This was my first day in Hong Kong, I decided to explore HKU Campus and the area surrounding it, since I was going to spend so much time there anyway. I had just unpacked, or to the extent I would for my stay in the Hostel.
I took the MTR from Tsim Tsa Tshui to Central first and then changed to the Island Line to go to HKU
Once I got to the MTR station I got monumentally lost, I couldn’t find the way up to the Campus, it took me a few days into the term to find my way round. I first wandered round Pok Fu Lam Road to try and find my way up
Campus Exploration
Once I had found my way up to Campus I continued to explore and take more pictures, which are on my Instagram and will be in a Gallery at the bottom as well. At some point however I got hungry, all the walking around and 34 degree humidity really takes it out of you, so I wandered down to the sea front, or attempt to – I ended up just getting lost and wandering round Sai Ying Pun. I did end up finding a 7-Eleven and got something to eat.
At this point I wandered back up to the Campus and wandered further up and stumbled upon the Environment Educaton Centre which even had the Shameplants (Mimosa pudica) which I so admired when I was young and visiting the Eden Project in Cornwall. I even had one for a while but it died fairly quickly outside of its natura habitat.
But here in Hong Kong you see them everywhere while hiking just brushing past them and seeing them close up its a fascinating part of nature on display here in Hong Kong. At this point I was hungry again because frankly a gatorade and bun don’t really do much so I found the canteen
And let me tell you that was an experience. Nobody in the school canteen speaks English, the ticket they give you to go get food is in Chinese if you pay by cash at least. I found out letter paying by Octupus at the self-service machines means you can change the Language. I did however eventually find where to get my food, after trying all 4 different places to get food from I eventually found where I could get my hotplate.
Pik Shan Path (Finding Coffee)
Following this I went on a wander to get some coffee and managed to get monumentally lost again, although this time it helped me. I stumbled upon this amazing little path that led up the mountain, called the Pik Shan Path which gave me some of the best views of Hong Kong I had seen at that point, it was so far above the hustle and bustle of the city I was there almost entirely alone, although I ran into some people playing Majong and asked if I could take their photo
They didn’t want their pictures taken so instead I took this picture of their board. Always polite to ask before taking after all
This path actually led back to the Environmental Education Centre I was in earlier so I wandered down to the Campus again. At the Environemntal centre is also where I found out what it was called by use of this handy map
Once I made my way back down to Campus I got myself a coffee finally but at this point I had done my fair share of exploring after nearly 8 hours, not accounting for jetlag. So I headed back to the hospital for dinner, a nap and a late night out in Kowloon
-nikmaxott
