Two Thursdays ago (Nov. 10) my friend Ben and I, after realizing we had been doing a bunch of stuff in Hong Kong that was not so mainstream, decided to something super touristy with our Thursday afternoon and thus “Touristy Thursday” was born.

Side note: Thursday is the start of my weekend, so naturally I enjoy going to do something fun to kick off my few days of freedom.

This past Thursday, Nov. 17, Touristy Thursday continued. Initially some friends and I tried to take the peak tram to the top of Victoria Peak to watch the sunset, but we underestimated how touristy Victoria Peak is and didn’t want to wait in the over hour long queue and miss the sun set. Some of my friends decided to go shopping, but I was determined to keep Touristy Thursday alive.

Ben and I decided to do a very touristy thing and take a ride on the Hong Observation Wheel. Located between Central piers 9 and 10, the Hong Kong Observation Wheel is a 60m (197 ft) tall Ferris wheel on the Hong Kong waterfront. Before riding the wheel I had heard mixed reviews. Some say it is overpriced and not very fun, others told me that they really enjoyed the ride and the view from the wheel. After shelling out $70 HKD ($10 USD) for a ride — this was the student ticket price, adult tickets are $100 HKD ($13 USD) — I was ready to judge the ride for myself. Our ride was about 15 minutes and went around about 4 times. I really enjoyed the comfy cabins, beautiful view of the Hong Kong skyline, and the ride overall. We went just before sunset so the light was beautiful and reflected against some of the windows making Hong Kong glow. It was a little expensive for what it was (as is everything touristy) but both Ben and I agreed that it was a fun way to pass the time.

Tip: If you go at a non peak time / not on the weekend you can get a cabin all to yourself and not have to pay extra for a private cabin

The only picture I took was for snapchat...so this is what you get folks

Touristy Thursday continued with a ride across Victoria Harbor on the Star Ferry (also located at the Central piers). In Tsim Sha Tsui we decided to end our Touristy Thursday by getting dessert at one of Hong Kong’s most popular, if not it’s most popular, dessert place Via Tokyo. Via Tokyo is known for their soft serve ice cream desserts, especially their matcha ice cream, served either to go in a cone or you can sit inside and get a bowl with mochi, azuki/red bean, and other yummy Asian goodies. Warning on Wednesday’s they “reserve” one of their flavors meaning it will not be available. Ben and I both decided to get ice cream cones with Match and Sweet Cream. Holy delicious!!! I understand what all the hype is about. My ice cream was so creamy, tasted strongly of matcha, and was just perfect. Via Tokyo is a bit pricey, we paid about $35 each for a cone, but probably the best ice cream I’ve had in Hong Kong.

Thus Touristy Thursday ended, although we did try to continue by eating shrimp wonton soup at Mak’s noodles but when we arrived they were closed. Guess Mak’s will be for another Thursday. Look out later this week for a recap of Touristy Thursday Nov. 10 edition and next week there will be a special edition of Touristy Thursday.