We got the MTR back over toe Central, and then decided to get the Star Ferry over to Kowloon, instead of the subway, because we hadn’t done it yesterday, and it is considered a ‘must do’. The cost was $3.70/37p for a one way ticket which we purchased with our Octopus cards. It was a fun way to transfer islands!
By this point, after our light breakfast and no dinner the previous night, we were pretty hungry. I knew that Nathan Road was a ‘main road’ in Kowloon so figured we’d find something to eat there. How wrong was I?! We just couldn’t find anything apart from westernised optiosn and I just wanted rice or noodles! We ended up settled for a Japanese fast food place called Yoshinoya (Matt had a curry, I had chicken with mushroom (tinned!) which was $78/£8 including drinks – so it was cheap, but not great). Top tip: go to Mong Kok for food!
Anyway, we carried on along Nathan Road, and dove out into Kowloon Park for a bit, which was lovely. We found a little McDonalds in there and had a yummy Oreo McFlurry which was just what the doctor ordered on this hot day ($26/£2.50).
After this, we headed to the waterfront area – we first stopped at the 1881 Heritage sight which is now a shopping centre.
We then spotted the Old Railway Clock Tower – spot a cheeky Matt at the bottom.
And then we wandered along the Tsim Sha Tsui, which was a lovely re-generated area.
We had wrapped up these sights far quicker than I expected, so we decided to move forward our plans to visit the Mong Kok Ladies Market – we got the MTR up there, and had a fantastic time! I loved the market – exactly as I expected! – and loved haggling! Apparently, you’re supposed to negotiate down by 30-50%, but I only read this when I went to bed, but I managed to get down by about 70-80% so it seems I got some bargains?! It didn’t feel that way, so I think the sellers went in very high in the first place!
Anyway, my haul – a gold lucky waving cat (this was a must do for us!) which I got for $25/£2.50 (from $89); a fan (which I lost the next day – doh!) for $10/£1 (from $50), a ‘Louis Vuitton’ wrap/scarf $150/£15 (from $300), and a Stella Lou shopping bag $20/£2 (I so wish I had bought more of these!).
We walked out of the market and around the bag found exactly the kind of food places I was hoping to find on Nathan Road – anyway, I still grabbed an egg custard tart (typical of Hong Kong, apparently) for $6/60p and it was delicious!
Again, we had done this quicker than expected and had lots of time to kill, so decided to go for a snack at Tim Ho Wan, a Michelin star dim sum restaurant, and I believe the world’s cheapest dim sum restaurant. This was Matt’s first ever dim sum, and as a fussy eater, I was nervous, but he did really well!
We ordered a minced pork dumpling, baked BBQ pork bun, and BBQ pork rice roll. This with two waters came to $100/£10 – a bargain, so delicious, and so filling!
It was coming up to 4pm by now so decided to switch around this evening’s activities and go to Temple Street Night Market first before heading down to the waterfront to watch the Symphony of Lights. On paper, it was a good plan…until we found ourselves caught up in a group of protestors on their way to their destination! It was a bit intimidating, but we kept going ahead, and took a turn off the main road as soon as we could, as we didn’t want to run any risks – it’s certainly a story to tell! (This picture doesn't really show the streams of people - we just wanted out of there fast so I took my opportunity and ran!)
The Market wasn’t fully open at this time but it was good enough for me. That being said, it was very similar to the Ladies Market, and because of our Tim Ho Wan, we weren’t really hungry for the street food I was hoping for, but we had a nice wander.
Come 6pm, we headed back to down Kowloon, and enjoyed watching the lights for a while as the sun had now set. With 90 minutes to go before the Symphony of Lights, we decided we didn’t think it was worth the wait. I had read ‘underwhelmed’ reviews, and we had had a long and busy day so far. The hotel hot tub was calling me, so we called it a day.
We got the Star Ferry back over to Central, and got the MTR back from there.
At the hotel, I felt it necessary to buy a new t-shirt for Disneyland tomorrow, and bought a Duffy & Friends one for $188/£19 (after a $10 coupon) and I love it! We also redeemed a free pin which we got a voucher for in our room. It’s nothing special but for free it is worth having!
It was 8pm by this point, so we headed straight up to the room, got changed, and went out to the hot tub. It was so relaxing and soothing and the perfect medicine after a long and busy day!
I rather enjoyed wearing the gowns and slippers down to the pool.
By 9pm, we were back in the room, and had showered, tidied and prepared for tomorrow’s big day – castle number 4! My head hit the pillow at 10pm and I was asleep very soon after!
Steps = 34,385