Michele's Travel Blog: Mong Kok and Kowloon

Mong Kok and Kowloon is just a quick subway ride across the harbor from Hong Kong island. I am a bit nervous about catching the subway, but the concierge at the hotel assures me, its a piece of cake. She gives me change, points me in the right direction and off I go. She was right. The directions are well marked and I found my way around with little trouble.

Mong Kok is known for all the street markets. Hopefully I have captured the essence of it in the attached photos. The buildings seem older here and the shoppers are everywhere looking for bargains. The street markets are categorized by product type. The flower market, bird market (Yuen Po Street Bird Garden), jade, electronics, and the famed Ladies Market The ladies market is nothing more than vendors hawking cheap merchandise and knock offs. My HKD's stay in my pocket. I happily meander about to take in the sights and smells. The food for the most part does not seem appealing except for the bakeries. I shell out $3HKD for a coconut tart. Not bad.

Finished with the street markets, I find my way to the subway to head to Kowloon. Kowloon is at the harbors edge and has terrific views of Hong Kong Island (weather permitting of course). The area is being redeveloped with Class A buildings. There is a contrast of new blending in with the old. The Peninsula Hotel is in Kowloon. The High Tea is calling my name after several hours of tooling about. It was worth the wait.

Feeling refreshed, I head to1881 Heritage which was the headquarters of the Hong Kong Marine Police from the 1880's to 1996. They did a terrific job restoring the property. The existing time ball mounted on the pole above the domed roof of the Time Ball Tower is a replicate with reference to similar time balls in Britain, New Zealand and Australia. The tradition of dropping the time ball at 1pm occurs every day. Of course, 130,000 square feet of retail has been added bringing name brand stores such as Georgio Armani, Tiffany and the like.

Before heading back to the hotel, I stroll the harbour to take in the views of Hong Kong Island. It was another full day. What will tomorrow bring?