touring hong kong
Presenting to you Hong Kong, about eight months too late as I was there in July 2012. Please keep in mind I am not a professional tour guide and I have never lived in Hong Kong. This post is just a 'tour' of visuals and of all the things I did! It's not meant to be taken too seriously (I apologise if I make a few mistakes) but I hope you guys enjoy it. Took me a pretty long time to compile...
Day 1:
Hong Kong airport! We flew in from Singapore so it was a four hour flight. Not too bad but I dread plane rides, can never seem to fall asleep. Pictured above is dad taking photos of everything and anything.
First thing we did (after checking in - we stayed around Kowloon) was explore our surroundings! Hong Kong is bursting with energy and their traffic is completely hectic. Always in sight: a sea of taxis.
Sneaker Street/ Sports Shoe Street (Fa Yuen Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon)
Our first stop. See all the Adidas and Nike signs? This was my brother's favourite part of the trip. A street famous for their vast gathering of sports shoe (Puma, Reebok, Converse, Nike, Adidas, etc) and sportswear shops. You can find the latest, limited edition releases from all over the world at bargain prices. Typically open from 11:00am to 9:30pm.
Sai Yeung Choi Street
(Sai Yeung Choi Street, Yau Tsim Mong District, Kowloon, Hong Kong)
A mixture of everything crammed into streets. You can find apparel, digital gadgets, food, make-up, skincare, cameras, handphones, etc. Take your time going into the buildings to look for stuff you want! There are a few hidden clothing shops around.
Way too many people in the best way possible. I'm all about noise and getting squished body to body while penetrating through the crowd.
You've never lived until you've tried street-food. Many street snack stalls can be found around the city of Hong Kong (especially in the Tsim Sha Tsui and Yaumatei areas of Kowloon). I'm a massive fan of their squid tentacle and pig intestine (they're not 'ew', trust me) skewers. Stalls are open all hours of the day and a skewer costs around HKD5 (AUD $0.70) to HKD10.
Ladies Market
(Tung Choi Street, Hong Kong)
A tourist attraction so stall vendors won't give into negotiations easily, be careful as they tend to jack up more than half the price so make sure you bargain. Majority of the stalls sell female apparel and iPhone cases. I don't think I bought much from here, probably only a few accessories and a pair of jelly slippers because my creepers were hurting.
We got lost after wandering aimlessly so we flagged a cab to take us back to another part of 'Ladies Market'. Hong Kong taxis accomodate at most 5 people, unlike in Singapore and Australia that take 4 as a policy. Our baggage (we always bring out a wheely luggage) had to be put in the trunk so there was an additional charge (roughly HKD5 per piece regardless of size).
I love night markets! Most of the stalls are pretty repetitive but you can find really cool stuff like special lighters and fancy torches. We also tried seafood at a random street-stall but I didn't get the runs that night so all's OK.
We took a cab back to the hotel from the city and that concluded our hectic first day. Dad and mum actually went out to get more food from the night snack stalls but I forgot to photograph our meal (was too hungry).
Day 2:
We woke up early to explore food places and to look for breakfast. I popped by a candy shop for chocolate covered sunflower seeds. They're always a favourite!
My brother and I managed to demolish the mini tub in an hour... We then chanced upon a random restaurant and decided to try it out:
New Star Seafood Restaurant (新星海鮮酒家) (G/F-2/F, Mainway Court, 15-33 Kwong Wa Street, Mongkok)
I thought the dim-sun was wonderfully authentic! The staff don't speak English and there are no English menus (thank God for dad who is impressively multilingual). Fret not though, menus have pictures so ordering isn't that difficult.
Dim-sum is ridiculously cheap so dad's over-enthusiasm naturally resulted in over-ordering... We didn't end up finishing all our food (a first considering I am crazy about dim-sum and would never have thought I'd ever get sick of having too much). Anyway, we shared a table with some locals and dad spoke to them for a while. He comments that speaking to locals can help your trip a lot since they know about transport, places, etc.
My family insisted on taking the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway (MTR) so, we did. Trains on all lines start between 6:00am and stop past midnight to 2:00am if I'm not wrong. You can get a train every 2-3 minutes (unlike in Australia where you usually wait 15-45 minutes). Tickets can be purchased from either automated, English language machines inside the station or from a manned information desk.
Langham Place
(8 Argyle Street, Yau Tsim Mong District, Kowloon, Hong Kong)
We took the train here! It's a well-known location with small to big brands (Zara, Gap, H&M, Monki, Dior, Chanel, etc). There are 13 levels and the place is open till 10:30pm or so. If you're looking for bargains, this isn't the place to be at but it's worth a visit!
There's another famous local shopping mall called 'Allied Plaza' (760 Nathan Road, Prince Edward, Kowloon) not far from Langham which also stocks trendy apparel ranging from grunge to preppy to evening wear. Mostly female-wear but there are a handful selling male clothes.
Hui Lau Shan (Hong Kong's most popular and famous mango dessert restaurant)
A chain restaurant that you can spot everywhere! Definitely affordable and a must-try. Every opportunity to eat is always a good opportunity. We had the 'Mango Sampler Platter' which consisted of mango chunks and mango puree with glutinous rice balls (top left), mango mochi with sliced mango (top right), and mango ice-cream and mango bits (middle bottom).
The rest of the day was dedicated to shopping and dining out.
Day 3:
We return to 'New Star Seafood Restaurant' for dim-sum breakfast.
I have spent the past few hours racking my brain but I can't remember what exactly this dessert was. I'm sorry guys! It was yum, so I've included a photo anyway.
We were pretty keen on visiting 'The Peak'. We took the MTR to 'Central' and followed signages to the tram station (roughly 15min of walking).
Victoria Peak and the Peak Tram (1 Lugard Rd, Hong Kong)
Return tickets for the Peak Tram are priced at HKD65. Pretty sure we went on a weekend so there was a pretty long queue.
The ride up is approximately 10min long (it moves slowly for photo opportunities), extremely scenic nonetheless. There's not much to see, only the magnificent view.
Madame Tussauds Wax Museum Hong Kong
(Shop P101, The Peak Tower, 128 Peak Road, The Peak, Hong Kong)
We thought we had a bit of time to kill so we paid the wax museum a visit. It's pretty small but they have a few local and international celebrities like Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Barack Obama, Jay Chou, Adolf Hitler, Madonna, Lady Gaga, etc. Honestly, it was tediously boring so don't expect too much if you're planning a visit.
We walked everywhere. Best mode of 'transport' if you really want to see and explore Hong Kong on the move. Causeway Bay (East to Wanchai, West to Pak Kok, Hong Kong) is close to a heap of shopping locations; Times Square, Lane Crawford, Hysan Place, Sogo, World Trade Center and street markets are all available in the area.
Don't be afraid to step into alley markets. They're safe and usually stock a bigger variety of clothing styles!
The day I went blonde for the very first time (July 2012). Can't recall which salon this was! If anyone knows, drop me a comment and I'll update this space, hehe.
Last dinner of my trip! We had Japanese at... I don't even know (my parents can't remember either). Sorry again! Here are some photos though, in case anyone from Hong Kong recognises the menu...
We've come to the end! I know the post seems quite short but I've actually put a lot of time and effort into this so I hope it helps in some way. If not, that's fine too, I'll revisit and try to note down all the fantastic locations in the future.
I know we visited a few other destinations during our Hong Kong trip but I honestly can't remember the names. Would definitely share and add on to this if I recall more though. I might drop by Bangkok, Thailand in July so let me know if you'd like a tour post on that too!
Thank you everyone for reading anyway, you guys are my inspiration. xo
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