海味的味道 － 香港岛 Jun 2015

Ibis Hotel - Harbour View

It was the second time that we decided to stay at the opposite side of Kowloon i.e. Hong Kong Island. This time, we stayed at the Island throughout as my wife mentioned that our trip was all focused on the island itself. Good plan, really. Quite excited too as it was our second trip to eat and see what we didn't manage to squeeze in our last trip. 

We stayed at Ibis Hotel. Got a harbour view room and read that we need to make sure the windows were not tinted. Got a short story about the room - first room was too hot with the aircon full blast, and decided to change room. Fortunately, we did and the second room was really cool with air con. Not a good service from Ibis initially though the room was clean and overall ok. 

Our hotel location was right next to "dried seafood street". We didn't realise it was next to our favourite dried seafood shop. So near and yet so far the last round trying to find the shop.  The view was good but we felt that we loved the YMCA view better. Not sure why. The YMCA view has lots of fond memories. Also could see the lights at 8pm I guess. 

We woke up earlier one day to explore the streets. My wife liked the smell of the dried seafood. Once we smelled the smell, we knew we were near the hotel haha - this was how we recognise our hotel when we "tram" back. Like a snoopy? Haha. The early morning saw shopkeepers preparing the seafood. Workers shifting baskets of stuff in and out. Policemen patrolling the street just like typical TVB shows. 

I read that some shops had purposely put their seafood out on the roads to dry and this affected the traffic flow. Interesting habit but would it affect the seafood that we were buying? 

We really saw some seafoods out in the streets doing suntan. Caught one such photo of a group of abalone. Wonder how it taste like when dried. My wife likes this photo as it is a pattern of abalone. Hmm, I used to play with patterns in my photo taking. But I didn't practise much nowadays. For me, I treasure the experiences in touring, and it doesn't matter if I didn't manage to capture it on my EOS 7D.

As it was Summer Days, it was really hot walking out the street. Couldn't bear the heat and have to go back bathe after a short walk. It was really hotter than Singapore. My wife didn't like to travel during summers, but I usually "forced" her to do so. This time, I lost my brown itinerary book - the Muji Book - and I was still trying to find it even till now. Glimpse of hope or it has been recycled?

Night Harbour View, IBIS Hotel

One night, I happened to be more energetic. While my wife was reading and surfing, I decided to play with my camera and night view. It has been a long time since I did so. Trying to trace the track of ships - some from cheung chau, some from macau - oh, forgot to mention Ibis is near to the HK-Macau Ferry terminal. A tram bus stop away only and it is a plus point for Ibis. 

I probably stayed at the windows trying to capture the view for about an hour? Playing with 7D and remembering the basics. It has been a long time. My passion for photography has not been as strong as before. It was however an enjoyable night photography in a way, hiding in the harbour view room with air con. Streets were quiet but there were still cars moving. Hong Kong Island was relatively quiet at night as compared to Kowloon. 

Quiet Hong Kong Island. Good night, Island. Good night, Ibis.