Hong Kong - Pearl of the East

**16th September 2012**

Our second trip to Hong Kong (my third actually) was not a pleasant one. Baby was cranky during the entire flight. He kept whining and screaming whenever he wanted to sleep, and eat. Hong Kong's MTR stations have too many exits that we were circling around looking for the right direction. Unfortunately for us, our station Yau Ma Tei has no lift available for passengers. We had to carry baby's stroller as well as our luggage while climbing two flight of stairs. 

We stayed at Silka Seaview Hotel (former Dorsett Seaview) www.silkahotels.com/seaview which was just a ten minutes walk from MTR station. Room is cheap, but I could not remember how much I paid for the whole package inclusive of air tickets. Silka Seaview has one of the most strategic location just behind Temple Street. However, note that their room is tiny, and you could not even turn around while bathing. It is not thoroughly cleaned, maybe 60%..I mean what do you expect for a cheap hotel with good location?

I suggest you try out Metropark Mongkok http://www.metroparkhotels.com/hotel/eng/index.php?hotel=mongkok from our previous trip at Prince Edward MTR station. It is also just five to ten minutes walk from MTR station. Just cross another two streets and you will reach Ladies' Market.

  

Our dinner for the night was at Hing Kee Claypot located just behind our hotel. They are famous for their mushroom chicken claypot rice, and fried oyster cake. The rice are not oily at all, and you can add in oil or dark soy sauce to you liking. If you are a fan of oyster cake, you will love it as there are a lot of big oysters. Most restaurants in Hong Kong only serve chilli oil, bring your own chilli if you prefer spicy food.

Hing Kee 興記菜館  
G/F, 14, 15, 19, 21 Temple Street & 48 Arthur Street, Yau Ma Tei.
(Look out for staffs wearing blue uniforms)

Not to forget some bird's nest for desserts. There are many branches across Hong Kong, you may find Hui Lau Shan almost everywhere. Their mango glutinous rice dumplings are not to be missed.

Hui Lau Shan Healthy Dessert 許留山

263 Shanghai St, Yau Ma Tei (Opposite Silka Seaview Hotel)

  
**17th September 2012** 

Dimsum is a must try if you visit to Hong Kong. Most of the Chinese restaurants do serve dimsums, and are usually located inside old buildings. One of them is Tak Yu, which was just fifteen minutes walk from our hotel. Most of Hong Kong's hotels do not provide breakfasts as there are just too many delicious food. Tak Yu's century egg porridge melts in your mouth, I like Cantonese style. One thing about their meat balls, they were huge! It is like the size of three siew mais.

Tak Yu Restaurant 得如酒樓
378 Shanghai St, Yau Ma Tei (Lift to 2nd storey) 
  

While on our way to Lantau Island, Mum-in-law fell down when the MTR doors were about to close. Usually in Singapore, you will hear a beep beep beep sound signalling that doors are closing. They do have that in Hong Kong, but without censor which caused her to lose her footing and fell. One of her sandals dropped under the MTR's tracks. Luckily, Fai was there to catch her or she would have been snapped by the doors.

We got off at Tung Chung station, and wanted to travel by cable car to Ngong Ping 360 www.np360.com.hk, but they were closed for a week's maintenance. That was quite disappointing as the view from cable car is awesome. We then boarded bus No. 23 which took us about half an hour. Do visit Ngong Ping village which is just next to cable car station.

While on our way to the Big Buddha, we stopped over to try some bean curd. It is definitely worth trying, you can actually taste the grounded beans in your mouth. Remember to eat with ginger syrup, a great combination. Do try out their curry fish balls, and sausages.

The Big Buddha aka Tian Tan Buddha is one of the top attractions in Hong Kong. Be prepared to climb about 200 to 300 steps to the top. As the Buddha is situated on top of high mountain, you will feel the pressure as you move up. 

If you don't mind trying out vegetarian dishes, I would recommend Po Lin Monastery (located opposite Giant Buddha). Meal ticket can be purchased before entering to Giant Buddha, and you get to enter to the highest level on top of Big Buddha. Lunch set is at HKD 70 per pax which is about SGD 12. I must say they were too delicious, and you would not believe it is vegetarian.

You can visit Avenue of Stars http://www.avenueofstars.com.hk/eng/home.asp around 6.30pm and stay there until 8pm. You will be able to capture the day and night scene of Hong Kong Island. It is similar to Singapore's Raffles Place. There would be lighting shows from some of the buildings as well.

I heard that Tai Fung Lau is famous for their Peking Duck, and is nearby Tsim Tsa Tsui. Thanks to Open Rice http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant, I'm able to plan my meals near all the attractions we were visiting.

Tai Fung Lau Peking Restaurant 泰豊廔酒家

29-31 Chatham Rd, Windsor Mansion, Tsim Tsa Tsui

Egg white dish is not bad..

I like the dessert, some fried bean paste cake..

**18th September 2012**

Most of the breakfasts in Hong Kong are either dimsums, porridge or noodles. We had porridge at Ming Kee which was just a street away from our hotel. It was smooth and tasted even better with dough sticks.  

明記雞雜粥

1 Wing Sing Lane, Yau Ma Tei

Did not get a chance to visit Wong Tai Sin Temple http://www.siksikyuen.org.hk/public/main during my previous trip. It is located exactly at Wong Tai Sin MTR station. They are just as famous as the Goddess of Mercy temple at Si Ma Lu, Bugis. The only difference is there are a lot of fengshui masters as well as fortune tellers ready to read your lots or fortune. 

Praying and "lok chiam"

Another not to be missed is Hong Kong's local cafe which usually serve sandwiches, macaroni, and milk tea. 

Wing Fat Restaurant 榮發餐廳

G/F, 448 Nathan Rd, Yau Ma Tei

If you enjoy Ladies' Market, Temple street is another place worth visiting. They are just like local night market selling all kind of stuffs from jades, embroideries, Tibetans' praying accessories, oil paintings, daily household items, panties to those adults' sex toys. Yes, you could find them selling these openly at almost every stall. We realised later that Temple Street was Hong Kong's red light district, just like Geylang in Singapore. You get to choose the ladies you wanted through glass doors.

My favourite ice-cream!

**20th September 2012**

Last breakfast before leaving Hong Kong, so we tried dimsums from Hei Wan.

Hei Wan Dim Sum Specialist 喜運

G/F, 65 Portland Street, Yau Ma Tei

Whenever I went to Hong Kong, I would always buy the Aji Ichiban's peeled chestnuts. They used to sell the sweet potatoes but was discontinued. I wonder why as they were the best sweet potatoes I had ever tasted!

"Lao Po Bing" aka Old Wife Cakes from Hong Kong is a must buy too. I'm pretty upset that I didn't get any chance to buy Hang Heung's one. I bought Wing Wah's instead from airport.

Hang Heung's old wife cakes in red box

Cathay Airlines gave us a bag with two nappies and some cream for baby. That was very sweet of them. All airlines only carry two sets of baby food and we should always request upon booking.