Reaching the end of the Avenue of Stars, we finally found the entrance to Hong Kong's iconic Star Ferry, National Geographic of Traveler as one of the "fifty places of a lifetime", indeed every tourist should try riding this. I thought of their Harbour Tour but it's expensive, around HK$200 while the 12-minute travel from Tsim Sha Tsui to Central is just less than HK$4 so we opted for the cheaper one of course.
In the pier area, there are so many other agents offering tours like this rainbow boat. There were so many tourists on this boat mostly Koreans. I guess they were on a group tour.
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We also had to ask some locals which way to get to the boarding area as it was in a tricky doorway but we managed to reach the upper deck. They have turnstiles like that of a subway station and passengers can use their Octopus cards to pay for the fare. If there's no Octopus card, passengers can pay cash or other cards.
I took a video while we were about to go in and while onboard the ferry here:
Upon reaching the pier, we strolled right away towards the Ferris wheel but for documentation, we had to take some snaps. Matti was already sleeping. I had a love-hate relationship with the stroller!
Central Pier! There were so many people taking the ferry here and to Central Pier and I understand that this is very efficient as anyone could also enjoy the view of the harbor with the buildings starting to turn on their lights!
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And just like that! We had reached where we wanted to be - Hong Kong's Observation Wheel but, the little one was still knocked out, we couldn't go in yet so we stopped for a while so we could enjoy the view from afar, and really, there was a great crowd! I guess it's because it's the weekend. My husband took this chance to take some more photos of the other side of the pier.
There was a Wine and Dine Festival too happening at that time. As the name says, it's all about wine and food. We didn't mind going in to check as we are more interested in the Ferris wheel.
I noticed that more and more people were going into the line so I decided to go, they got a booth separate from the actual Ferris Wheel entrance. There were four cashiers so even if the line was long, the wait took only around 15 minutes, it's still long though but it was better than the line to the entrance which took us more than an hour!
At this time, I was glad that I brought some snacks with me. I snacked while on the line. I am glad as well that they have a booth for the strollers, my husband stayed there as he waited for me to finish buying the tickets.
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Tickets were priced at $20 per adult, and kids under three were free of charge. But if you want to book one gondola privately, you must pay $160 maximum of 8 passengers.
Unfortunately, strollers were not allowed when on the line for the Ferris wheel ride so we had to leave it at the booth and carry Matti. He was still asleep as we waited in line. I can't remember how long the intestine line was but it was so tiring!
It was tiring even more because we had a sleeping baby on our shoulders. My husband and I took turns carrying Matti. I guess it was a bad idea to go here in the evening. We started standing in line when it was still daytime and it became dark and we were still in the line! It was funny because we had so many instances of having an eye to eye of the other people in line, it was awkward but I appreciated how the locals were very patient and I didn't hear anyone showing any signs of getting annoyed by the long lines or what.
Finally, the baby woke up when we were a few minutes away from our turn. I guess he was just pretending to sleep before that, tehee. He was amazed that we were already about to get inside the gondola!
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It's just now that I realized, this was Matti's first Ferris wheel ride. The speed was not that fast, it was just right for us to not shake the gondola, we were six inside, and the others who were with us were teenagers. Matti was talkative the entire time. I believe we did three rounds and the only scary part was whenever the gondola reached the top. I wasn't afraid until we got to the peak and then I looked down, some fear kicked in but it disappeared as I felt we were going back down.
Looking around, interesting things were going on around the Central Pier too like this outdoor movie theater! There were fenced areas with bean bags and lounges! It looked so cozy but I was afraid the rain might ruin their setup. Thankfully, it didn't rain while the show was going on so I bet the participants enjoyed their night! But it rained later that night, hopefully, they get to finish the show before the rain poured!
And there's the carousel too! We didn't mind getting tickets for that because Matti isn't a fan, we usually would encourage him to ride but he'd always go down before the carousel stopped, I guess it was too scary for him.
As the clock in the photo above shows, it was six minutes before seven when we got on the Ferris wheel. Here's a video of the entire ride, which is a 19-minute video:
I believe Matti enjoyed the ride! He was even entertained with the other things he found outside the gondola ride!
Like these pink and green dogs above and the dragon eggs in the photo below where he pretended like the pterodactyl was biting him.
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Took shots with the wheel at the back and Matti said he wanted ot try riding it again. At this point, the line was still very long and we already have plans to go back to Tsim Sha Tsui for the Symphony of the Lights show.
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Oh, there's also a setup for the World of Frozen's Kingdom of Arendelle, Disneyland Hong Kong was set to open its doors in November so they have this for promotion. They even have a giant Olaf and so of course, we took photos with it too!
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It started sprinkling so we immediately went to the Central pier, got ourselves a quick dinner at Subway, and then took the lower deck this time. I prefer the upper deck though because it is smelly in the lower deck due to the engine. This one is also cheaper and the view is almost the same.
If one wants to see the Symphony of Lights, it is best to stay near the Starferry port area. It has a nice view of the Central buildings which are part of the Symphony of Lights show. We positioned ourselves just enough that we could have a clear view of the buildings. The music isn't that clear from where we were standing but it was fine. What I loved while watching the lights was the cameo of the boats passing by from and to Central Pier.
Here's a video of the entire show that we watched. After that, we had to go as it was already raining a bit. Going back to our hotel took us around ten minutes of walking. That same night, it rained very hard in Hong Kong.
From the Avenue of Stars to the Central Pier for the observation wheel, and back to watch the Symphony of Lights, for me, it is a highly recommended thing to do in Hong Kong, the activity won't break the bank but you'll surely enjoy the sightseeing and the history together with the modern city!
J U N E B R I D E
Boholana | Cebu | Philippines | Travel | Photography Enthusiast | Calligraphy | Art
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