Hong kong

So, lets do this blog a little different....when you go to Hong Kong, this is my top 10 highlights, things i think you must do (not any particular order):

1. Junk boat cruise (1 hour)

2. Dim sums at Maxims Palace City Hall

3. Deep Fried Pork Bun at Tim Ho Wan

4. Shopping (not neccessarily to buy but just to see)

5. Flute bar in Soho (such a variety of cocktails)

6. Armani Prive bar (rooftop bar)

7. Tram to Victoria Peak

8. Lamma island and of course that includes the hike and seafood

9. Under the bridge crab (garlic crab)

10. Nightmarket with eating local food which includes 1000 year old egg

So...now some of those i have done this time in Hong Kong and some i did last time.....so lets do this way..im going to split my experience in Hong Kong in 2 parts, otherwise this blog will be endless.....but im gonna go through all top 10 attractions....

Number 1: Junk boat cruise.....they leave from both the Kowloon side (always on the half of the hour, for example 16:30, 17:30 etc) and from the Central side (15 before the hour, for example 16:45, 17:45). The most popular one is the 19:30/19:45 one because it is called Symphony of Lights.....but in all honesty....i prefer the ones later, the junks are much less crowded and you actually get to take many more pictures of the harbour.....so basically its an hour long cruise around the harbour and you get one free glass of red or white wine or a beer....great to see the harbour like that....loved it....and the best company to do it through is Aqua Luna and as mentioned, do the evening, not day, cause the skyline is very impressive....if you are there on Thursday or Friday evening, do yourself a favour and do the cocktail cruise, includes 2 drinks at the two bars they stop at, one on the Kowloon side one on the Central side....but here is the link (scroll down to Junk, AquaLuna)

 

http://hongkongextras.com/harbourtours.html

Number 2: Dim Sums at Maxims Palace City Hall.....so this is the most well known dim sum place, might not be the best, but it is the most well known, also it is one of the few places that still comes around in carts, carts have 4-6 different options, you take what you want and if you dont like any of them, you wait for the next cart.....also...get there early or you might be waiting in line with a number...we got there, we got number 74 and they were on 50, we waited 30min (just to give you an indication, when we asked how long it would take, the lady did say 30min, so their timing is quite good)......

 

Once inside, pick from the carts what sounds good....english is very limited but the names of what the carts have is in english....wot i love is the salted squid....amazing...also the Xiǎolóng bāo (小龍包)( plump, nearly translucent baozi from Shanghai feature a soupy filling which makes them sag when grasped between a pair of chopsticks AND THOSE YOU NEED TO ORDER)....and also the cuttlefish dumpling and yes...try the chicken springrolls....amazing....we all thought yes springrolls are springrolls...but definitely not....dessert...my sister loves the chilled mango soup..my dad loves the egg tarts (very traditional Hong Kong dessert) im not a fan of either or..but they are not bad....once i was even adventures and tried the chicken feet....not again...not really any meat there...not quite my taste....but for dessert....go ahead and try something...front left of the pic is the salted squid, back right the cuttlefish....the bottom pic shows the egg tarts and chilled mango soup.....and you get Green Tea throughout your meal.....

Number 3: Deep Fried Pork Dim Sum at the cheapest 1 Star Michelin restaurant.....deep fried pork buns are also a speciality and according to people, Tim Ho Wan is the place to have them at....it is on the Central side, go into the IFC mall and go all the way into basement where the MRT station is and you wll see ques of people, then you know you have reached it....what we did....we ordered take aways....you get a form, you tick what you want and within about 10min we had it.....we tried both the deep fried pork buns and the steamed pork dumpling..funny...the steamed were all savoury..the deep fried ones tasted sweet....like there is sugar.... A sweet crumbly coating on the exterior and sweet chinese bbq pork inside an almost donut like coating.....here a pic of the deep fried pork buns....

Number 4: shopping.....so Hong Kong has a lot of shopping possibilities....but definitely not cheap, yes, it is all VAT free, but still, expensive actually....but so worth strolling through some or a mall and even going into the shops like Gucci, Prada etc....an experience....my prefered mall is Ocean Terminal....has the usual stores we all know....Ralph Lauren Polo, electronics, Tommy and then slowly joins the Gateway mall which houses Gucci, Hugo Boss etc....great mall to walk through, it is on the Kowloon side....i even found a choc store..and the chocolates, although not cheap, were fab....we also tried Godiva...but they were not nice, i was disappointed...the shop was called Leonipas...(i mean the one with the great choc)

Number 5: drinks at Flute in Soho....we discoverd this quaint little place in Soho

http://flutes.com.hk

Really worth checking out, although the prices were a little steep, its worth checking out....the champagne based cocktails (which i am a sucker for) were amazing, i tried the French 75 (champagne based with Gin: amazing) and the Ginger Me (champagne based with ginger liquor: also good), i did prefer the French 75 though.....here is a pic (you also get pistaccios and salted almonds which both taste fab)

Left is the French 75, middle the Flute and right the Kir Royal....but all three great....honestly, a must try bar....so this are my top 5....next blog the next 5.....enjoy you day

 

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