Saturday morning, I decided to take the ferry over to Kowloon.
I took the MTR, got off at Central and walked the pedestrian bridge that takes you directly to the ferry terminalHong Kong General Post OfficeThe weather looked like it could rain – or the skies could clear up. In other words, a typical day in Hong Kong I guess.
Central Pier
Bought my HK$2 ticketStar Ferry is one of the oldest ferry companies in Hong Kong, originally founded by an Indian back in 1880The journey across Victoria Harbour takes less than 5 minutes
The skyline of Hong Kong island, from Kowloon BayAs soon as you get off the boat, lo and behold, a mall!I walked towards the Avenue of StarsA historic Clock Tower back when there used to be a railway station terminal hereIt’s right next to the Hong Kong Cultural CentreWalk this way to get to the Avenue of the Stars
But I decided to check out the Cultural Centre first
It’s an indoor concert hall and theatre venue
Aaand that was it. I was back out quick.The world famous Peninsula Hotel, one of Hong Kong’s oldestAlthough I was supposed to check out the Avenue of Stars, I ended up crossing over to Tsim Sha Tsui
Needless to say, this is a pricey hotelIt was a rare sunny sky that I got when I clicked thisI was walking along Nathan Road when I saw the infamous Chungking Mansion across the road
At the time of booking rooms, I saw that many of Hong Kong’s hostels are located in this one building. But the user feedback on hostels.com about Chungking Mansion made it sound as though it was a rather shady place to be. The other problem was that it is a very cramped fourteen-storey tower with not enough elevators. Meaning you would have to wait rather long to get to your hostel or guesthouse.
I didn’t book here because I didn’t want to waste time everyday waiting for an elevatorOtherwise… this place wasn’t badAlthough Indian businesses out number the others, many African have set up shop here tooThere are plenty of hostels here, but be warned — some of them are not licensedDVDs and perfumes? Sure, why not.A convenient place for Indian backpackers I guess
There are numerous restaurants in Chungking serving South Asian cuisine, with many Indian staff welcoming you to try their menu. After looking around quite a bit, I sat down at one on the ground floor itself.
Small place, decent food, reasonable prices
Although my meal cost close to HK$80 (Rs. 570/$10/€8), I was really full and quite satisfied. I guess nothing like a heavy Indian meal to stuff your tummy. The feeling of content couldn’t have been more complete thanks to the music. The restaurant was playing Bollywood songs from the mid-to-late 90s, songs like “Pardesi, Pardesi” from ‘Raja Hindustani’ and “Meri Mehmooba” from ‘Pardes’ (meaning “foreign land”). Songs from a period which were to be my last few years in Bahrain. I don’t know if the restaurant owners were just going with the whole ‘non-resident Indian’ theme but I kid you not, this was the soundtrack as I munched on my tandoori chicken. I’m no huge fan of Bollywood, but I enjoyed this lunch experience a lot 🙂
I exited Chungking Mansion through an alleywayI walked back to Kowloon Bay to check out Avenue of StarsThere is no entry ticket for ‘Avenue Of Stars’‘Avenue Of Stars’ is like Hollywood’s ‘Walk of Fame’ — only for Hong Kong cinema’s legendsAlong with trivia about the industry’s humble beginningsAnd Hong Kong cinema’s greatest export has been the martial arts filmsSo although I couldn’t recognize some of the stars’ names, I did recognize names like Sammo HungAndy Lau
Any such statues were crowded with tourists posing alongside it. This was snapped the one second they were spared.Ahhh, the famous Golden Harvest film studio 🙂Michelle YeohThis man was quite popular among the visitors 🙂Chow Yun FatOne of the most famous martial arts superstarsOf course, one Hong Kong cinema legend gets more than just a starBecause he deserves more for being the first great Asian superstarThe one and only Bruce LeeNeedless to say, everybody loves this hero!The more recent superstars of Hong Kong cinemaThe dark clouds were creeping their way left to right, meaning it would rain any momentAnd sure enough, it began to pourEverybody sought cover under a pedestrian walkwayI waited for the rainclouds to passOf course, some tourists just couldn’t pass up the chance to take advantage of the statues now being free of other tourists just so they could pose next to them for photos!Took one last ‘star’ before leaving
I wondered why ‘Ip Man’ Donnie Yen hasn’t gotten a star yet, or maybe I failed to spot it.
Although not a great attraction if you don’t know your Hong Kong cinema, Avenue of Stars is still worth a visit. It will at least encourage you to learn more about one of the most famous film industries in the world.It was time to move onI take it these old-timers have been fishing here long before the skyscrapers appeared
This was a wide pedestrian bridgeAnd I ended up shooting a timelapse sequence hereLots of glassGot down at Chatham Road
Walked up the road… and then crossedLook, SBI (State Bank of India) in Hong Kong! 🙂
Tsim Sha Tsui isn’t just malls:). After all, Hong Kong is home to the Crocodile clothes brand, which got in to trouble with Lacoste for its logo.
I ended up walking all the way to Kowloon ParkAfter hours of hustle and bustle, it got peaceful and quite all of a sudden
I freshened up at the public restrooms and then sat down to drink a lot of water. It was really calm inside here, and I wanted to give my feet some rest!
I imagine those apartments over-looking this park are very, very expensiveThere’s a huge pool here tooKowloon park is a really nice place to relaxA place to come for your walks tooThere’s even a bird cage parkThey have a variety of exotic birdsAlthough I had mixed feelings about seeing them hereThe site of Kowloon Park was once the camp barracks of the British Army during colonial timesThus the cannonsStill, Kowloon Park has a lot of nice facilitiesThere’s even this multi-purpose sports centre
Plenty of Tai-Chi going on hereI made an exitI was now in JordanSaw this at a restaurant. Couldn’t make out what animal it was, but yeah, they serve it.This is ‘China’ after all :-/I kept walking aroundI took a break to have some chilled sugarcane juice, which is always nice.Plenty of more local fare on the Kowloon sideI was still walking along Nathan roadPlenty of markets this side of Hong KongTemple StreetIt was the usual fare of plush toys, bags, clothes, souvenirs, phone covers and accessoriesAnd there are many restaurants to feed the scores of people who shop around these parts. This seemed like a popular seafood joint.This was a funny sight. The lady working at the restaurant to the left was calling out to the people waiting in line for the restaurant to the right, asking the patrons to sit in their restaurant instead. Ah Long vs. Ah Lung – sibling rivalry turned sour? 🙂You have a few curry joints out here
Another public squareI was still in the Jordan neighbourhoodI checked out a video arcade, since I missed them 🙂It was nice to see girls actively gaming as wellI then took the train to Mong Kok which was only two stops awayEnded up at CTMA Centre, which turned out to be a cool place if you’re young and geekyLoads of toys and figurines – most of which are Japanese importsThese figurines were highly detailed and super awesomeAlso, super expensiveThey couldn’t be more directBack out, I was ready to head back to my room
Needless to say, I was a bit tired, and needed to give my feet some rest!
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2 Comments
Elise
10/02/2013
Hi….we are leaving for Hong Kong in 4-days and your comments were very helpful. Particularly the photos were amazing and really helped me to get a grasp of the differences between Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui. Thank you! Question…are there any trees, parks, or green spaces at all in Mong Kok?
Hardly. You have to walk towards the Prince Edwards Road side where there is a park. Other than that, Mong Kok is nothing but shopping, shops… and more shopping! 🙂
Elise
10/02/2013Hi….we are leaving for Hong Kong in 4-days and your comments were very helpful. Particularly the photos were amazing and really helped me to get a grasp of the differences between Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui. Thank you! Question…are there any trees, parks, or green spaces at all in Mong Kok?
Mithun Divakaran Reply:
February 10th, 2013 at 11:29 AM
Hardly. You have to walk towards the Prince Edwards Road side where there is a park. Other than that, Mong Kok is nothing but shopping, shops… and more shopping! 🙂