Hong Kong: Day 1 (Twenty One Whitfield, Where do we eat??)
We were billeted at Twenty One Whitfield, which we booked through Agoda for around PhP18K for the duration of our stay. This is what the hotel told us when I asked them directions to the hotel:
Bus No. A11 is another option for you [of course, the first option was to take the taxi, which would cost us HKD$400=PhP2393] towards our hotel too, it is HKD 45 per person, it takes around 1 hour without traffic jam, Please drop off at the stop called Gordon Road and keep walking at the left side for 5-7 minutes, do not cross the road to opposite side, our entrance is next to No. 5X bus terminal.
Gordon Road. Walk 5-7 minutes. Piece of cake.
Taking buses in Manila, I'm used to leaving my seat at least two bus stops before my stop, just so I can elbow my way to the exit. I think A11 made me too comfortable. I didn't think I'd have to do the same thing here.
Just a second before we reached the doors (we were upstairs in the double-decker bus), the doors closed.
At first I couldn't even believe it.
Surely we didn't miss our stop. Surely Gordon Road is the stop after this one.
"We missed it," J said.
Well, what can you do. So we walked back, in the rain, with our bags. It wasn't a bad walk; at least we had a chance to explore the area, and the walk took us only 10 minutes. Of course, I would like it better if we didn't miss our stop! So tip to you guys, head to the exits early and get ready.
We only saw the hotel sign when we crossed the street. It was a pretty narrow building. (We were heading to a big, shiny (wrong) building with a cafe on the first floor when we saw it.)
Twenty One Whitfield is next to a place called Jacky's Kitchen.
It's the kind of hotel that provides L'Occitane toiletry in their rooms--but not in our room. Hehe. We booked just the Standard room, but were pleasantly surprised when they upgraded us to Harbour View. (L'Occitane is only provided to Full Harbour View occupants.)
We liked the room, though. Great use of space. The room was narrow, but we had a living room (sofa, chairs, table, TV), a work desk, and a pantry (microwave, cutlery, plates, glasses, refrigerator). The bathroom has a bathtub and a rain shower. Wi-Fi is fast and free.
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| The Bay View obstructed by Causeway Bay's tall buildings. |
After freshening up, J downloaded the OpenRice app to look for a place to eat. This took us a loooong while because there were so many choices.
Analysis paralysis is a real thing. You know where we ended up eating? A burger joint. It's familiar, it's near, and I am hungry. Let's not think about this too much.
When we got out and walked down Electric Road, we perked up because there were so many food places. One after the other, on both sides of the street. Amazing location. We should have just walked instead of scrolling up and down that app!
Check out the prices.
I got a Veggie Burger. I know, I know: we travel to Hong Kong for vacation, eat at a burger joint, and order a meatless burger. It was a confusing moment. Good food, though!
The closest MTR station to the hotel is Tin Hau Station. (Trivia time! Tin Hau, also known as Tianhou, Tianfei, or Mazu, is a Chinese patron goddess of seafarers, sailors, and fishermen). On our way there, we saw this Hong Kong dessert place (Ching Ching Desserts). We stopped to try.
We had mango milk pudding and custard milk balls in milk. Milk overload. Sarap!
We took note of the storefronts we would visit again later and went to the station.
We stopped by Shun Tak Centre to buy our Macau ferry tickets from TurboJet. Shun Tak is connected to the Sheung Wan station, and the ticketing offices are on the 3rd Floor. We took the wrong exit (the correct exit is Exit D) and had to ask around to figure out where it was.
The Self-Service Ticket Stations (which accept credit cards) weren't working, so we lined up. The lines weren't that long, so it was okay. (At first we thought the lines we saw when we got on the floor were the lines to the tickets; turned out they were the people boarding the ferry. Whew.)
After that, we headed to the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade to see the Symphony of Lights. This was the instruction I was trying to follow:
MTR Tsim Sha Tsui Station Exit E. Walk towards Salisbury Road then turn right, take subway (pedestrian tunnel) next to YWCA to Hong Kong Cultural Centre, then walk to the Star Ferry Pier
We got lost! Okay, so if you have Wi-Fi at your hotel or wherever you're staying, mark your destination on Google Maps and load the app first. It would work even when offline. I knew this, but forgot to do it. Anyway, we eventually found it. (Except that our feet were pretty sore.)
The Symphony of Lights was just okay. The city skyline was more impressive.
We sat down for a bit to take in the sights and headed back.
Too bad the Hong Kong Space Museum was closed for renovations. (Most of the museums are.)
We passed through the SOGO Department Store. So clean, so good...no not that SOGO.
On our way back to the hotel, we bought some drinks at 7-Eleven and J got Hot Star chicken. I have tried Hot Star chicken back home but didn't like it--the chicken was dry. But the Hot Star chicken J bought was moist and tasty, and came with sweet potato fries. I should buy some for myself tomorrow.
Good first day. The MTR allowed us to do a lot of things today. If only we had the same efficient train system back home.
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