Malaysian hospitality in Hong Kong

Arriving in Hong Kong

My flight landed in Hong Kong at 0600.  One set of immigration queues were closed, leaving the remaining one backed up.  Despite that, I was outside in about 45 mins waiting at the pick-up area.

Alice picked me up and took me to her nearby apartment about 10 mins away where I freshened up, had a snack and fruits and caught up on lots of things.

Walking tour

Mid-morning we took a bus to Central where we had a yum cha lunch at a branch of Tim Ho Wan before being taken on a walking tour of parts of Hong Kong that were new to me, with my cabin backpack on my back.

We took the escalator uphill to the old Central Police Station.  The route reminded me of the way to Lan Kwai Fong, famous for drinking and eating.

The collection of buildings made up of the station, lock-ups and barracks formed a nice courtyard which was now decorated with a Christmas tree.  With a backdrop of the city’s skyscrapers, it lent a new perspective to Hong Kong.  We explored some of the buildings and peeped into the bars and restaurants.

From there, we wandered along Hollywood Road and into its various alleys some of which were decorated with street art.  Stopping at the Man Mo Temple, both of us agreed that the ones in Kuching were in better shape and more impressive.  So, we didn’t enter.

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With my backpack on, and in consideration of the sleepless night flight, it was a bit of a hike to get to the Star Ferry terminal to get to Tsim Sha Tsui on the Kowloon side.  It was about 1430 when we hopped on for the short ride.

Hong Kong Island from the Star Ferry.

Once on the Kowloon side, we dropped into the Peninsula Hotel to see the Christmas toy train display.  Finally, I got to the KG Garden Guest House in Mirador Mansion after 1500.  Alice was curious and took a peek in my super budget room before we said goodbye.

She had been a wonderful host, picking me up at the airport and helping me kill time before the hotel was available for check-in.  It was truly Malaysian hospitality in Hong Kong.

I rested briefly before taking an early dinner of wonton soup and Hong Kong milk tea, while looking for a pair of shoes for Kim.  Despite my tiredness, I was determined to catch the harbour lit up by night.

I crossed the harbour my MTR before catching the Star Ferry back.  It was very dark even around 1930 so I was able to retire early in my room to catch up on much needed sleep.