Hong Kong is the first stop for our HK-Macau tour. Spring has just begun in the city and it is still a bit cold, especially if you are someone who came from a tropical country. Known as the shopping capital of Asia, I was not surprised to find out upon arriving there that boutiques and shops are everywhere. If you go to Canton Road, everything is there, from Chanel, Prada, Kors, to Ann Sui. All the designers I can name was there! But still, I did not go there to shop. I was there to experience the street food, the authentic Chinese cuisine, see the skyscrapers, and of course, Disneyland (which will be on a different blog post).
We arrived in Hong Kong on a chilly Wednesday morning in March 2015 and I was so excited to start our city tour, but of course, we have to find our hostel first to sit our stuff. To get there from the airport, we used the Airport Express train which ticket cost 160 HKD if you are traveling in groups of 2. I am not sure how much that costs individually but it definitely costs cheaper the bigger your group is. By the way, I just have to say this, Hong Kong has a superb and very efficient train system. See MTR train map below...
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Also, as a tip, if you plan to go around Hong Kong via train, it is best if you purchase the Octopus Card. Shortly known as Octopus, this is a ticket which has stored value. It'll save you time from lining up the ticket booth every single ride, and if you were not able to use all of the stored value, it is refundable. The Octopus costs 150 HKD. 50 for deposit (which you'll get back if you return the ticket) and 100 for the actual stored value. This was helpful to us and at the end of our trip, we were able to refund a total of 54 HKD each.
Anyway, going back...
I specifically booked a hostel located inside the Chungking Mansions for one reason...
Twenty years ago, Wong Kar Wai created the film "Chungking Express." I was able to see that movie in college and I immediately loved it! California Dreaming, the movie's OST, automatically brings me back scenes from the film. It instantly became one of my favorite films ever. It was a paradox about how people can live in one of the most populated cities in the world yet still feel lonely and empty inside.
I said to myself, I'll go to Chungking one day. And I did! Not only did I got here, I specifically booked a hotel that's located inside Chungking Mansions! I lived in Chungking for 2 and a half days and the dreamer in me was looking around hoping I'd find Faye (female lead character) somewhere around the area or at her food stall, Midnight Express serving noodles to customers. Behind me, in the photo, is Chungking Mansions in Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong.
Chungking Mansion is in Nathan Road. It is a landmark building known for budget travellers as it has four blocks housing lots of hostels per level. Upon entering, it can be quite scary but once you get the hang of it, it's safe.
We were starving from our early morning flight so our first plan of action was to find a restaurant to eat lunch. One block away from Chungking, we found this restaurant that serves local Chinese dishes. I am not sure if it looks enticing enough in the photos below but it tastes really great and they serve really fast (faster than fastfood) and the food is really hot.
I got obsessed with their milk tea which you can tell is so authentic.
This was the restaurant. It's in Chinese so I don't know how to read it. The food was so great that we went back there for the second time on out last day in HK.
After stuffing our faces with Chinese food, we headed to The Peak Tram where you can purchase tickets to go up to the Sky Terrace where you can see a 360 degrees view of the Hong Kong city skyline.
The Sky Pass costs 83 HKD.
The Peak Tram is a funicular train that brings you to the top of the mountains where the Sky Terrrace is located which offers a panoramic view of Hong Kong on so many angles. Upon reaching the top, The Victoria Peak, I was surprised to find a mall at the top of the mountains!
The same building also houses Madam Tussauds Wax Museum. We didn't enter but Bruce Lee is at the entrance where Sky Terrace visitors can take a photo with.
After climbing sooooo many floors (there's elevator of course) from where we alighted the Peak Tram train, we were able to reach the Sky Terrace!
Of course this is a great selfie/twofie opportunity, so why not?
Also, in case you were wondering what's the deal with these headsets, upon entering the Sky Terrace, visitors are given a tablet and a headset which plays videos and audios that you can watch or listen to while looking at the view. It gives you the story of how the Peak Tram was built and how you can make the most out of your time there.
The magnificent and awe-inspiring Hong Kong skyline. It was foggy that day but I heard that if it isn't you can totally see the other buildings across that island over there!
We spend a little more time at the Sky Terrace because we were really exhausted from our early morning flight. In fact, Raf fell asleep in one of the benches! We climb down via the Peak Tram again and headed back to Tsim Sha Tsui to grab early dinner and to take a short nap in our room.
Let me tell you a funny story...
So we took a nap right? A few hours in, I woke up. I looked at my phone and saw that it was 10:00. I immediately assumed that it was already 10am of the next day and abruptly stood up thinking we overslept from last night when it was supposedly a nap only. I got up and cried because I know I am late for Disneyland! I was sooooo looking forward for Disneyland and the original plan was to wake up at 7am so we can leave by 8am and get there by 9am. While taking a bath, I was so pissed and crying (I am a big Disney geek, so what?). We hurriedly fixed ourselves and our stuff and was ready to leave. And then...
As I opened the hotel room door, I was surprised to see from the window across that it's dark outside. I got confused. I looked at my phone... It was 10:45.... IN THE EVENING! We did not oversleep! It was not Thursday! It's still Wednesday and my beloved Disneyland is scheduled for tomorrow.
Raf bursted in laughter. I feel so stoooopid. Raf says this is his favorite travel epic fail. He said this tops that one time when I lost all of our money and camera in Phuket in a cab (the driver returned all of them, don't worry). I guess I truly am a noob at times.
We still went out though. We went on a street food spree near Women's Night Market.
We found this stall that sells food in sticks much like the Philippines' tuhog-tuhog. Then the most magical street food experience happened. We found this bacon-wrapped sausage and it's so greasy and sinful and my life was forever changed! Because the owner speak limited English, we didn't know what this bacon-wrapped sausage was called.
That's what I was eating on the photo below.
So that's our first day in Hong Kong: finding Chungking Mansions, eating authentic Chinese brisket, climbing the highest peak in Sky Terrace via the Peak Tram, crying because I thought it was Thursday already, and street food. Pretty much normal for some, but I guess you have to really be there, walking the streets, talking to people, eating their food and losing your sanity along the way to actually appreciate a very special day. Oh by the way, it's our first anniversary that's why we're there! Cheers!
Disneyland post coming up next!