After years of wanting to visit, we finally made our way to the other side of world and touched down in Shanghai to begin our Southeast Asian adventure. The first stop? Hong Kong, the glittery, glistening, luxury seaside city. Today, I am sharing our one full day itinerary, which was perfect for us to jump into this space.
We found Hotel Ease Access on Booking.com, and although it was a clean, pleasant and nice stay, unfortunately the location was bit out of the way 'of all the action'. For our short two-night stay in Hong Kong, a more central hotel would have definitely been better.
9:00 am ---
wake up at hotel
10:00 am ---
coffee hunting
The four-star hotel also included no coffee! So you already know Monika was on a mad dash first thing in the morning to find her ritualistic morning cup of joe. Thankfully, we headed straight to a McCafe and got our morning started in the right way!
The line-up of locals waiting to eat here when we arrived assured us that we made the right decision, and we were not wrong. Absolutely delicious, fresh, authentic food in a no-fuss unpretentious place.
11:30 am ---
dim sum for brunch
Of course, we didn't come to Hong Kong for McDonald's, so we headed straight to a brunch of Dim Sum. After tons of online research and personal reviews from friends, we decided to have our first real meal in HK at Dim Dim Sum.
1:00 pm ---
ferry trip
The world famous Victoria Harbour skyline is best viewed from the water, and for literally pennies, we boarded the Star Ferry to cross the water and end up on Hong Kong island. The trip itself is fun and authentic, and thus worth mentioning as an activity.
3:00 pm ---
shopping at landmark
Once on Hong Kong Island, we followed the crowds through covered pathways to the world-famous iconic Landmark, a high-fashion atrium space flanked by stunning designer store windows and fine dining. It was the perfect place to both window shop but also people watch.
4:30 pm ---
peak tram and sky garden
The only "tourist" thing that we did was take the historic Peak Tram up to the Sky Terrace, to have a birds-eye view of the entire Victoria Harbour of Hong Kong. It wasn't cheap and there was a super long wait even though we had pre-purchased tickets and a time slot, but it was definitely worth it. The entire experience was actually super cool and the view is truly epic.
5:30 pm ---
another coffee stop
Because jet lag was hitting and we had done so much walking, another coffee stop made sense, and this time, we decided to head to an iconic spot back across the harbour, at Ralph's. This cafe was created by Ralph Lauren, so that was enough reason for us to pop by and grab an iced coffee!
6:30 pm ---
dinner at night market
We killed enough time wandering to wait for sunset around 6:30 for the world famous Temple Street Night Market, where vendors sell all types of totally random (not necessarily Asian) things. The street is also lined with restaurants and random food vendors, so it was the perfect place for us to score some authentic Hong Kong dinner.
“Life in Hong Kong transcends cultural and culinary borders, such that nothing is truly foreign and nothing doesn’t belong.”
-– Peter Jon Lindberg
The beginning of our Southeast Asian
adventures are off to a dope start.
Thank you Hong Kong!
