Hong Kong
End of next week I'm off to Hong Kong.
Have you been?
What are the five most unmissable things, in your opinion? I am, of course, reading and planning but tell me.
I'll be there four whole days, and am flying in on the 12th and out on the 17th, if anyone is going to be around and would like to meet up for a beer or some dim sum?
posted by Jo at 23:19
5 Comments:
5 most unmissable things (I hope you still have my restaurant recs):
1. Crossing Victoria Harbour on the Star Ferry. Make sure you do this as often as possible. At night. During the day. Upper Deck. Lower Deck. Going both ways.
2. Victoria Peak. At night - hopefully it's clear. If it is - it's the best city view anywhere in the world. I will not argue about this.
3. Dim Sum. Yeah - HK is a great eating city for everything - but at it's heart, it's a Cantonese city, and nothing says Cantonese like a dim sum meal.
4. Shopping - honestly, I don't understand all the people who go to HK and say "I don't want to shop" Even if you don't buy anything - shopping is the lifeblood of HK. Go from the really expensive ritzy stores of Pacific Place to the trendy sections of Mongkok and Causeway Bay to the street/night markets of Stanley, Mongkok (Ladies Market) and Temple Street.
5. High tea at either the Peninsula or the Mandarin Oriental. I don't recommend this for people on a budget, or dressed in fishermen's pants - but you want to act like a colonial once in your life, right? I actually like the scones at the Mandarin better, but high tea at the Peninsula is high tea at the Peninsula.
TSkillet
9:28 am
Beastie's top tips:
The harbour ferry is the best way you can spend 20p. Worth doing several times a day.
If you want to feel healthy, Kosmos Cafe on Hong Kong Island, somewhere behind Marks and Sparks has delicious healthy food, smoothies and chatty staff. Not Chinese, but very tasty.
The toilets at the very top of the Peninsula Hotel have to be seen to be believed. You have to go up in a special lift to get to the really fancy bar up there. The bar itself is a bit intimidating and not that nice, but a trip to the loo is well worth it.
If you have time, get a ferry to Lamma Island. Once there, a 20-minute walk will take you over hills overlooking the sea to a beautiful beach. A further 20 minutes or so takes you to another lovely beach. Timorous Beast and I had the entire beach to ourselves when we went. After Tokyo, it's wonderful to see greenery, feel sand in your toes and hear silence.
Bon Voyage.
1:13 pm
Okay, I'm back. I just wrote an email to another person I know visiting HK for the first time. Here's what I wrote to him:
Alright stuff to do, see and eat in Hong Kong:
do: get the map from the HKTA at the airport, get an octopus card.
make sure that you take as many forms of transport as possible during
your time in Hong Kong - MTR, KCR, Airport Express, Tram, Double
Decker bus (especially the top front seat), Star Ferry (both decks),
cab and if you're brave enough mini bus don't forget the escalator.
by the time you're in HK, you may be sick of Chinese food, but I'm
going to through a hodgepodge of recs for you:
1. Hui Lau Shan - there's actually no english name, but this dessert
shop is ubiquitious. Red sign, gold lettering, round tables with
stools made of heavy dark wood. You'll see them everywhere in HK. Go
in, and order the mango stuff (mong-goh lo-yeah) or the mango pudding.
Trust me.
2. Basil Thai - not really authentic, but really good. In the Pacific
Place shopping mall (Admiralty) modern thai cuisine. My favorite
dishes are the yellow curry with eggplant and pork and the stingray
salad. Oh, and the best dessert in Hong Kong - the sticky banana
pudding with honeycomb ice cream.
3. Won Ton Mien - my comfort food in Hong Kong. Shrimp Dumplings,
noodles and soup. My favorite one is on Wellington Street in Central
- it's called Jim Tsai Kee - huge line at lunch. Bowl of noodles is
only $15 HKD - or about $2 US. My mom's favorite is directly across
the street - Mak's Noodles. It's cheap enough to try both and see
which one you like better.
4. Dim Sum - I recommend City Hall Dim Sum in Central - located in the
City Hall building. Get there b efore the lunch rush (I recommend
about 11:45am). And eat stuff you don't recognize. Fun!
5. Cafe Gypsy - I heard they changed their name. My favorite
Spanish/French restaurant - just follow the escalator up past the
trendy Mid-Levels restaurants (although there's plenty of good places
here too - like India Today, El Taco Loco, Staunton Wine Bar, etc.)
and keep going until you reach Cafe Gypsy - probably about another 3-4
blocks uphill.
6. Shanghainese food - Ye Shanghai on the top floor of Pacific Place.
Expensive, yes. Authentic - almost. Good? yes.
7. There's also probably the best italian, french, japanese, whatever
restaurants in Asia outside of Japan in HK. Let me know if there's
another cuisine you're looking for,
8. Go to Stanley by taking the bus and sitting on the upper deck in
the front row. Go to the Peak of course. Mongkok and Ladies Market
just for the chaos of it all. Don't buy any electronics on Nathan
Road in Tsimshatsui. If you want - get a suit (or at least some
shirts) made - but don't go to any tailor whose store opens onto the
street.
TSkillet
1:14 pm
-Dinner at night at the restaurant on top of the Peak. Food is decent, a little overpriced, but the city view and fireworks show over the city are worth it.
-If you like antique and antiquities, go shopping on Hollywood.
-Go to the outdoor markets in the old Chinese city. Amazing to behold, and smell.
Skillet has covered the other stuff I would reccommend.
Best,
M
2:56 am
Dinner at night at the restaurant on top of the Peak. Food is decent, a little overpriced, but the city view and fireworks show over the city are worth it.
Er, there's TWO restaurants at the Peak. Cafe Deco which has a view of the city (if do you go there I recommend the tandoori dishes or the pizza) or Peak Lookout (which used to be the Peak Cafe) - where the food is better, yet there's no view.
And there's not fireworks very often in Hong Kong (July 1, October 1, and New Year's Eve. Maybe Chinese New Year)
-TSkillet
5:48 am
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