If you live in Singapore, you know that ‘long weekend’ (a public holiday on the day before/after weekend) is the opportunity for the locals to venture out of the island for some adventures. Most will probably choose a resort-getaway in Bali, Bintan, Phuket and more. For me, I’ve decided to take on a further journey for two days in Hong Kong, the land of dim sum (literally means ‘little bits of heart’, where food is usually small bite-sized portions in small steamer baskets or plates, for sharing of the bits of heart with people).
Day One
Lantau Island
On day 1 in Hong Kong, the journey from the airport begins at ~7:00am. The first thing to do after landing, is to purchase yourself an Octopus Card 八達通 available in the airport to travel fuss-free within Hong Kong!
Since the airport is so close to the Lantau Island, I’d recommend to first visit this place’s famous Big Buddha to kick-start the trip. There are three ways to reach Lautau Island in Ngong Ping:
1. Take MTR to Tsing Yi, then change to Tung Chung. From Tung Chung Exit B, walk ~2 mins to take the cable car (9:00am to 6:00pm) to Ngong Ping.
2. Take Bus S1 from airport to Tung Chung Bus Terminus (~10 mins), then take the cable car to Ngong Ping.
3. Take taxi (~30 mins) to the Big Buddha directly.
Upon approaching the information counter in the airport, the receptionist advised that the bus option 2 is the most efficient and cost-saving way. With that, we took the bus and were the first few to arrive at Ngong Ping. We visited the Po Lin Monastery first as it opens at 9:00am.
When the Big Buddha opens its gate at 10:00am, we couldn’t wait to climb up the staircases (don’t worry as the climb was fairly easy). After which you can enjoy the simple yet delicious vegetarian breakfast at Po Lin Monastery’s food corner.
Kowloon – Sheraton Hotel & Towers
After the Big Buddha, walk towards the Ngong Ping Village to visit the Piazza and various touristic shops selling the local souvenirs. The village is small and pretty touristy so there’s really not much to spend your time on. After spending ~15 minutes walking around the village, take the cable car back to Tung Chung and take the MTR back to Kowloon (or where your hotel is).
*At approx. 12:00pm, the cable car from Tung Chung to Ngong Ping had an enormously long queue, possibly due to it being a weekend so there was a crowd of visitors. Remember to come early if you are visiting on a weekend!
Sheraton Hotel & Towers had a free shuttle bus service to the hotel from Kowloon, so do check with your respective hotels if they offer such service. I would recommend to stay in a hotel near the Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) area as it is a good strategic location to venture anywhere from there.
The inside of the Superior Room with Harbour View in Sheraton Hotel & Towers.
The welcome amenity arranged by the hotel team.
Lunch at Cha Chaan Teng
After check-in at the hotel, pick a random nearby Cha Chaan Teng (local word for affordable restaurants) with the longest queue to have your lunch. One can never go wrong when there is a queue!
I stumbled upon one and was pretty contented with the food. Remember to order some egg tarts to energise yourself for the day!
Roasted Duck & Roasted Pork Rice, with the must-have Milk Tea. The well-marinated meat had a very flavourful taste, the milk tea on the other hand was rather diluted.
Stroll Along the Streets
After lunch, stroll along the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade, from which you have a great view of the harbour with its boat traffic and Hong Kong Island. At the eastern end is the Avenue of Stars, with handprints and statues of the famous celebrities.
Follow the streets down to reach Nathan Road, a shopping heaven if you are looking for endless string of shops selling clothes, electronics, and many more! Walk along Nathan Road until you see Yue Hwa Chinese Products Emporium Limited, then turn left into Jordan Road. Walk further and you will find see the famous Temple Street, which house the famous night market (6:00pm to 11:00pm) selling anything and everything. It is a good experience even though you are probably not going to buy anything. If you are a male, beware of the pimps and prostitutes who will probably lure you into following them.
Dinner – Four Seasons Claypot Rice
Temple Street is famous for its seafood restaurant, which you can see many people crowding in the middle of the road having supper. Claypot rice is another delicacy famous in the area, so I went for try out at the famous Four Seasons Claypot Rice 四季煲仔飯. Perhaps it was the overcrowd that the traditional chicken claypot rice did not live up to its name. Bland was my only description for it, so I’d recommend trying out at another famous claypot rice Hing Kee Claypot Rice 興記煲仔飯 stones-throw away from Four Seasons.
Four Seasons Claypot Rice (Chicken), an extremely bland taste and a pitiful portion of meat (mostly bones).
A Symphony of Lights
After dinner, walk towards Nathan Road and continue along the streets to take MTR at Yau Ma Tei back to Tsim Sha Tsui. From Tsim Sha Tsui, take the exit to Victoria Harbour and stroll along until the start of A Symphony of Lights show at 8:00pm. If your hotel room is facing the Hong Kong Island, you can even enjoy the show in your cosy hotel room!
*A Symphony of Lights is a son et lumière featuring 44 waterfront buildings on both Hong Kong Island and Kowloon as a performance theatre.
Pardon for the blurry photo – this was the view from the hotel room.
Day Two
Sheraton Hotel offers a continental type breakfast. The restaurant dine-in option allows you to have more varieties with its buffet-style breakfast. To avoid the crowd like on my first morning, I opted for a room service instead on the second day, and the menu was exactly the same as what was offered in the restaurant.
The breakfast was sent to me on time, and everything was prepared very thoughtfully!
Hong Kong Island
After breakfast, walk to the pier and take the Star Ferry towards Hong Kong Island. The ferry is an extremely efficient transport between HK Island and Kowloon which costs only 0.28 HKD each way.
You will alight at MTR Hong Kong, walk towards Exit D: Exchange Square Bus Terminus and take bus 6, 6A, 6X, 66, or 260 to Stanley Beach, a quiet beach where you can swim or sunbathe at. Explore around the nearby Stanley Beach Market and have some quick lunch, after which you can board the bus towards Sheung Wan.
Sheung Wan starts with an old police station which has been renovated to host young artists and designers to present and sell their stuff. Follow Hollywood Road from there to the left, and take a few stairs up after Man Mo Temple, you will reach Tai Ping Shan Street with strings of boutique shops, bistros, and cafés. Walk towards Cat Street (parallel to Hollywood Road) to check out the street vendors and shops selling antiques, junk, and reproductions.
Dinner – Dim Sum Square
For dinner, I highly recommend Dim Sum Square 聚點坊 located nearby. The Dim Sum here is not exceptionally good, but the recommendation comes from the reasonable prices and what probably is the best service amongst all eateries in HK. In fact, we first went to the famous Lin Heung Tea House 蓮香樓 for dim sum. Upon being seated, plates and utensils alongside some swears in Cantonese were thrown in our faces that we immediately stood up and left for Dim Sum Square.
*Dim sum is typically served as breakfast or brunch, Dim Sum Square is one of the few places that serves even for dinner.
Ordered the shrimp dumpling (upper left), pork bun (lower left), and salted egg yolk custard bun (right). The pork bun was so crisp on the outside, soft and flavourful on the inside!
Glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaf, my most favourited dish amongst the others!
Victoria Peak
After dinner, take to MTR Central and exit from D2. Walk along the Theatre Lane and up D’Aguilar Street to reach the Victoria Peak via the Peak Tram (~10 mins). The peak tram is a 120 year-old funicular railway, and people usually board before sundown to watch as the city lights come on in their varicoloured brilliance. However, the waiting line to board the tram was ridiculously long (~2 hours). If you are ready to skip the queue by paying the return taxi fare (~ 45 HKD each way) to go up the peak, you will definitely be rewarded with a breathtaking city view to mark the end of your two-day trip in Hong Kong!
*Lan Kwai Fong Bars are within walking distance, you may consider going for a drink at night where I’ve heard wonderful things happen.
Why Two Days in Hong Kong?
The reason for having this short trip was because of knowing that Hong Kong is shockingly similar to Singapore, from the skyscrapers to foods and restaurants. Yet, I still wanted to visit this country at least once to check out its beauty. Though it was a wonderful time sightseeing the must-sees, there were no regrets spending only 2 days. The food was generally good as expected, but sadly none was enough to leave my palate craving for more. In fact, I am sure that many places other than Hong Kong do serve equally delicious, maybe even better native HK dishes! Though I have to caution that, even though Singapore is famous for its ‘lack of customer service’ in restaurants, do expect worse in Hong Kong. There was practically none, except for some high-end places.
Note: Apologies that I was not able to record in detail the amount spent on the food. However, a good guideline is that it will be similar or slightly higher than in Singapore (~$10 / person / meal).
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