Monday, March 17, 2014

Hong Kong With Kids: Day 2 (The Peak - Star Ferry, Open-Deck Bus, Tram, MTR)

(warning: photos overload blog post!)

Day 2's itinerary in Hong Kong was to get to The Peak.

But first we took the MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui to have some dim sum. The Tao Heung Restaurant I went to in Carnarvon Plaza the last time I was in Hong Kong is now closed.
7 March 2014



So we went down to Level 2 and found another restaurant selling dim sum as well - Roast Pot Restaurant. The menu and prices look reasonable so we went in.
Totally no regrets because the dim sum tasted awesome!

We ordered the normal Har Gau and Siu Mai, and also some Char Siew Pau for the kids. And we had a plate of Chicken Feet and Pan Fried Radish Cake. All were delicious.
 
 


But the highlight was this delicious dish.... I forgot what it was called. Shrimp Roll something.
Initially I thought it was the normal Shrimp Chee Cheung Fun, but it turned out so special we finished it and ordered another plate.
Its skin was so smooth and soft but it was crispy inside. Really delish!

Khye was sitted in a large wooden high chair and he was pretty pleased with it.
The only thing was that this big high chair would not be suitable for a smaller baby, because there was no belts and such. 
It was alright for Khye as he could now sit quite independently. 
 

Khye was being very happy while I fed him food. He even ate the soft skin of the delicious dish and he loved it!
 
 

That was his Good sign, with hid index finger up instead of his thumb.

This is Shern with daddy. Shern loved the Char Siu Paus there and ate a lot of it!

This is their menu. 
The prices of their dim sum differs depending on time. Dine in the morning or at tea time and that would be the cheapest.



A photo of us in front of the Roast Pot Restaurant entrance.
 


Roast Pot Restaurant  南燒北鍋

2/F, Carnarvon Plaza, 20 Carnarvon Road‎, Tsim Sha Tsui
尖沙咀加拿芬道20號加拿芬廣場2樓
2529 8383
Mon.-Sun. 08:00-16:00, 18:00-00:00


Directions:
To get to Carnarvon Plaza, take the MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui, Exit B2. Walk straight about 100m until you reach the junction. Turn left into Carnarvon Street. The Carnarvon Plaza is about 100m or so on your left.


Then it was walking the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui to the Ferry Terminal.

We walked along Nathan Road and the very busy streets of Tsim Sha Tsui, soaking it all in. 

Hong Kong involves a lot of walking, and it was tiring for little legs. So Shern sat in the stroller while I babywore Khye, and it was easier this way for all of us.



And then we saw this fire engine truck near the 1881 Heritage Building in Tsim Sha Tsui. It was actually a former fire station  kinda hidden away. Of course my kiddos wanted to have a closer look at the fire engine truck. I saw no harm in it and we squeezed our way in behind a wall and my kids had a fine time examining it and 'driving' the fire engine truck!
 
 

That's what I love about our free and easy trip. Just stop whenever we see anything interesting. And for that day it was this former fire station that mesmerized my kiddos. 
 
 

Shern even had a try to slide down the firemen's pole. And looking at his big bro, Khye wanted a try himself too!
 

And coming out from the former fire station, was the grand 1881 Heritage building which features a shopping mall, a heritage hotel, an exhibition hall, and several historical buildings such as the former fire station I suppose.

We took photos at the green grass sofa, with those gigantic blue and purple roses, because purple happens to be Shern's favourite colour. 
Some nice people helped us take a photo of all 5 of us. 

A few more photos of the flowers at the swing on the other side.
 

I like this one better, taken by mum, with the heritage building as background. 


And now a few of just my kiddos with the 1881 heritage building as the background. 

 
 

Kiddos with Pho-pho.
 

And lastly, the 4 of us. ;)
 

Ok, let me post another one of my beloved mum, whom I think look just 30 by the way! *winks*
Nah, mum, fb profile pic of u. ;)

Just opposite the 1881 Heritage Building is the Clock Tower. We did not stop there. Walk just a little further and you will see the Star Ferry Terminal. 
It was quite a windy and foggy day so you can't see the pier view that well. 
Nevertheless, we still posed for a few photos. 

Shern looked all cheesy smile and all but had his eyes almost closed because of the strong wind. 
 

Shern with daddy. 


One for 4 of us.

And this photo was taken by Shern. We squatted down for him as Shern was a 'lil short as a cameraman. Not bad angle huh, except for mum's eyes closed and Khye was not looking. But all of us were in the middle with a nice angle of the view as well. 

You can use your Octopus Card to board the ferry. We chose to board the ferry to Central for the Upper Deck Seat. There is a choice of boarding the ferry for Lower Deck or Upper Deck Seat, so look carefully before you board.
At the ferry terminal while waiting for our next ferry in 3 minutes.

There was an Ocean Park signboard there which said that if you take a photo of that penguin in the signboard, you will get 10% off the park entrance ticket. Look out for that!

Us boarding the ferry.

As it was very windy, they covered up the ferry with some transparent covers.

It was just a 10 minutes ride or so. Very fast indeed, but a nice experience for the kids, especially for Shern.

Upon arriving at Central Pier, we walked to the Star Ferry Pier 8 to take the bus from the lay-by outside the Pier 8 to the Lower Peak Tram Terminal.
 

This is the place where we waited for our Open-Deck Double Decker Peak Tram Bus 15C to take us to the Lower Peak Tram Terminal.


The Open-Deck bus alternates between a normal double decker bus, and an open-deck bus. The first bus that came was the normal one, so we waited another 15 minutes before the Open-Deck Bus arrived. 
 
 
 


Posing with the bus before we boarded. Shern was pretty excited sitting in an Open-Deck Double Decker Bus for the first time! It was also our first time as well!
 

Walked up the narrow spiral staircase of the bus to get to the top. Managed to secure front top seats - double bonus!
 

Tried taking a selfie of all 5 of us inside the bus. Failed big time!
1st try cut half Khye's head. 2nd try, mum's head was cut off. lol.
 

Khye sat there happily gazing out the front windows.
 
 

With the wind blowing as the bus moved, it was cold. But it was nice and fun!
  

Shern and pho-pho. Shern was having a grand time!!!
 

Another one just before we got down the bus. 

It was a short queue to take the tram up (unlike the last time where the queue was super long!), maybe because it was a windy and foggy day. We waited for only 5 mins and the tram was here.
You could also use your Octopus Card to board the tram. HKD40 for return trips for adults.

This is Shern posing with some old tram memorabilia while waiting for our tram.

 

Our tram.

Us inside the tram. It was not a really fast ride, just fast enough and yet slow enough for us to enjoy the scenery, something like the speed of our old funicular train up Penang Hill, which is something I missed.

Oh ya, remember to get on the RIGHT SIDE of the Peak Tram for a better view. 

  

Up there, Shern took a photo with the tram. 

And he wanted to watch the tram rolled down the tracks before we could ask him to come with us. So all of us waited there for the people to board the tram and then as it finally rolled down the hill, only then he was satisfied and walked off with us.
 
 

The compulsary photo upon reaching the Upper Peak Tram Terminal. 
 

Passed through souvenirs shop and other shops selling all kinds of stuff. Shern was in the stroller and Khye was walking here because he was very kaypoh and wanted to touch everything he sees. lol.
 
 

Shern then spotted Superman, and they both sat at his feet.
 

Then both my kiddos charmed a kid clothes shop salesgirl and each of them got themselves a mini apple balloon.

As it was really very cold and windy outside and couldn't see much view, I brought the kids to the playground. Although it was outside, it was a little shaded from the strong wind.
Shern made new friends there and played happily under our watchful eye.

Khye on the other hand was happy just sitting on this 'shake shake seahorse'. 
  

  

After some time it got quite cold, we spotted a McD there and then went over to buy some hot chocolate drink for the kids and us to warm ourselves up.
And Khye just konked out then.
 

Then we spotted the famous Tai Cheong Bakery had a branch there and so we stopped to buy some Egg Tarts. It was as delicious as I remembered. 


The crust was flaky and nice with velvety smooth and soft egg filling. Really delicious. Must-try! Shern loved it. Khye only wanted the crust, and not the filling though.

Then we spotted a souvenir shop just next to the bakery selling all kinds of display and toy vehicles like the trams and trains and buses etc. So of course Shern wanted to go in. 
We ended up buying a train for Shern. He never really insisted on buying, my good boy. But we could see how much he longed for it, and since it was not too expensive, we bought one for him. He was so so happy.

Nope, didn't buy for Khye as we didn't see any that is suitable for his age. Most are for display purposes. But we did tell Shern that the train is for sharing and he said OK. 
  
There was a chair with a poster of the inside of an electric tram at the background, which Hong Kong people call it 'ding ding'. Nice.


While eating the delicious egg tarts, Shern doodled on his Boogie Board to pass time. 
 

We then braved ourselves to go outside for some photos. It was too windy, but we still manage to take a photo next to this. 
See the wind blowing the trees to one side, and how my hair gushed all over my face, and our eyes could barely open for the camera. Haha. Yes, really windy and cold. 


2 photos and then we went back inside. Haha.
So no views from The Peak on that day. But it was alright for us adults because we'd seen the magnificent view from the Peak before (click for photos of the view I'd seen last time).
And as for the kids, I don't think they cared much for the view anyway.

The main reason I took them up to the peak is for the tram ride!

And so we took the tram down after that.
For the tram down, try to get a seat on the LEFT SIDE of the tram. ;)

Erm, failed selfies of the 5 of us again.
Khye is simply too short to fit into my cam lens. :P

  

Photos of Khye 'sayang-ing' daddy.
 

We took the Open-Deck Bus again back to the ferry terminal.
Love these photos mum took of the 3 of us.
 
 

And this is mum with Shern.
 

Shern really enjoyed the Open-Deck Bus ride. A really exhilarating experience for kids his age. A real recommendation!

We did not take the ferry back to Kowloon. We walked to the Central MTR Station to catch the train back to Tsim Sha Tsui.

Here are some views of the Central skyscrapers as we walked on the bridge towards the MTR Station.

We purposely stopped at Tsim Sha Tsui station to eat the super spicy delicious Curry Fish Balls we had last tine. The stall is just below the Budweiser signboard. 
I waited with the kids opposite the road while hubby and mum went to do take-away.
The busy streets of Tsim Sha Tsui even on a weekday night. 
 

We went back to our apartment and rested while eating the curry fish balls, intestines and such that we bought home. Shern loved the curry fish balls too, though I needed to wash off the curry first before I gave him. 

Shern played with his train on the map as his tracks. Quite a good idea I must say.
 

Proof of Shern sharing his train with his 'lil bro. Khye having a blast playing with the train!
 

And what did we adults do while they played?
We surfed the net of course, haha. It was good to chill back in the apartment after a long day!

It was a good day 2 in Hong Kong with us experiencing so many different transport in one day - the Star Ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong island, the Open-Deck Double Decker Bus to The Peak Terminus, the Tram up to The Peak, and the MTR back from Hong Kong island to Kowloon). 
It was indeed a very fulfilling day!

After that it was good night for Day 2. 



Click for Hong Kong With Kids: Day 1 (PEN-HKG)  
Click for Hong Kong With Kids: Day 2 (The Peak - Star Ferry, Open-Deck Bus, Tram, MTR)

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