Hong Kong (Part II)
(Continued from Part I)
Walking amidst the cool air is something awesome. Everywhere we went, the cool breeze kept us comfortable enough. We walked along Victoria Harbour where Hong Kong celebrities imprint their hands unto tiles. Much like Hollywood's Walk of Fame. Snapped Jackie Chan's and Sammo Hung's tiles. Pretty neat.
Jackie Chan
Sammo Hung
Left, right and center there were people. It's like Hong Kong suddenly had a nationwide rave
party. Furthermore, Hong Kong roads aren't that big so perhaps it was an optical illusion that there were that many people around. Even so, it was a bump here and a bump there. One thing about celebrating Christmas in HK - they really go all out to celebrate it. I mean, they only have 3 main festivals that they celebrate - Chinese New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival and Christmas. So I don't see why they shouldn't go all out. It really did feel Chrismasy in HK. Decorations were everywhere and the weather just made it even more awesome.
After much walking and snapping pictures, we headed to Shelter, a bar recommended by James. It's a really nifty place. Everything there is white and you get a lovely view of the bustling city from the windows. The bar is situated on the 27th floor of Henry House in Causeway Bay. Can't really recall which floor nor which building it was. Also, what's cool about the bar is that they show commercials from different countries. It was really entertaining. Had a couple of drinks and then headed back to the hotel via the MTR for a good night's rest.
Saturday, 24th December 2005 (Christmas Eve)
Woke up feeling frosty. Mind you we slept in the hotel WITHOUT the air-cond on and yet it felt as if someone left the window opened. And the hotel room didn't have any windows! Not sure why it was built that way. Nevertheless, 'twas very chilly indeed.
The day was pretty easy going. Seb and I were on our own until meeting up with his friends in Lan Guai Fong - much like our Bangsar on a smaller scale. This is where all the bars and clubs are at. Seb and I decided to have brunch at a nearby coffee shop where I had Siew Yoke Fun (roasted pork with rice). Just to illustrate how expensive HK is, the total cost for our brunch was HK$75+. That's just for 3 dishes and 2 drinks. Insane. Mind you, it's not some fancy cafe or restaurant. It was just one of those kopitiam we have here.
Lan Guai Fong lined with bars and restaurants
The many floating Santas
And so, after brunch, we walked around Lan Guai Fong for a bit while waiting for Yolene to meet up with us. Had wine at a place called "The Corner" which, really was situated in a corner. Then, suddenly somethng caught my eye - a restaurant serving Malaysian cuisine! Haha! Thought I'd never see one of those in HK. Didn't try the food there though. I mean, why go all the way to HK to have Malaysian food?
Much later, Yolene arrived and we decided to have beers at a nearby bar called Bit Point - a bar that serves German beer. It was a cool place and the beers we had (Bitburger Beer) was really smooth. A pleasant drinking session. They sell beers by the amount ie. 0.4 litres and such. Little did we know, 0.4 litres is actually a lot lol. Nonetheless, we drank on and we were later joined by Maggie all dressed up to razzle and dazzle. After much hee-hawing, we decided to head for a steamboat dinner before diving into the crowd heading to the Harbour for the Christmas countdown they have annually.
Mmmm... steamboat
Having had our dinner we made our way for the Harbour. By this time, all the main roads leading to the Harbour have been closed for human traffic. This is when I realised how much Hongkees walked and I can tell you, they walk A LOT! At every nook and corner we took, we were greeted by seas of bobbing heads. Everyone was heading towards one direction and only one - the Harbour; where the clocktower stands. One thing about Hongkees - they're not very polite people. All the while I was being pushed and manhandled but not a single "Sorry" or "Mou yi see ah" were uttered from their lips.
Have you ever seen a street filled with this many people?
Finally, after much pushing and shoving, we ALMOST arrived at the Harbour. Or so it seems. Little did I know, we were back walking on Tsim Sha Tsui and when we got there, there were massive mobs everywhere. Something was going on. The crowd couldn't move and neither could we. We were just stagnant. That's when we found out - the police closed our route to regulate human traffic from other directions.
10 minutes to Christmas, we were still stuck at the same spot for about an hour without budging. We weren't even close to the Harbour yet.
And so finally, we did our countdown at where we were - couple of meters away from the Peninsula Hotel (HK's most expensive hotel). Oh well, at least I got to experience HK's way of ushering in Christmas - being mobbed by thousands of people.
At last, we made our way for the hotel. One thing about being in HK is that we were out the entire day - from morning till night. That's why when nightfell, we were like vegetables with aching feet.
(To be continued in Part III)
Walking amidst the cool air is something awesome. Everywhere we went, the cool breeze kept us comfortable enough. We walked along Victoria Harbour where Hong Kong celebrities imprint their hands unto tiles. Much like Hollywood's Walk of Fame. Snapped Jackie Chan's and Sammo Hung's tiles. Pretty neat.
Jackie Chan
Sammo Hung
Left, right and center there were people. It's like Hong Kong suddenly had a nationwide rave
party. Furthermore, Hong Kong roads aren't that big so perhaps it was an optical illusion that there were that many people around. Even so, it was a bump here and a bump there. One thing about celebrating Christmas in HK - they really go all out to celebrate it. I mean, they only have 3 main festivals that they celebrate - Chinese New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival and Christmas. So I don't see why they shouldn't go all out. It really did feel Chrismasy in HK. Decorations were everywhere and the weather just made it even more awesome.After much walking and snapping pictures, we headed to Shelter, a bar recommended by James. It's a really nifty place. Everything there is white and you get a lovely view of the bustling city from the windows. The bar is situated on the 27th floor of Henry House in Causeway Bay. Can't really recall which floor nor which building it was. Also, what's cool about the bar is that they show commercials from different countries. It was really entertaining. Had a couple of drinks and then headed back to the hotel via the MTR for a good night's rest.
Saturday, 24th December 2005 (Christmas Eve)
Woke up feeling frosty. Mind you we slept in the hotel WITHOUT the air-cond on and yet it felt as if someone left the window opened. And the hotel room didn't have any windows! Not sure why it was built that way. Nevertheless, 'twas very chilly indeed.
The day was pretty easy going. Seb and I were on our own until meeting up with his friends in Lan Guai Fong - much like our Bangsar on a smaller scale. This is where all the bars and clubs are at. Seb and I decided to have brunch at a nearby coffee shop where I had Siew Yoke Fun (roasted pork with rice). Just to illustrate how expensive HK is, the total cost for our brunch was HK$75+. That's just for 3 dishes and 2 drinks. Insane. Mind you, it's not some fancy cafe or restaurant. It was just one of those kopitiam we have here.
Lan Guai Fong lined with bars and restaurants
The many floating Santas
And so, after brunch, we walked around Lan Guai Fong for a bit while waiting for Yolene to meet up with us. Had wine at a place called "The Corner" which, really was situated in a corner. Then, suddenly somethng caught my eye - a restaurant serving Malaysian cuisine! Haha! Thought I'd never see one of those in HK. Didn't try the food there though. I mean, why go all the way to HK to have Malaysian food?
Much later, Yolene arrived and we decided to have beers at a nearby bar called Bit Point - a bar that serves German beer. It was a cool place and the beers we had (Bitburger Beer) was really smooth. A pleasant drinking session. They sell beers by the amount ie. 0.4 litres and such. Little did we know, 0.4 litres is actually a lot lol. Nonetheless, we drank on and we were later joined by Maggie all dressed up to razzle and dazzle. After much hee-hawing, we decided to head for a steamboat dinner before diving into the crowd heading to the Harbour for the Christmas countdown they have annually.
Mmmm... steamboat
Having had our dinner we made our way for the Harbour. By this time, all the main roads leading to the Harbour have been closed for human traffic. This is when I realised how much Hongkees walked and I can tell you, they walk A LOT! At every nook and corner we took, we were greeted by seas of bobbing heads. Everyone was heading towards one direction and only one - the Harbour; where the clocktower stands. One thing about Hongkees - they're not very polite people. All the while I was being pushed and manhandled but not a single "Sorry" or "Mou yi see ah" were uttered from their lips.
Have you ever seen a street filled with this many people?
Finally, after much pushing and shoving, we ALMOST arrived at the Harbour. Or so it seems. Little did I know, we were back walking on Tsim Sha Tsui and when we got there, there were massive mobs everywhere. Something was going on. The crowd couldn't move and neither could we. We were just stagnant. That's when we found out - the police closed our route to regulate human traffic from other directions.
10 minutes to Christmas, we were still stuck at the same spot for about an hour without budging. We weren't even close to the Harbour yet.
Soon...
5..
4..
3..
2..
1!
4..
3..
2..
1!
"MERRY CHRISTMAS!"
And so finally, we did our countdown at where we were - couple of meters away from the Peninsula Hotel (HK's most expensive hotel). Oh well, at least I got to experience HK's way of ushering in Christmas - being mobbed by thousands of people.
At last, we made our way for the hotel. One thing about being in HK is that we were out the entire day - from morning till night. That's why when nightfell, we were like vegetables with aching feet.
(To be continued in Part III)
