I’m here again: with photos from Hong Kong, Day 2! Blogged about our first night in Mongkok, here!
Pretty amazed that I’ve been rather efficient with the travel posts so far, just another two more to go (one for day 3, and one for day 4+5) which is rather a feat, by my standards!
This goes to show how much enthusiasm I have for travelling and travelogues, because I actually have other pending posts/a tonne of other work to complete, but I’m still eager to post up these travel diaries first.. Before I start to forget just exactly how it felt like 🙂
Whilst I was editing the photos, you wouldn’t believe how much I wanted to be there re-living the moment, especially when it came to the fooood pictures! I have a love-hate relationship when it comes to food, and food pictures. SIGH. Hope you’ll enjoy the pictures, and this entry!
Back on topic: Hong Kong, Day 2!
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On day 2, we’d arranged to meet up with Casey and Trish after breakfast, so we had to settle breakfast by ourselves. We woke up bright and early, for a stroll around the neighbourhood to check out our options.
The weather was perfect, it was sunny but cool, with no humidity in the air at all. Anything for an excuse to break out my new buys: the pair of boots that I bought the night before at Argyle Centre! 😉 God knows how difficult it is to get an opportunity to wear these in Singapore.
Outfit: White shirt (upcoming) and Janelle Box Clutch (on backorder) from TheVelvetDolls, printed skirt from H&M, red leather jacket from Bebe.
The sunnies are from ShoPunk (Luvisa Sunnies in Beige), one of the two pairs I brought along for the trip! I love the printed frames, and the way it fits my face.
The ubiquitous red and white taxi!
Yau Ma Tei was fairly quiet in the morning, but there were already a few food vendors open for breakfast, and hungry commuters on the way to work waiting in line for their grub.
I poked around, peeked into an alley and spotted two middle-aged men engaged in a mental sparring of wits: Chinese chess! Very reminiscent of Singapore.
We eventually settled for breakfast right behind our hotel, at a porridge and noodle place:
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生记粥面
油麻地東方街9號地下
(Can’t miss it if you happen to be staying at The Cityview, it’s right behind!)
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This place only opens at 11AM though, so you may have to wait for abit if you’re an early riser!
They seem to have gotten their fair share of media publicity, which goes to say, they must be pretty good!
As at all small eateries in Hong Kong, you order from a menu that’s usually available on the table, and one of the staff will scrawl down your orders on a receipt, which you then bring to the cashier after your meal for payment.
No prizes for guessing what I ordered:
Extra awesome 油菜! I was even happier that the oyster sauce was separate from the veggies, which didn’t need that much sauce because they tasted so good already!
We also ordered a bowl of 皮蛋瘦肉粥 (century egg and lean meat porridge) which was LUSCIOUS. The century egg was soft and melty, and the shreds of marinated pork meat were salty and delicious!
Of course, the porridge itself was thick and hearty (without being gloopy) too, and bursting with flavours from the pork and century egg.
油条 to go with the porridge, which was fresh and crisp!
This simple meal was definitely one of the most satisfying breakfasts we had in Hong Kong. And the total bill only came up to around 10+ SGD! 🙂 Cheap and good.
Once breakfast was done, we met up with Casey and Trish for the agenda of the day: OUTLET SHOPPING! 😉
MTR time!
Hong Kong’s MTR system is practically identical to Singapore’s MRT, so I daresay you’d find it just as easy to get around in Hong Kong via MTR, as you do in Singapore! We bought our Octopus cards (much like EZ-Link cards) and headed to board the train!
Sad to say, Hong Kong’s MTR is just as crowded as Singapore’s, especially during the peak hours.
But because we were on our way to Tung Chung (which is near the airport), we did manage to get seats once we got on the connecting train.
The locals must have thought we were mad, snapping away on the MTR hahaha
So, this is where to go for cheap outlet shopping in Hong Kong!
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Citygate Outlets
20 Tat Tung Rd, Hong Kong
+852 2109 2933
(Exit at Tung Chung MTR)
http://www.citygateoutlets.com.hk/
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I say “cheap”, because the offerings at Citygate Outlet ranges from street brands, to mid-range brands, like Coach, Kate Spade, Furla etc.
The most expensive brands are probably Burberry or Armani, which aren’t very marked down. You won’t be finding brands like Prada or Miu Miu here! (That’s Space Outlet, which I’ll cover in a future post!)
Still, there’s lots of variety to shop at Citygate, especially if your man needs some casual wear, or sports shoes. You can find the entire list of outlets on Citygate Outlet’s website, if you want to know exactly what’s available there!
We started off at Quiksilver, just next to the entrance of the MTR! There’s usually additional discount for purchase of more than 2-3 items, so score more items for a better discount! YZ bought some casual berms, which I thought was at a pretty good price.
The men then proceeded to go crazy at Puma, where the shoes were really cheap! Some as cheap as SGD60-80 dollars? Both Casey and YZ bought some shoes here. (For once, the men were shopping more than the ladies, hahaha) There are also New Balance, Nike, Adidas outlets at Citygate, so it’s a good chance to grab a pair of running shoes!
We moved up to the second floor to check out brands like GUESS, Armani Exchange, DKNY, Club Monaco etc. I didn’t buy anything because I wasn’t looking for clothes, but Casey bought a good quality suit for a really reasonable price, and Trish bought a bag for her mom! There’s also a couple of shops selling baby things too, and we got some really cute apparel for YZ’s nephew and niece!
For most shops, you can expect discounts of at least 30% and above, which is quite worth it.
We shopped for three hours straight before adjourning for lunch at Federal Palace, inside Citygate Outlet! 🙂
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Federal Palace
Shop 226, 2/F
Citygate Outlets
20 Tat Tung Road
Lantau, Hong Kong
+85 2 2626 0181
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They had an extensive menu of dim sum available, so we went crazy ordering. Again.
In case you do not know.. In most cha chan tengs and restaurants, cups of tea or the first teapot of tea are always used to rinse the bowls and utensils before the meal. You aren’t supposed to drink this tea hahahaha.
Shopping certainly worked up an appetite, and we attacked the food once they arrived!
I had my favourite 油菜 again. Told ya, I really liked it a lot! And generally, it is pretty good in every restaurant, so it’s quite a safe choice!
Fried prawn fritters (which I didn’t try but looked good!)
Chee cheong fan with prawns! Yum. Look at that silky smooth cheong fan!
Pork ribs
Siew mai, which was not bad, but not mind-blowing
Braised chicken feet
Char siew! D: I guess the char siew there is just generally tastier than our SG version…
The char siew baos we ordered were a lil disappointing though, the bun wasn’t soft and pillowy ;(
This was stir-fried cheong fan I think! Pretty tasty!
The carrot cake was good! Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. Mmmmmm.
So the girls took a picture together…
And the men decided they wanted a picture too. Hehehe. So manly ya.
Anyways, the food and service at Federal Palace was decent enough, but Citygate Outlet is a touristy-ish spot after all, so don’t expect Federal Palace to blow your socks off! It’s a good place to get your stomachs filled with pretty good dim sum if you’re spending the entire day at Citygate Outlet shopping, and of course like in most Hong Kong restaurants, dim sum is cheaper during 2-4PM on weekdays (tea time), so you can order away!
After we were re-charged and fuelled up, we carried on shopping, of course!
I was really tempted in Kate Spade, even though I am not a super big fan of the brand. Most items were going at 30% off at least, and I spotted some bags I really liked! Decided to KIV first while I looked at other brands, before deciding to get anything.
But I went crazy at Pedder warehouse!!! There were some REALLY pretty shoes there. I was lusting after soooo many pairs, but many of the designer shoes were still like a thousand over HKD dollars, even after huge discounts.
Since I was out for bargain buys, I didn’t want to get anything above a hundred dollars sing, but I managed to grab a pair of red leather booties that were the last pair in my size!! They only cost me HKD480, and I think the original price was around HKD1500 or something? Yay!
I then walked into Furla and set my eyes on this electric blue tote bag. It was on 40% off! So it cost about SGD400-ish after discount. BUY.
Loved the bag so much I carried it out straight away the next day (so you’d have to wait til my next entry to see more pictures of it if you haven’t already saw it on my Instagram)
YZ paid for my buys so I’m happy hehehe. He also bought a bag from Coach for his mummy, that was 40 or 50% off I think!
We ended up with enough shopping bags to fill a shopping trolley. Damn happy!
Finally, we departed from Citygate Outlet around six plus, and we decided to take a walk around the local wet markets at Sham Tsui Po, before looking for dinner in the vicinity.
It was an interesting walk, and we even bought some fruits to savour and try! The grapes are huge and very sweet, and around this time of the year, plums, nectarines and other similar fruits are in season, so they are juicy and ripe.
If there’s one thing I notice about Hong Kong, it is that no one ever says sorry if they accidentally jostle into you on the streets. Hahahaha. Which is probably why many people have told me that Hongkongers are rude and they don’t like being in Hong Kong. But I choose to accept it as part of Hong Kong’s culture, and honestly I don’t find the locals there that bad at all. Just don’t expect five-star service from anyone, and you’d be fine.
Prior to the trip, I’ve had some friends send me their lists of places to eat, and Lau Sum Kee Noodles that’s famous for their shrimp roe noodles was one of the places that was recommended by Woon!
With the help of Maps on my iPhone, we found the eatery easily enough.
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劉森記麺家
Lau Sum Kee Noodles
82 Fuk Wing Street
Sham Shui Po
Kowloon
Hong Kong
Open 12 noon til 11pm
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Lau Sum Kee looks like any other ordinary Hong Kong eatery, with cramped seating and small squeezy tables. It’s reputed to be well-known for their Har Zi Mein (shrimp roe noodles) so we ordered two Har Zi Mein, one with beef brisket, and one with wanton soup. Why so little? Because we were planning on dinner round 2 later… Hahahahaha. When in Hong Kong, eat like there’s no tomorrow!
The wanton was good, with a thin but firm skin, and crunchy prawn and meat filling! In a bowl of piping hot broth. Om nom nom.
Here’s the famous Har Zi Mein (Shrimp Roe Noodles). Doesn’t it look super QQ and springy?
The texture of the noodles were very good, but unfortunately, YZ didn’t like the strong and pungent taste of the prawn roe. Oops.. I guess it’s quite an acquired taste! So, if you like shrimp roe noodles, you know where to go. Hahaha.
We walked off the not-as-satisfying-as-expected dinner at Tsim Sha Tsui, one of the main shopping areas in Hong Kong. At Tsim Sha Tsui, there’s a mixture of urban shopping centres built next to haphazard rows of street shops and stalls. It was pretty late, so we didn’t really shop much but just explored the area.
I love how cluttered the streets are with signs and posters and billboards, lol. It’s like one unit on rent can have about a thousand different posters stuck all over the unit. Imagine playing photo hunt with a photo like this. Can go crazy, I tell you.
We finally got to try everyone’s favourite Hong Kong street snack: 鸡蛋仔!
This one was YUMS! Crisp exterior, with fluffy innards. And with a fragrant eggy flavour! I had to control myself from popping too many little egglet waffles into my mouth since I was on my Slim Couture TCM diet 🙁
Diet or not, the rest of my company were eager for another good meal, and specifically at this particular restaurant too, for some super duper good 鱼皮饺 (fish dumplings)!
Apparently, the last time Trish came to Hong Kong, she visited Hung Lee like five times, just for the dumplings. Were they really that good? We walked streets and streets until we finally reached the restaurant!
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洪利粥店茶餐厅
Hung Lee Restaurant
2A Hou Fook Street,
Tsim Sha Tsui
尖沙咀厚福街2號A
＋852 2721 6606
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Crispy fried fish skin! Apparently you dip this in soup and it’s super good.
THE BEEF BRISKET NOODLES. All in capital letters because their beef brisket is ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
So tender and delicious until cannot!
Beef stomach with wanton noodles! Casey’s pick. The Hongkongers love their innards like beef stomach, pig’s organs etc….
Oh HELLO it’s my 油菜 again and it was especially good here! The kailan was sooooo sweet!
And what Trish was raving on and on about. The fish dumplings!!! And indeed, they were D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S! Easily the best fish dumplings I’ve tasted, and our local ones can hardly be any comparison. This one had a chewy and moist skin and juicy, hearty filling! Must-order!
Beef and fish balls with kway tiao! Normal-ish, I find that the balls in Hong Kong tend to be more starchy instead of springy and “q”!
My verdict: Hung Lee is indeed worth it for the fish dumplings alone! In fact, YZ and I went back another two times on our own just to savour more of their scrumptious fish dumplings and also beef brisket. That’s just how much we liked it!
So that’s basically what we did all day.
买东西吃东西买东西吃东西买东西吃东西买东西吃东西买东西吃东西买东西吃东西买东西吃东西买东西吃东西买东西吃东西买东西吃东西!!!
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Life is good.
My favourite two pictures of the day, with my love! Taken along Tsim Sha Tsui. I think I need to ask Casey to go on more trips with YZ and I because he has hidden talent in photography! Thanks Casey!
I’m very sorry for the mad long and somewhat rambling post! Running low on writing juice so I think it got kinda boring 🙁 Yikes. Anyhow, that concludes Day 2 of Hong Kong! 🙂
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TGIF (What it’s Friday again?!) and I am so glad office reno is underway and progressing well!
We’ll be shifting next week so I hope everything goes smoothly. It’s been pretty stressful trying to settle the renovation works and running around madly from office to office to SP services to dealing with the management and liaising with the contractors! I am so glad we got all the contracting works more or less confirmed and half-done, because you wouldn’t believe what a task it was to look for contractors at this time of the year.
Thank God, things have been progressing well so far, with the generosity of my fellow neighbours who have been so helpful in sharing their contacts and knowledge with me, and also YZ who has been helping me with liaising and sorting out the reno works. Seriously, I am the worst person on earth to deal with organisation and technical details, but I suppose one needs to go through trials and tribulations in all aspects of life, and it will make me a better person in due course! 🙂
And now, I’ll be off to bed, because tomorrow I’m gonna be on a mini STAY-cation! Whoop!!! Exactly what the doctor prescribed for me to get a little of my sanity back. Can’t wait! 🙂
xoxo
Read Hong Kong: Mongkok
Read Hong Kong: Prada and Space Outlet Shopping
Read Hong Kong: Stanley Market and Kau Kee Beef Noodles