A beautiful night scene: Hong Kong Island from the Kowloon waterfront. The tall building on the right is the IFC tower. A taller building was built on the Kowloon side.
An old double-decker tram still in service on the island.
The Star Ferry awaiting passengers for the crossing to Hong Kong Island.
Not unlike Singapore, the transportation system in Hong Kong is fairly easy to navigate thanks to a little English thrown in with good measure. Firts up was the purchase of another Octopus card which can be used on subway, trams, the bus and ferries -- even at some McDonald's! (No I didn't). Boarded the subway at a station nearby to where I'm staying and headed to Tsim Sha Tsui station and emerged above ground on Nathan Road, a.k.a. the Golden Mile. It's something to behold with all the signs, shops, people hawking stuff, etc. and at night it's ablaze with neon lights! Some liken it to NYC's fifth avenue. Hmmm. Anyway, I walked a short distance to the Star Ferry terminal for my first visit to Hong Kong Island since the British were in charge!
It was a beautiful sunny day with blue sky, but I have to say that the smog/haze really is pretty awful. I don't have a camera filter for this so we'll have to see what photoshop can do when I get home.
The ferry crossing only takes five minutes so one must have their camera at the ready from the get-go. I filmed the crossing both ways. Once across and after a brief look around the terminal, I boarded a Big Bus Tours open-top double-decker for the 1 hour 45 minute Red Tour of the island. It cost US$20 and I hadn't done this in the past. With the audio commentary and the extensive routing it was a good choice. There are lots of new tall buildings with the tallest being the International Finance Centre tower at 88 stories. When it was built the locals complained that it stood out like a sore thumb. Then another new tower (International Commerce Centre) was built that at 118 stories is even taller but on the West Kowloon side of Victoria Harbour so now there are two sore thumbs! One can get off the bus at the various stops and I chose not to though the thought of going up to Victoria Peak again was tempting. My friend Erica, with whom I'm staying (she's an AirB&B host), advised against it due to the smog. Then when I saw how long the queue was when we drove by my decision was confirmed. Once back at the ferry terminal I headed across to Kowloon.
One thing not to be missed, at least once, is the Symphony of Lights show on the waterfront that takes place every evening at 8:00 p.m. Some 30 buildings take part in a massive 20-minute light-and-laser show coordinated to music. Although the night I attended, the commentary was in Cantonese, the show was something to behold as was the size of the crowd. I was there early for a front-row seat, of course. Then I hopped on a number 7 double-deck bus from the Star Ferry terminal and headed back to Erica's where the bus dropped me almost at her front door. The neon lights along Nathan Road were ablaze and provided their own little show.
