It took me an hour
to cross the Hong Kong immigration counter. The queue was long, too many
tourist arrivals at the airport. The three in front of me were also Filipinos.
They were all escorted by an immigration official somewhere after taking too
much time answering questions and presenting a plethora of documents to the
officer. I thought it was also going to happen to me. Luckily, I was only asked
how long I was going to stay. I showed my Macau - Manila e-ticket and I was
good to go. Stamped, all done after five minutes. Now what?
First, let us give
you a briefing regarding Hong Kong and its administrative divisions. More than
the tourist attractions, what I have to know beforehand are the geographical units
of the place to where I am headed. Which city is in which province? In which
district is this tourist spot located? According to my research, Hong Kong has
three administrative divisions: Kowloon, Hong Kong Island, and New Territories.
These three are further divided into districts. You could contradict me
regarding this information because I am not a human encyclopedia. I am also
prone to errors.
The airport and
Lantau Island (where Disneyland and Ngong Ping are located) are part of New
Territories, along with the whole northern part of Hong Kong which connects to
mainland China. Kowloon occupies the southern part of the said peninsula facing
the harbor separating it from Hong Kong Island. Kowloon has a lot of shopping
malls mainly concentrated at Tsim Sha Tsui. It also serves as the cultural
hotspot due to the many museums that could be found along the harbor near the
Avenue of Stars. The lovely evening skyline illuminated by neon lights, a
popular representation of Hong Kong, actually belongs to Hong Kong Island,
which many consider to be where British influence remains strong.
There is a
Cityflyer bus that brings you all the way to Tsim Sha Tsui. I think it was the
A21 bus that I boarded. If this information is incorrect, I’m so sorry. Memory
gap! Anyway, the fare is HK$33 as opposed to the HK$100+ that you pay if you choose
the Airport Express train. Go for the bus. It is a bit slower but also offers
spectacular views along the way. Once you reach Nathan Road, you could get off
when you see the iSquare Mall. This is already near the intersection in front
of the harbor. If you are looking for cheap accommodations, you would find them
in this area. Chungking Mansions and Mirador Mansions are just next to each
other, separated by only one street, I think. This area is popular for its
cheap accommodations for backpackers.
If you need to
convert your US Dollars to HK Dollars, I suggest you go around Tsim Sha Tsui to
get a good deal. Most foreign exchange counters would offer rates similar to
that of the airport, which is less than HK$710 for US$100. Go around and you
will find more money changers offering as high as HK$780 for the same amount of
US Dollars. I mostly settled for a HK$770 exchange rate during my five-day stay
at Tsim Sha Tsui. I haven’t encountered any fake bills so I think they are
quite legit. If you don’t want to venture far, just go to Chungking Mansions.
The entrance has around five or six money changers all next to each other,
along with some Western Union banks. Average rate I saw there was HK$770 =
US$100.
I had the whole
afternoon to tour Tsim Sha Tsui but I didn’t. I just wanted to eat delicious
fried rice but it seems difficult to find a cheap eatery in the area. I just
watched Harry Potter at the IMAX cinema of iSquare before calling it a day.
Oops, I forgot that I walked around the vicinity of the Avenue of Stars. There
are two or three museums within the same area. I saw the Symphony of Lights
after eating dinner at a Vietnamese fast food. The skyscrapers of Hong Kong
Island sure know how to dance. Their playful display of lights is accompanied
by a musical soundtrack audible throughout the harbor.
My tour around
Kowloon continued the other day but was mostly concentrated on Kowloon Park. I
woke up late and got stranded because of the rain. Damn rain, even followed me
all the way to Hong Kong! I hate the weather. I so hate the weather! Anyway, I
loved Kowloon Park. It is very big and has a lot of resting places for you as
long as it is not raining. I took shelter in the sports stadium by the pool side
inside, and then outside to see the children play when the rain was over.
Snacks were care of McDonalds which was also inside the stadium. Yes, the park
is that huge. There are MTR stations on both ends. And the flamingos! There
are flamingos and they have their own pond to themselves.
There is a
footbridge connecting the park to the harbor. Once there you get an
unrestricted view of Elements and the tower above it, which I think is cute.
Walk farther down the path and you get to see Victoria Harbor on a different
angle, but still with the same buildings that perform in the Symphony of
Lights. Harbor City Mall is also just across the street if you want to go
shopping. However, my vote goes to Elements because of the ice skating rink,
hee hee. I haven’t seen all of Kowloon, but I think my stay has already been
blessed with the few tourist attractions I was able to visit while I was there.
KOWLOON: 01 - GuangZhou Guest House
KOWLOON: 02 - Bright Lights, Busy Harbor
NEW TERRITORIES: 02 - How to Disneyland
KOWLOON: 02 - Bright Lights, Busy Harbor
NEW TERRITORIES: 02 - How to Disneyland
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