Hello! So as I've promised, my Hong Kong Adventures posts will continue this year and so here I am to pick off where I left it. Clearly there's still a lot to talk about in this whole series but like I've said time and time again, I really need to remember all these little things hence why it's all being thrown onto the blog. I apologize again if you've already gotten bored of my Hong Kong walkabouts but really, who would be when you get to travel...without leaving your seat?
By Day 5, we have all slowed down just a tad bit; leaving much of our plans for much later prodding. While my alarm was set for 7.30 AM, I only crawled off bed at 9 AM that morning. Laziness is something that cannot be cured even when in Hong Kong. We had brunch with Aunty Jane (Uncle Eddie's sister!) at the Chinese restaurant of the Harbour Point Hotel, a mere 10 minute walk away from home. In fact, it faces the seafront of where we've walked around on the night of Day 3 so you get an idea of how close it is to home.
Chef, Shin Yi and I by the grand stairs of the Harbour Point Hotel.
And we kept looking at this "sampan" who seemed to be struggling through the rough winds and waves!
A picture of yours truly; not watermarked because I had forgotten. *Smacks forehead*
We headed to North Point (北角) via the ferry from the Hong Hum Jetty right next to the Harbour Point Hotel for only HKD 5.50 each way. The ride was extremely windy as the weather wasn't exactly at its best; a sign of the approaching winter season but in 15 minutes, we were already there.
The Hong Hum Jetty!
This way to North Point featuring Chef and Shin Yi.
A schedule for your perusal if you ever travel to Hong Kong! See? I have your best interests in mind!
The jetty looks typically like what you see in TVB series with gates and all.
From the window of our ferry...
To another ferry! That's how whatever we're sitting on looks like!
A selfie with the most amazing parents in the MY world.
North Point is a place where everything seems a little more backdated yet not entirely urban so I can't quite classify it as a "kampung" per say. When you get off the ferry, you're directly in the middle of a wet market where they sell fishes and whatever other catches they can at the sea. As it was a Sunday, there were also a lot of house helpers (Or in a little more rude context, maids...) just lingering around. A point to remember in Hong Kong is that Sundays are almost everyone's off days so even house helpers get their time off! So considerate for everyone, this government! You can't do that in Malaysia though for the fear of EVERYTHING.
Daddy walking ahead the fish market.
And throngs of these house helpers just chilling with each other everywhere near the jetty!
They even sell extremely cheap clothes under a bridge. A shirt can go for HKD 5 here!
While we ventured North Point, we came across an opera house and all of us got very excited. And no, it isn't one of those Phantom of the Opera kinds but it's one of the Chinese opera kind with elaborate dressings and crazy make up! Daddy was mad excited about it and we must have lingered around for more than 15 minutes before he willingly came along with us to explore North Point a little more. It got hilarious because we noted how most of the people who walked in with tickets to the theater were all senior citizens who had gray hair and what not then there was daddy just...
Standing in awe.
I made him stand here for this. Look how happy this old man is! JUST LOOK AT HIM.
While we made our way around North Point, we noticed how everything is noticeably cheaper than in Central itself. It was then when I associated North Point to be akin to Kuala Selangor back at home where it's a smaller village in a big city so everything just bears a lower price tag. Shin Yi managed to snag some extremely good and cheap lotion while I snuck a bottle of Lucido styling milk into the bill because the slash of a price is really noticeable! We also went into a little mall called Island Place and I had found a decent swim suit that could really replace what I have right now for only HKD 100 but they didn't have my size. That would have only been RM 40+ and I couldn't wear it! *Throws a huge tantrum then grumble about how fat I am while munching on a KitKat*
We had curry fishballs at North Point!
And came across this old school barber that still practices segregation between genders when it comes to haircuts! This is the male section.
Parents who were forced to take this picture simply because I liked the name of the street.
By the end of the walk, we made our way back to the North Point jetty in hopes of catching the ferry back to the Hung Hom jetty at 3.53 PM but we got held up watching people perform a ritual to "release" the fishes and other kinds of seafood back into the water. To the Chinese, this is called "放生" and is a great deed as you are helping these innocent animals and giving them a lease of life; much like a second chance to their lives.
There were prayers being performed...
While people released fishes, shrimps, cockles and other sorts of seafood back in the sea!
While I find this deed fairly hypocritical, daddy had a good explanation to it so I suppose it is still a good thing to keep up to as a Chinese. Because of our curiosity, we missed out on the 3.53 PM ferry and boarded the 4.53 PM one instead. Yes, we had spent about a good half hour watching people perform their ritual and missed out on 2 ferries! When we had gotten back to Whampoa, we made our way back home and unloaded our buys before heading out to roam our home area instead.
I had found a store that sold Hong Kong's famous pancake like snack, something best known as "雞蛋仔" (Pronounced KAI-DAN-ZHAI) locally during our walk and spent HKD 14 on my buy simply because there were a lot of people waiting for their share of it. I mean, it's a human mentality right? If people are queuing for something, it must be good!
A place called Mammy Pancake!
Pouring batter over the skillet...
And it comes out golden brown!
My HKD 14 worth of 雞蛋仔!
And then just in case it was really good, I took this to show that I have really been here!
Unfortunately, it really wasn't that much to shout about. I have yet to eat any great 雞蛋仔 during my trip in Hong Kong but it was still much better than the kaya balls you can have in Malaysia. I wish someone here would make 雞蛋仔 instead of kaya balls, really! Mum and I had also explored a little "mall" that sold a lot of cheap things from the Philippines and it was crowded with house helpers; just like how North Point was! It's the one day where you will see them all just come out and chill around each other so I thought it was a great experience.
Our stroll ended at the shops near home where mum bought herself a HKD 20 scarf while I fell in love with a cap I thought was HKD 50. After 10 minutes of picking and choosing, I was told that it was HKD 89 and the price tag had misled us! I was fumed so I simply put the cap back even when I was smitten by it because I felt cheated. My anger didn't last too long however when I walked into a shop that had a denim jacket with grey sleeves and a hood tagged at HKD 179.90. While it was cheap after conversion, I insisted that I won't spend so much and mum managed to haggle it off so I only paid HKD 153. Today as I write this, I am glad to say that I have found the exact same jacket online selling for RM 129 and mine is only RM 64. We realized after walking 2 shops down why they gave us our 15% discount even when they initially said no; someone else had it selling for HKD 159.
Dinner of the night (Although I was still very stuffed from miscellaneous street eats) was at a mall near home where we had the famous Chua Lam's dandan noodles (擔擔麵). But then again, food review another time! That was basically the whole of my Day 5 where we did nothing but go around an semi-urban village and roam the streets near home. You see what I mean by having toned down a little? We also had to keep whatever energy was left for our trip to Macau the next day so...there you have it with a hint of what to look forward to on my Hong Kong Adventures: Day 6!
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