Temple St Night Market

There's a lot to do in Hong Kong during the day but there is just as much life at night. With cooler temperatures and no space to cook in a small Hong Kong dwelling, most people head out in the evenings to socialize, grab a bite to eat, and get away from their smothers. I mean, mothers. Seriously, Hong Kong living quarters are tight. Labbits in warrens have more space.

So people tend to go out. One of the things people do at night is get their shopping done. Temple St. Night Market is one of the busiest flea markets in Hong Kong. It's found on the Kowloon side, in the Jordan neighborhood. Often referred to as the "Men's Market" you will find all sorts of clothing, belts, shoes, DVDs, powerful laser pointers (banned in the USA!), lighters and food. Expect knock offs and bargains, and don't forget to haggle.

Pipkin wasn't in the market for a fake Gucci bag, off color Rolex or a misspelled Ferrari phone case, but he did enjoy people watching. Hidden in the back of these stalls are shops with antiques, Chinese herbs and other miscellany. Pipkin saw something out of the corner of his eye in this shoe shop. See it?

Keep a sharp eye on those bargains and hidden gems!

To the Top of Victoria Peak

Pipkin and Domo walked through Kowloon to the Star Ferry Terminal, took the ferry across Victoria Harbour, and then took the Peak Tram up to Victoria Peak.

It's rather dark waiting for the tram, but labbits feel cozy in dark, underground places. Here comes the tram!

The Peak tram is an electric funicular railway. It travels 1364 m (4475 ft) and gains 368 m (1207 ft) with varying grades of steepness. At its most steep, it travels at 48% grade! The Peak Tram provides beautiful views of Hong Kong and Kowloon. There are only a few stops midlevel, and the trip takes under 5 minutes to reach the peak terminus.

Off the tram, you arrive at the Peak Tower, a shopping, entertainment and food complex with a 360° view at its observation deck. Through the windows you can just make out all the escalators that take you up to the top.

Incoming!!

Pipkin tries to find his giant ducky friend across the harbour.

The view from the peak: Central, Victoria Harbour, Kowloon, and the New Territories beyond.

City side view.

Ocean view.

The viewing deck at the Peak Tower is heavily advertised because the Peak Tower obviously wants you to spend your money inside the complex, but if you're willing to sweat in Hong Kong's humid, subtropical climate, you can walk up Mount Austin Road, where you will find residences, Victoria Peak Garden, Mount Austin Road playground, and more views from the top.

The sweat equity is worth it, if you want to get away from all the tourists at The Peak Tower. Here at the top, it is quiet and you can get lost in the views of ships in the ocean.

In the distance, it's difficult to tell where sea ends and sky begins. The islands look like mountain peaks in the clouds, and Pipkin imagines those giant ships sailing dream like through the sky.

It's hard to go up any further. There's nothing but communications towers, and although Pipkin and Domo tried to hike higher, a construction crew turned the two back, since the area is fenced off. Since they took the tram up, they decided to walk down Old Peak Road. It is a steep, winding, pedestrian road that will take you right down to the Zoological and Botanical Gardens. Just a few steps to the east on Kennedy Road is Hong Kong Park.

Zig zaggy Old Peak Rd.

Star Ferry to Central

Last night, Domo and Pipkin spent time in Tsim Sha Tsui (locals call it TST) the neighborhood in Kowloon right on Victoria Harbour. They saw Florentijn Hofman's giant inflatable duck floating in the harbour, and they got to take their photo with the smaller ducks on the pier. By day, the crowds are held back by metal gates, to allow visitors to see the trompe l'oeil waterfall painted under the ducks.

Domo practically had to tear Pipkin away from the ducks so they could board the Star Ferry to Central. Today they're going to take the tram up to Victoria Peak, and then hike up a little further to the peak peak. (The tram doesn't take you to the peak peak.) In the photo below, you can see Central and Victoria Peak behind all the buildings.

As close as Pipkin wanted to get to the giant duck, it's best viewed a little farther away so you can appreciate just how big he is. Look, he's got a smaller entourage of ducks around him!

Still, Pipkin was a little wistful saying goodbye to the duck. There's something so friendly and familiar about the eyes, no? Ah, Pipkin must be thinking about his dear friend Dr. Duck, who moved from New England to Nebraska, where he now works at Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory.

Pipkin and Domo swiped their Octopus Cards and got tickets for the ferry. Taking the ferry across the harbour between Kowloon and Hong Kong is very cheap and convenient, and the two really liked the Octopus Card. It's a prepaid, reloadable card that you can use for all mass transportation in Hong Kong: ferries, subways, buses, trams. Convenience stores, some fast food chains, parking meters, photo booths, parking lots, everything accepts payment from this convenient swipe and go card. Everything, that is, except for taxis.

No matter. Hong Kong is very fun and walkable, so walking from their hotel in Jordan to the Star Ferry terminal provided them with a day time perspective of TST. On the Star Ferry, they flipped the backrest so they could face the direction they were going, and took a seat on the star punched chairs of the lower deck.

On a beautiful clear morning such as this, you can stand out in the breeze and take in views of the harbour as you cross. Pip and Domo watched the ducky get smaller and smaller as they sailed across to Central.

Mall Rabbits at the Miramar

It was getting pretty late into the night after Domo and Pipkin walked along the Avenue of the Stars, but there was still so much going on. They walked north on Nathan Rd, past the crowds of 20-somethings still queuing up outside Louis Vuitton and Chanel to go shopping, and made their way through Tsim Sha Tsui (locals call this neighborhood TST) towards their hotel in Jordan. On their way, Pipkin ran into this acrobatic troupe of pink rabbits outside the Miramar Shopping Centre.

They called themselves MiRabbits. The Miramar had closed for the night, which doesn't make mall rabbits all too happy, so they took their shenanigans outside.

They tagged the columns outside the mall with their signature Easter eggs.

Most mall rabbits tend to be cliquish but these guys welcomed Pipkin into the fold. Stay out of trouble, Pip!

A Walk Amongst the Stars

Hiiiiii-ya!

A short walk along the Victoria Harbourfront took Domo and Pipkin to the Avenue of the Stars - Hong Kong's version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The walk is lined with plaques and pillars honouring Hong Kong's cinema royalty. Some of the plaques have handprints and signatures set in the concrete, like this one from Jet Li.

Domo could feel POWER emanating from Jet Li's handprint!

A statue of Hong Kong film star and martial artist Bruce Lee stands prominently on the Avenue of Stars. Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco but raised on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong until his late teen years. Domo's a big fan of the late legend's movies so he couldn't resist visiting Lee's star on the Avenue, and posing with the Jeet Kune Do master!