hk trip part 2

continuing on my hk trip. a fall contrast from the greenery of lantau island would be hong kong island. buildings n buildings everywhere.. their tall rise buildings are built in such close proximity that i think u can look over to the opposite block from one block.

the hong kong skyline

hong kong skyline at night.. the symphony of lights was a huge disappointment. expecting a spectacular lights n lazor show, but end up, everyone was like "just like this?"

Hong Kong Convention Centre. Just after a day i left, they were celebrating 10 yrs of return to china here...

2 IFC. tallest building in hong kong

bank of china building.

streets of hong kong with tram lines... riding on the tram is an experience of its own

Central (中环), which is their business district, like our raffles place. is indeed full of life. can feel that the pace of life is also very fast here in hong kong, just like singapore. During peak hour, the crowd rushing to work and home is really huge. Fortunately, the central MTR station is freaking huge. Really really huge. Hong Kong mass rapid system is definitely much better than sg. stations are spacious and had lots of entry n exit gates. signage are very prominent and annoucements are clear n load in 3 language (eng, chi, canto). Trains frequencies are much faster than singapore ones. When i took the MRT in sg just after i came back frm hk, i felt funny as hk train goes much faster than singapore ones.. and hk ppl are not like freaking sgporeans, standing in front of the door n blocking the exit. even on escalators, they keep to the right automaticaly, allowing a path for people who are walking down. the downside, the mtr there is much more expensive than sg..

a cheaper way to cross the harbour to kowloon, the Star Ferry.

it is just a simple ferry ride across the harbour, but it offers the best view of hong kong. a ride on the upper deck cost only HK $2.2 (less than 50cents).

the new ferry pier over at central. the old one (queen pier) has been demolished... read that on the last night of operation of queen pier, thousands of people flocked to the terminal and there had even been protests against the demolishment of the pier. shows how significant the star ferry is in the life of hk people. it looks like the star ferry would continue to play a significant role in bringing people across the harbour in future. you can see youngster n even working professionals wearing tie n suits choosing the star ferry route instead of the faster, aircon subway route.

eveyone will wait behind this gate for the ferry to arrive. once the gate opens, people will just walk down the walkway to board the ferry.

seats on the ferry is unique too. the seat back can be moved such that the seat faces forward or backwards. so usually, the first few passengers who board the ferry after it docks will change the seat back such that it is facing the other direction, as the ferry will travel in the other direction.

went off to explore central, as well as the SOHO, lan kwai fong area. they call this the mid-levels area, and thus, there are slopes, stairs everywhere. they came up with an indigenous idea. an escalator to bring people up.

part of the central mid-levels escalator. this escalator will travel downwards in the morning and then upwards for other times.

the whole distance is freaking long...

down here, the sights are rather different from central. 3-4 storeys shophouses line the small n congested roads... i think one is better off walking then driving here, judging from the continous honking of the car horn..

lan kwai fong.. didn't manage to go there at night... can't except me to bring my mum to go drinking rite?

another place to visit. the peak. took the tram up. the tram travels at a really great incline. seems to be steeper than a plane taking off..

view from the top.... too bad i didn't go another spot, abt 10-15 walk away, and i heard the view there is more beautiful

dunno why i was looking away from the camera for this pic. maybe someone caught my attention?

enough of this post.. taking up quite a bit of my time... shall write more next time round....