Taking time to explore on my own has been a challenge since I work every weekday. I usually make a list of places I want to go during the week and on the weekends, I see as much as I can.
The weather is sometimes an issue, it rained a lot in July and everyday seems to be about 100 degrees (F) plus a layer of humidity that just sits on your shoulders and makes you sweat like you have never sweat before. yeah, lots of bodies, in a small city, dripping sweaty. Seriously tropical.
Like most of my entries, this one is a couple weeks late. One of my excursions on the 'to-do list' was to ride the Star Ferry. I left from Tsim Sha Tsui and crossed Victoria Harbour (named after England's Queen Victoria, as Hong Kong was a British colony) to Central on Hong Kong island. The ride only takes about 20 minutes and it costs about $6 (HKD), which is a little less than $1 (USD).
The Star Ferry Company was created in 1898, but has origins from other ferry companies from 1880. There are currently 12 ferries in the fleet that service Kowloon and Hong Kong island ports. (Learn more)
It was really strange to board the Star Ferry because I grew up hearing my dad speak of his childhood in terms of modes of kite-making hobby, food, and Star Ferry. He used to take the ferry to school everyday. I remember he him saying that if he had stayed in Hong Kong, he would have been either a Star Ferry worker or bus driver.
Like most of my entries, this one is a couple weeks late. One of my excursions on the 'to-do list' was to ride the Star Ferry. I left from Tsim Sha Tsui and crossed Victoria Harbour (named after England's Queen Victoria, as Hong Kong was a British colony) to Central on Hong Kong island. The ride only takes about 20 minutes and it costs about $6 (HKD), which is a little less than $1 (USD).
The Star Ferry Company was created in 1898, but has origins from other ferry companies from 1880. There are currently 12 ferries in the fleet that service Kowloon and Hong Kong island ports. (Learn more)
It was really strange to board the Star Ferry because I grew up hearing my dad speak of his childhood in terms of modes of kite-making hobby, food, and Star Ferry. He used to take the ferry to school everyday. I remember he him saying that if he had stayed in Hong Kong, he would have been either a Star Ferry worker or bus driver.
The boats still maintains an old look with shifting metal seat backs, green paint and wood finishing. As soon as I stepped aboard, I imagined my dad as a boy running to pick a seat near the front and all at once missed him terribly. I have gotten easily homesick in Hong Kong because I just imagine my family living here, in a small neighborhood, going to the general store, buying meat, walking the streets with hands neatly behind the back, screaming and laughing in the streets, peering through the decorative barred windows. I wish I could see Hong Kong through their eyes.
The boat lifted off and though it may makes me sound like a nerdy tourist, I really felt excited. The boat bobs away from the harbour and there you are, just tugging in the middle of the sea. The air is fresh, there is a breeze and the view from each window is fantastic. The ferry ride is way too short..I wish there was a slow moving ferry that took up to one hour like in the 1880s.
People peer out of the pier windows while waiting for the next ferry
Interior 
Stars are hole-punched into every seat
Looking back at my ferry upon returning to Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon
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