Royal Plaza Hotel & Mongkok Locality Hong Kong 10-14Jan2016

royal plaza hotel

royal plaza hotel

for this hong kong trip 10-14.1.2016, we looked at hotels in tsimshatsui but they were expensive. the one i stayed often when traveling with wife was kowloon hotel, next to peninsula.

this time it was expensive though, & really the rooms were small & it’s 4 stars. so were other hotels at tsimshatsui, small & expensive.

the last time i traveled with sister, we stayed at royal park at shatin.

it was excellent 5 star hotel, & it was just HK$754+/night.

and you can take airport bus A41 direct to royal park hotel, just 2 stops, 50mins & HK$22.3,

but it was a little less convenient traveling tsimshatsui & hong kong island etc.

this time, after considering various options we decided on royal plaza at mongkok east, at HK$1260+/night.

one friend traveling with us had his family of 4 with him & they had a tsuishatsui airbnb apartment for 1 week. we decided not to stay at tsimshatsui but at least staying at royal plaza, it was easier to co-ordinate & meet.

the considerations for royal plaza-

  1. 5 stars, room is huge 33m2, 2 queenbeds, very comfortable.
  2. royal plaza located right at mongkok east mtr station on the east rail line, and is connected by covered walkway to mongkok mtr station on tseun wan line, and in between there is street markets, and many nice eating places.
  3. & since this time we were going mainly to tsimshatsui, central, central pier & dragon’s back, the mongkok location was quite perfect for our purpose.
  4. there were 6 of us so getting to royal plaza by taxi was quite fine, 2 taxis of 3pax, costing about HK$260, not much different from taking airport express.

must say that though royal plaza is located alongside sun hung kai property’s MOKO Mall, we did not bother to look around the mall itself.

view from our 9F hotel room

view from our 9F hotel room

the view from our royal plaza 9F hotel room, nothing much to talk about. 🙂

indo maids at covered walkway mongkok on a sunday 10.1.2016

indo maids at covered walkway mongkok on a sunday 10.1.2016

we arrived on a sunday 10.1.2016. after checking in, we went to look for fu kee congee 富记粥品 at fa yuen street 花园街.

first time we were there but we read about the roast goose & congee. we were NOT disappointed. in fact we went back 2 days later for another go. ^^

it was quite easy to look for fa yuen street 花园街, though the first time, we were quite lost trying just to get out of MOKO mall. once we saw the direction signs, everything was quite straightforward.

indo maids at covered walkway mongkok on a sunday 10.1.2016

indo maids at covered walkway mongkok on a sunday 10.1.2016

as it was a sunday, the covered walkways to mongkok mtr station & fa yuen street 花园街 enroute was filled with indo maids. i guess in the same way as filipino maids filled up kowloon park. anyway people do need a place to gather & socialise.

street food

street food

after our excellent dinner at fu kee congee 富记粥品, we walked around fa yuen street 花园街 & neighbouring streets.

first we past the fa yuen street market 花园街街市.

the we walked round the street night market.

street food

street food

we stopped by one of many skewer stalls.

street food

street food

actually we were attracted by stinking tofu臭豆腐aroma. 🙂

street food

street food

& we took out a beef offals too 牛杂. 🙂

selling ornamental fishes

selling ornamental fishes

they have the instant ready-packed way of selling guppies & other ornamental fishes. maybe they do that in singapore too these days? not sure.

we liked the royal plaza location. i think i will stay there again my next visit to hong kong, of course subject to price, other options & the convenient base to visit the places we want to go.

c.h.e.f andy

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Peak Circle Walk on 4Apr2015

the peak tower

the peak tower

after a nice breakfast at marco polo hk continental club lounge, we set off to victoria peak for our morning peak circle walk on 4.4.2015.^^

victoria harbour

victoria harbour – IFC on the right

crossing the river

victoria harbour – IFC on the right

as marco polo hk is near to the star ferry terminal, instead of walking to tsimshatsui mtr station we decided to take the ferry to star ferry central pier. ferry was hk$2.80pax (hk$2.0 mon-fri). took 9minutes. we found out the next day that it was hk$3.40 (hk$2.50 on mon-fri) on the upper deck. we used our octopus card so it was a breeze.^^ star ferry was voted the best ferry ride in the world by The Society of American Travel Writers (SATW). you can see why. you get the skyline of central with IFC towering prominently.

in my last trip i had dinner at rainbow restaurant on lama island, & the free ferry provided by the restaurant took us past the night lights of aberdeen, with enchanting views of deep water bay & repulse bay, forming a beautiful neckless. it was a wonderful sight.

as we were 3pax & it’s a long way from central pier to the peak tram. so we planned to take a taxi which was at the taxi stand at central pier, no waiting. it was a nice journey up victoria peak costing hk$65. the cost of the peak tram was hk$28 single & hk$40 return & you could expect a very long queue on an easter weekend!

in the direction of aberdeen & deep water bay

in the direction of aberdeen & deep water bay

taxi deposited us at the peak market side opposite the peak tower tram station. nice view of aberdeen, deep water bay & repulse bay direction.

the peak tower

the peak tower

the peak tower is an icon. you could see people on the sky terrace. it is exorbitant, hk$83 if you combine with peak tram return, otherwise hk$48 & you can again expect long queues.

we took the peak circle walk. it’s about 3.6km and took 1 hr on a flat paved road. usually we took harlech road,

the last i was here with friends 2years ago in 2013, we decided to go to pak fu lam reservoir & did not take the peal circle walk.

this time we took lugard road as wife wanted to view the hk skyline first. above photo is peak tower from the start of lugard road. usually we see it at the end starting the circle walk from harlech road.

IFC

IFC in direction of kowloon bay & kai tak

central skyline with IFC standing tall in the direction of kowloon bay & kai tak.

view from the peak4

IFC in direction of kowloon bay & kai tak

here you see IFC & across the harbour on tsimshatsui side the taller ICC which houses the elements mall.

IFC & ICC2

hong kong tallest building = ICC (elements mall) & IFC

her’s a clearer shot.

IFC & ICC

IFC in direction of kowloon bay & kai tak

beautiful sight.^^

tsingyi

tsing yi

here we see tsing yi island with the road bridge.

tsingyi2

tsing yi & tsing ma bridge to hong kong disneyland & chek lap kok airport on lantau island

the airport express crosses over near the top of tsing yi, then connect to ma wan via the tsing ma bridge then to lautau island where hong kong disneyland & the big buddha & gong ping 360 cable cars are located and onwards to chek lap kok airport.

no the sky terrace =

not the sky terrace = view from rooftop of peak galleria (free access)

after the walk we went up to the rooftop of peak galleria to have a free view of hk skyline & admire tha paying folks over at sky terrace.

victoria harbour

not the sky terrace = view from rooftop of peak galleria (free access)

we took a taxi to landmark mandarin oriental where we were having lunch at amber. it cost hk$55 & point to point rather than queueing for the peak tram then walk few km.^^

c.h.e.f andy