(Travel) Hong Kong

It was just past noon when our ferry arrived at the terminal in Hong Kong, we were supposed to go to Lantau Island immediately after arriving but decided to just check in for the day and visit the Nan Lian Garden and Chi Lin Nunnery.

Transportation:
From the ferry terminal, walk to the Sheung Wan MTR station
Chai Wan line - Sheung Wan to Central
Transfer to Tsuen Wan line - Central to Tsim Sha Tsui.

Tip:
Octopus cards are not only convenient but apparently much cheaper than buying single journey tickets.  Just don't lose it or say goodbye to your 50 HKD (150 HKD card = 100 HKD consumable + 50 HKD deposit)

Kimberley Hotel

Located at Kimberley street along Nathan road, just walking distance from the Tsim Sha Tsui station and Avenue of Stars.  The breakfast buffet is nice, the room though, is smaller than our hotel in Macau, there was no pool and the price is just a little more expensive than Macau Regency (I don't really have any other comparison).  Location is good though.  

It took a while for the hotel to get our room ready since we were supposed to arrive late after visiting Lantau island, so we just left our bags at the concierge and went to the nearest mall to eat (Mira Mall).  The restaurant we ate at was called Sen-Ryu, the food was great and the price was reasonable.

Hyaku-Ryo Set - 78 HKD

Nan Lian Garden

Transportation:

MTR at Tsim Sha Tsui station

Tsuen Wan line - Tsim Sha Tsui to Mongkok

Tiu Keng Leng line - Mongkok to Diamond Hill

The tag-line said, more or less: "A garden escape inside the city", more like a forest actually.  Lots of trees with very few flowers.  It's a nice place to just sit and relax (tambay-tambay).

Chi Lin Nunnery

Now this was more like the structures I see in Shaolin movies.  Located just across the Nan Lian Garden.  Made me want to practice my Kung-Fu, but it seems it was a place of silence and meditation.  The temple was closed when we got there (until 4:30 PM if I remember correctly).  OK sana mag-wacky pictorial.

We went back to the hotel after a quick ice cream break at Plaza Hollywood

Avenue of Stars

The next morning, we went for a jog at the Avenue of Stars before going to Disneyland.  The path was long and includes an uphill and downhill, perfect for run training.  It seems that for other people, it's good for swim training too, imagine Baywalk in Roxas boulevard, (same water pollution level from where I see it) and then imagine people swim training there.

We saw a lot of Chinese movie star names on the ground, we also looked for our favorite ones like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, Chow Yun Fat, Jet-Li and a lot more.  We didn't get to see the Symphony of Lights show which apparently happens at night.

Lantau Island - Ngong Ping Village

Our Lantau Island visit was supposed to be just half-a-day, good thing we postponed and allotted a whole day for it.  It was a nice peaceful destination as opposed to the busy and hectic Disneyland.

Transportation:

MTR at Tsim Sha Tsui station

Tsuen Wan Line - Tsim Sha Tsui to Lai King
Tung Chung Line - Lai King to Tung Chung

We walked a bit from the Tung Chung station to the cable car terminal then we purchased the package we wanted.

Lantau Package - 175 HKD per person

• 1-way cable car ride to Ngong Ping village - 2-way is not worth it
• Unli NLB bus rides - you can ride any bus in Lantau for free for the day.
• Tai O boat excursion - a nice boat ride along the Tai O river

If you have money to spare you can opt to ride a clear-floor cable car or a private one.

"Kabado"

Giant Buddha

After our cable car ride, we walked to the giant Buddha shrine.  There were devotees praying on the stairs and in the shrine, I'm no Buddhist but since we were there we prayed a little to Buddha too.

This Buddha was huge and... thin

Po-Lin Monastery

Another Shaolin temple type shrine.  I liked the Che Lin Nunnery better.

Ngong Ping Garden Restaurant

We decided to have lunch before we went to Tai O for our boat ride.  We found this restaurant near the cable car terminal.  

264 HKD for everything in the picture

We then rode the 1:00 PM bus (21) to Tai O

Tai O Expedition

Tai O is a fishing village, so it will smell fishy and you can purchase all of your fishy needs in the markets.  

The boat excursion starts at the river where most of the Tai O residents built their houses.  When the boat enters the open sea, then it becomes peaceful and relaxing (as you can see).

We then decided to go back to the hotel to rest and prepare for night shopping.

Going Back to Tsim Sha Tsui:
Bus 11 from Tao O to Tung Chung

Tung Chung MTR line - Tung Chung to Lai King

Tsuen Wan Line - Lai King to Tsim Sha Tsui

Night Market

There are many night markets in Hong Kong according to Google, but we decided to just visit the Temple street market and the Ladies market (walking distance from each other - although the walk can take 20-30 min).  

Tip: 
Just go directly to the Ladies market, it's bigger and there are more shops surrounding the market.  The markets officially open around 8:00 PM.

Transportation:
Tsuen Wan MTR line - Tsim Sha Tsui - Mongkok
The Ladies market is just a short walk from there.

Imagine Greenhills, just outdoors.  We bought key chains, T-shirts, blouses and snacks to take home. You can haggle up to 75% off if you're good (so they say). After Love saw that my feet were already killing me (girls have unbelievable endurance when it comes to shopping), we went back to the hotel to pack for our early flight the next day.

Hong Kong Airport

We requested for packed breakfasts since our flight leaves at 8:30 AM.  We just took the A21 bus from Nathan road straight to the airport.  The airport was so huge that there's an underground train used to bring passengers to the different boarding gates.  We exchanged our Octopus cards back to HKD then we left Hong Kong thinking: Tapos na bakasyon T_T