HK & Macau Day III - Duk Ling Ride, HK Peak and Madame Tussauds

We had an interesting day today.

We started our day with fulfilling breakfast in ....茶餐廳. The environment was superb. The restaurant owner has preserved the restaurant setting as in 80s. With the steel frame windows and high back seat. It was exactly as in old Canto movie scene. I loved the 奶茶 and the 棑骨烤飯. The rice was fried with egg till golden in colour then baked with rich cheese, tomato sauce and with spare ribs....the aroma was irresistible....

look at the environment...really so 茶餐廳 feel

the creamy tomato baked rice

We walked pass the Temple street or more known as 廟街 (Miu Kai)...there they sold lots of wild animal meat and it included snakes and lizards. We visited the 天后廟 where I 求籤...got a 中上籤...very good indeed...Hope that this coming year would be a great year for me!

the Duk Ling crew...observing the sail under the hot sun

Then we traveled on the MTR from Yau Ma Tei station to the Tsim Sha Tsui station where we caught our Duk Ling. We were sailing along Victoria Harbour....moving from Tsim Sha Tsui passing Victoria Harbour to Yue Mun Fishing Village and finished at Queen's Pier in Central. It was such an interesting ride and definitely worth the time and money. For panoramic view of Hong Kong, this ride is a must but it may be rough at times....so get ready with motion sickness pills if necessary.

at the end of the junk

at the front of the junk...no Titanic scene allowed here

After the ride, we continued walking into the IFC towers and boarded our couch to the Peak...that was the Peak of our today's activities....the bus ride was so bumpy....it was worse than the Duk Ling ride for it was a long journey to the peak passing the 半山區. The edge of the bus was inches away from the slopes. The bus was stuck at 1 turning as it was too long and unable to make the turn with few other cars occupying the opposite road...dizzy ride but worth it for the scene on the both side of the road.

the Peak Tower, Victoria Peak

the Peak Tram

We arrived at the Victoria Peak before the sunset. First we enjoyed the view from the concourse then we entered the Madame Tussauds(香港杜莎夫人蠟像館). It was a long queue and the place was very crowded. It was a very interesting wax museum which houses nearly 100 wax figures of internationally-known personalities...and the characters that I loved most was Leon Lai's 甜蜜蜜 and Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones.

with 帥哥 Brat Pitt and 美女 Angelina Jolie

my favourite comedian...Eddie Murphy

me too can play a song that touches his heart

After the long photographing session, we got to the 360 viewing terrace of the iconic building of Canto drama....the peak tower has always appeared in their drama...branded as an excellent and fine dining for the rich. Anyway I was not there for the fine dine but more for the excellent view. Night view of Hong Kong was really impressive. All the sky scrappers and the excellent architecture and urban planning. Oh yes...my friends bumped into our PG CM Mr Lim Guan Eng. I wondered if his visit here impressed him enough to get him start working on the similar plan in Penang as he mentioned to the foreign media as he sees Penang as the past of Hong Kong...hope to see Penang in this same manner in a decade to come.

Victoria Harbour before sunset

Victoria Harbour after dark

We left the peak on the peak tram....again we had to Q for very long. I just didn't understand why the locals kept coming up at this cold weather and odd hours...A steamboat here would be marvelous....back to the tram....it was very similar to what we have in Penang but their was much better maintained and faster.

Upon arriving at the lower station of the peak tram, we walked to the central MTR station as the Q was again unbearable....we walked for almost 15 minutes....We took the MTR to the Mong Kok station. We were hungry and cold. However we settled with the Hong Kong famous dessert stall 許流山...the cold mango dessert was superb...thumbs up...the mango pudding was qiu qiu...with the mango ice cream and thick mango puree, it was a perfect combination...even in a cold day...this was still 'D' dessert for me....checkout the menu at http://www.hkhls.com

my mango puding with the rich mango puree

After the yummy dessert, we walked separately....I headed along the Sai Yeung Choi Street looking for leans for my big bro's Canon G10....the price was as expected, lower than Malaysia but even then I was still reluctant to spend so much of money only in the 3rd day of my trip...As I was strolling south, I smelt something...something that didn't smell good but could not describe that as bad either. So I headed to the shop and finally learned that it was the 臭豆腐...I tried the 臭豆腐 and 咖喱魚旦....the toufu has crunch texture and with the garlic and sweet sauce, it tasted excellent....and the fishball has been cooked until it absorbed all the great flavouring of the curry gravy...There were many shops selling these same delicacies but the one at the junction of Sai Yeung Choi Street and Dundas Street was the best.

It was a great day with all exciting activities and great food!

...more photos taken in Madame Tussauds to come....