The Sights and Sounds of Kowloon Hong Kong

Points Summary

9 years ago

It was my very first time in Hong Kong and I was only staying for two nights and had two full days to sightsee. Hong Kong has basically two areas of interest for tourists, Kowloon and Hong Kong Island which is separated by a bay of water. I spent the first day exploring the Kowloon side of Hong Kong where I ventured into the bustling neighborhoods of Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) and Mong Kok.

I caught a cab from the W Hong Kong to check out the Temple Street Night Market as my first point of interest.

Even though it’s labeled as a Night Market, I wanted to check out the scene during the afternoon which was pretty much laden with prostitutes offering their services. There are also massage parlors and sex shops at the Temple Street Night Market. I wanted to return at night time where it would be bustling with street food vendors.

I walked south towards the Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) neighborhood which reminded me of largely of New York City’s Times Square with big screen audio and video billboard advertisements.

Tsim Sha Tsui is basically a tourist trap area with many American chain restaurants and typical American brands at the mall.

I walked south of the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station to the Hong Kong Space Museum which was housed in a dome structure. In front of the Space Museum was a miniature bean that looked awfully a lot like the one in Chicago.

Nearby was the famous Avenue of the Stars located along the Victoria Harbor which is a take on LA’s Hollywood Walk of Fame, essentially another heavy touristic attraction.

There’s one thing I liked about this area which was the beautiful skyline view of Hong Kong Island.

I wanted to check out Sneakers Street in the Mong Kok district and the best way was to take the MTR (Mass Transit Railway) from Tsim Sha Tsui subway station to Prince Edward MTR station.

At the Prince Edward MTR station, hordes of domestic workers were relaxing and enjoying their Sunday day off from work.

I was unable to locate Sneakers Street located on Fa Yuen Street in Mong Kok due to the sheer number of people and the volume of vendors.

However, I did stumble upon the Fa Yuen Street Market which was more of a local’s joint for fresh seafood and meat.

One of the highlights of visiting Mong Kok was the famous Ladies’ Market where you can find just about anything from clothing, electronics, accessories, and souvenirs. Be aware that there are a lot of counterfeit items and remember to bargain for a good deal.

Night started to fall and so did the rain. I wanted to check out the Temple Street Night Market, but had to call it quits because rain really does ruin everything and I didn’t have an umbrella. Furthermore, I had a hard time trying to find an available cab, so I decided to walk back to the W Hong Kong hotel. As you can see, almost half of Kowloon, Hong Kong is under construction.

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