A city bustling with life and rhythm, Hong Kong rightfully holds the title for the worlds most densely populated country. Yes, Hong Kong is a country!! With all that was going on in Hong Kong, I recall feeling very overwhelmed the first few days there. But by day 3, I was managing to get around the metropolitan hotspot with much ease.
Here are a round up of how I spent my time there:
1. Take the Star Ferry. The Star Ferry crosses Victoria Harbor and will take you from Kowloon to Hong Kong City, to the subway stations and will connect you to other places that make up Hong Kong. Continuously bustling with people, it reminded me of most transit stations found in New York and the neighboring tri-state areas.
2. Kowloon Park. No entrance fee, this park has a bit of everything from waterfalls, a water garden, flamingoes, a bird park and on early mornings and evening free tai chi lessons at several locations. I especially loved taking in the flamingoes early in the afternoon.
3. Victoria Peak. It's everything you've heard. I tried going late one evening with other guests at the hostel I stayed at, but the lines were incredibly long. So, the next morning, on my way back from The Botanical Gardens, I went for it. I was lucky to get a coupon package when I landed in the airport a few days earlier, so I got about three HKD off. I bumpy tram up the steep hill and about 10 minutes later I was on the escalators to the top. What an incredible view!!! Even more incredible was the view from Bubba Gump Shrimp as I sat eating the shrimp stir fry and sipping the blue berry lemonade that made this event very much worth it. :)
4. Big Buddha. Getting to Big Buddha proved to be a bit of a challenge. While my travel buddy and I thought we might be able to hike it after exiting the subway station, we were lucky meet local foreigners on the subway who informed us otherwise. They pointed us in the direction of a bus that would take us up to the Big Buddha, and with that we were on our way. With lots of souvenir shops, a few eateries and a temple, we ended up making a day of it. With that, we took the 268 steps to Big Buddha and well, another incredible thing to see in Hong Kong.
5. Temple Street Night Market. Located a few blocks from City Square, I visited Temple Street Night Market several times during my 10 days in Hong Kong. On the first night, I found some acrylic painting that kept me mesmerized. They were so very interesting, I bought a few more as souvenirs for close friends. A must see place for anyone interested in moderately priced souvenirs.
6. Ladies Night Market. I went here on my last night in Hong Kong. A friend also visiting Hong Kong, Lauren, and I went to look around this market and ended up getting our faces probed at one of the popular cosmetics store, Aritaum. With and in depth skin analysis done, I found myself enticed by the line of face care offered by Laneige. I will say with confidence, I am not at all disappointed with my purchases.
7. The Science Museum. With a free admittance on Wednesdays, I thought, "Why not?" While I probably would've thoroughly read through most of the exhibits had I visited solo, I did manage to get in some good information (written in English) at several exhibits. Something to note is that going during school hours, you're likely to meet droves of school children on field trips. Just another reason to go either early in the morning or later in the afternoon.
8. Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens. Free is one of my favorite words when it comes to travel. I managed to take the take the star ferry to Kowloon and then walked (more like hiked) my way to this peaceful garden. The animal are enclosed but the variety of birds and mammals made the hike there worth it. They even had Trinidad's national bird, the scarlet ibis.
9. Avenue of the Stars (the view of Victoria Harbor). Think the New York skyline is something to see from Hudson Park? This view is just splendid! There is a light show each night around 8pm but the view during the day is just as wonderful. I made a point of getting a panoramic shot of the very memorable Hong Kong skyline.
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