Victoria Peak & Singapore

Greetings from Singapore!

We arrived here yesterday. We didn't have a hotel booked. We only had our plane tickets to Singapore - the rest was all in Lord's plan. We arrived at Singapore Changi Airport at 10:30AM local time. By that time we've been awake for 30 hours. You can probably imagine how tired we were. But once again God had it all under control. There was a hotel reservation counter at the airport and with the help of a super nice old lady, we booked ourselves to Royal hotel for two nights. And let me tell you, our hotel room is luxury compared to our last hotel. Our room is big, bathroom has a bathtub and we are on the top floor! It's been so nice just to relax and do nothing. Thank you, God, for this room.

Trying to sleep at Hong Kong International Airport. Mission failed

But there's still pictures from Hong Kong that I haven't shown you! On our 4th day we visited Victoria Peak. One word: amazing. Firstly we crossed the river (bay might be the right word for this, but I'm going to call it river. Sorry if it's disturbing you) and walked to the Peak Tram.

The Central

We bought the Peak Tram Sky Pass. The tickets were 83HKD and it included a ride up and back down and an entrance to Sky Terrace 428. This is where the tram took off. I don't know why we didn't take a picture of the tram.

Because this is very popular tourist attraction, the waiting area was very crowded. But because it was once again raining, it wasn't that bad. The ride up was pretty interesting because you're going up the hill almost at 30 degrees. Some people were standing on the aisle and they were struggling to stay upright. Thank goodness we were the first ones to get on the tram and get a seat!

The Peak Tower

The Peak Tower was pretty cool. It was just an average mall "on top of the town" as they advertise themselves. First we wanted something to eat so to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Restaurant we go! I loved this place! I like the film Forrest Gump and this restaurant was all about Forrest Gump. 

Their food! Oh my, oh my, it was so good. There were a lot of shrimp dishes on the menu, because Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., but our only shrimp dish was the left one. It was good, but because we are not used to fresh shrimp (we Finnish people eat meat, not seafood. And if we eat shrimps, it's from the freezer. I know. Shame on us). This is the conversation that made our day:

Elli: "The texture of the shrimps is odd. It feels weird to eat them."
Miia: "I know. I could only eat one of them."
Elli: "Oh. I only ate half."
Pia: "What?!"
Miia & Elli: "... what?"
Pia: "I ate seven of them!"

I swear the look on Pia's face was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Wish I'd had my camera ready.

After our stomachs settled a little bit, it was time to go and see the city from 396 meters. There are a few nature walks around the Peak and we chose the longest one, Hong Kong trail, which take around 40-60 minutes to walk. By the time we finished eating, it was dark. So once again, our timing was perfect because there weren't any tourists and the view.... These pictures are not even close enough to let you know how breathtaking the view is.

If you ever visit Hong Kong, you have to come here. Don't go the Sky Terrace 428. It's crowded and it costs you extra. You can't get a decent picture, because everyone is pushing to the rail to take a selfie. But if you take the Hong Kong trail, especially at evening, you will get spectacular views free and you don't have to fight to take a good look. 

And the nature walk! It was maybe 25 Celsius degrees hot, but because we were so high the wind was blowing gently the whole time. 

This right here is a waterfall, believe it or not.
Flash on the camera made this picture a little blurry :')

And that was our 4th day. It was so so so wonderful. Thank you, Lord. We want to bless Hong Kong and every single one who lives in this big city. It was nice to get up there, see everything and bless everything our eyes could see. All glory to You, Jesus! :)

Here's some photos from the evening when we walked back to the hotel.

After we made it back to our hotel and slept the night, it was time to check out and wander around the city. We started our day by going to Star Ferry's harbour tour. The ride lasted for an hour. It was nice just to sit and watch the city. 

We walked around, not really knowing where we were going. We walked through a street that was filled with brand stores like Gucci, Armani, Yves Saint Laurent, Swarovski etc. It's really weird to walk on a street like this and one block away there's dirty buildings with broken signs hanging above the street. Hong Kong is a city of opposites, we think. There's luxury beyond imagination and there's poverty right around the corner. 

You walk through this...

... and this...

  

... to something like this

God led us to Kowloon Park, which is a beautiful place to go and relax for a moment and get away from the rush of the city. You can breathe fresh air for a moment... or as fresh as it can get in a big city :D

ICE CREAM! Always makes you smile :)

After spending about two hours here, it was time to say goodbye to Hong Kong and head towards the airport. Like I said before, it was nice to change scenery. It was amazing to visit Hong Kong and see everything, but none of us would've wanted to stay any longer. It was time to move on.

Goodbye, Hong Kong!

We have to check out tomorrow from Royal Hotel, but we already have our next location booked. This time it's going to be a hostel. We're excited to see what it's going to be like, because none of us have ever been in a hostel. And another amazing news: we now have our tickets back to home. Thank you, Lord, thank you! Our flight will leave from Bangkok on 27th of October and we will be back in Helsinki, Finland on the same day at 11:15PM. Everything in between is in God's gentle hands. 

But tomorrow we will see more of Singapore. Can't wait! Until next time!

Bonus:

Salmon avocado sandwich and strawberry frappe. Yum!

BUBBLE TEA!