Travel Diaries Hong Kong 2006 Day 8 Evening - A Symphony of lights | Day 8 Evening - A Symphony of lights |
| Monday, 11 September 2006 | ||||||
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This even after a home cooked meal of steamed fish with musrooms and beef and green beans we were going to the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui to watch a light show that takes place on the buildings called Symphony of Lights. The show starts at 8pm and so after an early tea we took a taxi down to the Central Star Ferry pier and a trip over to Tsim Sha Tsui by Star Ferry. I had not been down to the water front at night before and now I could see the famous skyline by night. Most buildings have some pretty lights on the side, and if not they will normally have an advertising board on top for the likes of Sony, Canon, Sanyo and many other Asian companies. The star ferry ride was a little bumpier this evening and the water in the harbour a little more wavy! On travelling over to the Kowloon side we saw many other boats in the water, some of which had many lights on them - just like the trams I had seen in Blackpool as a child! On arriving at the Avenue of Stars we found a place to stand watching towards the Central and Wan Chai areas of Hong Kong Island. We got there about 7.30pm and I took a few pictures (see the album), some of the pictures aren't great today as its difficult to take good pictures at night. Personally I think number 483 is the best picture of the evening and really shows the lights that can be seen! After a little while a local camera club came and set up their cameras next to where we were sitting. It looked like we had picked the best spot as even the locals wanted to stand here! As we waited, we saw many boats passing, including the star ferry which takes people on a harbour tour, and also a cruise ship moving to dock on the old airport, which is soon to become a major cruise ship docking area - as i has been left empty since the building of the new airport. At 8pm there was a voice over the speakers announcing the start of the light show. We came on a Monday as the narration was in English, however after the show we found that the amount of narration is so small it would hardly make a difference! Just before the show starts the lights on many of the buildings go dim as they are switched over to the light show. The narration firstly announces which buildings will take part in the show, and just like a band, each building makes a small fanfare to lights with music. It is quite strange to see the buildings in this way! When the introductions are complete the show starts. Music plays over the speakers and the buildings begin to flash their lights to the beat. As well as the lights on the side of the buildings there are many spotlights and lasers from the taller buildings pointing into the sky. Buildings on both sides of the water take part in the show, but many more on the Hong Kong side are more exciting to watch so we had the best vantage point. I took a couple of videos to show what happens, I'll show you when I get back! The show lasted 15 minutes and was good to watch. After the show everyone moved away from the area, we walked through a shopping mall under the intercontinental hotel and then took a look at the Peninsula hotel. I had looked at this before but today I've taken some pictures - see if you recognise it from the Michael Palin - 80 Days around the world. We then walked up Nathan Road for a while - again I was offered many fake watches for sale and lots of tailors (are they trying to say I'm not smart enough?). We took a look in a few shops and walked around the block. Again we bought a couple of presents and some DVD's and made our way back to the star ferry pier. We took another ferry back to Central - again the harbour was a little more bumpy - and then took a taxi back home. The taxi cost $21 (1.50) and was much easier than the bus ride! As we got home we went to bed tired and exhausted after another hard day. Tomorrow our friend Sunny is coming over from Macau and Andrew (Clara's dad) is back from Beijing, so we're off out with Sunny during the day and going out for a meal at night! Things I have learned today about Hong Kong:
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