Tuesday, April 5, 2016

1881 Heritage :: former marine police headquarters

A gem of a find!


It was daddy's turn to choose a restaurant - and boy did he pick it! Taking the kids on the famed Star Ferry across the harbour to Kowloon side in TST...

first the MTR to Central

walking the bridge to Star Ferry

this girl loves her street musicians and always insists on offering them coins

all aboard! -- 10 minute ride across the harbour



cruise ship docked in TST - whoa dude! - later in the news for outbreak of norovirus. bummer.


Then a 3 minute walk to this heritage site preserving history. From a time when horses were the mode of transport and a mechanical ball-drop was the way they kept track of time. An obvious relic of British rule. Surrounded, now, by glitzy skyscrapers and high-end brands.




Marine police were headquartered here until 1996. Pirates and smugglers were held inside cells here. Pigeons were kept in coops and used as message bearers to ships (so Harry Potter!). The time-ball-drop, visible from the sea, was used by captains who needed to recalibrate their time keeping aboard their ships. And this is the site where the official typhoon warnings were hoisted. Large metal shapes depicting the different warning signals. The symbols for these signals are still used today and show up as auto-alerts on my cell phone.



i wonder what this view looked like back in the day... was the shoreline closer? 

always a photo-opp prop when in Asia 


Now host to numerous shops, bars & restaurants... we ate at a restaurant housed in the old horse stables - and it was spectacularly delicious!! A great place for kids early in the evening or date night later. Impeccable service, tasty food, and the air of times past. Yes, please!

gorgeous journey back hong-kong-island-side

1 comment:

  1. Nice one Tiff! That old building is so much more elegant and has so much more character than those modern glitzy ones, isn't it? Great contrast shots :)

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