Discovering Tsim Tsa Tsui's Salisbury Road

Striking a pose before starting exploring Hong Kong.

Day two of jalan-jalan Hong Kong take us to discover Salisbury Road on the East Tsim Tsa Tsui and taking the Star ferry ride across Victoria Harbour.

Overview of the Salisbury Road.

Salisbury Road is located by the waterfront at Tsim Tsa Tsui East. Seriously, the roads are really that clean :) You don't see any pedestrians because there is an extensive underground tunnel system for pedestrians to access the most popular destinations in Tsim Tsa Tsui.

We walked quite a portion of the Salisbury Road heading towards the Star ferry terminal. We walked pass the historical Peninsula Hotel, the ultra-luxurious five-star hotel that also houses luxurious designer brands like Prada, Louis Vuitton, Versace, and Tiffany & Co. The classic facade is also similar to its sister hotel in Mid-town Manhattan, Fifth Avenue in New York.

Peninsula Hotel by day.

Peninsula Hotel by night.

Peninsula hotel--locally known as 'the Pen'-- is one of the most famous hotel in Asia. It was founded in 1928 by the hugely successful Kadoorie family from Bombay, but of the Baghdadi Jew descent. During British colonization of Hong Kong, the expatriate and caucasian foreigners would patronize this hotel to experience a taste of its opulence that reminds them of home.

The Pen also has a place in the World War II history. The Allied surrender document to the Japanese was signed here under candlelight by General Maltby and Sir Mark Young, the Governor of Hong Kong, on Christmas Day of 1941. Both were later confined here before taken to an internment camp in Shanghai.

These are interesting buildings we discovered strolling down Salisbury Road.

An interesting oval building that houses two luxury watch brands- Tudor and Rolex.

The Hong Kong Space Museum.

The Hong Kong Space Museum is located right adjacent to the Pen. It has a unique egg-shaped dome that is one of the famous landmarks of Hong Kong. We didn't go into the Museum but we read that there are two thematic exhibition halls: Hall of Space Science and Hall of Astronomy. Both are interactive where visitors can learn through a series of entertaining and educational exhibits. Think Petrosains!


Now it's off to the Star Ferry ride!~



See you guys in the next post!

Shopping and the Darker Side of Mong Kok

If your the type of person that loves shopping and getting new clothes, shoes, hats, electronics, etc and you happen to be in Hong Kong (or actually the Kowloon area) then drop by Mong Kok!

In terms of look and feel, Mong Kok is a mesh between Petaling Street in Malaysia and Times Square in New York.

There were like a million people shopping and buying as they walk along the Mong Kok area! These are photos of the "Petaling Street" area of Mong Kok.

Each streets in Mong Kok sells different things. Let me show you around:

Sai Yeung Choi Street-- The place where all things digital are concentrated at.

The ever popular "Loi Yan Kai" or Ladies' Market. Honest be told, if you are familiar with Batu Feringghi and Petaling Street, you can give this place a miss. It is full of designer knock-offs.

Fa Yuen Street or "The Sneaker Street"-- We're talking hundreds and hundreds of shop solely dedicated to selling sports shoes.

Arygle Street--A selection of food, clothes, and gadgets.

It's really cool how they use bamboo scaffolding when they construct or renovate their buildings which is pretty cool. However the creepy part is sometimes even when renovating, business still keeps on going like this hotel here. Talk about hardcore man!!


Can you see that business are still operating on the first and second floor?

According to the Guiness Book of Records, Mong Kok has the highest population density in the world (mean 130,000 per km2) and with a development multiple of four. That's why you can't afford to close your business even for a day, even when you are renovating your outlet.


This isn't Petaling Street, this is the Ladies Market.


Here I am trying to find new clothes in Mong Kok because I had purposely travelled to Hong Kong with an empty suitcase so that i could buy new clothes. crazy right?!! Sometimes you gotta throw caution to the wind I would say.


I have to be honest some of the more established Hong Kong Brands were not as cheap as some people had lead me to believe and actually didn't really differ all that much from prices here in Malaysia. What was unique was that you would have access to the latest line of clothing and accessories. Really good if you want to be ahead of the curve fashion wise.

If your ever in the Kowloon area stay at the Metropark Hotel Kowloon, they have a free shuttle to take you to all the major places and saves you more money to shop!!!

However on the darker side of things, when your strolling around Mong Kok be very careful. In two years, there were three acid acttacks where an unknown individual was dropping acid off the top of buildings. We were also at Mong Kok when the 6th September 2009 acid attack happened at 5 o'clock. We were very fortunate to have left Mong Kok at 3:20pm as we were on our way to Causeway Bay.

Apparently what happened was that a couple who had a bag store along the "Petaling Street" looking area had a an argument with their supplier and was splashed with acid. A few people around the couple had acid splashed on them as well. We had found out all of this on the late night news after we had returned to the hotel.

Pretty scary... they even have the full story on Wikipedia.

The notoriety of life in Mong Kok as portrayed in the 2004 Derek Yee's hit film "One Night in Mong Kok" is not a fallacy. The movie portrays Mong Kok, one of the most densely populated places on Earth, as a hotbed of illicit activity.

Shop safely, people. The things that you won't pull in Petaling Street-- like bargaining and walk away without buying, do not pull it in Mong Kok. Same rule of thumb applies.

You do not want to be the cause of another corrosive liquid attack, lemme tell ya that.