Author Archives: Eric

Hong Kong History Museum, Victoria Peak, Stanley Market

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This morning Eric and Christi went on a guided tour at the History Museum. Omar and Marion wanted to sleep in since they were out late shopping. Hong Kong has more than a dozen museums that are all supposed to be really good. A museum buff can easily be entertained for a week or more in Hong Kong.

The museum is in the Tsim Sha Tsui part of Kowloon, only a few kilometers away from our hotel. It is across the street from a University and next door to the Science Museum. There is a quaint old colonial church across the way, but we didn’t have time to go in and check it out. We had barely made it to the museum in time for the tour.

The museum is really amazing. They went over the top in Continue reading →

Hong Kong Island and Temple Street Night Market

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Continued from yesterday… There is a walkway along the waterfront. A small section of this walkway is called “Avenue of the Stars” and it is a cross between the “Hollywood walk of fame” and “toontown”, with a statue that looks like a giant Academy Award, stars inset into the concrete and vendor stalls that look like cartoons. We didn’t recognize any of the names on the stars.

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We continued past “Avenue of the Stars” up to the Star Ferry terminal. We took the ferry over to Hong Kong Island, which is a scenic ride. The ferry lets you off in the heart of the financial district, which looks much the same as downtown Singapore, with elegant, aesthetically appealing modern buildings. There are a handful of turn-of-the-century colonial buildings around, including Continue reading →

Touring Singapore – Little India & Bugis Street

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This morning we had the taxi drop us off at the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple in Little India. The temple was built in 1881, and like the Hindu temple we had seen yesterday, the exterior was covered in intricate carvings that are painted in bright colors. The doors to the temple were shut, so we assumed it was closed and didn’t try to go inside.

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We decided to have lunch at Continue reading →

Touring Singapore – Central Business District & Chinatown

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After a short night of sleep for Omar and Christi, we began our official Singapore sightseeing. This is Omar’s sixth trip to Singapore, so he took on the role of tour guide.

We took a taxi from the marina to the Raffles Hotel, named after the founding father of Singapore. It was built in 1887 and is quite opulent. It is classic colonial architecture, with high ceilings, crown moldings and fancy chandeliers. We walked through the court yard and had lunch in their bakery. The food was good and surprisingly inexpensive, served on china with high quality silverware. Omar introduced us to curry puffs, chicken curry wrapped in a puff pastry, which is now a new favorite of Christi’s. Most of the hotel is blocked off to non-guests, so we didn’t get to see the lobby or any of the inside beyond the restaurant.

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From the hotel, we walked a few blocks over to Continue reading →