Hong Kong Summer Spectacular with HKTB – Day 2 of 6

September 8, 2010

7 minute read

This greeted me in the morning - priceless view of Kowloon Park from my hotel room — This greeted me in the morning – priceless view of Kowloon Park from my hotel room

On my second day, I woke up early to have breakfast together with the bloggers at the hotel in-house restaurant.

It was not easy to drag myself out of bed and out of my hotel room. I had only stayed at Mira Hotel for one night, but the beauty of the interior decor and the attention to details really wowed me over. I particularly enjoyed the little piece of gourmet chocolate left in a little dimsum box everyday on my room table in the morning. Each piece is of a different flavour and comes with a small introductory note.

Nice right? The entrance to The Mira Hotel.

A quirky vintage car belonging to The Mira Hotel, constantly parked out front

Rachel applying lipstick while waiting for train

Nonetheless, Rachel and I planned to visit three markets in the morning, hence we need to force ourselves to set off early as I need to get back before noon to assemble with the bloggers.

After consulting the travel material provided by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), we took the train from Tsim Sha Tsui to Prince Edward station. Rachel and I love the Hong Kong trains which arrive in interval of less than 2 minutes each. The two Singapore public transports operators have no excuse for their tardiness if this is achievable in Hong Kong, a country much like Singapore.

Our aim was to cover the Yuen Po Street Bird Garden, the Flower Market and the Goldfish Market by noon. We only had around two hours to do so and amazingly, we achieved it although we do wish we have more time to cover each market leisurely.

We first visited the Flower Market which was a short walk from the train station and was along the way to the Bird Garden. The Flower Market is an urban jungle of exotic blossoms mixed with good-luck; good-fortune; fengshui-type plants. It is open from 7am to 7pm daily. The crowd was still thin when we visited in the morning and we were pleasantly woken from our sleepy state by the aroma of fresh blossoms.

"Buddha Hand Lotus" — “Buddha Hand Lotus”

There are stalls selling vegetable and fruits too

Rachel looking a little lost as we navigated our way around

Next, we arrived at the Yuen Po Street Bird Garden. A lot of elderly folks are gathered here, playing with their birds to pass time. It’s open from 7am to 8pm. Rachel and I felt sorry for the birds in captivity, even though we did enjoy walking through the garden, listening to the deafening chirping of a thousand birds.

The arch marking the garden's entrance — The arch marking the garden’s entrance

Most stalls are manned by sleepy looking old men

Stall selling crickets to feed the birds

Vendor grabbing a bird out for her customer to inspect

Uncle inspecting a bird he is about to buy

The bird is sold and placed into a new cage

After appreciating flowers and birds, it was time to check out the fishes. At the Goldfish Market, fishes are packed into clear pastic bags and hung on the wall like assorted candies. The reflection on the bags and the wide range of colours of the various fishes were a beautiful sight to watch. It is open from 10:30am to 10pm. Other than fishes, other pets like puppies, reptiles and hamsters are available too.

Large fishes are packed the same way too

Uncle buying goldfish early in the morning

Saw these two cute little dogs while we were crossing the road

Cats never fail to attract Rachel's attention — Cats never fail to attract Rachel’s attention

Rachel's breakfast on-the-go - egg tart and soya bean milk — Rachel’s breakfast on-the-go – egg tart and soya bean milk

Mongkok Station, on our way back to Tsim Sha Tsui

How To Get There:

Yuen Po Street Bird Garden
1. MTR Prince Edward Station Exit B1 and walk east along Prince Edward Road West.
2. MTR Mong Kok East Station Exit C. Walk to Sai Yee Street via footbridge and follow the signs.

Flower Market
1. MTR Prince Edward Station Exit B1 and walk east along Prince Edward Road West.
2. MTR Mong Kok East Station Exit C. Walk to Sai Yee Street via footbridge and follow the signs.

Sai Yee Street (literally translated as "washing cloth street") — Sai Yee Street (literally translated as “washing cloth street”)

GoldFish Market
1. MTR Prince Edward Station Exit B2 and walk east along Prince Edward Road West.
2. MTR Mong Kok East Station Exit C. Walk to Sai Yee Street via footbridge and follow the signs.

Next up, I met the bloggers back at the hotel lobby and we traveled by coach to Gingko House where we had lunch. Rachel dined at the same place too, but with her two Hong Kong friends at a separate table.

Located on 44 Gough Street (tel: +852 2545 1200), Gingko House is a little social enterprise restaurant, ran with lots of heart.

There are lots of cool designer shops like this one here at Gough Street

There are also many famous food stalls along the street which attract long queues

Via Social Entrepreneurship Forum:

Gingko House’s Specialty:

Fine French and Italian fare with elaborate dishes such as Roasted Beef Rib in Strawberry & Papaya Sauce served with baked sweet potato and grilled white eggplant, zucchini and cherry tomato, and La vie en Rose, a warm chocolate lava cake with dragonfruit and strawberry served on the side.

Innovation:

Gingko House is a restaurant that exists with the mission to offer employment opportunities for the elderly, whom with their rich life experience and patience, have the potential to offer an unique dining experience – one that encourages slow dining and relationships between the server and the customers.

Many senior citizens, especially upon retirement, face the issue of boredom and a sudden lack of a sense of purpose in their lives. A significant number of them are professionals who have held mid-level management jobs and who are uncomfortable with living off welfare or simply being idle, especially in their golden years. Others may be financially strapped and in need of a less physically burdensome job. Hence, Gingko House – a win-win solution – is set up specifically to address these issues by employing the senior citizens and at the same time, provide an unique dining experience for the diners.

You can read the review on Gingko House via Catherine’s blog entry, the expert food blogger who traveled with us. I had a steak which was a tad too raw, but the polite and attentive elderly service staff was quick to rectify that by sending it back to the kitchen for reheating. The elderly staff were a delight to chat to and they make the restaurant all the more interesting and cosy.

Someone else's fish main course — Someone else’s fish main course

Rachel and her friends, seated on the second floor

After our filling lunch, some of the bloggers headed off to do exploring of their own while I followed four of the female bloggers, Geck Geck, Violet, Elaine and Gin to meet famous stylist Celia Wong who has worked with the like of celebrities like Kelly Chan and S.H.E.. Celia will be guiding the four ladies through a make-over session. You can click on their respective names to read more about their individual make-over experience.

We went to this chic boutique store to get cloths for the bloggers' make over — We went to this chic boutique store to get cloths for the bloggers’ make over

Filming begins as the omy.sg crew get busy

Celia picking something violet in colour for Violet

Celia picking out a loud, shiny dress for Tomboy Elaine

Celia picking out a cowboy outfit for Geck Geck

Celia chatting with Gin to find out her dressing preference

The final chosen outfit for the bloggers

Heading for the make up studio in their new outfits

Arrived at the Make Up For Ever Academy make up studio

The make up artists from Make Up For Ever at work

My colleague, Siew Kian, interviewing Celia Wong while waiting

The four bloggers before their make over

Bloggers interviewed on how they feel after the make-over

The four bloggers with the makeup artists from Make Up For Ever Academy

The bloggers with the make up artists and Celia Wong

Our videographer, Ming Choy taking his smoke break

On our way to board the Bounty – can you see a familiar Singapore brand, Bee Cheng Hiang?

Hong Kong's unique "Ding Ding" tram - I love this, each ride cost like around 20 cents in Singapore currency — Hong Kong’s unique “Ding Ding” tram – I love this, each ride cost like around 20 cents in Singapore currency

Happy Geck Geck on the street of Hong Kong

Following the make-over, we made our way to assemble with the rest of the bloggers to board the Bounty 《济民号》 (a 42m long replica tall ship) for dinner as well as to catch Hong Kong’s famous “A Symphony of Lights”.

Funny photo 1 before we board the Bounty

Waiting for the tall ship to dock for boarding

This spectacular multimedia display was named the “World’s Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show” by Guinness World Records. More information is available on the HKTB website.

To find out more about our experience on board The Bounty, you can check out fellow bloggers, Jerome Lim (English) and Sze Ping (Chinese)‘s posts.

Dinner was served, buffet style on board the tall ship. There was also free flow alcohol which got some of the bloggers really high. 🙂

Me on board the Bounty, prior to sailing off

On board the Bounty:

[youtube url=”http://www.youtube.com/v/ctAP1fweW9E?fs=1&hl=en_US”]

Dinner with a bunch of happy fellow bloggers

The working crew - (L to R), Vivien, Siew Kian, Ming Choy and me — The working crew – (L to R), Vivien, Siew Kian, Ming Choy and me

The Symphony of Lights show - pictures don't do justice as it's hard to capture them on photo — The Symphony of Lights show – pictures don’t do justice as it’s hard to capture them on photo

View from on board the Bounty Part 1:

[youtube url=”http://www.youtube.com/v/s4kNXyj9TeQ?fs=1&hl=en_US”]

View from on board the Bounty Part 2:

[youtube url=”http://www.youtube.com/v/yVlEQs000g4?fs=1&hl=en_US”]

The Bounty opens its sails:

[youtube url=”http://www.youtube.com/v/c-wQAWpGhM4?fs=1&hl=en_US”]

The Bounty crew opening the sails at the request of some Indian journalists on board

The magnificent Hong Kong Cultural Centre, the counterpart of the Esplanade in Singapore

Although my figure today tells a different story, I was a competitive swimmer in my youth and had always loved water sports and the sea. I also served in the Navy during my two and a half years of national service. The slow flapping waves of seawater against the ship’s stern calms me.

After getting off the Bounty, we headed back to the hotel.

When we got back, Ming Choy and Peter were still hungry. We decided to head out for supper together. Rachel joined us too, having just parted with her Hong Kong friends.

Prowling the Tsim Sha Tsui street for a supper place

Funny signboard - No One Foot Massage — Funny signboard – No One Foot Massage

Cakes in the shape of Charlie Brown cartoon characters

The four of us shared some skewer stick food by the roadside. Rachel and I were pretty impressed with Pete’s gamed spirit to try all kind of Chinese food, including organ parts. We then had some fantastic congee, beef brisket noodle and Chinese desserts at a restaurant called Chee Kei (池记). The food was really good and at a reasonable price too. Definitely worth a visit.