Day 2 in Hong Kong : The Day of Transport!

Hong Kong Vacation series | Day 1 | Day 2 | Late Night Mini Adventure| Meet Our Mini Snow White|

Mari sambung ceritera Hong Kong. (You can read the Day 1 post here)

Couldn't exactly wake up early on the second day of our mini holiday, but what the hey... We were on vacation, man... Our mantra was, "Have a plan, but be ready to just wing it" ;) Kids were decked in purple today. Saje je, kasi theme colour sikit... :)

"We are ready, Dad! Let's go!"

Annnnnyways.... According to the second day plan, we will be going to The Peak to visit Madame Tussaud's. So, even early on, we knew it would involve a whole lot of transportation. MTR, taxi, double decker bus, ferry, tram.. You just name it. :)

Seeing that we were already running late, we had our breakfast at McD in Nathan Road (ya, kami jalan kaki) with Khadra enjoying her hotcakes as usual and Khaleeq discovering that he actually likes Filet-o-Fish. Since we were there during the breakfast to normal menu transition time, Khaleeda was able to have her fries. as well Apa-apa je lah labu, asalkan makan.

Breakfast at McD

We had a very loooong day ahead of us. We took the taxi (couldn't bother to figure out the public transportation, I guess) straight to the Star Ferry Jetty.

At the jetty, we were approached by a Big Bus Tour representative. We figured that hop on - hop off bus was a good way to know the city, right? We immediately bought their package inclusive of:

1. ferry tickets to Hong Kong island
2. the Red tour route (this route goes thru the city and stops over at Lower Tram Terminal to go to The Peak)
   
3. return tram tickets to The Peak
4. the Green tour routes (this route goes over to the Ocean Park dan kawasan sewaktu dengannya)
   
5. sampan boat ride at Aberdeen
6. the Night Tour (for Kowloon area that ends at the Avenue of Stars)

On hindsight, we didn't actually have enough time to go through the Green route, so if you wanna complete both routes, it's probably wise to start earlier on in the day. There's also the option of the 48hour validity if you wanna spread the tour out a little bit.

Anyhoots, sebelum naik ferry to Central, masih sempat lagi kami buat nama anak- anak in Chinese calligraphy. Me and Azrul got ourselves a stamping block of our name in Chinese. Pretty cool... Since it took a while to complete, we decided to come back later on that night to collect the items. No pictures taken at the store as the sales lady strictly showed me the signs - "No Photography" Hmm, O.K! *but I could upload a picture of the finished product later*

The ferry trip was very short indeed. Probably around 5-10 minutes. Tak sempat pun nak mabuk laut. I terasa ala-ala naik ferry kat Penang je, but much briefer.

Mengembara naik feri. Mak bapak pun jakun sekali. Sila abaikan ilusi gemuk saya ittew.

We got down at the Central ferry jetty and looked for the Big Bus Tour stand. We had just missed the Red tour bus and had to wait for the next one. Good thing about it though, we found a Halal kebab store at the terminal. Yeay! (Tak beli pun coz we were still very full then. But we bought it before the Night Tour started and it was oh so sedap!)

Moral of the story here: Please check the timing for the tour as the bus leaves at an interval of 30 minutes for the Red route and 45 minutes for the Green route. Jangan dok sibuk nak beli souvenir aje. *Sheesh*

The hop-on, hop-off Bus Tour was pretty awesome. They had a narration going on about the places we visited with the option of getting off the bus at the pre-determined stops. There were many anecdotes told, one even pointed out that we could buy some kind of misfortune spells. Once you are done exploring the area of attraction, just hop on to the next bus according to the schedule given. We were pretty happy at the roof-less top, even though it was so darn hot! Adoii... Touristy betul lah!

Touristy mode. Biarlah panas pun tak apa..

As planned, we came down at the Lower Tram Terminal to catch the tram up to The Peak. there was a photobooth set up near the ticketing counter where you are able to snap a picture of you and/or your family/group with a backdrop of the tram and the view. They will print out the pictures in an A8 size and also make it into keychains or snowglobes. Being the suckers that we were, we bought them, at about HKD130 per picture and 3keychains for HKD165. (I think) On hindsight, I think that photo op was totally unnecessary as you are able to take nice pictures in the tram, up on the Peak etc. So, tak payah pun tak pe sebenarnya. Tahan ajelah naluri tourist tu..

Posing - posing sikit...

By the time we got up there, we were rather famished. So we went for a little loo break and attacked Bubba Gump. All things seafood. Yumms. Cuma a little pricey, which is to be expected lah since we were up in the hilltops! :) Did a little bit of reflecting and looking at the time we had left, we decided to skip the rest of the Red route as well as the Green route in the Big Bus Tour. So, we had a little time to spend in Madame Tussaud's before catching the shuttle for the Night tour later in the evening.

Madame Tussaud's was next. Each adult tickets cost HKD160 and kids HKD90. (I think la, tak berapa ingat) Tapi kami amat jakun dan teruja sekali. Main activity was camwhoring lah , apa lagi.. There were soo many famous (and not too known by us) faces in such unique settings. Celebrities, dignitaries, accomplished sportsmen, artists.. Eh, tapinya kitorang tak jumpa Justin Bieber pun. Tak cukup glamer kot.

Of course, there were opportunities for the museum to make some quick bucks too. There were photographers stationed in various strategic exhibits all around. They will give you a little photo chit that you shall need to preview your pictures near the check out. We bought a few photos (but of course) and even took one with a Madame Tussaud's photo frame.

Some of the exhibits had additional costumes, wigs and props that one could use for a great pose. For example, the crown and robe near the Queen of England, the fat suit near the supposedly famous sumo wrestler, robes at the exhibit for Rembrant. It was rather fun trying to create funny poses. Well, we certainly did. I especially liked @azrulx's Marilyn Monroe pose. hahahahaha

My regal pose nect to the Royal family, cheeky Khaleeda with Janice, Albert Einstein and also the potrait by Rembrant. Check out Khaleeq smiling away sebelah perempuan sexy ittew.

Mahatma Gandhi, Spiderman, Obama, Captain Jack Sparrow and of course, @azrulx Monroe -only thing missing is the white dress!

Me in the sumo fat suit and chilling with Gaga. @azrulx with Tiger woods and The Beatles. Kids balik kampung jumpak atok Jepun.

Once done, we went up to the Sky View for some more picture opportunities. There's a minimal charge going up as well, but the view is breathtaking. Even when it was a little misty (hazy?), one is able to see a 360degree view of Hong Kong island and it's amazing skyline.

At the 360 Sky View, taking in the sights of Hong Kong from the Peak.

We quickly took the tram down and caught a taxi back to the Central jetty to catch the shuttle for the Night tour.

Sudah mahu pulang...

The route for the Night Tour explores the main attraction in the Kowloon area. Famous for their neon signages, we got to experience the Kowloon night life up close and personal. They also pointed out the Ladies' Market , Kowloon's famous street market where almost absolutely everything is for sale. We ended the tour at the Avenue of Stars to catch the Symphony of Lights at 8.30pm. Make sure you stand near the Intercontinental Hotel to catch the neon and laser lights from the Hong Kong island buildings dancing to the tune of the selected music. Pretty, so very pretty.

Kowloon Night Tour

We took a walk along Avenue of Stars (again) to the Star ferry Jetty to collect our souvenirs. Then, we decided to embark in a little "Jalan-jalan cari makan" to find halal food. Budak-budak dah kemaruk nak makan ayam, so upon some consultation through blog reviews and stuff, we decided to check out Islam Food at No 1, Lung Kong Road, Kowloon City. It is one of those places where the locals get their food, so don't expect anything fancy, yeah. A lot of pointing at the menu afterwards, we got our food and it was yummeh! Kids had the fried rice with shredded chicken. Worthy mentions are the Curry mutton with Pot-pan with scallions and the beef with spring onion. I really wanted to try the veal goulash but there wasn't enough room in my tummy.

Jalan-jalan cari makan

Hari sudah malam, perut sudah kenyang.. So, balik hotel la... Just that me and Khadra had a little mini adventure later that night. Ceritanya? Tungguuuuuu..... ;)

-dillz blogging out-