Hong Kong on a Shoestring! (Nan Lian Garden, Wong Tai Sin Temple, Snoopy's World, City Art Square, Tim Ho Wan)

Nan Lian Garden

It is Day 2 in Hong Kong. We woke up at around 8 AM from a relatively tiring Day 1. We spent 1 1/2 hours to prepare for our day. We left the hostel at 9:30 AM and went to our first destination for the day: Nan Lian Garden.

From Tsim Sha Tsui, we rode the MTR to Diamond Hill. I remember having to transfer at the Prince Edward Station from the Tsuen Wan Line to the Kwun Tong Line. There are actually three interchange stations between the Tsuen Wan Line and the Kwun Tong Line--Yau Ma Tei, Mong Kok, and Prince Edward. You can choose among the three stations; there won't be any problem.

After having alighted at the Prince Edward Station, we immediately looked for Exit C2. You just have to walk a short distance from the exit and cross the street to reach Nan Lian Garden.

Again. don't ignore the signs and directions. It's right across the entrance to the garden.

Welcome to Nan Lian Garden

The Garden Map at the Entrance 

Nan Lian Garden Entrance Arch

Nan Lian Garden in Chinese characters

Beautiful rock and trees landscape greets the Garden visitors

About to enter the Nan Lian Garden pathway

Such a picturesque Garden, you'll forget you're in the middle of a busy city

This hall houses the wooden architecture museum just as you enter the Garden pathway.

Feast your eyes with an overload of beautiful landscape architecture. 

Postcard-worthy picture of the Pavilion of Perfection.

The Pavilion of Perfection with a familiar HK backdrop--the high-rise buildings.

A photo of The Pavilion taken at another angle. Notice the two red bridges on the opposite sides.

The heat was just unrelenting. We tried to cool off for a bit in this hall.

I love how the koi pond is so clear. You can almost count how many koi are in the picture.

Man-made waterfalls. Nice water element in the Garden.

It really doesn't serve any practical purpose, but it looks good in the Garden. Water mill! Yay!

The Red Bridge definitely stands out!

This is what is under the Red Bridge.

Unfortunately, the Chi Lin Nunnery was under renovation when we went there. Too bad, we only got to take a pic of  the entrance stairs.

Thank you Nan Lian! It was definitely a good visual sensory overload.

Wong Tai Sin Temple

We lost track of time when we were in Nan Lian Garden. We got in love with the place such that 2 hours have already passed and we barely even noticed. It was 12 NN when we proceeded to our next stop: Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple. It's just a station away from Diamond Hill, where Nan Lian Garden is at. We hopped yet again on the MTR and alighted at the Wong Tai Sin Station, Exit B2. From there, you just walk a few meters to the Temple entrance. Beware of the ladies selling you incense sticks, they can get pretty annoying. One lady even followed as we walked towards the Temple, but we were adamant in declining her offer. Of course, she gave up eventually.

We noticed that there were just so many people that day, even if the weather was scorching hot. There also seemed to be a Buddhist wedding happening that time. All the religious statues were donned in red cloth.

The Main Entrance to the Wong Tai Sin Temple

This is what will greet you at the Temple entrance

One of the prominent statue at the entrance.

Which means... Hehehe...

Walking through the temple in the midst of high noon is definitely exhausting.

The Temple Piazza with the religious statues

Entrance to the Temple proper

Fortune tellers located near the Temple Piazza

Those red adornments we suppose were for the wedding.

Praying corner at the left side of the Temple

A devotee right in front of the Temple's Main Altar (taken right before he was asked to step back from the altar as they cordon the area because the "monk procession" was already approaching)

The Temple's Main Altar

We were lucky enough to have witnessed this "procession".

"Monk Procession" - at least that's what we think it is.

The Buddhist couple is up for some picture taking.

We tried to do this. Hehehe. Unless you're able to make your hands look like this, the Temple lady won't give you the red string which is supposed to be tied on a bigger string in front of an altar.

Buddhist offering area. There were a lot of fruits and various knick knacks laid in front of the altar.

The wedding car of the Buddhist couple. Obviously, we just had to take a picture. Hahaha. Cute!

Sha Tin: Snoopy's World and City Art Square

We spent a good 1 hour at the Wong Tai Sin Temple. The heat plus the endless walking made us really hungry, but we decided to just take our lunch in Sha Tin's New Town Plaza. We again boarded the MTR at Wong Tai Sin Station and interchanged with the East Rail Line at the Kowloon Tong Station bound for Lok Ma Chau or Lo Wu. The East Rail Line is our first ride on the MTR with track that is not on a subway.

MTR's East Rail Line

We alighted at Sha Tin Station and exited at A, which as far as I can remember is only one of the exits leading to the New Town Plaza. Because we were just too tired to think of what to eat, we just settled yet again for a McDo lunch. It's located somewhere on the 5th level. I had the Grilled Chicken Barbecue this time plus we had Horlick's Sundae which instantly became a hit for my taste buds, since it's not too sweet. To me, it even looks like a sundae sprinkled with polvoron. I guess that would be a nice idea to copy for McDo Philippines.

McDo's Horlick's Sundae

After lunch, we proceeded to the mall's 3rd level where our next destination should be: Snoopy's World. Hahaha. We knew it's not really gonna be big, but since we're already in New Town Plaza, we thought we might as well drop by for picture taking's sake. Hehehe.

"Noopy's World" - the 'S' got cut off. Hahaha. Fail!

Playing around with Charlie Brown

Snoopy's World Main Entrance

I belong.

The Snoopy's World Piazza

Hop on!

Snoopy's World House

Snoopy Water Ride! We didn't even dare try because it was just too.. well... KIDDIE. Hahaha.

Let's drink to this... to this... to this... to this... to this... to this... to this... to this... (Hahaha)

At the back of Snoopy's World House

Is it a yes? YESSSSSSSSSSSS! (Hahaha)

After Snoopy's World, we went down again and headed to the City Art Square which is just across the Sha Tin Town Hall. I've read about it online and expected something more. Obviously, I got disappointed. I took only a few pictures. Or is it because we weren't carrying a DSLR and the installations do not register really well like what I saw online, your guess is as good as mine. But since it's just outside the mall and it wasn't really a long walk, we still gave it a try.

Sha Tin Town Hall

Beijing 2008 Olympics installation. China's gift to HK.

Eyeballs!

Somehow we managed to walk ourselves into Sha Tin Park which is just a plain city park. Nothing really spectacular about it. But since our feet were just tired, we decided to rest there for a while. One thing we've noticed was that there were just a lot of birds in the park. And you could hear all of them at the same time.

After about 10-15 minutes, we decided it was time to head to the IFC mall for some quality dimsum experience.

Actually we could have also gone to the largest IKEA store which was just across the New Town Plaza or to the 10,000 Buddhas Monastery which was also with in the area, but we just chose to head to Central instead as our feet were already starting to get numb from all the walking. Hehehe.

Central: Tim Ho Wan IFC and Jardine Building

From Sha Tin Station, we boarded the MTR to Central Station. Two interchanges should be noted - Kowloon Tong of the Kwun Tong Line and Prince Edward of the Tsuen Wan Line. Remember that you are heading to the Central Station. 

I remember we exited at A. We looked for the World Wide House, where we exchanged some more of our Philippine money to HKD. I've read that the exchange rate for PHP to HKD is relatively good at the place. However, we were in a hurry that we weren't able to fully explore World Wide House. We ended up exchanging at Western Union, and realized we could have gotten 10 HKD more had we exchanged on our way out of the World Wide House instead. Sigh. I also noticed that there were just a lot of Filipinos in this place. Seemed like we were back in the Philippines for a few minutes. Hehehe. After exchanging our money, it was time to walk towards IFC mall, where the Tim Ho Wan is located. Actually is not in the main IFC mall, rather it is on the Hong Kong station premises, specifically at Level 1.

From the World Wide House, we climbed up a footbridge and followed the directions to IFC mall. Upon entering the mall, we immediately looked for signs leading to the Airport Express Hong Kong Station.

Tim Ho Wan @ IFC Mall Address:

Shop 12A, Hong Kong Station
Podium Level 1, IFC Mall, Central

We arrived at Tim Ho Wan at around 4:30 PM. We asked for the English menu, ticked our picks, and waited for our number to be called. Sweet 76! Hahaha. There was no queue. We only waited for 5 minutes to be seated. I was excited especially because I've read a lot of good stuff about it and the online hype was just overwhelming. After all, this was the first time I'm having a taste of a Michelin-starred restaurant. I thought to myself, how good can it ever get? 

TIM HO WAN - translated literally, "to add good luck"

Believe it or not the only ones in the queuing line were us and that lady in purple. Time check: 4:30 PM.

Sipping tea while waiting for our orders. Even their tea tasted great!

Here's our picks:
1. Barbecued Pork Buns (of course!)
2. Steamed Egg Cake
3. Glutinous Rice Dumpling
3. Steamed Rice with Dry Cuttlefish and Minced Meat
4. Chiu Chow Dumplings

The Char Siu Bao does not disappoint. More than the dining at Tim Ho Wan, it's the experience. Ang sarap lang!

Our lunch time and dim sum time were just a few hours apart, but we could not just pass on Tim Ho Wan and you could just imagine how full we were right after this meal. Still, we savored every bite of it. Simply looking at these pictures makes my mouth water all over again. 

After our satisfying meal, even if we were still full from all of the dim sum, we needed to immediately vacate our seats since the queue was already starting to build up. Thank goodness we didn't have to wait long like them.

We went out of the IFC mall and found ourselves outside the Jardine Builiding, which I believe is basically an office tower. Exhausted that we are, we just wandered and seated along with all those yuppies smoking their afternoon cigarettes, and also some just killing time like we were at the moment.

Jardine Building near IFC mall

In front of the Jardine Building, where we chose to relax after a full Tim Ho Wan meal.

Still in front of the Jardine Building

After a few minutes, we finally headed home to the Pearl Hostel at around 5:30 PM. I thought we deserved a good rest after a day of seemingly endless walking. 

However, it's not yet the end of Day 2.

At least for me. ;-)

[DAY 2 IN HONG KONG... To be continued...]