Photo: View From The Top

Taken at The Peak. Too much smog for a clear night shot of Kowloon.
(This was a stitched panoramic shot.)

UPDATE: The Hong Kong Tourism Board has a couple webcams that show you daily shots from atop The Peak.

In case you are interested in visiting, there's a few ways to visit.

1) You can take a bus via Route 15C which will take you to the Peak Tram station. Then take the Peak Tram, which costs 22 HKD one-way for an adult.
2) You can take a bus via Route 15 instead, but it winds through the back of The Peak so it takes a bit longer. On the other hand, it costs only 9.8 HKD one-way.
3) Lastly, you can take a green minibus #1, which barrels through the streets from underneath IFC 2 to The Peak for only 8 HKD one-way.

If you have any questions, drop me a line or leave a comment. -- more --

Food: 小杨生煎馆 (Yang's Fry Dumpling)

小杨生煎馆
54 and 60 吴江路 (Wujiang Lu)
近石们一路地铁站 (near Shimen #1 Road subway station)
上海 (Shanghai)
Open 6 a.m. to 12 midnight





If you get the chance, head over to this place in Shanghai for some really good 生煎包. Note that there's actually two stores just a few feet apart from each other, but both have long, long lines. (That should tell you that it's good!)


For 4 元 (60 cents US$) you get four of them. You first need to pay and get a receipt before you get in the long line (otherwise, no 包 for you).


The 包 are fried in this large wok and come out fresh.


Of course, there is a ton of oil that is used to fry them, but that's what makes them so good... right? =)


A whole army of workers make enough of them to get the line moving quickly even though a number of people buy half a dozen sets at a time and cart them away in large bags.


Once again, this is what they look like (stop drooling!):


Order enough the first time otherwise, if you go back for more you'll have to stand in line again!


From NPR - starting with only $100, the business is now 7 shops and over 40 employees, but the owner still gets up at 4 a.m. to make the dumpling mix. Definitely worth a try! -- more --

Walking Tour: 尖沙咀/星光大道 Tsim Sha Tsui/Avenue of Stars

Welcome back. This tour starts from 尖沙咀 (Tsim Sha Tsui) the 天星碼頭 (Star Ferry Pier) at 海港城 (Harbour City) and walks along Victoria Harbour through 星光大道 (Avenue of the Stars) towards 紅磡 (Hung Hom). You will be starting with Harbour City to your left and heading east (to your right):


Walk past the entrances to Star Ferry (which you can take back to Central or Wan Chai).




There will be a number of buses stopping to your left.


Once you get past all that, you will see an observation deck which is open from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm:


Atop the deck, you can see the Hong Kong skyline. At night, it's a good spot to see A Symphony of Lights, a lightshow that occurs every night at 8:00 pm.




Behind the observation deck is the 香港文化中心 (Hong Kong Cultural Centre):


Underneath the observation deck, you can also see the skyline.


There you can also catch a ride with the Aqualuna junk (張保仔) run by the Aqua restaurant group - it's the boat with the lighted red sails you see at night crisscrossing the harbor.





Continue along the harbor.


You'll pass by the 香港藝術館 (Hong Kong Museum of Art), which it currently has the Olympic rings on its side.


Speaking of Olympic symbols, a replica of the Olympic torch for the 第29届奥林匹克运动会 (2008 Beijing Olympics) is currently on display.



Continuing along you'll see some photo carts that offer to take pictures of you and the skyline for 10 HKD. At night, they come out in force.



Walking a little further you'll reach the beginning of the Hong Kong version of the Avenue of the Stars (with stars and handprints).


The symbol of the Avenue is a statue wrapped in film.


The Avenue runs along a good stretch of the harbor.


Of course, there is a number of restrictions to be aware of:


Here is what the first star looks like - don't worry, I won't bore you with each and every star:


Wikipedia has a list of all the stars and descriptions if you're interested. You can see that the stars are scattered through the Avenue.


There are also a few movie-themed decorations lining the walk.






Including this cutely decorated photo booth.


Here is what the harbor looks like at this point:


Information booths describing the growth of Hong Kong cinema can also be found.


On the left hand side of the walk is the InterContinental Hong Kong.


While a number of the early stars are unknown to me, here's some more famous ones:

李小龍 (Bruce Lee)

洪金寶 (Sammo Hung)

成龍 (Jackie Chan)

吳宇森 (John Woo)

袁和平 (Yuen Wo Ping)

周潤發 (Chow Yun Fat)

張國榮 (Leslie Cheung)

劉德華 (Andy Lau)

李連傑 (Jet Li)

張曼玉 (Maggie Cheung)

梅艷芳 (Anita Mui)

梁朝偉 (Tony Leung)

楊紫瓊 (Michelle Yeoh)

王家衛 (Wong Kar Wai)

周星馳 (Stephen Chow)

張學友 (Jacky Cheung)

郭富城 (Aaron Kwok)

黎明 (Leon Lai)

Lots of people were taking pictures of the different stars.



There's even a statute in honor of Bruce Lee.


"Quiet on the set please!"


From here, you can still see the Hong Kong skyline and now you might even notice the large numbers of apartment buildings that are on the Island's east side.


At this point, you will have reached the end of the Avenue of the Stars.


You can continue on towards 尖東站 (East Tsim Sha Tsui Station).


Shortly past that is a huge 星巴克 (Starbucks) which a number of tourists took pictures in front of (not sure why though...)


Here a number of people were fishing in the harbor.


Given some of the stuff floating on the water I'm not sure I'd eat those fish....


A little further past the fishing you'll reach the walkway to the MTR station.



Continuing on you'll be officially on the 尖沙咀海濱花園 (TST Promenade).


Note the restrictions are similar to the Avenue of the Stars with the first being no remote control cars...


At this point, the watefront looks like this:


Right now, some of the buildings have Christmas lights set up on the sides (of course they look better at night...)



The railing along the side of the water isn't very high, but there is a number of orange lifesavers placed at specific intervals.



Here is the last panoramic on the promenade


Towards the end of this promenade, there is a ramp that leads further along towards Hung Hom where you can walk towards the ferry at Hung Hom.


Towards your right you'll see cargo containers being loaded (unloaded?)


Finally, here are some shots of the area to give you a sense of what it looks like at night:



-- more --