After having a rest day and finalising the conference, it was time to explore Hong Kong. We did this first by meeting up with an acquaintance Chantal received an introduction of via her Bond Alumni leaders network. On the way there, we took the chance to go over the harbour during sunset, which is as beautiful as you imagine. We then met up with Steven and his wife, Anna at the Kowloon Cricket Club, of which they are members. The dinner we decided on was a traditional Chinese style and was absolutely delicious!
IFC and Man Mo Temple
Thursday was all about exploring locally, which involved taking the midlevels escalator – which is the escalators that take people from Central Hong Kong on the waterline up to the “midlevels” which is basically the highest you can go without having to go right up to the Peak. We then walked around the neighbourhoods, including Soho, which had several antique and fake-antique places. We stopped into the Man Mo temple but could not stay long because it was full of burning incense which burned our eyes and noses, even as we wore masks. As the morning wore on, we explored the IFC Mall. This is where we happened to stumble across the absolutely enormous Apple store. As our luck would have it, they had some appointments available to experience the Apple Vision Pro (the Virtual Reality headset that is about NZD$5,000 each!). That was an exciting and unanticipated experience.
Because Chantal’s sinuses were still acting up, and Chris was also irritated by the incense from Man Mo, we decided on hot Chinese noodle soup for a late afternoon lunch. This particular soup experience introduced Chris to cuttlefish balls, which are more like dumplings. After lunch, we decided to go back to the hotel and rest, opting for the Western option of a local pizza place for dinner.
K11 Musea
Whilst we anticipated to go to the Big Buddha on Tian Tan Island on Friday, we decided to avoid the tourist crowds of the cable car to get there. We opted instead to explore the K11 Musea. It is a huge, 9-level shopping mall which also doubles as an art gallery. There is an installation of the Museum of Modern Art (the one in New York) and views of the harbour if you pick the right store. The K11 Musea is across the Harbour so we enjoyed another very cheap ferry ride over (HK$3). We walked around the cultural centre and spotted the Avenue of Stars. There was a lot of air pollution so we went inside as quickly as we could.
After walking around, which seemed like forever, we decided that it was time to find some food. We picked a place that seemed busy with locals but were disappointed by the dim sum there – it was not cooked right, was dry and gooey. This was the first time we had a poor dining experience (but unfortunately not our last).
After lunch, we walked around the Tsim Sha Tsui area some more, taking in as much of the sights as we could. The afternoon was all about decompressing and having some cat time at the Cats Tea Room. What makes the Cats Tea Room a different kind of cat café is that the cats are rescues and the owners look to rehome the cats. We found that the cats were generally anxious and the café design itself didn’t allow for the cats to hide or get away from the people easily. We observed several patrons basically chasing the cats for pets. One cat was hiding in a fabric box and even the staff were not able to coax it out. We still had a good time hanging out with some feline friends and they were super cute.
Once our feet were tired, we tried a different place for a hot soup dinner but this was also disappointing. The soup broth was not flavourful at all.
Wan Chai
On Saturday, Chantal wanted to check out the Wan Chai area. Chris explored this earlier in the week when Chantal was at the conference and it was on Chantal’s list to take the tram from their hotel in Sheung Wan to Wan Chai. Everything in Hong Kong is dense and is taller than most cities. It is far denser than what we experienced in Tokyo. Even the trams are double-decker! We went relatively early in the morning – about 9:30am. There was hardly anyone and most of the stores were closed. We noticed that nothing opens before 11:30am.
We grabbed the opportunity of a short line at this bakery which looked very popular in Wan Chai. We ordered a Portuguese custard tart (of course) and a gingerbread donut. They were super sweet but also incredibly delicious. You can’t experience Hong Kong without at least one custard tart, pineapple bun or wife cake.
We then explored a bunch of malls and areas, on the hunt for some gifts for our loved ones. As the day wore on, the streets got busier until they were packed with people. Once we were over the people and the walking, we had to wait for three separate trams because they were all full. Not wanting to repeat our previous day’s poor dining experiences, we opted to go to Little Bao, a cute bar and restaurant in Sheung Wan close to our hotel. Chris had dinner there when Chantal went to the conference dinner, and recommended the experience. We were not disappointed. The food, drinks and service were all fantastic.
Back to Chi Lin Nunnery and Going Home
Sunday was our final day in Hong Kong and we had an evening flight. We left our luggage safely with the hotel and went up to Diamond Hill (yes, we know that place doesn’t sound real but it is!). Diamond Hill is in Hong Kong and connected to the mainland. What attracted us to the area is the Chi Lin Nunnery which is a Buddhist complex. To know more, you can read about Chris’s experience as he went to Diamond Hill earlier whilst Chantal was at the conference. Chris confirms that the experience was that good, it was worth doing it twice. After spending some blissful time in the Nan Lian Garden, it was time to pick up our luggage and head to the airport.
One final note on our experience was getting from the main airport building where we had to go through security to the gate. The airport is so huge, they have trains which take you from the main terminal to your gate. We did not anticipate that! It is a different experience to Changi Airport in Singapore, because you take trains between terminals in Changi. This was a train after the terminal but before the gate. On the overnight flight back to Auckland, we decided to use the opportunity to upgrade to a “sky couch” which allowed us to lay flat across three seats. It was much more comfortable than trying to sleep in a seat upright.
Chris and Chantal 