Traffic police on duty – bad luck for the taxi driver

Hong Kong policemen were quite plentiful; we saw them quite often in various places… Hong Kong streets should be quite safe and peaceful.

The taxis were quite a scene too… we saw it at every corner of the main streets. There were probably more taxis on the road then private cars (ok, I might be exaggerating… but there were really a lot of taxis on the street).

Btw, Hong Kong taxis are not as expensive as we thought. Hong Kong does have a cheap and effective public transport (mass transit and buses etc.) that makes taxi an expensive option… but if you are travelling in a group of 3 or 4, it is not a bad idea to grab a cab to save some time.

Temple Street is a street located in the areas of Jordan and Yau Ma Tei in Kowloon. It is probably the most well know night market in Hong Kong, and is popular among both locals and tourist.

Fortune tellers are abundance at Temple Street

Temple Street got its name from a temple at the middle of the street. The place is sometimes known as Men’s Street as it was famous for men’s fashion (but they sell all kind of stuff).

There are 2 things unique in Temple Street… the snake shops selling snake delicacies, and the large numbers of fortune tellers. You don’t see this often at other Chinese night markets around the world.

Other than that, I actually think that Malaysia’s Petaling Street is better than Hong Kong’s Temple Street. Temple Street probably has more stalls, but Petaling Street has more variety (and cheaper). Our numbers of food stalls outnumbered theirs obviously, but then both of the markets have different kind of delicacies.

We tried the curry fish ball for supper, a common street food for Hong Kongers, before heading back to our hotel.

The night market and a snake shop selling snake delicacies (right)

Privately-run gambling businesses are illegal in Hong Kong, but there are legal Mahjong schools for people to ‘learn to play’ Mahjong… but you probably can guess that most people who are ‘learning’ Mahjong are actually experts.

There are not many licenses issued for Mahjong school though; lots of it can be found in Yaumatei-Mongkok area.

I passed by this one on our way to Temple Street near Jordan and Yau Ma Tei. Just beside the entrance is this giant banner teaching the basics on Mahjong… I guess they were trying their best to make it school-like :)

Mahjong school in Yaumatei, Hong Kong

A Symphony of Lights (幻彩詠香江) is an orchestrated light and laser show featured on buildings situated on both sides of the Victoria Harbour. It is the world’s largest permanent light and sound show; it starts on 8pm daily (under good weather) and lasts for about 15 minutes.

Spectators can listen to the show’s music and English narration live along the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront between the Avenue of Stars and the Hong Kong Cultural Centre; and the promenade outside the Golden Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai every Monday, Wednesday and Friday night.

The show was quite spectacular, but I attribute it to the fact that the night scene of Victoria Harbour was already breathtaking with or without the show. The show was an exciting experience nonetheless, but was one of those that we should see it once in our lifetime, but not more than once.

Hong Kong island at night, before the show started

A Symphony of Lights, and Victoria Harbour at night

Moulin Rouge, which means the Red Mill

It was an optional excursion, I was not sure of going because it was quite pricey (over 100€ per person), but my sister convinced me that it’s something that we should experience at least once in our life time. Besides, she paid the bills… I had nothing to complain about.

I was hoping to see the cabaret in Moulin Rouge; but we went to somewhere nearby instead. I forgot the name of the place, but it was quite a venue… the set up was amazing, the food was just decent but the show was great.

I am not sure how to describe the show… music, dance, stunt, nude and drama. Excitement is not the best word, it was more like enlightenment instead… the performance was so different from my cultural comfort zone; everything on stage was just so new and mind-opening, it was like wandering into a brand new world.

It was a wonderful experience… but I don’t think I will go for another cabaret show again. It is something that is worth witnessing once in a lifetime, just once.

Moulin Rouge

Moulin Rouge (means ‘Red Mill’) was built in 1889, and the one I saw is indeed the one that has been running shows for over hundred of years, and still running. It is smaller than I thought, but hey… it’s cool, I visited the Moulin Rouge!

Basilica of the Sacred Heart

Visitors could walk uphill or take a funicular instead. My sister and I chose to take the funicular to go up and walked down later on.

Montmartre primes itself as the artistic centre of Paris since the late 19th century; but arts were not really our cup of tea, so we didn’t spend much time there. The basilica was lovely though; worth going up hill just to take a few photos of it.

We had crêpe for our lunch; the taste was different from the crêpe we had at Latin Quarter, but both were absolutely yummy. I was falling in love with the simple yet delicious snack.

We walked down the hill and had the leisure to shop for some postcards and French junk food before boarding on our bus for our next destination.

Artists and tourists at Montmartre