Central, Mid-Levels, Western

Friday, December 30, 2011
Hong Kong, China
 





Next I took the ferry back across to hong kong island to get some lunch end explore the north side of the island. I remember there was a halal pizza place at the ferry terminal, but now when I went to take a look, their jumbo pizza for $40 HKD ($5) was actually only really the size of a cd case so I wanted something more filling. 



 


Instead I got a chicken kebab for the same price including a drink. Then I went across on the elevated walkways to statue square. There was a statue of a governor and one side of the square was the legislative building with a domed roof, but no visitors were allowed.

Across was the old bank of china building. The lobby was taken up by a modern bank so nothing interesting to see. Next door was the HSBC building. The building is actually elevated on stilts so the ground floor is a giant covered courtyard. 



Setup in the courtyard was the local version of occupy wall street with mostly chinese banners depicting corporate greed although there were some english signs. You take a long escalator up which swallows you into the upper level base of the HSBC building

 

Inside the entire building is a hollow shell from which you can look to the upper floors. They all have outer perimiters looking down on to the elevated first floor base and courtyard below. This was as far as visitors were allowed to go. 



Then there was an elevated walkway connecting it to the Standard Chartered Building beside. I then had to find my way off these elevated walkways to street level. Here I walked up Old Diary Road to the press club building. This was an old victorian building which is a members only club for journalists and an expensive restaurant. 



I then navigated my way over to Lan Kwai Fong the bar area. There wasnt much activity during the day and there were large trucks deliving beer barrels so blocking the way. I then followed the street signs to Man Mo temple.


 
This was a large room with incense burners in the centre leading to statues and a shrine at the rear. There were also lifesize statues. Then I went across Hollywood Road which was many antiques and fine art stores. These were very impressive almost like being in a museum but I dont think I could afford anything or have the space and weight to take any of these things back.



I then made my way across to Kuan Yam another temple. This was like a two story house and you go to the second floor for the shrine. There were many curved mosquito repellent type burners shaped into a spiral cone. Again there was a shrine and incence burners. There was supposed to be another temple beside but I couldnt see it.


 






















 
So far all of these streets were on an incline as the island rises up from the shoreline. As I was walking east-west I was ok as I was going horizontal. But to go north-south there were long steep staircases bisecting the many blocks and neighbourhoods. I wouldnt want to live here climbing up and down all those steps everyday.

Also I passed by some movie star shooting a scene. There was a film crew and lots of onlookers. I had no idea who this was??

I navigated my way down and passed by a ginseng market similar to the herbal markets we have in korea. Eventually I made it to Western Market. This was an old victorian building similar to St Lawrence Market in Toronto or Covent Garden in London. The interior was once a fresh produce market but now it is upscale cafes and a grand restaurant on the top floor. 



I stopped by Mcdonalds to get a cone for $2.5 HKD ($.35 cents). Now I wanted to get back to the ferry terminal to cross back to kowloon. The elevated walkways took me into the IFC centre which is a giant mall connecting several towers. They had a large christmas display and many shops on Lane Crawford.

After taking the ferry across I could see many of the buildings lit up and christmas lights on again. I went for one final look from the kowloon side. This time I walked further across the harbour and made it to the Hollywood Walk of Fame



I had come here in 2008 and took pictures. This time it was dark and I only managed to find Jet Li and Bruce Lee, the rest were chinese actors I dont know. I took a few final panorama pics of the skyline and christmas lights.

Now I went back to Chung King for one last meal. I wanted to have naan and curry with tandori chicken so looked around, but didnt see a good deal anywhere. Finally I went to the Karachi Fast Food restaurant and got a lamb curry with naan for $40 HKD ($5). 



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2025-02-11

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