A wonderful late start to the day. We just about made the breakfast deadline! The first task was to add currency to our Octopus – that was easily done at the customer desk in the East Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station. We then walked through the subway to get to the Star Ferry Pier. After some excitement, thanks to me dropping the hotel access card on the ferry waiting bench and the gates getting locked, we hopped on to the ferry to cross from the Kowloon to the Hong Kong side of Victoria Harbour. Getting to IFC mall from there was easy, thanks to the directions on the way, but inside the mall was a different story!
After aimlessly gawking at hitherto unheard of brands (and making up Indianised names for them!) we asked for directions to Tim Ho Wan, the aborted Day 1 lunch plan. This is called the world’s cheapest Michelin star restaurant and has several branches, including one in IFC Mall (or technically Hong Kong Station Level 1). There was already a queue by the time we reached, and we quickly took an English menu and marked our preferences – a steamed egg cake, char siu bao and Steamed rice rolls with minced beef. We were subject to much scrutiny thanks to the appearance as well as non-usage of chopsticks. 😀 Meanwhile, the first two dishes were outstanding, and if you can look beyond the gooeyness of the third’s exterior, it’s pretty good too. We had spotted this ‘wrapped in leaves’ sticky rice dish at another table and wanted to try that as well, despite being stuffed. We were so sure that we had the dish right that we didn’t bother to check and asked for the Steamed Rice with beef and pan fried egg. The dish was great but there was no leaf in sight!
We finally waddled out of the mall and despite Handy’s Google Maps, were immediately lost in terms of directions. Thankfully the road signs came to the rescue again and we made our way to the Central-Mid Level Escalators, a unique mass transit system in its own right. We exited at Wellington Street and began the long walk to the Garden Road Peak Tram Lower Terminus. This is where the tram to Victoria Peak starts. Another attraction, another queue, except this one was long enough to cross the road and have a lengthier version on the other side! This was the only ticket we hadn’t purchased beforehand. Should have. Our feet were numb by the time we got the $88 (pp) tickets which also allowed us access to the observation deck in addition to the tram itself.
A long wait followed before we finally got on to the tram. Lots of very interesting trinkets and stories (from around the time of construction of the tram) on display if you like that sort of thing. The entry to the tram is one insane mob rush, and no amount of planning and positioning (I did) was enough to get a seat. D got one anyway! #WTF! Thankfully, it didn’t matter, since the ride was all of 10 minutes and the view was less grand than what you’d get at the top!
The first (and to us, most important) find after we got out was the row of souvenir stalls which took care of everything we needed, except for a certain tea set we had spotted at Temple Street. We got out of the building and began what we thought was our walk around the peak. Timed such that we would return to our starting point in time to catch the sunset from the deck. Ah well! The track we were on was a walking track whose distance (one way) was the same as the original track we had meant to be on. [Tip: Just follow Lugard Road] The direction though was completely different!
Since we didn’t know this while we were walking, we stopped to enjoy the view, and laughed at the idiocy of people walking back the other way. At one point and a few points after that, I wondered how the path could keep going down and still get back to the peak! Peak idiocy! When we reached the end of the path, there was obviously no peak! So we had to trudge back the 2.8 km we had walked downhill. We paused to enjoy the even more splendid view (sunset) and laugh at the people going downhill. 😐
The observation deck has probably the most stunning view in all of Hong Kong – it is difficult to compare with Sky 360, but this is if I had to. We stayed for a bit – despite the crowd, there was a sense of calm mostly thanks to the view. But we had to get out soon since we had a TramOramic tour to catch at 7:55. A shock awaited in the form of the 60 min waiting period for the tram! Now our tired legs had another race! After trying to hail taxis and failing, we figured there was a stand nearby. Another queue! We finally got a taxi, and $75 and a lot of motivational speaking got us in the vicinity of the Causeway Bus Terminus in about 25 minutes. We still didn’t know the exact pick up point. My peak idiocy hadn’t left me, since I realised later that the ticket I held in my hand had the necessary directions! After much questioning for directions, we accidentally found the place just in time! Despite the drizzle, everyone wanted to sit upstairs. D and I shared a single seat! Free WiFi, poncho raincoats and English commentary – very interesting tidbits of Hong Kong’s past as we passed through several areas with history peeking out of contemporary structures. If I had another half a day, this would be the Hong Kong I’d revisit – the tram routes.
The trip ended at the Western Market Terminus, and our dinner spot – Little Bao – was only 6 mins away by walk, though thanks to wonky Google Maps directions, we took 15! Our legs had given up on us by then. We had to wait for another 10 to get a table in this incredibly tiny place. D tried a Sangria and I asked for a Snake Master. The Sangria’s plum flavour didn’t find favour with D, but my snake wine- agave- lime combo was fantastic. So was the Pork Belly Bao. We also tried a Short Rib panfried dumpling with some excellent coleslaw. D’s second drink – a Punch Sai Gua with gin, watermelon, cucumber and cinnamon – was significantly better. The Jim Beam and Yuzu based Yuzu Leaf that I tried wasn’t as good as my first drink. We had another day special ‘hog’ bao before we figured we needed some space for dessert @ Oddies, only 5 minutes away. Damages were around $750. At Oddies, we finally got hold of Egglet (egg waffles – chocolate) which should immediately be added to the wonders of the world! After packing away a Black Forest jar for later, we tried to find our way to Sheung Wan Station. That happened quickly when D spotted the now very familiar MTR sign.
After we reached Xi, we realised we were tired but not sleepy. The pub next door gave us all the encouragement we didn’t need, so we decided to step out for a beer before calling it a final night. The pub, unfortunately, was closed! (@ 12 on a Friday night!) But not to be thwarted, we walked over to the nearby Hanoi Street where we found Biergarten. And that was that!
Day 5 was uneventful since we were absolutely familiar with the MTR routes by now. I caught Deadpool and Suicide Squad on the flight back to KL, but the best acquisitions were a Nikka and a Ron Zacapa. 🙂
Hong Kong is a fun place to be, especially if food is one among your top travel reasons. The stay was expensive, but there are always ways around it, if you can do enough AirBnB research. Relatively, food and travel are inexpensive. Our total cost for the trip was around 1.75 L.