walk away from where I was stayingPlenty of malls and shopping centers all around. This was Windsor HouseI walked towards the MTR stationSOGO is a popular Japanese department store chainThis is the entrance/Exit E of Causeway Bay stationI got off at CentralTook the long walk to Exit J2 (Yup, Central is so big that the Exits are from A to J)
You come out to Charter Garden, a public open spaceBank of China building on the left, and Cheung Kong Centre to the rightBank headquarters are all aroundI noted down instructions from the website on how to get to Victoria Peak tram stationAnd I followed it accordinglyThat’s the Citibank buildingYou pass by St. John’s cathedralIt’s a very uphill climb pretty much everywhereAcross the road and right is where the tram station isI bought my Peak Tower return ticket, costs HK$65 (Rs. 467/$8/€6)The history of the peak and other trivia are on either wallsI waited for the tram to arriveIt was amazing to see people living all the way up this hillThe angle at which this tram climbs is amazing!If you want a view of the harbour, sit on the right hand sideThe ride to the top takes less than 5 minutes
As soon as you enter the Peak Tower you pass through a souvenir store. There’s a Madame Tussaud’s up here, but was it crowded!
There wasn’t a second this wax figure of Pierce Brosnan was left alone. I can’t imagine how it must be inside the wax museum then.
I decided to have lunch from a restaurant on the same floor. I ordered a beef fried rice, but what I got tasted more like beef burned rice. It was terrible, and I just couldn’t finish eating it. Complete waste of HK$50!
I made my way up to the observation deck
You don’t need to pay HK$65 if you don’t want to go up to the observation deck on the Peak Tower, but I wanted the highest view possible.
Because this is what you get to see from up here
I know an image this small may not “W-O-W” you but the skyline of Hong Kong truly is amazing!
This is 428 metres above sea levelPanorama comprised of 5 shotsAnd to think people live up hereUp here are some of the most expensive (and exclusive) real estate propertiesHong Kong has 112 buildings higher than 591 ft!The Peak Galleria mall behind the Peak Tower
I switched to my 70-200mm lensSome power station?Hong Kong is trying to make space for further urban developmentThe ever so busy Hong Kong bay
At 88-storeys, the International Finance Centre used to be the tallest building in Hong KongBut in 2010, the 118-storey International Commerce Centre took the title away from itHong Kong Cultural CentreI remember taking a photo from Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands and thinking what a concrete jungle Singapore is. I take it back.I counted how many floors each high rise had as I shot multiple time-lapse sequencesI went to the other sideThe grey skies were clearing up a bit
There’s history for you to read up hereThat big heart is where you can leave personal messages
I shot some more time-lapse sequences before deciding to leave.
The obligatory “See, I was there!” photographThis was taken inside the Peak Tower, behind the glassThis is what the Peak Tower looks like
I stepped inside the Galleria mall to soak up some air-conditioning. Also, that beef burned rice was a pointless meal, as I soon found myself hungry again. Fortunately, a McDonalds is never too far away, and had teriyaki sandwich meal. (Hey, if you’re going to eat at McDs in a foreign land, at least try something different on the menu)
I went up to the rooftop to shoot some more timelapse sequences
Since I was going to be here until sunset, I chose to walk aroundBecause Victoria Peak is also a nice place to do just thatBut before I went any further, I quickly went in hereIt’s another observation deck, called Lion’s PavilionThe lion roars over this Asian mega-cityThe view from up here is a bit lower, but still good
I moved onBut stopped every so once in a while to take photos of the impressive skylineThe two competing towersI like how they made this a nice place to take a stroll
You can go walk all the way down, but I didn’t want toSo I just walked backIt’s a bit cooler out here tooUgh, why do people do this!The sun was setting
I reserved myself a spot near the Lion’s Pavilion and set up my tripod.
I shot a whole bunch of timelapse sequencesEveryone atop the Peak Tower was waiting for the Symphony of Lights show, which takes place daily at around 8pmI figured watching the show from up here would be all the more epicNot every building gets in on the actionThose that do are quite a sightBut overall, I was a bit underwhelmed by the Symphony of Lights show – it’s not all that it’s made out to beHere’s a panorama of the entire skyline before meI shot a few more timelapse sequencesLearnt the importance of white balance when shooting at night
Once I felt I had taken enough photos, I packed up and headed back to the tram station.
But there was quite a queue for the tram going back downThe final shot of Hong Kong’s skyline from up hereThere was a mad rush for seats. I didn’t rush, I wanted to take it easy.
My day was done anyway. I gave my friend Bikram a call and walked back to Central MTR station.
HSBC’s headquarters. By the way, Hong Kong dollars are printed by HSBC 🙂The iconic Bank of China towerThe roads were quite silentBack at Causeway Bay… wow, this place lights up at night!I picked up a pizza from the Wellcome supermarket next door and had that for dinner at the hostel
It was quite windy at night, which I later learnt from my hostel roommates was because there was a typhoon passing through Hong Kong. I hoped it wouldn’t wreak havoc or rain heavily tomorrow as I planned to go to Ocean Park.
Today was a good start to my sight-seeing. Although I only used 91 photos above, I actually shot 2359 photos! 🙂 You’ll see why when I put my time-lapse video together.
Sunil
24/11/2014Great shots of HongKong with subtitles. Good job. Thanks.