Temple Street, The Peak Tram, and Star Ferry, Hong Kong
My last trip to Hong Kong centered mainly on catching the L’ Arc~en~Ciel gig, so not a lot of touristy sight-seeing stuff was done. But because Rael insisted in eating her way around town as well as take in as many of the sights as she could cram into three days, I went along and humoured her (and took pictures of us for the relatives).
After my working holiday in Singapore, I caught a flight to Hong Kong to meet up with Rael for an extended holiday. Having been to HK before and even staying at the same hostel I’ve roomed at previously, it was no big deal for me to airport-hop and even commute to the city center from the airport. Upon my arrival we promptly went off again in search of food, and this is how we ended up in Temple Street.
At Temple Street we ate at a homey-looking claypot restaurant whose reputation belies its humble exterior (no less than snarky celeb chef Anthony Bourdain sang praises to its seafood claypot), so it was cheap and delicious and memorable. We’d have gladly eaten there every night of our holiday but it was out of the way for us so we had to be content with our solitary meal at the place.
The next morning we woke up at the crack of dawn — which to me means eight in the morning, to make out way to Victoria Peak before the sun got too hot and fellow tourists too many. The weather was cool for Hong Kong — for which I was grateful, since Rael said that on her solo trip to Macau the weekend before it was sweltering and ghastly.
The view at The Peak was nice, although there was nothing much to do other than that. Oh, and a word of advise: it’s not necessary to pay for access to the 360 degree viewing deck on the top floor — you’d be much better off going one level lower to the street and then taking in the view from there.
Our last night was spent hopping on to the obscenely cheap Star Ferry to look at the lights on Hong Kong Harbour. We just barely made it to the eight o’clock ferry, which is the best time to take it going from the Central Side to the Tsim Sha Tsui side and back again. You’ll be rewarded with a great view, plus you’ll be able to catch the synchronized light show all the buildings on the edge of the quay participate in like a giant, infrastructural ballet. It’s a cheap thrill that’s worth every dollar.
