1st TOUR
Stanley-->Hong Kong Style Dinner-->The Peak-->Peak Tram
If you are a Stanley person, you would recognize this place immediately when you see this picture.
And yes, I am back to Stanley once again.
If you happen to know me in person, you would know that I have studied in Stanley for 6 years before University.
No doubt that was the best period of a lifetime, so much fun.
I am always proud to be an SSCer and admire the natural beauty of St Stephen's College.
My love is not solely for SSC, but also Stanley.
It is one of my top spots in Hong Kong, and it is also where the story of Bee and me began.
So, I am actually very happy to be here in Stanley as an Exchange Ambassador, bringing the non-locals to know more about my favorite place.
Stanley is a gorgeous place with a long history behind.
It captures the nature beauty as a coastal area and is well-equipped with all sorts of facilities.
Being secluded from the capital, Stanley is not that a remote area either, it is a simply 40-50 mins bus ride from central.
Thus, it attracts many foreigners to stay and live on, as well as tourists from all around the world.
I would strongly recommend you to pay a visit to Stanley if you are someone who loves the exotic feeling of one place.
You would be able to find some shopping places looked exactly like a mini and yet more expensive version of Mongkok in Stanley Market, but also some bars and cafes featuring the chill and relaxing atmosphere by the seaside.
Actually if the weather is nice, walking alone along the seaside is enjoyable enough.
If you are looking for some fun, you could visit the Beaches in Stanley.
There are THREE beaches around Stanley in total.
You could go sun bathing, surfing, swimming or start a barbecue rightby the beach.
But well...since I have been here all the time and we got only 30 minutes to go around this time, we tried something new...
....CONCERT!
We were planning to visit to the Plaza but when we passed by the Stanley Sports Stadium,
we were attracted to leaflet, a concert that would start right the way.
We didn't even hesitate for more than 5 minutes, we simply went inside and took a seat.
We then figured out it was the FIRST CONCERT of that particular group.
To be honest, I wan't a big fan of classical music, so I couldn't really judge if their music was good.
But since it was FREE-OF-CHARGE and calming, I was more than glad that we did go inside spontaneously.
But since we got to go back to the meeting point on time, we left around 15 minutes later and back to our meet-up spot and it was time for another....
SELFIE!
I have been thinking about where we would be having a dinner for a while.
Would it be the one that I am familiar with? Stanley Restaurant?
The answer is NO, it was not.
We were ended up in one of the Chinese style restaurant that I have never set foot in.
And even though it was a VERY EARLY DINNER at 4:30pm, I found it pretty enjoyable.
Especially when I was with a bunch of AWESOME exchange students!
I honestly think that the tour arrangement sucks, the total time we got to walk around Stanley was like 30 minutes only, then another 45 minutes went away with the meal, eventually 15 minutes for walking back to the bus stop.
The schedule was way too tight and that's why I do not like travelling under a tour.
But since we have no say, we could only stick with it.
By the time we got to the Peak, it was about 6:15 pm.
And again, we got about 45 minutes before our gathering time at 7pm.
Hehehee, so EXCITED to see Mr. Happy and Ms. Little Sunshine here in the Peak!
There were their presence all over the Peak!
I just love MR. HAPPY!
It was way too adorable!
We walked walked walked and walked to the top!
Unfortunately, since the just-passed-away typhoon was still affecting our weather at some point, the view wasn't as good as it should have been.
Still, the the Victoria Harbour view was as charming as ever!
Wohoo!
This little guy here was so CUTEEEE.
Even without the sun, the view was still amazing.
And this is certainly what Hong Kong is famous for.
We didn't have that much time to spare and it was 7pm already.
They let us choose whether we would want to stay or leave with the whole group.
We decided to STAY and see the more AMAZING side of the Peak.
Since we no longer had a time limit, we got to chill around and enjoyed the Peak.
Many of my local group mates hadn't been to the Peak for ages, but actually I spent my first Christmas day with Bee here two years ago.
So, the Peak wasn't that much different from my last experience.
But the people made the difference.
Instead of feeling romantic, I was more on the excited side.
The harbor view at 7:30pm.
Seriously, my camera sucks.
Please don't ever buy SAMSUNG camera if you are buying a new camera.
I bought it two years ago since I was attracted to its front camera feature.
But now, I sort of regretted it and wished I had purchased a more professional one.
The quality was just not good enough, especially at night time.
Selfie with my bestie in uni.
The only picture that was not blurry.
This was STUNNING, isn't it?
I LOVED this view sooooo much!
It was not taken on the Peak actually.
One of my local friends brought us over to a hiking path that led to this SECRET PLACE.
Thanks so much!
Even though I was bitten by some mosquitoes again, and took like 20 minutes walk from the Peak Plaza, it was absolutely worth the go!
But be sure you got the guts to walk in the dark or at least get the flash lights on your phone ready!
We decided to go back when we had taken enough picture of the stunning view.
By the time we got back to the Plaza, it was about 8:45p.m.
And the line of the PEAK TRAM was as long as ever.
But since we had given a free tram ticket, how could we let it go?
We couldn't, so we lined up for like an hour or so.
You might though an hour sounds real long, but when we were with this group,
one hour was actually rather short.
We talked, talked, and talked non-stop.
And finally we were INSIDE the tram station.
I think I did take the Peak Tram before but that most likely was like more than 10 years ago.
And I wasn't sure if I had ever taken the tram back down to Central or did I just tried the ride that goes up.
So, this was kinda NEW for me in some sense.
Our sweet and pretty SPANISH girl on her first tram ride ever!
I finally understood why everyone struggled to take the tram.
It was fun going through the downward sloping ride.
On the of that, it was FAST.
We were back to central in 10 minutes.
We had been lucky, it din't rain very much on the day, but when we got to Central, it rained like dogs and cats.
We decided to leave and go back home/school.
Then we called it a day.
So far, I loved this outing with meeting all these amazing people!
