HK Day 2 - THE Exam, and an evening of semi-directionless wandering :)

This day was the reason I was in Hong Kong to begin with.

My exam was scheduled for 11:20 AM, which meant I had to be at the venue by 10:40 AM, or 40 minutes before the time specified.

Because I was fortunately unfortunate enough the previous day to have boarded a bus that stopped in Hung Hom, I already knew where the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong was and how to get there. Thus, I could afford a bit of idling while I finished going over the assessment videos before heading out.

Breakfast was at Yoshinoya's - the breakfast set with either tea or coffee cost 20.40 HKD, but I added rice (my day would not be complete without it!) so the bill added up to 23.40 HKD. Went back to the hostel to get my stuff, then took the train to Hung Hom.

I was a bit surprised at how just anyone can go in and out of the university. The guard was very helpful in that even though he couldn't really speak English, he tried his best to point me to the right direction.

I arrived at the test venue at around 10:30AM. With 10 minutes to spare, I got to talk to fellow Filipinos. 2 were examinees (one was taking the exam with me at 11:20AM, and the other was there way early for her afternoon schedule). There was also a mom who was waiting for her daughter to finish her exam. They were all from Manila, so my Tagalog got challenged haha.

The exam went ok, better than the last time. Except I totally blanked out on Assessment. And to think I had been confident about Respiratory just right before the exam started! Bummer. Still, crossing my fingers for good results!!

There were 3 of us for the 11:20 schedule. The 3rd was, if I remember correctly, an Australian who was already living in Hong Kong. We headed down the building together, and talked about the scenarios we were given earlier before we parted ways at the MTR entrance (connected to the university). She gave me her email for correspondence.

I went back to the exam venue to see if Lois, the Filipino nurse I met earlier who took the exam with me, was still there but I didn't see here. :/

As I still hadn't gotten Rash's number, I couldn't contact her to ask where she was so that I could tag along, so I made my way back to Causeway Bay with the intention of logging on to my Facebook to see if I could find anyone I knew who was in Hong Kong at that moment who I could get to accompany me in touring places I hadn't gone to before.

The train at Hung Hom that took me to East Tsim Sha Tsui

When I arrived back at the hostel, though, the cleaning lady was still in our room, so I went back out and bought some street food near Times Square. There was this corner store selling fishballs, squidballs, chicken feet, siomai, and a lot of other stuff that I have no name to - and the last time I was in this area, I had wanted to give it a try but never got around to. Since the prices posted ranged from 6 HKD to 12 HKD per stick, I thought "not bad for a snack" and pointed to the siomai since it was the only thing I could recognize that I wanted to get haha. The lady quoted 20 HKD and I was like.. HUH??! But since she actually took the time to take in my pointing and attempt at ordering, I decide to just go ahead and buy it. I was also really hungry. So I handed over 20 HKD, and she gave me this:

12 Siomai pieces for 20HKD - but the texture was rubbery and the taste dough-y! :/

Well. Figures. She gave me a family pack, instead of just the regular 2 pieces on a stick order. Tsk. Couldn't do anything about it then, so I went back to the hostel, dropped by the common room first to get my carton of milk from the fridge in the kitchen, and brought everything to the 6th Floor Smoking Lobby - which was essentially the fire escape/stairs lol.

Vandalism on the walls at the Smoking Lobby/Stairs/Fire Escape

It was quite lonesome, but I didn't really feel like mingling in the common room so I busied myself with the many brochures and tour maps I got from the lobby, trying to get an idea of where to go for the afternoon.

Hello, late lunch/snack combo!

All by my lonesome :P

When I figured that the cleaning lady had gone, I went to the room, took out my laptop, and logged on to check for any messages, as well as to leave a message for Lois (who I had found was a new member of the group for aspiring HK nurses). Almost immediately, a friend popped up on chat and delivered quite a disturbing piece of news in one line. It was about a death of a schoolmate from high school, who was also a friend's girlfriend.

It was such a shocker, that even when one of my best friends chatted with me to ask how my exam went, I told her about the news first before answering her question. I so didn't see that one coming! We didn't really know the exact details preceeding her death, but offered a silent prayer regardless, and our condolences for our friend. We figured that since we had never met up and been officially introduced to them as a couple, we decided to just send a private message instead of posting on our friend's wall. It's heartbreaking, really, and I don't even want to begin to imagine the pain that our friend must be going through, not to mention the family members who were left behind.

My condolences.

Rash had replied to my message on Facebook and provided me with her number, so I called her to ask what her plans were. But she was still unsure what time they would be done with their business, so I told her to just call me later in the evening if they have time. Meanwhile, Lois had responded to my post on the groups page, and I found that she was staying in Mui Wo. Googling it, I learned that it was a rural town on Lantau island that could best be reached by ferry from the mainland. It was a shock to learn that she was staying at a place that was quite far from the city. But the place intrigued me to the point that when she mentioned that she would take me around to tour the place if I wanted to go to Mui Wo, I immediately jumped at the offer and made plans to meet up with her the following day. Dora Lakwatsera mode - ON! Ha! :D

When I finally decided on what to do, I said goodbye to the friends I was chatting with, and headed out. I figured I'd start at Times Square, and then take the MTR to TST to take a stroll along the Avenue of the Stars to check it out in daylight this time, and then catching the Symphony of Lights at 8PM. The time then was 4PM. Perfect.

...Until I noticed the red low-battery symbol blinking on my camera's display just as I started taking pictures of the crowd at Times Square. >_< I knew it wouldn't last til nighttime, so I went back to the hostel yet again to charge the battery for at least an hour. Haha.

Times Square :)

I went out again at around 5:20PM, and as I had planned, started with Times Square. They were putting up these decorative cherry blossom trees - fake, but beautifully constructed - on the courtyard area outside the mall, and even rolled out pink artificial turf. It was all so...PINK. Lol. A lot of people, locals and tourists, took pictures, or had their pictures taken here. I was too shy to ask someone to take my picture, so I just resigned myself to taking photos of the trees.

Sakura - fake trees, fake pink turf.. But it was pretty.. :)

Afterwards, I headed down to the MTR (the entrance to which was inside the mall itself), and took the train to Central. Being the undecided and impulsive me, I changed my mind at the last minute, and headed to the exit instead of changing to the Tsuen Wan line to get to Tsim Sha Tsui. I took Exit A, and headed up the escalator to the skywalk and made my way to the pier.

Spot Jollibee!

Close up on the prices - so MAHAL!

I was amazed at how calm I was about walking around like I knew where I was going! Haha!

Scenes from the skywalk

Eventually, I found myself in a familiar area - the IFC mall. It was here that the girls and I found ourselves lost in during our trip to Hong Kong back in November 2011. It also told me that I was on the right track as I remembered that the IFC mall was near the ferry terminal. A few minutes later, I found myself waiting to board the Star Ferry that would take me to the Kowloon harbor.

Buildings on the right..

This iStore is bigger than the one at Ayala, but is packed every single time while there's hardly any people at Ayala XD

Was seriously considering this tour while chilling at the fire escape haha

Hello, Subway!

The pier

Another skyline angle :P

The ferry is a really cheap way to get from the Island to Kowloon, or what I'd like to call the mainland. I believe it cost around 2.40HKD, and I used my Octopus card for it. If you don't want to take the fare from your Octopus, you could always buy a token by dropping coins on this token machine, and then dropping the token on the token slot upon entering the boarding area. It takes less than 10 minutes to get from one harbor to the other.

Waiting to "board"

Santa Clause had his own light show haha

View of the Central Skyline from the ferry

With fellow commuters lol

Kowloon pier in sight.. just a few minutes later

Smile :)

I got off the boat at the Kowloon ferry terminal, and pondered on where to go.

The Skyline from the Kowloon side

I had wanted to look for an inexpensive coat to use the following day as I only brought one jacket (which proved to be lacking in insulation haha) on this trip, as well as check out SaSa for this perfume that I had been eyeing since I got a sample of it back in 2011. So instead of going to the Avenue of Stars as I had initially planned, I ended up walking towards Nathan Road and made my way to the street near Taisan Guesthouse (where we stayed on that trip with the girls) which had both SaSa and In and Out, this small shop which sold season clothes at good value that Pat had gone crazy over the last time we were there. Lol.

Shots from walking: Kowloon pier to Nathan Road

Nathan Road - Top: Chungking Mansions. Bottom: A mosque near the Taisan Guesthouse

After making my purchases, I started walking back towards the pier.

People were taking pictures here so I thought I should too :P

Fail timer shots hahaha :P

Almost there..

I arrived about 20 minutes later with 15 minutes to spare before the Symphony of Lights was scheduled to start. So I looked for a good spot to settle on.

This boat hurried off a few minutes before the show started

This proved to be hard as there were already A LOT of people lining the railings at the top deck. So I went back down and found a spot on the street level. I can't say it was the best spot ever, but it worked for me since I had an unobstructed view of the buildings over at the Island side.

Such a TALL family!

Finally found a spot!

No regrets taking you along! My feet didn't hurt one bit! :D

This wasn't my first time to watch the Symphony of Lights, but it would be the first time to catch it in full over at the Kowloon pier, since we were on the Star Ferry when the show started the last time I was there with the girls. This time around, I made sure to watch it from start to finish. Getting my camera ready, I waited for the start of the show.

Hong Kong skyline

Is that a junk that I see?? Hmm.. Probably fake, a tour boat.. :/

 
I have to say, I found it more fascinating the first time I watched it. It was still amazing, but I guess I expected it to be more explosive the second time around? I don't know. Or maybe I was too preoccupied with capturing it all on camera that I forgot to just enjoy it as it was. Nevertheless, it's still one of the must dos in Hong Kong.

One smile before heading back home

After the lights show, I went back to the ferry terminal. Along the way, a sign on this pastry store caught my attention, and I had to stop to confirm if I was seeing it right:

AKB48 Cake Shoppe

 AKB48. For those who don't know them, they're an extremely popular girl group in Japan, with an insane number of members. Not a fan, but I was surprised they had a cake shop going in Hong Kong of all places and I wondered if it was even legit haha. :)

I made my way back to the terminal and got myself a token for Star Ferry. I opted not to use my Octopus card this time just so I could try out the token machine haha.

Star Ferry token

Waited a bit longer for the ferry this time around, but still had no trouble finding a seat when boarding time came. Less than 10 minutes later, I was back at the Central Pier. By this time, I was famished. I was actually waiting for Rash to call so I could grab dinner with them, however she never did (learned the following day why - she used up all the load on the sim card she just used, and then it went crazy on her, which caused her to buy another one the following night) and I didn't want to disturb her in case she was still busy agency-hopping. So I decided to stop by Subway at the Central Pier for dinner.

I don't remember if we ever had a sandwich from Subway wayyy back when they had a branch at SM City Cebu. I think I was still in elementary then. I believe I did get to try it at least once, but anyhow, I considered the sandwich that I got for this trip as my very first Subway.

MY. FIRST.SUBWAY. This calls for a celebration! Hahaha :))

6 inches of wheat loaf stuffed with bacon, ham, and a whole lot of veggies!

I grabbed a vacant table near the railing, overlooking the dock below. Not that I could see much of the sea considering it was already dark out, but the breeze was wonderful after having worked up a sweat from all that walking.

I went home after finishing the HUGE sandwich I got for dinner. It was a long walk back through the seemingly endless skywalk, down the escalator, and down to the Central MTR Station from whence I came.

What I call the Skywalk :P A series of interconnected walkways

Why, hello there, BPI! :)

3 stops later, I was back out on Causeway Bay, and it was a short walk back to my hostel. Deciding to rest for about an hour, I ended up sleeping til past midnight. I had to drag myself out of bed and take a half-bath after the last person in the bathroom came out, slipped into my pajamas, and went off to dreamland.

2 days down, one more day to go before heading back home. :)