Eating and Drinking My Way Through Hong Kong

After a semester full of dumplings, bike sharing and bund walks, I finally left Shanghai on July 4^th. I had been in China for almost 5 months, traveled to more than 12 different cities, and hopped my way through some of the coolest bars in Shanghai. I don’t think that I can fully comprehend the effect it has had on me yet, but I know that it has shaped me in one way or another.

On the morning of the 4^th, I finished packing and then headed to the campus of Fudan University, the school I was attending, for the last time. I had a final in my Marketing Management class from 1-3. I finished slightly early and then grabbed some bubble tea and headed back to my apartment to grab my bag. After a quick, traffic-less trip to the airport, I arrived with 4 hours to spare before my flight. While checking in, the woman at the ticket office let me know that there was a flight to Hong Kong that left 3 hours earlier that I could make, if I wanted to. I took her up on this, as it allowed me to arrive at 8:30 PM instead of 11:30. I then checked my bags. Unfortunately, I had misread the baggage policy and thought that I got 2 bags, each weighing up to 30 Kg. Instead, I got two bags, with a total of 30 Kg between them. This resulted in $330 in overweight baggage fees. Talk about a bad way to start off a trip.

I then caught my flight and landed in Hong Kong at 8:30 and left the airport via the airport express train at 9:00. I finally made it to my hostel at 10:30. I booked the room under my mom’s Airbnb account, so assuming I was a female, I ended up in a mixed bed room that was just me, and then three shy Chinese girls. One of my roommates from my semester in Shanghai was also staying at the hostel that night, so we headed out to a bar called Ozone. It is the highest bar in the world, sitting on the 118^th story of the Ritz Carlton hotel. We arrived at 12:45 and were told it was too late to get a drink, so we simply enjoyed the view and then headed back to go to bed.

The next morning, I woke up and headed to Tim Ho Wan’s for breakfast/lunch. This is considered one of the best dim sum restaurants in Hong Kong, and has even won a Michelin star, despite serving meals that cost less than $10. I got the steamed shrimp dumplings, their famous BBQ pork buns, and the pork short ribs. All of it was delicious. I then headed up to Lion Rock. This is a hike in Northern Kowloon that once I reached the top, allowed me to see down on all of Hong Kong. It was a pretty demanding hike, and then by the time I reached the peak, it started pouring, and I had to quickly head back down. I then took the metro down to the southern tip of Kowloon, and then took the star ferry across Victoria Harbor to Hong Kong island. Here, I had a free walking tour of a few very trendy neighborhoods. Our tour guide pointed out some good places to drink and eat and told us about the incredibly high cost of housing in the city.

After the tour, I headed to a restaurant to grab dinner. Again, a Michelin starred meal at a roast meat restaurant called Yat Lok. I had the BBQ pork and the roast goose, both of which were amazing. After dinner, I went to two very cool bars, both owned by the same restauranteur. The first was called Iron Fairies. It had taxidermied butterflies hanging from the ceiling. The drinks often included house infused liquors which was very neat. While talking to the bartender there, he told me about another bar right next door, which I had seen on several “Best bars” lists, called J Borowski. I headed over there afterwards and was greeted with a very interesting menu. The concept was simple, you tell the bartender what elements of a cocktail you like, and he makes you a drink. I ended up with a gin cocktail with passionfruit, raspberry juice, and hibiscus tea. It was delicious. After this drink, I headed back to my hostel and quickly fell asleep.

I woke up on Friday and quickly headed out for breakfast at the Australia Dairy Company.

A Hong Kong institution that has been around for 60 years, they specialize in scrambled eggs and French toast. I got both, and both items were the best I have had. I didn’t know scrambled eggs could be so good. To go with it, I got a Hong Kong iced tea, which consists of 70% milk tea and 30% coffee. I wasn’t a fan but figured I should try it. My whole breakfast experience lasted a total of 9 minutes, as they tried to turn the tables over as fast as possible. After breakfast, I had another free walking tour, but this time of Tsim Sha Tsui, the neighborhood I was staying in. While the tour the day before only had about 5 people on it, this one had closer to 20. This tour guide was much more pro-China, which was an interesting take. I met two girls on the tour who I ended up grabbing lunch with afterwards, once again, at Yat Lok.

After lunch, I went back to my hostel to do some planning. I found a bakery that was supposed to have amazing pineapple buns, so I headed north to see if they live up to the hype. Pineapple buns are not actually made with pineapple, they just simply have a cinnamon-sugar mix which is baked on top and makes the top look like pineapple skin. They are served warm and with a slice of butter in the middle.  Kam Wah bakery certainly lived up to the hype and delivered an awesome pineapple bun.

At 7:45, I met one of the girls from the tour to watch the light show across Victoria Harbor. I had heard that it was kind of lame but figured I should check it out. Turns out everyone was right, and the light show was nothing more than an uncoordinated effort by many of the modern buildings to turn on their lights in an artsy fashion. We then headed to the IFC mall, where we grabbed local beers and explored the rooftop of the mall. The good view was reserved for restaurants, but the rooftop garden was cool. After a little, we headed to Central, the trendy neighborhood on Hong Kong island. Here, we found a restaurant for dinner and ended up with some very delicious, but very spicy thai food at Soul Food. After dinner, we both headed home to get some sleep.

On Saturday, I woke up and headed out early to go check my bags in. HK has an awesome system which allows you to check your bags in for your flight at two different metro stations downtown. This way, I didn’t have to deal with my bags all day.

After using this convenient service, I went to the east side of Hong Kong island to find a famous, instagrammable apartment building. After a little searching, I found the apartment building. It hadn’t been painted recently but was still very pretty. Luckily, right in the area was a Tim Ho Wan, so I was once again able to get my fill of delicious Dim Sum.

I then headed to Causeway bay to check out Hong Kong’s version of Times Square. It was pretty glamorous but not quite as crowded or dirty, which was nice. I then spent the rest of my Hong Kong dollars at a rooftop bar that looked out over Kowloon and Victoria Harbor. It was a good way to end things off.

I then headed to the airport to catch my 8:00 PM flight to Mumbai, and I said goodbye to East Asia, at least for now.