Last week with virtually no pre-travel planning, I found myself tagging along on one of B’s work trips to Hong Kong and experienced a completely incredible holiday. Yes as everyone will tell you, Hong Kong is a little bit crowded, a little bit polluted and very humid. But don’t be too quick to dismiss it as a destination like I originally did; it has the capacity to surprise and delight (and not just your stomach). These are the notes and highlights from my trip.

Getting Around : The first thing we did when we arrived was to buy an Octopus card (HK$150 per adult, $50 of which is a refundable deposit), usable in supermarkets, convenience stores and all forms of public transport. Reliable and uncomplicated, the Hong Kong Metro system will be your best friend for the entire duration of your stay.

Staying Connected : Get a prepaid Sim card for your mobile phone, either from the airport or from any 7-11, for a week’s worth of cheap unlimited broadband Internet access. Handy for email, looking information up quickly or navigating with GPS.

Sights : It’s worth visiting Lantau Island (take the Metro from Central Station to Tung Chung) for the cable car ride alone, which takes you to and from the location of the Po Lin Monastery, home to a 26m high bronze statue of Buddha. Paying the admission fee to enter the interior of the statue allows you to view (from a distance) an apparent relic of Buddha. The same entry ticket also entitles you to complimentary tea and snacks, which I didn’t have time to redeem.

A short walk from Central Station is the Peak Tram which you can ride to The Peak for great day/night views of Hong Kong city. Also from Des Voeux Road in Central is the start of the Central-Mid-Levels Escalator, billed as the “longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world”, essentially a series of escalators that takes commuters up to (10:30am to midnight) and down from (6am to 10am) the Mid levels.

Bakeware/Cookware Shopping : Shanghai street is the area to go to for both commercial-grade and domestic kitchen ware. Check out I Love Cake for a great selection of baking frames/molds, cutters and ingredients. Further down the road are stores specialising in Chinese restaurant equipment and tools for dim sum production. A great selection of ‘gourmet’ cookware can be found at Pan Handler Co.

I Love Cake
G/F, 338 Shanghai Street, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Ming Song Steel Bamboo Receptable Co.
Suite F, G/F, 284 Shanghai Street, Yaumatei, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Pan-Handler Co.
318 Prince’s Building, Central, Hong Kong

Supermarkets : Aside from the fascinating outdoor wet markets found all around Hong Kong, one of my favourite things to do in a new city is to visit supermarkets. Go to Wellcome for basics, or Taste and CitySuper for imported items that are impossible to find or too expensive to buy in Sydney. I especially loved CitySuper, for their great selection of imported condiments, chocolates and cookies. Seek out the yogurt section stocked with raw/sheeps/cows milk yogurts from Europe and Japan, most of which are packaged in covetable mini ceramic or glass jars. In the cookware/bakeware section which also has a decent selection of baking ingredients and an impressive range of Le Creuset, I picked up small mason jars and cute Japanese mini baking tins.

CitySuper
ifc mall Level 1, Shops 1041-1049, Central, Hong Kong (and other branches)

Taste
Festival Walk, Tat Chee Avenue, Yau Yat Chuen, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong (and other branches)

Egg Custard Tarts : The most famous bakery for egg custard tarts is Tai Cheong. Check out the Honolulu Coffee Shop for a flaky pastry version of the tart, which I actually prefer. Restaurants like Man Wah also serve made-to-order custard tarts from their Dim Sum menu.

Tai Cheong Bakery
35 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central, Hong Kong

Honolulu Coffee Shop
176-178 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Chocolates/Bakeries/Patisseries :

Vero Chocolates
Get a box of liquid caramel chocolates flavoured with rosemary, chilli, lemon, hazelnut or pink salt, or a bar of dark chocolate from their 5-elements collection or some gold dusted chocolate dipped hazelnuts. Or do like we did and get all three.
Shop 236, 2/F, Landmark Atrium, 15 Queens Road, Central, Hong Kong

Mandarin Cake Shop at the Mandarin Oriental
Gawk at the stunning pastry displays and get chocolate brownie sandwiches or a box of their signature “Assorted Metal” chocolates, in the shape of nuts and bolts.
5 Connaught Road, Central, Hong Kong

Sift Patisserie
Their signature chocolate cake is a petite cylinder of intense Valrhona flavours and textures.
Shop 240 – 241, Prince’s Building, 10 Chater Road, Central, Hong Kong (and other branches, including a dessert shop in Sheung Wan)

High Tea at the Peninsula
A friend rated this as her most memorable experience in Hong Kong and insisted I tried it while I was there. High tea is served here from 2-7pm. To avoid excessive queuing, turn up around 1:30pm to be at the head of the line, then sit back, relax, and enjoy the old World luxury of The Peninsula.
Salisbury Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Other Shopping : Hong Kong is truly a shopping paradise like no other, with seemingly a Chanel store around every corner. Check out Harbour City for a sticky beak at the flagship stores of all the luxury brands. For a less in-your-face experience, visit one of the Lane Crawford stores to view an edited selection of designer goods. Their home wares store in Pacific Place Mall stocks amongst other things, hard-to-find pieces by Astier de Villatte. Not being much of a clothes shopper, I did however take a stroll through the Ladies’ Market in Mongkok at night and during the day, made a beeline for a Uniqlo store to snap up a few shirts and tops from their Designers Innovation Project range.

Uniqlo
Shop 3231-3232, Level 3, Gateway Arcade, Harbour City, Kowloon, Hong Kong (and other branches)

Ladies’ Market
Tung Choi Street, Mongkok, Hong Kong.

Lane Crawford
Podium 3, ifc mall, 8 Finance Street, Central, Hong Kong (and other branches)

Harbour City
3 – 27 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Dim Sum :

Luk Yu Tea House
One of Hong Kong’s oldest and most famous tea houses. Has an old World/colonial feel. Loved the siu mai, rice and duck meat in lotus leaves and wonderfully light steamed pork buns.
24-26 Stanley St, Central, Hong Kong

Man Wah at Mandarin Oriental
Decent views and an interesting selection of dim sum including taro puffs with abalone, xiao long bao presented in individual baskets, amazingly tender barbecued pork in steamed rice rolls, and heart warming crabmeat dumplings in a supreme broth. The egg custard tarts here are made to order. Complimentary petit fours of coffee jellies and cashew nut cookies.
No.5 Connaught Road, Central, Hong Kong

Tim Ho Wan
Is this poky little restaurant worth it’s 1-Michelin star? Is there a point to the subsequent 2 hour wait for a seat, the sharing of tables with complete strangers and the lack of elbow room? Are their famed cha siu bo lo bao really all that good? Yes, yes and yes. Cha siu bo lo bao, also known as a ‘pineapple bun’ (for it’s appearance) is a baked bun filled with barbecue pork and topped with a sugar cookie dough that when baked, forms a sweet crust on the surface of the bun. Not to be confused with steamed cha siu buns or baked cha siu pastries. Don’t be fazed by the wait. That’s what books or Internet access on your phone is for. By the time your number is called, the anticipation will probably have made you tick every single item on the tiny pre-order form, and once you’ve gained entry through those doors, you may never want to leave. (Note : they have a second branch in the ifc mall which is bigger, so less queuing is involved, but friends have told me the menu isn’t quite the same and the food isn’t as excellent as the original)
2-20 Kwong Wa Street, Mongkok, Hong Kong

Maxim’s Palace City Hall
One of the few places still serving dim sum from trolleys. Think Sydney’s Marigold, with slightly grander surroundings. To skip the queues, turn up early and enjoy a quiet midweek late breakfast or early lunch surrounded by elderly couples doing the same, or other lone diners reading newspapers and sipping cups of tea.
2nd Floor, City Hall Low Block, Central, Hong Kong

Lung King Heen at The Four Seasons Hotel
A must-visit, if only for their abalone pastries. Don’t bother ordering just one. They’re so good you’ll definitely be raising your hand for a second serve. Also try their signature lobster and scallop dumpling. The cha siu bo lo bau here is also very good and not as sugary sweet as the Tim Ho Wan version. Complimentary petit fours of sesame cookies and a beautifully floral osmanthus jelly mark a sweet end to a very refined lunch.
8 Finance Street, Central, Hong Kong

(Next : Hong Kong : Restaurants)