ii) Aberdeen Floating Village.
Back from Ngong Ping, we took a trip down to the south part of Hong Kong island to Aberdeen. Aberdeen is famous not only to tourists but also to Hong Kong locals for its floating village and floating seafood restaurants located in the Aberdeen Harbour. The Tanka people, who used to live on boats in the Aberdeen Harbour, are generally associated with the fishing industry, and there are still several dozens of them living on boats in the harbour.
How to get there
As I have mentioned that MRT service is not applicable in the southern part of Hong Kong (at the time of our visit there) so it left you with 2 options :
i) Bus
i) MTR Hong Kong Station Exit D to Exchange Square Bus Terminal
ii) Take Bus 70 from Exchange Square bus terminus to Aberdeen Promenade.
Fee : HK$4.70.
ii) Taxi
You can also take a taxi which should be about HK$60-70 from Central. You find the Taxi stands also at the Aberdeen Promenade when you are ready to return.
It was almost dark when we took MRT from Tung Chun station to Central then boarded to Bus 70. The bus ride took about 30 minutes then we reached Aberdeen.
The quaint and charming Aberdeen Fishing Village is not far from the hustle and bustle of the heart of Hong Kong, but seems like light-years away from it all, at first look. Here you see rows upon rows of the old-fashioned junks and sampans, some house boats where the fishermen and their families still live, (at least for some 9 months of the year) all going on their daily routines, which now include mobile phones and satellite dishes.
It is a very picturesque scene, with the unexpected touch of modernity right and left. The high-rises framing the harbour and the ultra-modern yacths moored not far away complete this picture of contrasts.
Aberdeen Harbour has the distinct honour of being the first place where the British set foot upon arriving in Hong Kong. Back then, Aberdeen was the center of the incense trade, this is how Hong Kong got its name, it literally means "Fragrant Harbour".
The Aberdeen Promenade that runs along the coast is the beginning of the action. Taxis, public and tourist buses will drop you off here. It has been newly renovated, here you will find bathroom facilities, vending machines, nice areas to just sit and people watch, or stroll and watch all the action.
Reaching here at night also has it charm as the view was rather more interesting, with the lights and nice weather to stroll along the harbour. The port also not very busy this time.
A Sampan Ride through the Harbour is a great way to see Aberdeen in action. And finding a Sampan will be no trouble at all, the Tanka women will be on to you before you know it. The asking price is around HK$80 per person which you can bargain down to HK$50 or even less if you have several in your group. Make sure you negotiate this beforehand.
The rides are around 25-30 minutes long and they zip you from the docks in the Aberdeen Promenade for a closer look to the floating village, amongst the ferries, trawlers, junks, fishing boats traversing the waters, the boat-dwellers enjoying a cup of tea or going on their daily chores in their floating homes, the shipyards along the sides, and also for a close-up look at the Floating Restaurants.
You will find the Sampan Ride Stations all along the Promenade, however by the time we reached there, it was already closed.
We walked along the promenade where we found the starting point for the free shuttle ferry to the Floating Restaurants, or to be exact, Jumbo Kingdom.
A bit about Jumbo Kingdom, it consists of the Jumbo Floating Restaurant and the adjacent Tai Pak Floating Restaurant. Over 30 million visitors have visited Jumbo Kingdom, including Queen Elizabeth II, John Wayne, Chad Garvin, David Bowie, Tom Cruise, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chow Yun Fat, Stephen Chow and Gong Li. Well... since I also already visited Jumbo Kingdom, I can proudly considered myself in the same level with the superstars and royalties above isn' it??
The Jumbo Kingdom can be reached free of charge, by a shuttle boat service from Aberdeen Promenade or from Sham Wan pier. Journey time is about ten minutes. There is no obligation to dine at the restaurants and visitors can take the opportunity to use the free shuttles to simply explore the facilities on the floating restaurants.
There are very imposing sight as we approached. The restaurant is designed like a classic Chinese palace, can accommodate up to 2,300 people and also is one of the world's largest floating restaurants.
The Jumbo Floating Restaurant took four years and millions of dollars to design and build. The triple-deck Jumbo, decorated in the theme of a Chinese Imperial Palace with pagodas and gold dragons. Over the past decades, Jumbo has been much appreciated by locals and tourists alike, and has become a scenic landmark of Hong Kong. It has been featured in many movies including James Bond “The Man With The Golden Gun” and Jackie Chan’s “The Protector”.
As a non-halal restaurant, we couldn't dine here. But having an opportunity to step our foot to this place was once in a lifetime experience. Feeling royal and superstar kononnya kan... So after about few minutes, we waited back for ferry back to the promenade.
Inside the ferry, the ferry took different route (not to the wharf which we boarded before) where we got this full version view of the Jumbo Kingdom and it was so amazing!! We really lucky came here at night time as the view at night is quite phenomenal, when these floating places are lit up. Impressive.
We went back to the street to the bus station, took bus No.70 to Central, then MRT back to TST and our Hostel. Another day that full of xtvt. By the time we reached our room then we noticed how hungry we were as we didn't take any heavy meal at all. Just snacking biscuits all day. But, as we really exhausted, we took nestum after shower and went to bed straight away.
Zzzzzz....zzzz
End of Day 4.
Trip to HK, Macau and Shenzhen Fast Link Here
Preparation
Day 0 – Departure to Hong Kong and First Night at Chungking Mansion
Day 1 – Star Ferry Ride from Kowloon to HK Island
Day 1 – HKCEC and Golden Bauhinia Square
Day 1 – Repulse Bay and Stanley Village
Day 1 – Lunch at Islamic Muslim Centre, Ammar Mosque and Tram Ride
Day 1 – The Mid Level Escalator
Day 1 – The Peak Tram and Night at Victoria Peak (Sky Terrace 428)
Day 1 – End of Day 1
MACAU Day Trip
Day 2 – Journey to Macau by TurboJET Ferry
Day 2 – The Venetian, Macao
Day 2 – City Of Dreams and Hard Rock Hotel
Day 2 – The Galaxy Macau
Day 2 – Grand Lisboa and Senado Square
Day 2 – The Ruins of St. Paul’s
Day 2 – Macau back to Hong Kong
Shenzhen Day Trip
Day 3 – Starting Journey to Shenzhen, China from Hong Kong
Day 3 – Window of The World
Day 3 – Shopping at Shenzhen and back to Hong Kong
Hong Kong Trip Continues
Day 4 – Ngong Ping 360, Lantau Island
Day 5 – Disneyland Part 1
Day 5 – Disneyland Part 2
Day 5 – Disneyland Part 3
Day 5 – Shopping at Ladies Market, Mongkok
Last Day – Avenue of Star
Last Day – HK Museums, 1881 Heritage and Back to Malaysia
Total Expenses
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