Hong Kong Day 7: Harbour City, TST & Central

The view of Hong Kong’s Kowloon skyline from Victoria Harbor

It was our seventh day in Hong Kong and we were set to leave on the evening of the next day. So it was practically our last night in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. After an afternoon exploring Causeway Bay and the markets of Prince Edward/ Mong Kok, our “last” night in Hong Kong also took a leisurely pace.

We were already in Langham Place Shopping Mall, the mall right in the middle of Mong Kok. And so I couldn’t pass up the chance to check out the H&M store there. Of course when going abroad, it’s always nice to be able to check out the high street fashion brands that you can’t find here in Manila. H &M seems to be on most girls’ list.

I saw this fabulous faux fur coat and wanted to buy it. But I reigned in the temptation 🙂 I ended up buying just a printed scarf over at the big H&M store along Canton Road in Tsim Sha Tsui (TST).

Since we were already along Canton Road anyway, my travel companion introduced me to one of Hong Kong’s most iconic malls, Harbour City. It remains to be Hong Kong’s largest shopping mall until today. I think any first-timer to Hong Kong should pay a visit to this super sprawling mall and be amazed at the variety and wide range of shops that can be found here.

We decided to have dinner at good old KFC. It was fast and convenient and like our previous sojourn to McDonald’s in Citygate Outlets, it was also partly to check out how same or different Hong Kong’s KFC was to the Philippines’ version.

Unlike here where KFC only has fried chicken, in Hong Kong they have the roasted kind and we had mushroom rice and even an egg tart with our meal. The roasted chicken was good and their version of the original recipe was, in a way that only KFC can do, tasty and familiarly comforting.

This meal just goes to show that you might be anywhere else in the world and KFC will still be a comfort food. The KFC in Harbour City even has great views of Victoria Harbour, with the prominent ICC tower in the background.

Harbour City, like other malls in Hong Kong and most MTR stations, has good and clean public toilets. That’s one more thing I noticed about Hong Kong—they seem to be quite particular about the cleanliness of their public restrooms (coolest and most modern that we saw were the ones in Pacific Place Mall). In fact, we even saw some MTR staff disinfecting the handles of escalators.

In Harbour City’s restrooms, there were even toilet seat cleaners and actual plastic covers for the toilet seats. All for free. One more thing to love about Hong Kong!

Harbour City is also a stone’s throw away from the TST station of the Star Ferry, which we rode on the way back to Central. That area by the Star Ferry station is actually a very romantic promenade to see the harbor and all of Kowloon’s lights.

The view of Hong Kong’s night skyline from TST

And once we were on the Star Ferry, there were more of Hong Kong’s magnificent skyline to appreciate.

Riding on the Star Ferry is definitely my favorite mode of transport in Hong Kong. I guess I just like being by the water.

Or maybe it’s really seeing all those colorful, beautiful lights shining brightly in the darkness. Manila and Singapore have the potential to be great harbour cities but I doubt if they can ever surpass the marvel of Hong Kong’s skyline.

When we got to Central, instead of simply taking a cab back to our hotel in Sheung Wan, we decided to simply walk and take the MTR and enjoy more of Hong Kong’s beautiful night lights.

Hong Kong’s Central Pier Station

There was a beautiful elevated bridgeway leading from the Star Ferry Pier to the MTR Central station. It was safe and well-lighted, encouraging commuters to walk, and to admire the views along the way, which we did.