Temple Street

One MUST SEE tourist attraction when in Hong Kong is visiting the Temple Street Night Market.  Located in Yau Ma Tei, it's a great way of seeing what the Kowloon Side is all about.  It's so famous that it even has its own website!

During the day, Temple Street is a great place to visit when you want to see an actual temple.  The Tin Hau Temple is what separates both sections of the Temple Street Night Market.

During the night, this is the place to taste the local cuisine (mantas prawns and such) and shop for oddities (and normal Night Market things) at the market.

Here's a little sampling of what you can find at the Night Market, which starts setting up around 6pm…daily!

Suggestions:

1.  Start in Jordan and walk up towards Yau Ma Tei.

A good place to start on the Temple Street Night Market is by getting out at Jordan MTR Station Exit A.  Take a RIGHT and walk along Jordan Road.  You'll hit Temple Street on your RIGHT pretty quickly.  Temple street will run all the way up to Yau Ma Tei MTR Station (just walk back out RIGHT to Nathan Road…which runs parallel to Temple Street).

2.  After an evening of strolling the Temple Street Night Market, you can even walk over to Ladies Market over in Mong Kok (which is just up Nathan Road).

Untold Tales, Untold Riches

This was totally a spur-of-the-moment brilliant idea.  Whilst we were riding the train, my husband and I spotted the ad for the Dunhuang: Untold Tales, Untold Riches exhibit at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum.  We had the rest of the afternoon free, so we popped over for a little look-see.

Exhibit Details:

Runs until March 16, 2015

Hong Kong Heritage Museum Info:

Open every day but Tuesday

Open from 10 AM - 6/7 pm (later on weekends)

How to get to the Hong Kong Heritage Museum:

1.  Get out at Exit A of the Che Kung Temple MTR Station

2.  You'll see a river in front of you

3.  You'll also be able to see the beautiful Hong Kong Heritage Museum across the water

4.  Walk across the footbridge

5.  It's easy to make your way to the museum

In Dunhuang, China, a cave was uncovered.  In this cave, archeologists found Buddhist murals, etchings, sculptures, and other artifacts.  They spanned over many dynasties and were not only being studied, but also being preserved.

Within the Heritage Museum, there were mini replicas of the caves that were placed in the exhibition halls.  They give a great feel of how the murals and sculptures were in the actual Dunhuang Caves.  It's really an amazing exhibit that far exceeded my expectations.

One of the main focal points for myself was being able to check out the Buddhist sculptures recreated.  In the main hall, there was a giant replica of a laying down Buddha.  It's absolutely beautiful, especially with replicated murals on the walls behind it.

Every mural, by the way, was explained so beautifully.  There were murals that focused on the fashion and aesthetics of women back in the day.  The thing that I remembered the most was that women would draw flowers or birds on their cheeks as an ornamentation.  It's beautiful to see how this trend was documented in the murals of these Caves.

Besides the main exhibit, we also were drawn to the Poster Exhibit, which, by the way, was a good change of pace/contrast to the Dunhuan exhibit for sure!

The Hong Kong International Poster Triennial 2014 is running until March 6, 2015.  It is basically a showcasing of poster designs in the categories of Ideology, Promotion of Cultural Events, Commercial and Advertising, and Thematic. 

It's a lot of fodder for the eyes!

It was another great day at the museum!

Also, for anyone who loves to visit the museums, it's best to pick up a museum pass.  It's available for purchase at any of the main museums in Hong Kong.  We picked up a Family Pass for 200 HKD and renew it every year from the date that we purchased it originally.  If you go to museums regularly, then it's worth the fee!

A Day @ The Carnival

Has this winter been really warm for you?  For some reason, it feels like Spring, which is a great thing for us in Hong Kong because we get to do more outdoor activities than the usual.

This past weekend, my friends and I headed over to the AIA Great European Carnival, which is located at the Central Harbourfront Event Space.  I hadn't been down here since the late summer's Ukulele Festival.

But, over the past few months, I slowly saw the construction of the Hong Kong Ferris Wheel.  And then, over the Christmas holiday, I slowly saw the set up of the Carnival.  So, I've been wanting to check this out for a good month and this weekend, being so beautifully warm and sunny, was the perfect time.

The actual Ferris Wheel (sometimes referred to as the Hong Kong Observation Wheel) isn't apart of the Carnival, but some info on that (through just checking out the ticket booth whilst we were down there):

Adults cost $100 HKD
Children cost $70 HKD
8 - 10 people per carriage

NOTE:  You will probably be put in a carriage with strangers, which may or may not be to your liking.

As for the Carnival:

Adults cost $125 HKD

Children cost $90 HKD

This price included 10 tokens to be used on games or rides

Open from 11 am - 11 pm daily

I'm not sure when the Carnival is running until, but online it says that it is open until late February.

NOTE:  1 Token = $10 HKD

We got here around 1pm and it was nice and empty!  A few times, when I was just walking by, I saw huge crowds, which wouldn't make the Carnival such a great experience (LINES and all).  But, getting there early has its perks!

The games were around 2 Tokens for 2 - 4 tries.  They were probably one of the most fun things at the Carnival…besides the Haunted House.  I'm not so much a thrill-seeker when it comes to going on rides.

Anther draw, for the kiddies probably, was the ice skating rink.  There were more people on this than there were on the rides this day.

The Haunted House was probably my favorite part.  I feel like there were only two guys running the entire thing, but it was terrifying.  It was totally the dark and scary asylum of my nightmares.  I would say, if you are as easily scared as myself, bring a flashlight or download the flashlight app onto your phone.  I found myself too terrified at times to even pass through a room.  For some reason, I kept thinking that someone was going to jump out at me or bum rush me from behind…(I mean, how likely is that in a Haunted House???).  

Anyhow, I think a flashlight would have given me more courage!  

Overall, I had such a great time at the Carnival.  It's definitely something I'm going to go head out to again.  I do want to check it out in the evening next time, as the lights will all be a-blazing and there are also musical acts/bands that will be performing at night.