Another public holiday weekend meant of course we were getting on a flight to check out yet another city. This time we head to Hong Kong, widely referred to as "Singapore on crack".
After crying my eyes out whilst watching "me before you" (as good as the book!) and stuffing my face with Haagen Dazs ice cream, we landed in Hong Kong early evening. We had the option of taking a taxi or the airport express to our hotel and opted for the Express. A friend had advised Neil to download an app called Klook, from which we purchased our airport express tickets at a slightly discounted rate. The Express took us right from the airport to Hong Kong & Central Station (the two are adjoined). If staying on the Kowloon side, this service can still be used but alight one stop earlier.
As we got down to the main MTR station, we realised the machine didn't take large notes or dispense Octopus cards (similar to Oyster or MRT cards). So we head back up to the customer service desk which was right outside the airport express. Here we purchased an Octopus card each, which required a minimum of HKD $100 plus $50 deposit. It's worth noting that once you're finished with it, you can cash it back in at the airport on your way home, which makes it the best and cheapest way of travelling around Hong Kong. After our ups and downs we managed to hop on the MTR one stop to Cheng Wan, where we stayed at the iClub hotel.
Location wise it was ideal, specifically if one wanted to be close to the citylife. After dropping our bags and freshening up, we decided to wander the area and we ended up grabbing a slice of pizza (typical) on Hollywood Road and walking into what can only aptly be described as Singapore on crack. The area, LKF & Soho was insane. I almost felt like I had stumbled upon the strip in Magaluf, but with an older crowd. Everyone was dressed to the nines, dancing, drinking and smoking in every corner. Tired from our journey, we decided to pull up a pew at a local sheesha bar and people watch. It quickly became apparent that a Friday night in Hong Kong is similar to a Friday night in London. Drinking everything in sight and forgetting the working week, seemed to be the theme. This surprised me a little as I had pictured Hong Kong being similar to Singapore more so than London, but my whole opinion on that has rotated. After a couple of hours, and seeing so many people passed out on tables around us, we decided to call it a night and walked back to our hotel.
Whilst there isn't a ton to do in Hong Kong other than eat and drink, there were a couple of things we wanted to check out whilst there. Our first stop was to Tian Tan, otherwise known as the Big Buddha. To get there we just hopped on the MTR to the closest station (Tung Chung) and as appears to be popular in Asian destinations, the method of reaching the big Buddha was via a cable car. The view along the way is said to be stunning, however we happened to get caught in a rainstorm and could barely make out the Buddha through the droplets of rain on the cable car. However, for a ticket costing HKD $255 return we were transported to a little town in the clouds.
There was also an option to trek to the top, and if you look way way way down to the ground, you could make out ant-like people climbing up. This would have been great training for our Borneo climb, but it was a) raining buckets and b) we’re lazy. The big Buddha is at the top of a series of steps, and whilst the walk wasn't exactly the most strenuous, I was huffing a bit by the time I reached the top. There is an option to have a vegetarian meal at the top, which can be pre-purchased from the bottom, but having already eaten, we decided against it, and just walked around the Buddha and head back down. Like many statues, the view was better from afar, and in all honesty, I would probably advise on saving yourself the time of taking the steps to the top, unless you are dining there.
There is also the Po Lin Monastery, where many people were buying incense and lighting them in various sections of the monastery. The whole place was beautiful and very tranquil. In this little town there were lots of restaurants and gift shops too, and I could easily imagine spending a day there pottering about, and maybe had it not been for the rain, we would have.
On our way back we thought we would pick up a snack and try a little local cuisine. More than one person had advised us to try Tim Ho Wan, a very popular dim sum restaurant which also had earned itself a Michelin star. There are several branches, but as we had to go via Central to get back to our hotel, we decided to visit the one in this station. We struggled quite a lot in finding it initially, mainly because we were going up and down the wrong escalators and getting lost in shopping centres but just as we were about to give up, we stumbled upon it, and boy was it worth it. Their signature dish is the pulled pork buns, and we also had the vegetarian dumplings. The flavours in everything were amazing, and it was the perfect little snack to keep our energy levels high.
Neil and I are known for our afternoon naps, particularly in city breaks, so following our mini feast at Tim Ho Wan, we had a nap, and then freshened up before heading on our "big Saturday night" in LKF ("" because we're officially too old now to do typical big nights). As we were walking down, we bumped into a friend of Neil's who made a couple of recommendations on where to watch the football (unfortunately for me, the English Premier League has recommenced, and that night was to be the Manchester Derby) and a couple of good bars to check out.
As we had a bit of time to kill before kick off, we went to a hidden gem called Stockton. Honestly speaking this has got to be my favourite bar in Asia so far. It vibes of a 1920's Prohibition bar, not only because it was hidden down a passage, but also because of the decor and the multitude of cocktails available.
I decided to go for a cinnamon and apple based drink called "Ribston Apple" and it was the best thing I have ever tried. It genuinely was like Christmas in my mouth, and will be something I attempt to recreate this year for my first Christmas in Singapore! After finishing every drop of my delicious drink and paying (a rather steep) bill, we made our way to RulaBula right in the midst of the LKF action. A goal or two in (for the opposing team, you can imagine how that went down...) our friends from Singapore (the ShahShahShah's for future reference), who were also in town came to join us. We maximised on the bar's happy hour (one we hadn't realised they had) and then went to grab some food at a Thai restaurant called Cafe Siam. The food was incredible, so much variety and huge portions, plus the best and varied flavours across the 5 or 6 dishes we ordered.
After dinner, we stumbled upon a bar/restaurant called Jinjuu, and as my name sake (and the fact that yet another EPL game was on) we went in for a drink. Well, actually a shot. My trip to the UK in August had seen me exposed to an app called boomerang (replacing my obsession with dubsmash), so I roped Neil and the ShahShahShah's into doing a few. We're still undecided if the girls or the boys one was better...
The game ended swiftly with us downing our patron and we decided to hit a Gin bar called Origin, mainly because 75% of the group are keen gin drinkers. However due to the time of the evening, it was packed and we decided to go back to our new favourite bar, Stockton. Here, everyone appreciated the taste of Christmas, Neil played hero by finding a lost phone and we were chased after as someone else had forgotten to pay the bill.
Given sheesha is now banned in Singapore, there felt an unnecessary urge to make sure we maximised on the legality of it in Hong Kong. We went to a place called Aladdin, who's host was an Indian Elvis Presley, with the most incredible Afro and side burns I have ever been fortunate enough to see. Inevitably, the night ended with us in a club, after Neil's friend from earlier gave us a call to join him. So what we had expected to be a more casual evening of dinner and drinks actually did turn out to be relatively big. I blame being in LKF.
The next morning we arose a little starry eyed, and rushed to get ourselves ready and back down to Central station so we make our way to Victoria’s Peak. The most popular and scenic route is via the Peak Tram. The queue was a little long, but we made our way to the front within about 30minutes. There are varying package options, including entrance into Madame Tussads (of course there is one in Hong Kong) but we opted just for the Peak Tram & Sky Terrace 428 option at HKD $88 per person.
We were squeezed onto a jampacked tram, and transported up a very steep hill to Victoria’s Peak… which essentially was a shopping centre. Shopping in the clouds for anything and everything you could imagine. Weirdly, this took away the touristy vibe, and make it seem like just in any other mall rather than a huge tourist attraction.
We rode the windy escalators up four levels to make it to the Sky Terrace. An audio guide is available to talk you around the Hong Kong skyline, but the view itself spoke volumes and we just wandered around in the blazing heat, taking as many eye squinting photos as possible. It genuinely looked like a painting. The view was definitely worth the traipsing around a shopping centre (and not buying anything – gold sticker please), before we head all the way back down, via a less packed tram to find some good food.
We ended up at Xia Fei Society Shanghainese Cuisine, where despite me not feeling very hungry, I managed to try so many different dim sum items, all of which I loved, that soon I forgot I wasn’t hungry and instead ate like I wasn’t going to get a chance again. I wish I could list everything, but I would opt for asking for their recommendations and having a taster of a variety of items!
There was a temple that I was keen to see called Man Mo, relatively close to our hotel, and pictures I had seen online looked beautiful, so after food, I forced everyone to go home via the temple. When we stumbled (quite literally) upon it, I realised we had been walking past it every day, and whilst the temple was there, it was hidden amidst a construction site. Regardless we went in, paid our respects by banging on a huge steel drum, walking around the incense filled room and admiring the lanterns.
That evening we planned on making our way over to Kowloon to watch the Hong Kong Light Show. As we were staying on the Hong Kong side we took the Star Ferry from Central Pier over to Tsim Sha Tsui Pier. Our research told us that the best place to watch the light show was by the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. We rocked up nice and early (after misleading information told us the show would start at 7.45pm rather than the actual 8pm) and got front row seats. I had been told on more than one occasion that the Hong Kong light show is ten times better than the Singapore MBS version, so I was really looking forward to it! Then it started. And… let me just say, it was possibly the most disappointing thing I have ever seen. A few coloured lights flashing up and down a few buildings, in an honestly, very mediocre way. I actually prefer the MBS light show, so to all those who told me HK beat Singapore on that… I wholeheartedly disagree… the view was nice though!
So the viewing population was so big, that we decided to meet our friends at the Peninsula (a word I unfortunately cannot pronounce…) and the foyer itself was just immense! Whilst gaping in awe, we made plans to go to the ladies night market and grab some dinner along the way. Now unfortunately, the disappointing lightshow had actually consumed a lot of our evening and the market was due to close at 11pm. It was already 9pm, so we decided to grab food close by at the Peking Duck, in the Alexandra Shopping centre. This was actually quite a fancy restaurant and after ordering the namesake dish (and a few other items) we were surprised to find plate after plate coming to our tables. Convinced we were accidently receiving someone else’s order, we advised the waiter, who told us we had actually ordered the three course Peking Duck meal #whoops! Having said that, a) it was finished and b) it was ridiculously cheap!
After our speedy gonzalos but very good dinner (4/5, lost a point for average-poor service), we head back out to the market, only to find that the rainfall had hit, and we were of course left umbrella-less. We made a run for it, reached the market, ready to splurge, only to find half the stall were already shut, or were closing, due to the rain. We half-heartedly walked around the market, possibly a little caught up in nattering… and to the boys delight, we decided to call it, with nil purchases and head to our final Hong Kong destination for this trip, Ozone Bar. Sold as the highest bar in the world (note: 1-Altitude in Singapore is the world’s highest Alfresco bar, as this is a debate we had on the night), it is for sure not one for those who suffer from acrophobia and sits atop the Ritz Carlton hotel. The weather meant that the outdoor area was closed off, but that didn’t stop us from gawping at the view, which was even more beautiful than that at Victoria Peak, as the city had lit itself up and gave the evening an element of specialness. As this was our last stop before our flight back the next morning, it seemed so apt to sit, appreciate and sip our drinks of choice (incredible and HUGE g’n’t for me!)
Final thoughts on HK
Now, I am actually really unadventurous with food, meaning I can go all the way to Hong Kong and happily eat pizza and pastas all day. Thereby Neil also rarely gets the option of trying the local cuisine. One huge element of this break, was the variance of foods we tried, which was it not for the ShahShahShah’s refusing to take me to Pizza Express, would not have happened. My palette was definitely introduced to many more flavours, and has opened up my narrow minded food options, which was a challenge and a half, but achieved (medal in the post).
Hong Kong had everything. Whilst we may not have ventured much in the few days we had there, you just know the city has so much to offer. It was constantly alive with so much to see and do. It’s a melting pot of cultures, colours and tastes. Hong Kong, I have only scratched the surface, and will definitely be back!
