Touring Hong Kong As A Modern Singaporean

I was researching to go Hong Kong on a business/casual trip some time ago. Hong Kong isn’t at the top of my travel bucket list as it just seemed too similar to what we already have in Singapore. Although open-minded, my expectations were high as travelling is expensive in cost and time so I had to find ways to make the most of it. So is Hong Kong really going to deliver as a fun and exciting place?

This was my second time there and I thought I had seen all that Hong Kong has to offer the first time round. We went to

So this trip was short but Hong Kong is just a stone’s throw away! In 4 days, we travelled to:

• Mid-levels Escalators
• Tim Ho Wan
• The Peak
• Sai Kung Fish Market
• Chuen Kee Seafood Restaurant
• Mongkok
• Yat Lok Roasted Goose

Taxis and private cars are notoriously expensive in HK, so we took the cheapest form of transport from the airport to the hotel were staying at near Shueng Wan MTR.

After dropping off our bags, we were hungry already and grab some takeaway snacks from the 7-11 next door. (In Hong Kong, there is ALWAYS a 7-11 next door.)

After that quick perk-me-up, we took the MTR to the Central station just one stop away. We were there to try the original Tim Ho Wan to see how it fares with the Singapore’s version.

Tim Ho Wan

Shop 12A, Hong Kong Station (Podium Level 1, IFC Mall) , Central

We were there at 4pm so it wasn’t very crowded and we had a seat very soon.

Honestly nothing beats the original. Everything tastes so good but the best is definitely the pork buns, which literally blows your mind with the first bite. The ones we had in Singapore couldn’t hold a candle to these at all.

Now it was time to work off all those calories! We walked nearby to a quirky tourist spot: the Mid-Levels escalator. It is just miles upon miles of escalator! On the way up, we can see some pretty amazing views of Central Hong Kong.

Mid-Levels Escalator @ Central

I had no idea taking escalators can be so addictive. We didn’t stop until we reached the top some 30 minutes later and had no idea where we were after that. However we just walked all the way home from there using GPS as a guide.

The next day we took the cliché tourist attraction, the Peak Tram to the top of Victoria Peak. Get there early (around 9 am) and you’ll beat the crowd and have a very relaxing stress-free visit, even on busy days!

Victoria Peak via Peak Tram

It was nice to get such a nice view of Hong Kong, the city of skyscrapers and apartments. If anything, it looks way more clustered here than, say, a view on top of our Singapore Flyer.

Now for my million-dollar tip: Just don’t pay for the extra Sky Terrace tickets which is just a few storeys above the tram station. You can get free awesome views from the mall at the top!

Sai Kung Fish Market

We were thinking of going to Tai O fishing village but decided to try out Sai Kung instead as the idea of a floating fish market sounds like fun… and boy, did we get what we were looking for!

I had never seen so many varieties of live seafood; from groupers, crabs, rays, octopus, clams and more; there were also dried seafood as well. The Hongkies were definitely huge seafood eaters. The way you order the food was also really different. You peer at the seafood from the dock and take your pick, then the fisherman in the boat would prepare the fish right on the spot, albeit the spot is a little wobbly and unstable.

You can choose some fresh seafood and bring it to the restaurant to cook for you, but we decided to just go to the restaurant  and order some seafood instead.

Chuen Kee Seafood Restaurant

There were plenty of seafood restaurants around but Chuen Kee got a Michelin star for the Grilled baby abalones so we had a go.

We ordered a set lunch for two, which came up to be around S$80. For this price we got two tiny abalones, an even tinier crab which I think died a little too young, a pomfret (not the good kind), a nice creamy cheese lobster and a plate of greens. Some dishes were good, some weren’t so we felt a little short-changed. I don’t recommend the set meals, if you really want to eat here, you can order the fresh seafood but be prepared as it would be very expensive.

Grilled abalones: Delicious but they are very tiny. Not worth it.

The lobster is nice and the cheese is light and smooth.

The pomfret is fresh but this is a cheap fish and it wasn’t cooked particularly well. So-so.

The crab is the most disappointing dish. The size is a joke. If I’d seen a crab this small at the market I wouldn’t have bought it, much less bought it. And they only gave us one tiny crab to share among two people.

Nevertheless, we were quite full from all the food so it was time to walk all that energy off by looking at the strange seafood in tanks outside of the seafood restaurants.

It was 4pm and time to bid farewell for now, perhaps next time we would have time to take the ferry out to see the volcanic rock formations out on the sea.

That night we did more walking at Mongkok, but it was all so touristy and nothing really attracts me as a Singaporean. It was so HARD to find a souvenir that I thought it was worth bring back! Shopping is way better in Singapore/Malaysia.

Yat Lok Roast Goose

Tucked away in a dark alley (well, most of Central is like that) is the cutest one-Michelin star Roast goose restaurant. It was so hard to find but we got there in the end. And it was so worth it!!!

I’m glad I didn’t Hong Kong without trying Roast Goose.

So…

I love Hong Kong, it has a certain familiarity to it and that makes it easy for a Singaporean to get around. I would even say it is easy to bring young children around as well, but lots of walking is to be expected. After all, in which city do you see most women in smart office attire but wearing sport shoes?

Culture and history: There’s such a lot of history in the place that you can learn and see a lot in the city which I unfortunately didn’t get to see too much of it yet. The theme parks were also quite nice.

Shopping: Hong Kong is not a cheap place, it is just like Singapore. And I did not find shopping much more amazing than Singapore.

Food: Needless to say, the food is absolutely amazing here so gorge on it as much as you can so that you think about it when you return to Singapore until your next visit to Hong Kong.

Weather: Come at the right time and the weather is so much better than in hot and humid Singapore.

Final verdict: I will certainly visit Hong Kong again.