5 Days Itinerary for Hong Kong

Travel period: 20 to 24 October 2016

Stay: Citadines Ashley (near Tsim Sha Tsui)

I don't really like Hong Kong to begin with. given that my first trip was pretty meh. But I had been seeing a lot of posts on the things to eat in HK and decided to go along with my gf who haven't been there before. Well, we decided that we are not going back for the next five years at least. The food choices are great but there was absolutely nothing to shop and walk to our interest at all.

It appears that it was a low travel season because there was little to no queue for most of the food we went for. However, we faced a passing typhoon on our second day which is really unlucky because it was totally out of season and according to the news, it was the first since 10+ years for a typhoon in October.

Day 1
Tsim Sha Tsui > Dim Sum Icon > Ladies Street > Dim Dim Sum

As per Citadines Ashley,

Take the Airport Express Line to Kowloon Station. Switch to K2 complimentary Airport Express Shuttle Bus toward Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Get off at the 4th stop, and it is a 5 minutes' walk.

We followed the instructions to a T and with the help of Google Maps, we managed to find the apartment. The apartment was small but decently equipped. I love the location for we were able to walk to many places in our itinerary.

Dim Sum Icon has a different theme every quarterly and we were glad that for October 2016, it was Crayon Shinchan! It was awesome because the previous theme was this..

Photo from Dim Sum Icon's Facebook Page

Check out from their Facebook before heading over to avoid disappointment! We went to the outlet near our apartment at The ONE (Address: 100 Nathan Road) and there was no queue at all. We had to wait for all our food to arrive to take this photo. Presentation wise, it was awesome! Taste was mediocre and it was quite expensive! Well, all for the novelty!

Since it was almost night time, we headed to Ladies Street to just walk around and headed for more dim sum at Dim Dim Sum (Address: 112 Tung Choi Street, Mong Kok). This place was overshadowed by many other dimsum shops so I need to do the service and promote it. It sells some really awesome chee cheong fun wrapped with you tiao. It was so good. The shop was rather small so expect a short waiting time.

Day 2

Tsim Sha Tsui > Ichiran Ramen

Typhoon day. In the morning before the typhoon got into high alert, we decided to try our luck at Allegretto Viva Espresso at China Hong Kong City, walkable from our apartment. However, it was closed in preparation of the typhoon :( Please go try for the super cute latte art and tell me if it tastes as good!

Save everyone from what went on for the day but mainly, we hid inside our apartment and camp for the typhoon alerts.

Once the alert dropped at night, we headed out for Ichiran Ramen (Address: Lockhart House Block B, 440-446 Jaffe Rd) that was thankfully still open despite a typhoon for the entire day. This place opens 24 hours! The design is very Japanese, where you eat facing a small window. The ramen was good and extra comforting for a cold day.

Day 3
Tsim Sha Tsui > Tai Cheong Bakery > Maks Noodles > BAKE Cheese Tart > Australian Dairy  > Temple Street Market

We spent our day walking around Central. Having Tai Cheong Bakery (only take-away) and Maks Noodles. It is common to share table with others in Hong Kong. Usually the cup of tea is for you to wash your utensils. But sometimes we do see Hongkies drink from it and we were quite uncertain about it.

Next up, SOGO for BAKE Cheese Tart when during that period of time, super long queue back here in Singapore. There was more roaming around and going up random building for a foot massage. Until it was time to go for more food. 

We went back to put our tarts back in the apartment and walked to Australian Dairy for some light food. Nothing really Australian about it (old joke, old joke) and nothing worth the hype. There wasn't any queue so we were OK to try it. 

Walked along Temple Street Market (really just walk past, nothing worth stopping to take a second look at) back to our apartment.

Day 4
Tsim Sha Tsui > Tim Ho Wan > Yat Lok > The Peak > Capital Cafe

More eating! We went for Tim Ho Wan at IFC Mall, Hong Kong Station. It was located inside the station and it took us some walking to find it. It was the longest food queue for the trip. At least the queue was indoor. If you have never been there, I suggest to go! The standard was so different from Singapore's and you will never look at it the same way again.

We walked to Central (again, cause really nowhere else) and we thought that since people are always saying about queue, we shall queue for Yat Lok Barbeque Restaurant while waiting for our food to digest. Wrong move, because again, no queue. We got seated almost immediately and had to start eating our roast goose rice within an hour after the dimsum. IT. WAS. GOOD. Granted, it was the fist and only time we were having roast goose. The balance of crispy skin and thin layer of fat completed with the strong smell of goose meat. It was great, even when we were super full.

While waiting for time to kill, we dropped by a random cafe. Looking back, we should have tried the longest outdoor covered escalator there. Just to, you know. For the fun of it.

Finally, something touristy other than eating! We walked all the way to The Peak, with the help from the old trusty Google Maps. It was a very difficult walk with a lot of up slope and stairs. Finally, we reached and got horrified by the queue! It was almost an hour wait in a very cramp and lack of air circulation area.

The tram ride was interesting but I got a slight headache from it because it was very steep and jerky but a short ride. Get the seats on the right to look at the city in a slanted view. I recommend going up during evening so as to get both the day and night view. 

Following the signpost to the nearest MTR station after getting down from The Peak, it was Capital Cafe next. It sells similar food to The Australian Dairy, plus truffle egg toast. The truffle was underwhelming and almost non-existence taste. It was disappointing and not worth making the trip. Along the way, you will pass by Honolulu Coffee Shop (famous for egg tarts) and Kam's Roast Goose. But we didn't try both.

Day 5
Tsim Sha Tsui > Tsui Wah > Hang Heung > Jenny Cookes > Kee Wah Bakery

Last day and it was the day to purchase all the food back to Singapore! We had our breakfast at Tsui Wah that sells more local HK food and is walkable from our apartment. There are a lot of outlets all over Hong Kong.

We bought these from the following places, all within walking distances:

- Lao Po Bing (wife's cake) from Hang Heung located at 8-12E Carnarvon Road (shop is facing the road). The auntie was rather patient in helping us pack the pastries, breaking herself apart from the typical unfriendly Hongkies). There are a few outlets.

- Jenny Cookies located at 54-64B Nathan Road. The building looks rather old and spooky but walk in, you will find a few signage leading to the shop, it was re-located to the upper level.

- Earl Grey Cookies (not very Hong Kong-ish, I know. But it's yummy!) from Kee Wah Bakery located right outside Citadines Ashley. There are a few outlets and more pastries.

We wanted to try Sun Kee Cheese Noodle which was also around the area but it was not open on a Monday and we went into a random shop for our lunch before heading to the airport. It was nothing commendable so I shall not mention it. 

Enjoy the eat-ful trip!