This was a much shorter trip but I spent quite a bit, because of the accommodation. We stayed at BP International Hotel, which is a pretty good hotel, conveniently located beside Kowloon Park. While it was four times the cost of my bed at Chungking Mansions, it was so much more comfy (and definitely private) - spent SGD216 for 3 nights (approx $70 a night).
I arrived in HK in the evening at 5:30pm and for some reason, the place feels super familiar to me (probably because the previous trip was too recent). Took the bus down to Mongkok (cost HKD14.70) and it was a nice trip, watching sunset around HK. However, due to the jam around the city centre, the bus ride took about 1.5h. Thereafter, it took about 20min to walk down to the hotel.
We went over to The Sweet Dynasty (Tang Chao) at Hankow Street for dinner with Ying Hao and CP. Honestly, despite all the raves online about the restaurant, I felt it was too overpriced and the place does seem a little dodgy due to the dim lighting. Also, they stopped serving quite a bit of dim sum after 8pm so we didn't get much choices :( If I'm not wrong, it is famous for its beancurd, which was interestingly served in a bucket.
After dinner, we went to walk around - down the Victoria Harbour along the Avenue of Stars where we tried to capture some of the night lights. I was pretty glad to meet up with CP after so long! We wanted to head down to OZONE bar at Ritz Carlton (Austin Road) but it started raining (and my feet were killing me), so I convinced the guys to head back - maybe we should have gone that day because we never did get another chance :(
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| Change of design of 1881 Heritage - the prettiest mall |
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| Cityscape of HK |
The next day, we had to abort our plan initially because Dwayne fell ill - food poisoning. Ken and I decided to go look for medication for him and we did a short run to look for the earliest opened Mannings. Interestingly, we managed to catch Ying Hao and CP at the start point at 0930am. Just that we didn't manage to catch them again at the finishing point because we decided to trek the Dragon's Back in the day and come back for Dwayne to go up Victoria Peak in the evening.
The Dragon's Back is an urban trail located on HK Island and it is simply a must-go trail in HK (if you only have time for one). It is rather manageable but do wear shoes that are comfortable and have good gripe so you won't have any danger of slipping. The view for the start is pretty breath-taking but towards the end, it got really boring, that we had to resort to music. It took us about 2.5h to finish the trail, plus all the photographs and we ended up on the Tai Long Wan beach at the bottom.
How to get there: It can be easily accessed via MTR to Shau Kei Wan and bus 9 from the terminal.
Difficulty Level: 5/10 for the average person (for fitter people it should be much lower), approx 8.5km
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| Towards the end of the trail |
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| Tai Long Wan |
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| Surfboards! |
We had a late lunch at one of the shops on the beach and headed back to Shau Kei Wan. Apparently, this is one of the surfer's paradise in HK where they loan surfboards and offer lessons. We headed back to Shau Kei Wan where I wandered around the market and the guys went back to pick Dwayne up. I kind of like wandering around on my own, to soak up the local atmosphere. I bought some oranges and almonds (HKD55 for about 600g), as well as some HK dessert and pao. Headed over to Central MTR to meet the 3 guys for our Victoria Peak outing. Initially we wanted to go to the Bank of China to view but it was closed :( So we headed directly to the Victoria Peak Tram Station. We waited for ages just to board the tram. Well, there is a way to walk/run up but I guess the guys were too tired (and sick) to do that. The cost of the two way ticket was about HKD80 (minus the viewing gallery cost) but the waiting time was crazy.
It was an experience itself to board the tram as it was packed.The ride was pretty scary because the tram was moving 45 degrees upwards. The view was so-so because of the packed tram and that it was getting dark. It took about 10min to reach the Peak. It's been ages since I've been here, I don't even recall the Mall at the top. Well, the view was good.
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| View from the Peak |
Dinner was at Lin Heung Tea House 蓮香樓, a traditional old-school teahouse on Lan Kwai Fong area where the waiters were wearing white shirts and pants but they went all the way to provide good service. Heard the dim sum there is good too but too bad they don't have it at dinner. The food was not bad, big portion and affordable but be prepared for a long queue (we waited 1.5h without a reservation).
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| Typical sight on HK Island |
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| So traditional right? |
By the time we got back, it was too late to do anything else so we turned in.
I started day 3 with an hour of easy run and some dynamic workout along Victoria Harbour. Really pretty and windy.
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| hehs..not much of a view |
Thankfully, Dwayne was feeling slightly better so we headed to Sai Kung to do another trek - MacLeHose Trails. We took the MTR to Hang Hau (where HKSTU was) and took a mini bus to Sai Kung town. I took quite a bit of time to research about Sai Kung but it turned out pretty accessible. Sai Kung is a pretty seaside port and is along the east coast of HK, near the many tiny islands, famous for its fresh seafood and also geological formations. There are many sections of the MacLehose trail but we took an easier but longer one (about 12km). It was...interesting. Took us up the mountains and down all the way to the sandy coasts and mangroves. The trails are well-guided, and surprisingly paved. So danger scale is like near zero, unless you do something that the signs warn you against. I'll let the pictures tell the story. Oh, do bring food and water because there isn't along the way. Except for a small seaside store which we stopped by somewhere 3-4km on the trail.
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| Cute red bean pie from Macs - reward after the hike! |
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| Fishing port |
Dinner was back at the hotel and I finally tried a HK traditional dessert :)
Last day was pretty hectic too..Couldn't wake up for any run (legs were aching from the hikes) so I decided to head down to HK Island to do some last minute shopping. Finally took the tram, which was super cheap (HKD2.50), and efficient. Bought some wife biscuits, took some photos and went to the airport to catch my flight. Till another time, HK!
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| Took the boat out - HKD4.50 |
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| The tram |
