Hong Kong Day 2: Octopus Card, Nan Lian Garden, Chi Lin Nunnery, Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade,

Avenue of Stars
Its a good thing its a Sunday today! Now I will be able to continue my long due Hong Kong travel blog series. I really love going to Hong Kong not just for their yummy food but for the almost free travel activities. If you have already crossed out Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park from your travel list, I recommend these series of activities for you!

After a hearty breakfast in Cafe Kool in Kowloon Shangrila and great lunch in Yoshinoya in Tsim Sha Tsui, we headed to Nan Lian Garden and Chi Lin Nunnery for the day. Octopus Card Before you start exploring Hong Kong, I strongly recommend you to get an Octopus Card. The Octopus Card is the lifeblood of transactions in Hong Kong which can be used not only for MTR, ferries, buses but also for grocery purchases. To make my stay in Hong Kong easier and faster, I purchased mine from Tsim Sha Tsui MTR Station for HKD150 (~USD20) inclusive of HKD50 (~USD6.50) refundable deposit.

Nan Lian Garden and Chi Lin Nunnery Admission: Free How to get there: via MTR and get off from Diamond Hill MTR station. Just follow the signs and in about 5 minutes walk you will reach the entrance of Nan Lian Garden. Though I have been to Hong Kong a couple of times before, it is my first time to discover this beautiful garden and temple complex in Kowloon. There are a lot of greeneries here with beautiful skyscrapers and mountains as backdrop. The temple complex also doubles as a museum showcasing rock formations. The best part for me is the large pond with many Koi, but too bad for a fish lover like me since feeding is not allowed. The street signs outside Diamond Hill Station will ensure you will not get lost.

Huge stone formations welcome visitors to Nan Lian Garden.

I was extremely happy to capture this moment, a pigeon playing with water above a rock formation.

Old times meet modern times - the temples within Nan Lian Garden with skyscrapers in the background. I think the temples are part of Chi Lin Nunnery if I remember it correctly.

A water mill which photographers love to shoot.

Lovely man made waterfall.

This photo shows a small scene in the Koi pond where workers carefully pick up all coins thrown by visitors.

The very picturesque temple in the center of Nan Lian Garden.

Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade and Avenue of Stars Admission: Free How to get there: via MTR and get off from Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station / via Star Ferry if you are coming from Hong Kong Island In less than 30 minutes we are back in Tsim Sha Tsui. Thanks to the very efficient Hong Kong MTR, we got toTsim Sha Tsui from Nan Lian Garden all in less than 30 minutes! The TST and Avenue of Stars are both a staple in packaged Hong Kong tours but for me the best way to savour it is to explore it yourself. In my 4 days stay in Hong Kong, I have strolled the promenade countless of times, day or night and got never tired of it. The benches along the promenade are perfect for ship spotting, I was amazed on how ship captains can swiftly manoeuvre their boat despite of the very busy Victoria Harbour water traffic.

The famous lady statue along the Avenue of Stars.

This shot could have been more beautiful without the fog. The Starbucks along the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade is a good breakfast option. Imagine yourself in the second floor open deck, sipping your favorite Starbucks coffee with an expansive view of the Victoria Harbour.

A bride-to-be carefully arranging her dress for her pre-nup shoot with the colorful junk boat as her backdrop.

The majestic Aqua Luna Junk Boat.

Next: Hong Kong Day 2: Star Ferry and Rickshaw Double Decker Bus

Day 1: Nov. 25 (Sunday) 7:40 AM - ETA HKG (Maximum 2 hours before leaving HKGIA) Ngong Ping 360 Avenue of Stars Symphony of lights Ladies Market / Mongkok Day 2: Nov. 26 (Monday) Disneyland Day 3: Nov. 27 (Tuesday) Explore Central Hongkong (Central Mid-level escalator, SoHo, Ride Century Old Tram, Admiralty, Causeway Bay, Tai Pan Reflexology ) The Victoria Peak (Historical gallery, Peak Tram, Peak Tower, Peak Market, Wax Museum, Sky Terrace) Temple Street

Day 4: Nov. 28 (Wednesday) Side trip to Macau Day 5: Nov 29 (Thursday) Nan Lian Garden Wong Tai Sin Temple 10,000 Buddhas Sai Kung Free Time 9:55 PM flight back to MNL

Next (jan 23 - wed) macau day. Around 6am nagising na kami. Naligo at nag-ayos. Then nag-bus lang kami going to hongkong macau ferry terminal. Bus 691 from our place. Nakasakay kami ng ferry aroun 830am. Then paginating ng macau wala pa 10mins tapos na kami sa immigration. Derecho na kami fisherman's wharf, picture picture, then balik sa pier, sakay ng shuttle going to wynn. nag-ikot din then derecho ng grand lisboa then punta ng Ruins. Ayun kain kami ng kain. Sarap ng egg tart. After ng ruins, sakay kami ng minibus from grand lisboa going to taipa ferry terminal then sakay ng shuttle bus going to Venetian. Then from venetian pumunta kami ng city of dreams and after punta kami ng Galaxy. Mas nagandahan kami sa Galaxy at ang bango bango lang, hahaha. Dun na rin kami ng dinner. Then take shuttle from galaxy going to Macau-Hongkong ferry terminal. Nakasakay kami ng 8:30pm na ferry balik HK. Then nag take kami ng ding ding tram from going to northpoint para maexperience naming. Then sakay ding ding balik at bumaba kami ng Causeway bay. Mas bet namin ang mag tram kasi relaxing, feel na feel naming maging turista, mahangin pa at dun kami mismo sa pinakaharap sa taas.

Day 1: Chi Lin Nunnery and Nan Lian Garden ==> Rosary Church ==> Mid-Levels Escalator ==> Cathedral Of Immaculate Conception ==> Victoria Peak ==> Star Ferry Here's how to get there: * Chi Lin Nunnery at 5 Chi Lin Drive, Diamond Hill, Hong Kong and Nan Lian Garden 60 Fung Tak Rd, Diamond Hill, Hong Kong (these two places are located almost adjacent to each other and just a couple of minutes walk from Diamond Hill MTR station Exit C). Getting to Chi Lin Nunnery and Nan Lian Garden from Tsim Sha Tsui: Get into the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station --> Interchange trains at Mongkok Station,take the Kwun Tong Line train --> get off at Diamond Hill station Exit C (19 mins @ HK$6.9). Getting to Rosary Church from Diamond Hill MTR station. Just get into Diamond Hill station --> get off at Kowloon Tong Station and Interchange station to East Rail Line going to Hung Hom Station, Exit D1. (18 mins @ HK$5.3). From Hung Hom station D1 head west on Cheong Wan Rd toward Hong Tat Path, turn left onto Chatham Rd, destination will be on the right. Getting to Central Mid-Levels Escalator from Hung Hom. Get into the Hung Hom MTR Station -->

take the Tsuen Wan Line train and get off at Central MTR Station Exit D2. Walk along Queen's Road Central towards the center then take the Mid-Levels escalator.(19 mins @ HK$9.5). Hong Kong Cathedral of Immaculate Conception is a 13-minute walk from Central Mid Levels Escalator. (Please refer to the map below.)

Getting to the Victoria Peak from the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception: To get to the Peak Tram Terminus, Walk 9-minutes. Head South on Caine Rd towards Glenealy, turn left onto Arbuthnot Rd, turn right onto Upper Albert Rd continue onto Garden Rd. Destination will be on the right. To get to the Star Ferry from Victoria Peak: Board the Peak Tram shuttle bus No.15C going to Central Bus terminus. Walk going to Central Star Ferry Pier (6-8 minutes, HK$2.50). Board the Star Ferry going to Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Terminal. Day 2 Getting to Hong Kong Disneyland from Tsim Sha Tsui: Just get into the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station-> take the Tsuen Wan Line train going to Tsuen Wan and Interchange trains at Lai King station, take the Tung Chung Line and get off at Sunny Bay station--> interchange trains, take the Disneyland Resort Line to Disneyland station (38 minutes @ HK$17)

Golden Crown Guest House

If you're going to stay at Golden Crown guest house and you're in a group of 4, better request for room 616. Maluwang sya. We've stayed at room 615 and nasilip namin yung room 616 at sympre napagkumpara namin. Meron pang closet yung 616 yung sa amin wala. Tapos malaki din yung free space compared sa room namin. If hindi available yung 616 kahit ano na lang na room sa 6th floor kasi newly renovated yung mga yun. Good thing with Golden Crown, meron silang hair blower kaya instead na magdadala pa ng blower dagdag bagahe din yun eh hindi na. Tapos meron ding water dispenser, all you have to do is to refill your bottle bago umalis. Then also, hindi mo na din need bumili ng saksakan na pang HK (i don't know anong tawag dun basta yung parang tatlo ang saksakan) kasi sa ibang hostel you need to buy pa para magamit mong dala mong electronic devices. Another tip para makatipid sa food, we brought rice cooker and namili na lang sa grocery ng bigas. Grocery na pinaka malapit is sa Lower Ground ng iSquare which is Market place by Jason ang name nung grocery. Pala-rice kasi yung mga kasama namin. Then nagdala na lang kami ng mga de lata (luncheon meat, sardinas, corned beef, spam, tuna)and noodles (niluluto na lang din sa rice cooker). Sobrang nakatipid kami. Then if kakain sa labas bili na lang kayo sa KFC, malapit na malapit lang din sa Golden Crown, bili kayo ng bucket meal nila na good for 4 person worth $112 hkd lang. McDo is also near sa golden crown, 24 hours pang bukas. Sobrang tipid talaga kaya nakapag shopping pa ako at the end of our stay. Then yung bilihan ng mga tshirt at souvenir sa gilid ng Chungking, pricey na din sya. kasi yung mga tshirt nila is 4 pcs for 100hkd. ayaw magpatawad, filipina p man din ang tindera. Akala ko kasi

nagtaas na ng bilihin last time na punta ko (2011) is 5 for 100hkd un. Then pagpunta ko sa ladies market 5 for 100hkd pa din pala. Beth ang name nung filipina na caretaker sa Golden Crown, pag may tanong kayo magtanong lang kayo sa kanya. Like directions or suggestions kung ano pa ang mgandang puntahan.

The Peak
1. From GoldenCrown, take the MTR to Central Station then Exit J2 and follow the Signs walking to Tram Terminus and ride The Cable tram to the top Lower Peak