Part 2: Around Hong Kong Island

Day 2.
3.12.2008

The next morning, I got on the 9.00am shuttle bus with the other Malaysians. Day 2 for me, will be spent in Hong Kong Island covering the whole of Central and Causeway Bay. It's all along the tram route. The tram is the easiest, cheapest and oldest form of transportation in HK, a standard 2HKD for all stops.

Places to go, Day 2.
- SoHo Mid-levels Escalator
- The Peak
- Hong Kong Central Library
- Victoria Park
- Happy Valley Jockey Club

For the others, they dropped their initial plan to go Disneyland and joined me for half a day instead.

We started off at SoHo Mid-levels, where the longest escalator in the world sits. According to the map, we would eventually pass the Peak Tram Station (which we were headed to and only found to be untrue later on).

Hong Kong's notorious terrain.

Mahn and me.


The malay man I blogged about in Part 1.

Mahn bought some bananas for the kids and gave me one. A lady walked passed me and said, 'oh! you're peeling a banana in Peel Street' and started laughing. Okay, so that explains the picture.

Finding our way to the tram station with my little buddies.

Distinctive red cabbies.




The Peak Tram Station.










The Peak.


Hong Kong's skyline on quite a clear day.

Not long after, we went our seperate ways. The other Malaysians went to Stanley Street while for me, I went looking for food and found McDonalds, which turned out to be really cheap compared to other suffs in Hong Kong. Normal Chinese food say, Wan Tan Mee cost 24HKD (RM12), A set of Ebi Burger cost HKD16 (RM8).

Ebi Burger! Prawn filling inside.


ON NOM NOM..


Took my first tram to Causeway Bay.


Visited the library for a bit, fairly huge inside. I think maybe I have a soft spot for libraries. I like visiting them.


they offer free internet services. Finally, the intarnet.


Victoria park.

I spent some time at the park. The thing is, having a big park right at the side of a city is really nice. The air is so much better, it's less noisy, you see high school boys chasing girls and old people carrying their birds in cages, chipping away. Yet at the same time, you still feel well attached to the city. A get away from the rat race buzz. You know, toilet breaks are always nice.

Some how, this shot appeals to me.


Happy Valley Jockey Club! It's only 5.30pm + and is this dark already. Horse racing is the only legalised form of gambling in Hong Kong.


it's huge in there. Wednesday spells raceday!


I had my first Wan Tan Mee, went superbly well with the atmosphere.


This got to be the best place to blend into the local flavour. Some were shouting 'Pok Kai (no money) and some just face-palmed.


I was so chilled, I bought a pint of beer, soaked in the nice atmosphere, sat back and looked at the gamblers get all tensed up. Fantastic! I spent nearly 2 hours there.



I got back to the dorm, met some new dorm mates, shared more places worth visiting and that pretty much sums up Day 2. Oh, under the influence of my Malay friends on the first night, that sweet aroma of preservatives, I bought a packet of instant noodles which I only ate in Taiwan. How clever.