My Second Visit to Hong Kong: The City That Never Sleeps (Part 2)

After a short but fun time in Macau, soon we were back in Hong Kong for the rest of our holiday. Our first stop was at China Hong Kong City since the ferry terminal was there. The place is filled with many outlets including a two storey Esprit shop. Prices start from about HKD50 if I remember correctly. Other brands included Wanko, G2000 and many sports shoe shops. At the basement level, there is also an outlet which sells branded bags.

As the Light show at the Avenue of Stars starts at 8pm each night, we had a quick meal at iSquare nearby. This was my second time watching it and it felt less spectacular. Probably I am too used to Singapore's beautiful skyline too, particularly at the Marina Bay area. After the show, we walked about Sogo and the Peninsula Hotel.

Near the waterfront area is the 1881 Heritage building. It has now been converted into restaurants and shops. For lack of a better comparison, I would say it is similar to Chijmes in Singapore. The place is really beautiful at night and on that day, we saw 3 couples taking their wedding photos there!

The fifth day of our trip was a Wednesday and every Wednesday, certain museums offer free entrance. We decided to visit the HK Museum of Art as it was near the Star Ferry Terminal. We spent slightly more than 1 hour here then headed to Central. The cost of a lower deck ticket on the ferry is just HKD2.

After waiting for the ferry for a few minutes, we soon boarded the ferry. In just a few minutes, we had crossed over to Central. There, our first stop was ifc as we wanted to get a good view of the area. In particular, there is free entry to the 55th floor of ifc2. All you need to do is go to the information counter and show them your photo ID (passport in our case). It is actually an exhibition area for the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. However, from there, you can get a great view of the Central area, and see the Peak on a clear day.

After enjoying a cool respite in ifc mall, we headed out to Jubilee Street for lunch at Kam Wah. Next up, it was time to shop at H&M. As we did not have the chance previously to browse properly at Mongkok, we took our time at this branch at Queen's Road Central. After that, we took the Mid-Levels Escalator which is actually a set of escalators linked together. You can get off the escalator to explore the surroundings. For us, we headed to the Sun Yat Sen Museum to learn more about this historical and powerful figure.

Halfway up the Mid-Levels escalator, look out for this machine in the photo. Tap your Octopus card here to get a HKD2 discount on your next MTR ride from the Central station. Along your way up, you will also notice trams. This form of transport is only available on Hong Kong Island.

Soon, we reached our next stop: the Sun Yat Sen Museum. There are a few floors here where you can learn more about this historical figure. We slowly strolled down the many steps to reach Queen's Road Central again. We continued our shopping and then headed up to Lan Kwai Fong in search of dinner. With a stroke of luck, we found a great restaurant for dinner, Zong Guo Song, which was at G/F 6 Wo On Lane near Lan Kwai Fong.

After dinner, we walked about Lan Kwai Fong. Although it was a week night, there were lots of people drinking there. Quite happening! From here, we took the MTR back to Tsim Sha Tsui and went window shopping at Harbour City and Silvercord. An eventful night indeed!

The next day we did some last minute shopping at the smaller shops around Tsim Sha Tsui before taking the A21 bus to the airport. It was a short holiday but I will always remember this fun trip to Hong Kong and Macau!