I was undecided if it's worth the trouble to catch "A Symphony of Lights" when I was in Hong Kong as a similar one in Singapore, near Marina Bay Sands, was a letdown.
However, Panda Hotel offered complimentary shuttle service towards Tsim Sha Tsui and I am a sucker when it comes to free things! Hence, we arrived about 8 minutes before the show started. If you are meeting friends, the Former Kowloon-Canton Railway Clock Tower is a perfect landmark for a meetup!
The immense crowd at the elevated platform; guess it would be difficult for me to squeeze all the way to the front for a good spot and time was running out!
Frankly, I have always felt that Singapore's skyline was the most beautiful but Hong Kong's one was way more impressive, especially with the hill behind that's dotted with random, sporadic illumination.
Found a spot at the back; I figured that since I would get a lot of photobombs in my photographs, it's preferable to get them in smaller forms as most people, in usual circumstances, would rush towards the front.
That towering, phallic-shaped building is the International Finance Centre; it was the tallest building in Hong Kong at 415 meters before it was overtaken by the International Commerce Centre in Year 2010.
When it comes to checking out Hong Kong's sprawling skyline, visitors would flock to the peak. See that red arrow? That's the location of the Peak Tower; not exactly peak peak but good enough as an observation platform.
Start of the light and sound show!
With 42 participating buildings, the 10-minute show with five major scenes is mesmerizing and, no doubt, better than the one in Singapore! To be fair, it had been a while since I last checked out the "Spectra - A Light & Water Show" at Marina Bay Sands.
Held nightly at 8pm, this free show would be suspended in events of emergencies / "when Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal No.3 or above or Red/Black Rainstorm Warning Signal is issued at or after 3pm on the show day".
Just a video snippet of the light and sound show we watched that day!
Visitors continued to stay to take photographs after the end of the show. I recalled doing the same in 1997 but at that time; no light and sound show and definitely lesser skyscrapers.
The International Finance Centre actually has an unofficial observation deck on the 55th floor which is nowhere near its top 88th floor. If you wish to soak in the skyline of Kowloon, the peak would be the better choice.
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre; even though it's not on the same level of fame as its Sydney cousin, it had served as the backdrop for quite a number of movies, including Transformers: Age of Extinction.
A decent photo of Alex without photobombs! While phone cameras have made it easier for people to take pictures; the problem is that some enthusiastic homo-sapiens have the tendency to take again and again at the same spot using different poses! That's bloody inconsiderate!
Again, a panorama of the city's skyline for Hong Kong Island.
Signaling the start of the Avenue of Stars from the Salisbury Garden end, this statute is actually "a 4.5-meter-tall replica of the statuette given to winners at the Hong Kong Film Awards"! Ending the post with a regret, we didn't manage to check out the Avenue of Stars at all. :(
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Starting Time
8pm, daily.
Website
For the summary of my seven days' itinerary to Hong Kong (with a day trip to Shenzhen), please click here.