honeymoon getaway : episode 2 part 3 (Ocean Park & Victoria Peak)

the next day morning, we headed straight to the Causeway Bay MTR station to have brunch at the Islamic Centre Canteen at Wan Chai...from Yau Ma Tei station, we took the MTR to the Admiralty station via the Tsuen Wan Line and then interchanged to the Island Line to head to Causeway Bay...although the Islamic Centre is located at Wan Chai, it is easier if we stopped at the Causeway Bay station instead of the Wan Chai station...from the Causeway Bay station, we had to walk to the Islamic Centre and finding it wasn't quite an easy task....but we managed to find it however...the easiest landmark to look for was the Charterhouse Hotel as the Islamic Centre is located exactly behind the hotel....so, you can ask around from people where the Chaterhouse Hotel is....as we arrived there, we then ordered straight away as we were starving....ordered a big plate of fried rice that we both shared and grab several dishes of dim sum...dim sum was their specialty there and i think the only place in Hong Kong where u can get Halal dim sum...and i must say it was delicious with big portions at an affordable price...a must try at HK....

after satisfying our hunger, we then headed to Ocean Park...before we went to the Islamic Centre, it was already raining...even though it was still raining, we still decided to go to Ocean Park and indeed it wasn't a wise choice as Ocean Park is an outdoor theme park...hence it would be very unconvenient to go during rainy day...however, we still went there...since we're taking the MTR from the Causeway Bay station, we headed straight to the Admiralty station on the same Island Line...upon exit the Admiralty, we then hop on to a feeder bus heading to the Ocean Park...it was feeder bus number 629...in about 20 minutes, we then arrived at the Ocean Park...as we arrived, it was still raining....the ticket admission price was HKD250, around RM100...seriously it was hard to walk around and take pictures under the rain...as we entered the Ocean Park, we 1st went to the Grand Aquarium since it was indoor and it was raining....and everyone had the same idea hence it was crowded in the aquarium....but the set up was really nice in there...the aquarium looks nice and beautiful...but the range of species was not wide...but there are sharks ofcourse...hehehe...we hang in there for around 40 minutes and then grabbed some souvenirs from the souvenir shop...spent more than HKD500 for souvenirs there...i guess we shouldn't call it 'some' then...hahaha...after that, looked outside and saw that it was still raining...oh jeezz...no choice but to still continue the visit with the small umbrella that we bought at the 7 eleven...

after the aquarium, we then headed to the Panda House to see those cute pandas...hehehe...i think that was the first time i ever saw a real live panda...they looked really cute...after the pandas, we went up to the top hill area via the tram...at the top, we took a few pictures and then queued up to take a ride on the Ocean Park Tower where it has a slowly revolving cabin enabling visitors to catch the panoramic view of the whole park when it rotates from the ground to the top...it is similar to the Taming Sari Tower at Melaka (if u've been there)...the queue was damn long...to make it worse we had to queue under the rain...our shoes were soaked and our sweater were wet...not a very pleasant situation...after queueing up for half an hour i think, it's our turn to ride on it....nothing really interesting with the ride, but the view was quite nice...

after the tower ride, we then headed to the Pacific Pier to watch and have a look at the sea lions there...it was fun looking at them playing around and swimming in the waters as the place has a glass view of the aquarium...so we can see the sea lions swimming in the water...it's fun watching the sea lions swimming as though they are trying to play with the people there....showing off their swimming skills...after that, we then decided to head back to hotel coz our shoes were already soaked wet and it is already unconvenient to walk around with our condition, plus it is still raining...we then headed back to the hotel to dry ourselves first...

then at about 7pm we went out to head to the Victoria Peak...took MTR from the Yau Ma Tei station to the Central station...from there, it takes about 10 to 15 minutes walk to the Peak Tram Station...from there, we took the tram up to the Victoria Peak....the return ticket costs HK$ 36 per person, around RM14...as soon as we arrived at the top, we headed to the Madame Tussauds staright away as it closes earlier than the tram operation...ticket costs HK$ 160 about RM62...in there, there were real life wax figures of local & international artists such as andy lau, aaron kwok, jay chou, cecilia cheung, donnie yen, michael jackson, elvis presley, madonna, and even lady gaga, to name a few...we took pictures with almost all of the wax figures...had quite a fun time in there taking pictures with the wax figures....after more than half an hour in there, we then went out from the wax figure museum and went up to the Sky Terrace to have a panoramic view of almost the whole Hong Kong...to go up there, there is also a ticket that needs to be purchased...can't remember how much it was...when we went up there, it was misty & freezing...but the view was excellent....the panoramic view was really beautiful...after about 15 minutes up there, our fingers were already numb, so we decided to head down back to the foot hill...

before going back to our hotel, we stopped by at one of the Sasa outlets as my wife wanted to grab a few things and the fact that we actually wanted to look for the Hard Rock Cafe but it was relocated temporarily at The Peak Galeria...the place where we went earlier...arrrghhh...should have checked the internet first before going up to the Victoria Peak...after that, we then went back to our hotel to call off for the day to re-energize for the next day's activity....Disneyland time....

stay tuned for the Disneyland post...

honeymoon getaway : episode 2 part 2 (Ngong Ping 360 & Avenue of Stars)

arrived back at HK but this time at the Kowloon Ferry Terminal...we arrived around 11 am i think then went on to search for our hotel...after walking around here and there, still haven't found the hotel, we decided to take the MTR and bought the Octopus card...our hotel was near the Yau Ma Tei MTR station...it was super near...after a few steps from the exit of the Yau Ma Tei station, we arrived at CASA Hotel which was our hotel for the 3 nites we were at Hong Kong...checked in at the hotel and entered the room....as we entered the room, we were a bit shocked by how small the room was...that was by far the smallest hotel room that we have ever stayed in our entire life...the room was super small and the bathroom was ultra small...hahahhaa~...a little frustrated & regretted that we booked the hotel...but location wise, it was super strategic...

after leaving our bags at our room, we then headed out to go to Ngong Ping 360...from the Yau Ma Tei station, we headed to the Lai King station via the Tsuen Wan Line...from there, we interchange to the Tung Chung Line to head to the last station which is Tung Chung station...from there, it was about 5 minutes walk to the Ngong Ping 360 cable car station....Tung Chung and Ngong Ping is located at the Lantau Island of Hong Kong...bought the tickets which was HK$352 for 2 person which was about RM140...there were 2 types of cabin, 1st was the normal and the other was the crystal cabin which the floor was made of glass which was a bit expensive....however, we took the normal cabin....the ticket also includes the 2 multimedia shows at the Ngong Ping which was Walking with the Buddha and The Monkey Tales...the cable car journey took about 25 minutes to reach the other end...upon approaching, we could already see a giant buddha statue at the top of the mountain of the Ngong Ping...when we arrived, we went to get our photo captured when we boarded the cable car...but ofcourse it was not free... :P

when we exited the souvenir shop, we then entered the Ngong Ping Village...i must say that it was beautiful...it was really nice the set up & landscape of the village...as we walked a bit further, we then saw something that we couldn't believe our eyes...there was a HALAL restaurant...hahahaha....thank God...we can eat!...the name of the restaurant was Ebeneezer's Kebab and Pizza...i ordered nasi beriyani while my wife had nasi with daging and the both of us had hot tea coz it's super cold up there...the meal that we had felt so nice & delicious...this could be due to we haven't had a proper meal for more than a day!...hahahaa~...

after we had our lunch, we then continued to explore and walked around the Ngong Ping Village while waiting for the Walking with the Buddha show....after about 15 minutes, we then entered the show theather...in there, it was the show of a brief tale of the Buddha...from a prince, he became the Buddha...the show was about 20 minutes...after the show ended, we then went around a bit further up towards the road going to the giant Buddha at the top of the mountain....but we didn't proceed as we were lazy...after spending almost 2 hours there, we then decided to head back down....

as we arrived at the cable car station at the foothill, we then headed to the Avenue of Stars...from the Tung Chung station, we headed towards Hong Kong station but we dropped off at Nam Cheong station....from there, interchanged to the West Rail Line towards Hung Hom and drop off at East Tsim Sha Tsui...from there, we walked to the Avenue of Stars...no worries as there were sign boards....travelling in Hong Kong was a breeze...the MTR was super efficient and super convenient...u can go to almost anywhere in HK via their MTR...that's how reliable their MTR was...after walking about 10 minutes, we then arrived at the Avenue of Stars....at there, the crowd hasn't start to build up yet...hence we took the oppurtunity to snap as much photos as possible before the Symphony of Light begins...we took pics with Bruce Lee statue, palm print and signature of famous HK super stars and a few more statues...at 8 pm, the Symphony of Lights then began...by that time it was already crowded at the Avenue of Stars...there were laser lights from several buildings at HK...the show was quite nice with rhythms of laser lights with colourful lights colors from several buildings....after about 5 minutes, the show then ended....

from the East Tsim Sha Tsui station, we then headed to the Tsim Sha Tsui station as they are linked together and then took the MTR from there to the Mongkok station to head to the Ladies Market to do some window shopping but instead ended up shopping...hahaha...and it ended up i did more shopping than my wife...hahaha~...got myself a long coat and a short coat, and a long neck shirt...the price there was quite cheap and the apparels sold there were quite nice...which was why i grabbed those... :P we also grabbed several t-shirts as souvenirs to give to our family members as well as some key chains...due to exhaustion and tiredness, we had to call it off for the day and went back to the hotel to rejuvenate for the next day's activities...

next post coming up will be our visit to the Ocean Park and Victoria's Peak...dun go away...