Park Island (Ma Wan Island)

We receive several request about Park Island, since some of you may watch the TV Series (The 7th Day), which was mainly shot in Park Island. This is an island located under the Tsing Ma Bridge, which is an old village in the past, and the northern part of the island is now developed to a large private estate and a public park.

The island is originally named Ma Wan (馬灣) and the private estate is called Park Island (柏麗灣), so, people called Ma Wan as Park Island nowadays.

Ferries are operated in between Central and Tsuen Wan to connect Ma Wan, after Park Island is introduced. The management company also operate the public area in Ma Wan. It is special that people like to take dogs to Ma Wan, since the pets are allowed to carry to the ferries to Ma Wan.

Ma Wan Park and Tung Wan Beach is the main public recreational area in ma Wan. People can enjoy the great view under Tsing Ma Bridge in Tung Wan Beach. The sand is soft and the water is so clear here, "Kup Shui Mun (汲水門)" is the east gate of the Victoria Harbour, which is besides Ma Wan.

The first phase of Ma Wan Park is a "General Education" park in Hong Kong, so basic information of plants and trees in Hong Kong are introduce here. Paintings on walls and stones also generate very good art atmosphere in the park. Please can enjoy half day here, walking up and down, taking picture in the park.

Another part of Ma Wan Park is called "Ark Park", which is a theme park of Noah Ark, the message of Lord is teaching here, however, it is not yet ready to open. It is supposed to be opened early 2009, hope you will enjoy this area when you visit Ma Wan.

You can also take a jogging at the seaside road of Park Island, also walking pass the old village to see the old style of Hong Kong living style in this island.

Information of Ma Wan Park: 8am to 6pm everyday, last admission is 5pm

URL of Ma Wan Park - http://www.mawanpark.com/

Transport:
Ferries to Ma Wan (Park Island) -
Tsuen Wan Ferry, Tsuen Wan West MTR
Pier 2, Central Ferry, Hong Kong MTR

Bus to Ma Wan (Park Island) -
Tsuen Wan MTR
Kwai Fong MTR
Tsing Yi MTR
Airport MTR

The frequencies of the above bus and ferry can be found from the official web site - http://www.pitcl.com.hk/eng/html/bus.htm

Fare System Merge - MTR System

The fare system of MTR was finally merge on 28th September, 2008. People using "Single Journey Ticket" are not necessary to purchase another ticket when they travel between original MTR lines and ex-KCR lines.

Three "Interchange" station were merge and people are not necessary to pass through the "Gates" for "interchange" between two networks.

Tourists, normally use Single Journey Ticket or Tourist Day Pass are mostly benefit from this policy. You can directly choose the destination from the ticket vender machine, even you want to travel from MTR to ex-KCR.

Moreover, Tourist can purchase "Tourist Day Pass" at HK$55 for unlimited travel within most of the new MTR network for 24 consecutive hours. Moreover, an tourist version Octopus is also available for tourist, which contains 1 or 2 journey of Airport Express and a 3 consecutive days day pass for MTR network.

More information can be found at the official web site: http://www.mtr.com.hk/eng/train/products_index.html

Picture: MTR Tourist Day Pass (original from MTR Web site http://www.mtr.com.hk)

Shatin - The Town of Olympic

The Equesrtian Events of Beijing Olympic and Paralympic will be held in Hong Kong. The mave venue of the competition is located at Shatin, one of a town in Hong Kong. Moreover, the two major hotels in this district are act as Hong Kong Olympic Village.

The participating team members and media workers are living in these two hotels during the games. Moreover, the district is decorated with different kind of Olympic atomsphere.

New Town Plaza, one of the main shopping mall in Shatin, decorate with several Olympic exhibition and shows. Shatin Town Hall and Shatin Central Park, which is beside New Town Plaza, also converting to a Olympic Culture Area and City Art Square.

Information of Equesrtian Events of Beijing Olympic and Paralympic:
http://www.equestrian2008.org/eng/front.aspx

New Town Plaza -
URL: http://www.newtownplaza.com.hk/eng/index.html

New Town Plaza, Shatin Town Hall, Shatin Central Park -
Transport: Exit A, Shatin MTR

Bruce Lee, the Master of Kung Fu.

Bruce Lee is a famous action movie star in the world.

This statue of Bruce Lee, is located by the sea side at Tsim Sha Tsui.

Dining @ Tin Hau

There are several know of restaurants located at Tin Hau, which is a small residental area near Causeway bay. You can find BBQ, Japanese food, Korean food, dessert, traditional cha chaan teng, fast food, Thailand food etc there. Let have a look there, you can reach Tin Hau directly by MTR.

Transport: MTR Tin Hau Station

CityWalk

CityWalk is another new shopping mall in Hong Kong. It was opened in Dec 2007.

The mall is located in Tsuen Wan, which is mainly a residental area. The shopping mall is targeted to serve peoples daily life.

There is a 40,000 square feet "Citywalk Piazza:, together with a 8,000 square feet area as Vertical Garden, the green space in this mall is relatively high when compared to those existing shopping malls in the down town.

Website: http://www.citywalk.com.hk/

Address: 1 Yeung Uk Road, Tsuen Wan

Transport: 10 minutes walk from MTR Tsuen Wan Station or Tsuen Wan West Station

Guiling Gao (龜苓膏)

Guiling Gao, is a kind of black jelly like chinese medicine. Guiling, means the powdered shell of three-lined box turtles. It is mixed with several kind of chinese herb to become Guiling Gao.

It is normally slight bitter in taste, however, it become a chinese style dessert nowdays, people take Guiling Gao with honey or sugar. It is enjoyable and have medical value to skin, especially for ladies.

You can find Guiling Gao and several kind of chinese style herb tea in a chinese herb tea shop.

Festival Walk

Festival Walk is a large shopping mall located at Kowloon Tong. It is not new, was opened for about 10 years.

There is the Hong Kong's largest ice-skating rink. People can enjoy skating there.

Cinemas, flagship stores, boutiques, fashion, home accessories, cosmetics, books are also there. It is near the railway station, therefore, tourist especially from mainland China can access it via MTR directly.

Food courts and various kind of restaurant are also opened in this mall.





Transport: Exit C, MTR Kowloon Tong Station

Sino Centre (信和中心) & Comic World HK

Lots of young people in Hong Kong like Japanese Anime. If you have heard about DragonBall, Saint Seiya, Sailormoon, you may know why Anime are so popular. The story itself is already good enough. Together with the beautiful illustrations, Japanese Anime becomes an important interest among Hong Kong people. Apart from the annual anime show introduced before, you can also go to Sino Centre in Mong Kok.

Apart from the annual anime show introduced before, you can also go to Sino Center in Mong to find out those anime related goods. A lot of manga (comic books), illustration books, anime magazines, figures, capsule toys, VCDs and DVDs can be found there. If you think you are also interested in Japanese Anime, you can enjoy a lot in Sino Centre.

Furthermore, if you want to know more about Hong Kong's own comic culture, you can join this large function, Comic World HK 26, which will be held two times per year. The coming show will be on 24th August 2008.

Sino Centre -
Address: 582-592 Nathan Road, Mong Kok
Transport: MTR Mong Kok Station, Exit E2.

Comic World HK 26 -
Date: 24th August 2008
Venue: Hong Kong International Trade and Exhibition Centre
Application Deadline: 31th May 2008
Website: http://www.cwhk.org/php/CwDetail.php?cw_id=26 (Chinese link)
Transport: http://www.hitec.com.hk/en/hitec_transport.htm

Torch Relay in Hong Kong on 2th May 2008

Today, I have join the cheering team to the torch relay organized by my company. We wait at the road side with a group of secondary students. This is a rainly day, fortunately, not so heavy. We wait for an hour and finally saw the torchbearer running towards us.

This is the first time we saw the torch (with flame). It is wonderful and unforgetable. :)

Torch Relay in Hong Kong

The Beijing Olympic Torch Relay will be held on 2 May 2008 (Friday). Hong Kong is the first leg of China city to relay the torch. This is the second time that Hong Kong organize such activities. The last time was in 1964 (Tokyo Olympic).

There will be 120 torchbearers taking part this event. The relay activities will start from 9am to 6pm on that day. The torch will pass through several areas in the city. Besides running, the torch will also relay via dragonboat, boat, horse and wheelchair. You can enjoy this special event if you are in Hong Kong on 2 May 2008. The Golden Bauhinia Square next to Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (Photo) will be the destination of the torch in Hong Kong leg.

More information will be found at http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/TorchRelay/en/index.php

The torch will transfer to Macau (Macao) on 3 May 2008.