Across the Victoria Harbour

North of Hong Kong island across the Victoria Harbour is the Hong Kong neighborhood of Kowloon. For those of  you that live in the Boston area, you may know a gigantic restaurant in Saugus called Kowloon. The two are nothing alike, but it's so hard not to think of that restaurant when I think of the Kowloon here! We took the Star Ferry over to Kowloon last night - it was cheap (about $.30 USD) and fast! It was a beautiful and humid night, so a ferry ride was perfect. Here are some pictures from the ferry...

Approaching Kowloon...

Looking back at Hong Kong Island, seriously the best skyline I've ever seen! This picture doesn't do it justice!

Also looking back at Hong Kong Island, that building is the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center.

Docking at the Star Ferry Pier in Kowloon. The giant curved structure you see in the picture is the Hong Kong Cultural Center and you can also see the Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower. The Clock Tower is a monument and the only original thing remaining from the Kowloon Station that used to be there.

I should mention that the Kowloon skyline is not as impressive because there are restrictions to the height of their skyscrapers. Because Kowloon is so close to the airport they cannot obstruct any flight patterns going into the airport, pretty logical, haha.

We started our evening at The Penninsula (above) where we were told we had to have a drink on the roof and admire the skyline. The hotel is really stunning, however the "roof" was just a tiny bar on the top floor and it wasn't even outdoors! The drinks were super expensive (I had a glass of champagne for 200 HKD) and even though the view was great, there were blinds on the windows! What the heck? Yes, the blinds were open, but still, this makes no sense. It was all very shee shee foo foo so we downed our drinks and hit the road. Oh, but not before we hit the ladies room, which was actually the best part. Check out that crazy sink! The view was even better from here, you can't tell but there are not blinds on these windows!

 Next we headed to a spot also known for its fantastic views of the Hong Kong Island skyline - Aqua. Now this was a much better scene for us! On the 29th floor this bar/lounge had a great vibe. It was coloful, fun, had upbeat music, and not pretentious. Oh, and it was super air conditioned which we needed desperately. Basically, I straightened my hair and by the time I left The Penninsula I had to pull it back because it was so curly! We were able to get a cozy little corner and parked it on the velvet couch.

We grabbed some drinks and food here - a margherita pizza and a wild mushroom one with shaved truffles (fabulous!!). The drink menu had a ton of Bacardi 151 drinks, but we were not feeling that sort of craziness that night! We did enjoy watching many others get these potent drinks and lighting them on fire! We stayed at Aqua for awhile and enjoyed the vibe and the awesome views. This place is floor to ceiling windows with no blinds and nothing to obstruct the awesome view! Sorry the above picture of the view isn't better, it's hard to capture the beauty of it all at night. Enjoy the picture of food and drinks (of course!) and the three of us ladies who enjoyed a great night!