Hong Kong Trip Report – Kowloon- Days 4 to 7

Day 4

Today was a transition day.  I switched sides and moving across the bay from Hong Kong Island to Tsim Tsa Tsui on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong.

I wouldn’t be able to check in to the next hotel until 3pm, so I had plenty of time for coffee and a breakfast.  I walked out on the streets of Hong Kong around 9am and it was still eerily quiet.  Just the delivery and trash guys moving about.   Had a quick and okay breakfast at Knead and then walked up to Halfway Café.   I stayed there for two coffees.  It was fantastic and a nice vibe.

Headed back to the hotel to pack up and relax for a bit and then took an Uber to the Hotel Icon.  It took over 30 minutes for my uber to arrive.  It’s just a hard city to drive in and there weren’t enough Uber drivers in Hong Kong in 2018.  It was still far cheaper than a taxi would have been so it was worth the wait.

Hotel Icon is amazing.  It’s a 4 or 5 star hotel with all the amenities.  It felt right to split up my Hong Kong trip by staying in a budge hotel and then a luxury hotel. You immediately feel the difference between Tsim Tsa Tui and Hong Kong Island.  Hong Kong Island is compact, crowded and a bit crazy.  Tsim Tsa Tui is spread out and has most of the luxury hotels and restaurants.  It’s just more Western and that makes it lose a bit of its appeal.  Unless of course that’s what you’re looking for.

I couldn’t check in so I walked around looking for somewhere to eat.  I had my set my sights on a Korean fried chicken restaurant but it was closed, so I ended up eating ramen for lunch at the mall.  Getting a side of chicken karaage for free was a nice consolation prize.  And that was also my first experience with a true Tonkatsu broth ramen.  I described it later to my wife as a soy sauce milk shake.  Yeah, it’s that good.

My wife wasn’t due back from Ghuangzhou for a few more hours but her business partner’s husband arrived from the Netherlands.  I met up with him for a drink at Spasso while we waited for our wives to arrive.

After a few drinks, they let us check in.  Hotel Icon is amazing.  It’s a 4 or 5 star hotel with all the amenities.  It felt right to split up my Hong Kong trip by staying in a budge hotel and then a luxury hotel.

Gym at Hotel Icon in Hong KongHong Kong is probably most famous for its views and its food so you’d be selling yourself short if you didn’t have at least one meal up top with a view of Hong Kong Harbor.  We had dinner at Above & Beyond which is the restaurant above the Hotel Icon.   And it was fantastic (and easy since we were staying there).   I ended up ordering the Peking Chicken, which left all of my seafood loving friends a bit jealous as they were ogling my chicken.  That doesn’t normally happen.  But it did that night and for good reason.  It was absolutely perfect.

We ended the night at with drinks at Knutsford Terrace which is basically a row of American style bars on top of a hill in Tsim Tsa Tui.  I felt like it was just a cheesy place for tourist and expats because it pretty much was.

Day 5

Originally we wanted to go biking today, but we still didn’t sleep well and needed to take it easy for another day.  So after a slow morning, we went for a walk around Kowloon.

After coffee, we ended up along the Harbor front and the Avenue of the Stars to see the Bruce Lee Statue.

And then to Chunking Mansions which was incredibly disappointing.  Seemed like it was just tourists and people looking to take advantage of tourists.  I didn’t get that feeling anywhere else in Hong Kong.  Sure there are both everywhere you go.  But 100% of the people in Chunking Mansions are one or the other.  And there’s really no redeeming value.  I just didn’t get it.

From there we took a quick subway ride up to the Flower Market and Bird Market.  They are pretty much just large sections of different shops devoted to selling just one product.

We met up with our friends for a dim sum lunch at Tim Ho Wan.  Billed currently as the world’s cheapest Michelin starred restaurant, it lives up to that hype.  You will most likely have to wait because this place is mentioned on every blog, guide, or video on Hong Kong.

It’s really that good and really that cheap.  Especially the pork buns.  Somethings do live up to the hype.

An afternoon nap followed by some afternoon drinks, and it was already time for dinner.  We went for Korean BBQ.  The meat is all cooked in on a hotplate in the middle of your table.  It wasn’t bad, but I found the meat to be a bit fatty and chewy.  And it was bland unless you dipped in one of the sauces which I didn’t find all that interesting either.  A bit underwhelming, so much that I don’t remember where we ate.

We finished the night with some German beers at Brotzeit along the waterfront.

Day 6

Now it was time to bike.  We still didn’t get out of the hotel until 10am, but we had finally had the energy to take it on.  And we were going to need it.   We took the subway to Sha Tin.  Our plan was to bike from Sha Tin to Tai Po which is out in the New Territories.  I had expected it be more rural but each area we biked through was like a small city in itself with more skyscrapers than you could count.  There are several bike rentals available and they all allow you to rent from Sha Tin and drop off in Tai Po so you don’t have to cycle back.

We only rode for about 3 minutes before I realized that we were already at the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas.  It’s about a 10 minute walk from the bike path in the same direction as the subway station, so I’d recommend seeing the temple before renting the bikes to save the time.   And once you get to the temple, the adventure just begins.  It’s a long and steep climb.  You’ll appreciate the number 10,000 when you pass them a couple at a time.

But once you get to the top, it’s all worth it.  It’s incredibly peaceful with waterfalls and monkeys climbing all around you.

We made it back down and got back on the the bikes and we had a great ride along the waterfront.  The trail is only about 7 miles long and is completely flat.  I’d recommend to it anyone.

We got back and rested before dinner.  Most places needed reservations on a Saturday night, and we hadn’t made any.  So we ended up at a random Vietnamese restaurant, Golden Bull, that had decent reviews.  I got a mix of brisket and chicken curry.  It was decent, but nothing to write home about.

We went to bed early as well.  It was a long day, but also probably my favorite day in Hong Kong.  As much as I enjoyed the city of Hong Kong, I enjoyed getting out and away from the crowds just as much.

Day 7

On our last full day we headed out to Lantau Island to see the Big Buddha.  And it is a big Buddha.  It’s the iconic image of Buddha statues and I highly recommend it.  It’s about an hour on the train from Kowloon but it’s really easy to navigate.  It was the only time in a crowded city of millions of people that I felt like a true tourist.  We stood in line for at least an hour to ride the cable car up to the village below the statue.

 

But, ultimately it’s worth it.  The size of the statue and the surrounding areas are just something you have to see to put in perspective.

We took the subway back to Tsim Tsa Tui to get some Korean fried chicken two ways and a pitcher of Hite Beer at Chicken Hof.

Good hole in the wall place for Korean fried chicken and a pitcher of Hite Beer.  Then walked to the Temple Street Market and grabbed those damn Lucky Cats.

After an early dinner, we were back at the hotel but not quite ready for bed.  We had a couple of drinks (including Young Master on tap) at the pool to get our last look the city at night.

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