HOLIDAYS, Hong Kong, Uncategorized HONG KONG: shopping and eating and not much else 7 April 2010

Our holiday to Hong Kong was a whirlwind of shopping, and eating. And basically nothing else πŸ˜‰ There’s not much to do apart from that in a metropolis like Hong Kong.. at least nothing that we were interested in doing. The itinerary was tightly packed as such:

Breakfast place
Shopping
Lunch place
Shopping
Dinner place
Shopping or drinnks

And that was it! After asking Hong Kongers where the best places to eat were, and doing a bunch of online research, we managed to narrow it all down to the top-most ones we wanted to check out (posts on that later). And then we matched up the restaurants with the various shopping areas so that we knew it’d all be close by. The main shopping areas we went to were:

1) Central streets (Wellington St, Queens St, etc) around Central train station. Lots of fun poking around at the street-side stalls and getting yelled at by crabby rude ‘ol Hong Kong women πŸ˜‰

2) Pedder Street / Landmark Mall has all the high-end brands, to feast your eyes (or wallet) on.

3) Pacific Place mall is just to the east of Central. Massive mall with all the top-end brands to the fun brands.

4) IFC Mall near the ferry. It’s nice to wander around there before taking the ferry to Tsim Tsa Tsui.

5) Tsim Tsa Tsui area requires at least 1 full day. It boasts many HUGE mega malls and lots of small streets outside to wander around in. If I only had 1 day in Hong Kong (which I often do when I’m there on business), this is the area I hit because it covers ALL your shopping needs.

We walked and walked and walked until we were sore and exhausted at the end of each day. So tired that our legs hurt so much, arrrggghhh. At least it was all worth it, as the shopping was awesome as was the food πŸ™‚


Wandering around the streets of Central, Hong Kong

At a gorgeous little French patisserie / dessert shop

Eating some famous egg custard tart – it was deeeelish and warm!

Us at a street stall, selling all sorts of weird and wonderful dried food products

At a popular roast meat cafe – all dodgy and no frills, but that all adds to the charm!

Our plate of suckling pig with crispy skin, BBQ duck and BBQ pork… mmmm….

There are so many of these little street vendors around. This one was PACKED!

We got an ice lemon tea and this pork chop bun. Fatty goodness…

After a whirlwind bout of shopping, it was time for a bit of rejuvenation.
AMAZING milkshakes (with ice cream!) and onion rings at Triple O’s

Having lunch/tea at the Mandarin Oriental.
Their fries with tomato sauce + mayonnaise = WIN!!!!!!!

The Temple Street night markets. Fun to poke around, but nothing interesting to purchase.

Lots of food stalls at Temple Street, with lots of Caucasian tourists πŸ˜‰

The nightclubbing area in Central. Our hotel was right around the corner πŸ˜€


Let’s Chat!




Let's Chat!

ooh is the egg tart Chris is eating from Tai Cheung kind of near Soho and the escalators??? Those egg tarts were amazing.

What hotel did you stay at near LKF? I’m trying to find something. Found some on Expedia in Causeway that look okay. But Central would be better πŸ˜€

Hrmmm I’m not sure, but will know, she took us there! We were at Ice House hotel, the cheapest we could find in Central. It was nice and roomy with L’occitane skincare πŸ˜€

No idea of the name, but it’s next to HSBC on Lyndhurst Terrace, near to Soho and the escalators…it’s the only place in the area that sells egg tarts, so we should be talking about the same one!

Tai Cheong Bakery, 35 Lyndhurst Terrace

When their former location nearby was forced to close due to a huge rent increase some years ago, there was a big protest. The final British Governor Chris Patten was especially upset, as he called their egg tarts the best in the world. Fortunately, they re-opened at this new location.

I think it was beside an HSBC! Gotta find my photos πŸ˜€ Those egg tarts were the BEST. Can’t wait to get them this summer πŸ˜€ πŸ˜€

OMG! who knew there was a Triple O’s in HK?! It’s my all-time favourite fast food burger joint! (and yes, I have eaten at In-n-Out in Cali) Triple O’s and White Spot (the sit-down restaurant) are so quintessential Vancouver that I’m SHOCKED to see it in HK.

In-n-out is definitely awesome… but I thought their fries were subpar. Not sure if they have this in HK, but Triple-Os here have yam fries. I am totally ADDICTED. They’re super thick and the perfect combo of crispy and mealy, plus they’re seasoned and you dip in chipotle mayo. OH MY.

I like their animal fries, when it’s all smothered… mmmm. Haven’t had their fries as-is so I can’tcomment!

Ooo i wanna try yam fries now… they sound yum πŸ™‚

ooh is the egg tart Chris is eating from Tai Cheung kind of near Soho and the escalators??? Those egg tarts were amazing.

What hotel did you stay at near LKF? I’m trying to find something. Found some on Expedia in Causeway that look okay. But Central would be better πŸ˜€

Hrmmm I’m not sure, but will know, she took us there! We were at Ice House hotel, the cheapest we could find in Central. It was nice and roomy with L’occitane skincare πŸ˜€

No idea of the name, but it’s next to HSBC on Lyndhurst Terrace, near to Soho and the escalators…it’s the only place in the area that sells egg tarts, so we should be talking about the same one!

Tai Cheong Bakery, 35 Lyndhurst Terrace

When their former location nearby was forced to close due to a huge rent increase some years ago, there was a big protest. The final British Governor Chris Patten was especially upset, as he called their egg tarts the best in the world. Fortunately, they re-opened at this new location.

I think it was beside an HSBC! Gotta find my photos πŸ˜€ Those egg tarts were the BEST. Can’t wait to get them this summer πŸ˜€ πŸ˜€

OMG! who knew there was a Triple O’s in HK?! It’s my all-time favourite fast food burger joint! (and yes, I have eaten at In-n-Out in Cali) Triple O’s and White Spot (the sit-down restaurant) are so quintessential Vancouver that I’m SHOCKED to see it in HK.

In-n-out is definitely awesome… but I thought their fries were subpar. Not sure if they have this in HK, but Triple-Os here have yam fries. I am totally ADDICTED. They’re super thick and the perfect combo of crispy and mealy, plus they’re seasoned and you dip in chipotle mayo. OH MY.

I like their animal fries, when it’s all smothered… mmmm. Haven’t had their fries as-is so I can’tcomment!

Ooo i wanna try yam fries now… they sound yum πŸ™‚

Beverly! I dreamed of you last night! you were dining with your husband and some girl friends from Hong Kong ( wondered why when I woke up and now I know! ) and I said hello to you, it turned out I had a mutual friend with one of your friends. How funny is that?!

U should try their ice milk tea, the ice cubes r made from milk tea too…v smooth yummy goodness πŸ˜€

seeing your pictures is making me so so so homesick. it looks like it was a wonderful trip though : ) i love the triple o’s milkshakes– they do this apple mint seasonal one that is divine mmmmmm!!

Awww! Well, HK Is pretty awesome πŸ™‚

Triple O’s didn’t have that apple mint one, darn. But the vanilla one was gooood

The place that you got the porkchop bun is quite famous. They do a fab milk tea and condensed milk toast – weird but so delish. My sister’s favourite breakfast place πŸ™‚

Ohhh didn’t realise that it was famous, cool!

I like their lemon iced tea, mmm.. didn’t have space for their condensed milk toast tho, but we had it at Tsui Wah – YUM

Beverly! I dreamed of you last night! you were dining with your husband and some girl friends from Hong Kong ( wondered why when I woke up and now I know! ) and I said hello to you, it turned out I had a mutual friend with one of your friends. How funny is that?!

U should try their ice milk tea, the ice cubes r made from milk tea too…v smooth yummy goodness πŸ˜€

seeing your pictures is making me so so so homesick. it looks like it was a wonderful trip though : ) i love the triple o’s milkshakes– they do this apple mint seasonal one that is divine mmmmmm!!

Awww! Well, HK Is pretty awesome πŸ™‚

Triple O’s didn’t have that apple mint one, darn. But the vanilla one was gooood

The place that you got the porkchop bun is quite famous. They do a fab milk tea and condensed milk toast – weird but so delish. My sister’s favourite breakfast place πŸ™‚

Ohhh didn’t realise that it was famous, cool!

I like their lemon iced tea, mmm.. didn’t have space for their condensed milk toast tho, but we had it at Tsui Wah – YUM