Here in the Hong Kong Metro Area .. in my humble opinion .. is one of the world's finest underground subway systems. It is known simply as The MTR. I believe that there are currently twelve (12) individual subway lines in the MTR system with more being constructed as I write!
I specifically say the Hong Kong Metro Area because the word Hong Kong can also mean .. The City of Hong Kong and The Island of Hong Kong.
The greater Hong Kong Metro Area encompasses many cities .. such as The City of Kowloon .. and many districts and broad areas such as The New Territories.
In this Post I will show you a few photographs of The MTR.
So bring your popcorn sports fans and poets here we go!
The Hong Kong Metro Area MTR has its very own distinct symbol ..
When you see the below symbol .. the MTR is close-by!
IF it is necessary .. please forgive me .. but in the upper left corner of the above photograph you can see a glimpse of yet another Hong Kong high-rise building. So I decided to 'sneak-in-here' a photo of that building.
The above photo was snapped in Kowloon off Chatham Road South at Mody Road which is very close to one of my 'homes-away-from-home' the HOMY INN in the Union Mansion.
Now back to the MTR symbol.
Day above and Night below..
How about the large prominent MTR symbol on the side of the below building!
By the way .. the Apple Store shown below has to be the largest Apple Store that I have ever seen and visited!
Now I will show you just a few of the hundreds of street level entryways that will lead one down into the MTR which is underground.
The below entryway is MY home MTR entryway. When I am at the Union Mansion I am in and out and up and down this specific MTR entryway located on Mody Road at Chatham Road South.
OK it is time to go underground and see what the MTR looks like down where the rubber-meets-the-road.
As you would expect .. there are many users of the MTR!
Ah-h-h-h Captain? .. Have you any more vast UNDERSTATEMENTS to go with the above one? You could say there are tens of thousands of users daily on the MTR. Maybe one hundred thousand daily users.
Below we are approaching one of the moving walkways.
Do you recognize Patti in the lower left in the two photos below? We are about to step onto the moving walkway.
The green arrow and the red X in the above photos make it pretty clear as to which side of the moving walkway you are to step onto!
I am showing you the moving walkways because they are an important part of the enormous people-moving-system that is the MTR. Plus they save handicapped people many many steps.
And .. as nice as they are .. they only go so far. Then it is time to face the crowd and to mix and mingle with the crowd!
Forgive me .. but I just so enjoy the Mandarin characters. How very complex those below are. I cannot imagine writing a long letter using them.
It gets pretty intense at the entry gates. Do you all see a few people?
Below are photos of one of the service centers.
IF you are in Hong Kong .. it is pretty much a necessity to have an Octopus Card. An Octopus Card is a cash pre-loaded card that is spendable in a myriad of locations .. from the MTR to your local grocery store to your convenience store to your fast food restaurants .. etc!
You give cash to pre-load your Octobpus Card at 7-11 and other convenience stores as well as in the MTR at service centers like this one shown above and below as well as at other locations.
Now you all are going to join me on an actual trip that I took just this morning.
I don't want to insult anyone's intelligence here but .. unless you are just riding-for-the-joy-of-riding .. and I do this often to simply explore the MTR .. the first step in your trip is that (1) you must know where you want to go and then (2) you must know which of the MTR Routes upon which you need to board a train.
On my trip I wanted to go from The Admiralty MTR Station on Hong Kong Island over to The Tsim Sha Tsui Station in Kowloon across Victoria Harbor.
The below sign simply tells me to go down the stairs in order to get to the entry gates leading to the train platforms.
Now through the entry gates to get to the trains.
Time to take a little walk to the train platform.
YES! There are Route Maps in each MTR Station ..
YES! There are Route Maps inside of each and inside of every MTR coach.
Isn't it something. Above you see an illuminated arrow showing where you just came from and in which direction you are going and what the next MTR Station is. I am on a RED LINE train.
As I said above .. I was heading from Admiralty to Tsim Sha Tsui.
To do this I had to board the RED LINE. As we have in the United States .. a subway route is defined by the stations at each end of a particular MTR route.
One end of the Red Line is The Tsuen Wan Station and the other end of the Red Line is The Central Station.
And I know that to go from Admiralty to Tsim Sha Tsui I MUST head in the Tsuen Wan Station direction.
The Red Dot indicates the RED LINE. The below sign was upstairs pointing in which direction I needed to go.
Still upstairs the below sign again directed me to my RED LINE and others to their BLUE LINE !
Below the on-the-platform Route Map and the arrow above the route map showed me where to board my train.
I imagine that .. if you would let them do it .. the Mandarin characters could overwhelm a visitor. I just smile and admire them ..
AND wait for the signs to switch to English! Below on the lower right edge of the photo is a route map on the platform above the train entry doors.
Below is a closer view of the route map I mention above. I was IN Admiralty (the black box) and going to the right to Tsim Sha Tsui.
I am where I want to be!
PATTI ! Do you see THE PHANTOM is coming to Hong Kong!
My train is due in two minutes.
And we are NOW on the train. The crowd at 6:30AM this morning was not too bad! I have experienced much more intense crowds than this on the MTR!
The Party's over .. Time to call it a day!
I shot the above photo at the end of the line in the Central MTR station. You can see how immaculate the cars are. Not one hint of graffiti!
Our ride was quick. We just went to the next MTR station and we are now where we wanted to go.
Oh go ahead Captain! Say it again Captain! You are with friends here Captain! .. I love the Mandarin characters.
OK .. We are back in Tsim Sha Tsui and we will now leave the MTR Station.
In addition to all of the information signs I showed you above that relate to you finding the proper train to board .. each MTR Station has a myriad of maps of the station itself!
The MTR Stations are ENORMOUS in size. And if you take a moment to study the above station map .. you will quickly see that the stations themselves are very complex.
Here we go .. we are leaving the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR Station.
And this is our exit. Don't you love the Mandarin characters.
We are going to take the escalator up two floor levels to the street.
We have come up one level .. and have one more to go.
On the right edge of the above photo you see the below super market.
Up we go to the street level.
Out we come (above) and we turn left and VOILA! Do you all realize what we are looking at below?
Today 'Home' is the ChungKing Mansion on Nathan Road in Kowloon.
It was dark and rainy this morning when I came back from Admiralty on Hong Kong Island so I will slip in a nice weather photo of the ChungKing Mansion that I have showed you before.
Below is where I enter the elevator up to the 16th Floor.
I could do a photo shoot of the below sign! I am absolutely serious.
We are home to my room here in the ChungKing Mansion.
Now I am going to write some post cards.
But first my breakfast! Instant noodles and peanut butter!
Oh Captain Our Captain! You had us all believing that all you ever eat in Hong Kong are Singapore Rice Noodles!
Oh Captain Our Captain! What are we all to believe now!
Believe this! With my Health and with my Money and having the GUTS to do what I believe .. with discernment .. God is calling me to do ..
That being to share my joy with all of you .. the Sky IS The Limit!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING ME ON A TRIP ON HONG KONG'S MTR!
It truly is humbling to realize that many if not most of you will never have the opportunity that I have to do what I love to do!
Smiles .. Cap
I can't believe that five days have passed since my last Post here on Blogspot!
Deep breath Captain .. Now let it out slowly and gently but firmly press Publish!
I specifically say the Hong Kong Metro Area because the word Hong Kong can also mean .. The City of Hong Kong and The Island of Hong Kong.
The greater Hong Kong Metro Area encompasses many cities .. such as The City of Kowloon .. and many districts and broad areas such as The New Territories.
In this Post I will show you a few photographs of The MTR.
So bring your popcorn sports fans and poets here we go!
The Hong Kong Metro Area MTR has its very own distinct symbol ..
When you see the below symbol .. the MTR is close-by!
IF it is necessary .. please forgive me .. but in the upper left corner of the above photograph you can see a glimpse of yet another Hong Kong high-rise building. So I decided to 'sneak-in-here' a photo of that building.
The above photo was snapped in Kowloon off Chatham Road South at Mody Road which is very close to one of my 'homes-away-from-home' the HOMY INN in the Union Mansion.
Now back to the MTR symbol.
Day above and Night below..
How about the large prominent MTR symbol on the side of the below building!
By the way .. the Apple Store shown below has to be the largest Apple Store that I have ever seen and visited!
The below entryway is MY home MTR entryway. When I am at the Union Mansion I am in and out and up and down this specific MTR entryway located on Mody Road at Chatham Road South.
OK it is time to go underground and see what the MTR looks like down where the rubber-meets-the-road.
As you would expect .. there are many users of the MTR!
Ah-h-h-h Captain? .. Have you any more vast UNDERSTATEMENTS to go with the above one? You could say there are tens of thousands of users daily on the MTR. Maybe one hundred thousand daily users.
Below we are approaching one of the moving walkways.
Do you recognize Patti in the lower left in the two photos below? We are about to step onto the moving walkway.
The green arrow and the red X in the above photos make it pretty clear as to which side of the moving walkway you are to step onto!
I am showing you the moving walkways because they are an important part of the enormous people-moving-system that is the MTR. Plus they save handicapped people many many steps.
And .. as nice as they are .. they only go so far. Then it is time to face the crowd and to mix and mingle with the crowd!
Forgive me .. but I just so enjoy the Mandarin characters. How very complex those below are. I cannot imagine writing a long letter using them.
It gets pretty intense at the entry gates. Do you all see a few people?
Below are photos of one of the service centers.
IF you are in Hong Kong .. it is pretty much a necessity to have an Octopus Card. An Octopus Card is a cash pre-loaded card that is spendable in a myriad of locations .. from the MTR to your local grocery store to your convenience store to your fast food restaurants .. etc!
You give cash to pre-load your Octobpus Card at 7-11 and other convenience stores as well as in the MTR at service centers like this one shown above and below as well as at other locations.
Now you all are going to join me on an actual trip that I took just this morning.
I don't want to insult anyone's intelligence here but .. unless you are just riding-for-the-joy-of-riding .. and I do this often to simply explore the MTR .. the first step in your trip is that (1) you must know where you want to go and then (2) you must know which of the MTR Routes upon which you need to board a train.
On my trip I wanted to go from The Admiralty MTR Station on Hong Kong Island over to The Tsim Sha Tsui Station in Kowloon across Victoria Harbor.
The below sign simply tells me to go down the stairs in order to get to the entry gates leading to the train platforms.
Time to take a little walk to the train platform.
YES! There are Route Maps in each MTR Station ..
YES! There are Route Maps inside of each and inside of every MTR coach.
Isn't it something. Above you see an illuminated arrow showing where you just came from and in which direction you are going and what the next MTR Station is. I am on a RED LINE train.
As I said above .. I was heading from Admiralty to Tsim Sha Tsui.
To do this I had to board the RED LINE. As we have in the United States .. a subway route is defined by the stations at each end of a particular MTR route.
One end of the Red Line is The Tsuen Wan Station and the other end of the Red Line is The Central Station.
And I know that to go from Admiralty to Tsim Sha Tsui I MUST head in the Tsuen Wan Station direction.
The Red Dot indicates the RED LINE. The below sign was upstairs pointing in which direction I needed to go.
Still upstairs the below sign again directed me to my RED LINE and others to their BLUE LINE !
Below the on-the-platform Route Map and the arrow above the route map showed me where to board my train.
I imagine that .. if you would let them do it .. the Mandarin characters could overwhelm a visitor. I just smile and admire them ..
AND wait for the signs to switch to English! Below on the lower right edge of the photo is a route map on the platform above the train entry doors.
Below is a closer view of the route map I mention above. I was IN Admiralty (the black box) and going to the right to Tsim Sha Tsui.
I am where I want to be!
PATTI ! Do you see THE PHANTOM is coming to Hong Kong!
My train is due in two minutes.
The Party's over .. Time to call it a day!
I shot the above photo at the end of the line in the Central MTR station. You can see how immaculate the cars are. Not one hint of graffiti!
Our ride was quick. We just went to the next MTR station and we are now where we wanted to go.
Oh go ahead Captain! Say it again Captain! You are with friends here Captain! .. I love the Mandarin characters.
OK .. We are back in Tsim Sha Tsui and we will now leave the MTR Station.
In addition to all of the information signs I showed you above that relate to you finding the proper train to board .. each MTR Station has a myriad of maps of the station itself!
The MTR Stations are ENORMOUS in size. And if you take a moment to study the above station map .. you will quickly see that the stations themselves are very complex.
Here we go .. we are leaving the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR Station.
And this is our exit. Don't you love the Mandarin characters.
We are going to take the escalator up two floor levels to the street.
We have come up one level .. and have one more to go.
On the right edge of the above photo you see the below super market.
Up we go to the street level.
Out we come (above) and we turn left and VOILA! Do you all realize what we are looking at below?
Today 'Home' is the ChungKing Mansion on Nathan Road in Kowloon.
It was dark and rainy this morning when I came back from Admiralty on Hong Kong Island so I will slip in a nice weather photo of the ChungKing Mansion that I have showed you before.
Below is where I enter the elevator up to the 16th Floor.
I could do a photo shoot of the below sign! I am absolutely serious.
We are home to my room here in the ChungKing Mansion.
Now I am going to write some post cards.
But first my breakfast! Instant noodles and peanut butter!
Oh Captain Our Captain! You had us all believing that all you ever eat in Hong Kong are Singapore Rice Noodles!
Oh Captain Our Captain! What are we all to believe now!
Believe this! With my Health and with my Money and having the GUTS to do what I believe .. with discernment .. God is calling me to do ..
That being to share my joy with all of you .. the Sky IS The Limit!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING ME ON A TRIP ON HONG KONG'S MTR!
It truly is humbling to realize that many if not most of you will never have the opportunity that I have to do what I love to do!
Smiles .. Cap
I can't believe that five days have passed since my last Post here on Blogspot!
Deep breath Captain .. Now let it out slowly and gently but firmly press Publish!
I enjoyed the MTR trip from the Admiralty MTR station on Hong Kong Island to the Tsim Sha Tsui station in Kowloon across Victoria Harbor. I can't imagine what travel would be like above ground if there was no MTR underground transit system.
ReplyDeleteCan you translate any of the mandarin characters? I'd love to know if each intricate symbol stands for a single letter or word or sentence. They are so complex, they must represent more than a letter (or am I wrong)?
You are very thorough as are the MTR signs!!!
Shaddy I do NOT know about the Mandarin characters. I FULLY BELIEVE that many .. and perhaps most but I can't say for sure .. that many stand for one thing .. such as a building .. a lake .. a river .. etc. BUT I just don't know. We spell out the word L A K E .. they may just have one Mandarin character for a lake. I would just love to get into it but don't know when or if. NO I can NOT translate so much as one single character Shaddy.
DeleteSmiles .. Cap ..
If there was no MTR underground transit system, thousands of people would be crowding onto the fleet of Star Ferries that go back and forth across Victoria Harbor day and night. Putting the MTR underground UNDER Victoria had to be a mind-boggling project! And, opened a whole new world of transit from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon. I feel fortunate to have been there with you Cap!! Love, Patti
ReplyDeleteMy mere words here can in NO WAY express my gratitude for the fact that you were willing to and that you did come here with me. Because you were actually here YOU KNOW of what I write and photograph. You are so right about the MTR construction. I have done some tunnels and tunnels can be very difficult and dangerous.. Much Love .. Cap ..
DeleteHaving just re-read this post once again, YES I do see the sign saying Phantom of the Opera is coming to Hong Kong. I remember seeing that in the MTR when I was there with you! Smiles and hugs. Patti
ReplyDeleteThe Phantom IS our stage play. Love .. Cap .. San Francisco .. London .. New York City ..
DeleteYou would love exploring the Moscow subway. The underground stations are beautiful. They were built in Stalin's era when beauty and art were ascendant, not like the Khrushchev-era construction.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting about the Stalin Era and art. I had no idea he was interested in art and beauty. Your travels amaze me. Smiles .. Cap ..
DeleteNext time you're eating Singapore noodles, check the "scene" menu on your camera and see if you don't have a setting for food. It's a knife and fork. It will give you the option of adjusting for truer color.
ReplyDeleteI will have to look into this with my camera. Singapore Rice Noodles are very yellowish in color because of the curry used in their preparation. Thanks for the idea .. I will check it out .. Cap
Delete