5 Days 4 Nights Hong Kong itinerary

Making a trip to Hong Kong has to planned carefully before you depart as there are so much to do, see, explore and most importantly to eat...unless you are the category of people who eat just to live and not live to eat. Although the suggested itinerary is flexi but it is very food focused as the objective of going to Hong Kong was...to WAN SIK! So here's what we did...



Day One:

Very important is where to stay in Hong Kong to give you the best of everything and I would suggest Tshimshatsui...obvious lah..all the makan lobangs are there and even late into the night you still can get your supper and it is a very lively area too. All the hotels are located near the MRT entrances (exits).

If you take the morning flight you will arrive in the early afternoon and after check in you can go out for a light meal...dessert shops like Hui Lau Shan (on Haiphong Road) and Sweet Dynasty (on Canton Road..Haiphong Rd junction turn right..) are my favourites and so are those Hong Kong small eateries which serve delicious wanton noodles and best of all is their beef tendons/belly noodles and wash down with their special milk tea..lai char (along Cameron Road, Granville Road, Hankow Road, Haiphong Road etc). These are also open for breakfast and they have western sets too.

Dinner, if you are still exploring Tshimshatsui...drop in at Wu Kong Restaurant on Peking Road...serves great Shanghainese cuisine...lion head as a suggested dish..be careful...the servings are all very large..or walk further down Nathan Road to Shamrock Hotel where they have a restaurtant...serves very traditional Cantonese food and sea food too..or walk another kilometer further to Yau Ma Tei...London Restaurant on Nathan Road and many others. If you are going to Ladies's market at Sai Yeong Choi Kai...there is a good claypot eatery near Stanford Hotel and after that you can cross over to Langham Place for dessert at Honeymoon Desserts...great variety including durian!!

If you have a craving for Teochew food then take a taxi to Kowloon City which is a Teochew and Thai enclave...many Thai restaurants there too. We liked Soon Kee Restaurant for their Teochew food...Teochew owners...located at 41 Nam Kok Road, Kowloon City.

Tired???No?? Then take a walk to the Waterfront Promenade..nearer towards Star Ferry and have a beautiful night view of Hong Kong and the nightly laser show...if Chinese factories abstain from polluting the night sky!



Day Two:


After breakfast take the MTR to Wong Ti Sin Temple (station is Wong Tai Sin) as it is one of Hong Kong's most famous temples and is packed on each of the first and fifteen day of the lunar month. From there continue your journey on MTR to Kowloon Bay for a very delicious and sumptious tim sum lunch at Maxim Palace Restaurant in Telford Plaza...MTR station walk right in and to the right at the end of the shopping complex (shops opens at 11 a.m.). Maxim Palace's tim sum are sold on push carts and so you can check out what you want when each carts arrives at your table. Do try their desserts too especially the green bean soup..with a special kind of seaweed..that helps to cool the body..very popular during the SARS.

Be warned that Maxim is very popular and if you arrive after 12 p.m. you may have to take a queue number...definitely for Saturdays and Sundays but tim sum is still available the whole day except there is a special promotional price between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Bill is about HK$250 for 5 big eaters.

After lunch the suggestion is go to Sai Kung...in the past it was a quaint village but today it is the starting point for walks...many walking trials into the hills...very popular during the weekends and camping sites too...Honeymoon Desserts started their business in Sai Kung and still has a very large shop there.From Kowloon Bay take the MTR to Choi Hung for the mini bus (green) which station is just outside one of the exit..check the exit before getting out. The mini bus is very quick and gets to there in about 15 - 20 minutes and cost HK7.50. Alternativcely you can also take a bus..double decker and sit on top for a panaroma view as the bus climbs up hills and go down valleys into Sai Kung...slower pace too. Take the MTR to Diamond Hill and go up to the bus terminus and look for the bus to Sai Kung. Alternatively, you may want to venture to Lama Island for seafood. Rainbow Seafood Restaurant is one recommended. Do make a reservation as they also provide the ferry service from Central to the jetty next to the restaurant and vice versa.

Walk around the town and go for the desserts at Honeymoon, then along the waterfront...you see boats selling seafood and many locals buy from them and take home for dinner but you can also buy from them and then take the seafood to a restaurant of your choice..they will charge you a cooking fee and you can also order the vegetable and noodles dishes from the restaurants.

If you have time to kill then take one of the numerous boats for a ride to the offshore island which is popular with campers and then back for dinner.




Day Three:


Morning after breakfast take a taxi to Kowloon City...about HK$50 (but if you are more adventurous then take a bus..number 1A from Star Ferry bus terminus or along Nathan Road, Tshimshatsui and get off at the bus stop in front of the old Kai Tak airport...ask the bus driver to inform you when he reaches the destination) and explore the area...must do is the wet market and the shops fronting it...very cheap dried seafood like dried scallops, salted fish, fish maw, sharkfins etc.. and mushrooms (another place is of course the famous dried seafood street in Western District on Des Veoux Road West on Hong Kong Island...take a tram...Kennedy Town direction). In the market there are lots of Teochew foodstuff like preserved olives, salted small craps and shellfish etc. Also do visit Wo Kee Loong on 7 Tak Ku Ling Road, a very traditional Teochew pastry shop..yummy.

For lunch head for Sham Tseng...for Hong Kong's most popular roasted goose (the original place was a poultry farming village and some owners of the farms decided to roast their goose to sell which became very popular and Chan Kee and Yuen Kee grew in popularity as well). Suggest Chan Kee which is on the main road..Castle Peak Road..a taxi ride from Kowloon City costs about HK$100 or you can take the MTR to Tsuen Wan station and then get down to the mini bus station and take the bus that passes by Sham Tseng..driver will alert you if you let him know in advance). In the evenings especially weekends it is very crowded with locals..don't see many tourist...except the stray ones..

Afternoon go to Mongkok for shopping...taxi from Sham Tseng costs HK$100 if you drop in front of Langham Place Hotel...ha..dessert at Honeymoon on Langham Place...

Dinner you can cross over to Hong Kong on MTR to Wanchai and get out at exit A2 to head for Sang Kee Seafood restaurant...1/F Hip Seng Building, 107 Hennessy Road..you can see their neon lit signboard across the road...but do make a reservation...tel:2575 2236 and reserve their signature dish,,catfish congee..otherwise it maybe sold out....prices mof dishes are very reasonable and even for live fishes and prawns...they show it to you to confirm the weigh and freshness. 5 dishes with the fish will not be more than HK$600.


After dinner you can go down to Causeway Bay...if you like steamed milk then head for Yishun which is on the lane behind Sogo..opposite the taxi stand.

Day Four:

A morning visit to the dried seafood street at Western District on Des Voex Road, West would be very interesting and you can take the tram from Central or outside Admiralty station..tram that head for Kenny Town or Whitty Street..get down once you see the rows of shops selling dried seafood. Prices eg dried scallops are much cheaper.

For lunch go over to North Point..take the tram..fare is a flat HK$2..headed for North Point (final stop after passing through the wet market which comes alive in the late afternoon or Sakeiwan (drop off at a stop near the North Point MTR exit)..recommends Phoenix Golden Court Restaurant on 460 King's Road East (tel: 31029288) for their very cheap and sumptious set lunches..eg HK$288 with 5 dishes including a live steamed garoupa!..or take a tim sum set.

After lunch, shopping in North Point is interesting as it is very local and the wet market must not be missed as it comes alive after 3 p.m. Alternatively is to take the tram to Sakeiwan for a local atmosphere.

For dinner go to a very old teahouse, Lin Heung Tea House at 160 - 164 Wellington Street, Central. Do call up and make a reservation (Tel:2544 4556) as it is very popular with locals and also at the same time order the house speciality...stuffed duck. The food is very traditional home cooked variety...bittergourd with pork ribs, steamed minced pork with salted egg, deep fried sliced lotus roots with fish glue etc. Dessert is free and it is red beans soup.
On the way out...pay money down stairs (entrance)..you may want to buy some traditional pasteries for supper....or head down to Mak's Noodle (very popular for the wanton noodles) at 77, Wellington Street.
Having your fill of food, take a walk at Lan Kwai Fong and drop in at one of the numerous pubs for a drink and soak in the atmosphere. If you are still craving for dessert then go to IFC Mall for Honeymoon Desserts (shop no: 3013..3rd floor)...quite crowded after 9 p.m.


Day Five:

Last minute shopping (Uniglo at Miramar Shopping mall???) or have a hearty breakfast before going off to the airport...time flies when you are enjoying the run from one restaurant to the next for your food hunting.
Hope this suggested itinerary fits in with your next Hong Kong trip! And happy food hunting!!!

Friends have asked for the full itinerary of the 5 days Hong Kong food odyssey....hmmm...food for thought...

Went on a 5 days Hong Kong odyssey early this week.....food hunting the principal objective!!!
HONG KONG, the Fragrant Harbour...fragrant??? the guy who gave it the name must have had a major nose problem or he was a Lotus Eater (Alfred Tennyson) or maybe in those days the huge consumption of jasmine tea could be the reason...whatever..it is definitely far, far from fragrant unless when you walk along the esplanade and pass by a "kwai lo" woman...provided she wears perfume......ha! ha!!...otherwise.....
Coming in to land at the international airport gives you some trepidation....looking out of the window (by the way ask for the window seat "A" so you get a good view of Hong Kong and coming back ask for "K" so you can see Disneyland....if you are lucky that is...with the weather...or more so... the "generosity" of the factories on the Chinese southern province..) you see not the sky line of Hong Kong but the grey and intimidating water of the sea and the thick blanket of dark grey haze blanketing the sky...so where is the sky where the sea??...hopefully you have a very competent captain pilotting or the autopilot works...trust SIA!...make you unconsciously cross your fingers!
Travelling to Hong Kong on a group of five is very very economical....food wise and transportation wise...take the taxi from the airport to the hotel in Tsimshatsui, it cost all in about HK$250....the new taxi fare benefits long distance travelling...after HK$84.60 (breakeven) your fare goes cheaper...meter starts at HK$18..(likewise from Tsimshatsui to airport the metered fare was HK$192.60...so much cheaper than taking the airport express or the bus...major hassle if you have luggages. Same goes for travelling in HK especially if you venture to the New Territories for lunch or dinner. Taxis in HK do not have very complicated fare structures or confusing surcharges. It is simple and plain...just pay meter fare! We met a very enterprising...aren't all Hong Kongers???..taxi driver by the name of Daniel Ko who gave us his name card (handphone number: 852 96556069)...for his taxi service...he's a Teochew so "Ka Ki Nang".. but in actual fact he probably is the head of a group of "taxi friends"...we checked out his service and it was excellent...beats our taxi call centres hands down...he has 4 handphones on his taxi's dashboard and answers the calls immediately..hands free of course..we were in Kowloon City..a very Teochew enclave plus lots of Teochew and Thai restaurants (we found Soon Kee Restaurant at 41 Nam Kok Road to be good), Teochew food specialities like preserved olives, little clams, wedding pastries (Wo Kee Loong at 7 Tak Ku Ling Road which is a very old traditional Teochew cake and pastry shop which I have patronised since the 80s) etc...and wanted to go to Sham Tseng...called him...no problem ...5 minutes later and his friend called back to announce his arrival at our pick up point...at Sham Tseng to Mongkok...8 minutes and another of his taxi friend arrived outside the restaurant...all the fares (metered) are about HK$100...so cheap if you are 5!!!...and of course we arranged for Daniel to pick us up for the journey to the airport...including tips it was HK$250...i.e HK$50 per person...cheapo man!!!
Hong Kong transportation is superby efficient needless to say and gives a variety of modes...at different prices and affordability...today the most popular for the locals is the tram...a flat fare of HK$2 per ride...albeit it inches away at 20 kph...and packed like sardines during peak hours...so are the MTR, buses and mini buses (where you are assured of a seat as it has a no standing rule)...except taxis which are waiting in long queues at taxi stands...drivers reading the newspapers waiting for a fare to hop in...too expensive for short journeys. The fun in taking public transport like buses and trams is you get to hear alot of gossips and the locals are very vocal....bluntly LOUD!.. in their conversations....so don't want to listen also have to, no choice (kaypoh mah)...free entertainment and it is better than listening to your iPod...anyway you won't be able to hear your music from the iPod!! You also get to hear a lot of colourful spoken Cantonese (language) in the buses and trams... and in all the local restaurants too...very common and comes out very naturally from the locals is the Cantonese explicit expletive.."throw your mother's smelly shoe"...or starting and ending a sentence with "throw your mother"...Ha! Ha! please translate yourself into Cantonese...sorry if you can't..maybe ask a more imaginative friend...from HK???...good luck and enjoy using it in HK..causes no offends if spoken with your friends..and practice makes perfect!!!...except switch it off when you are back home otherwise your mother or mother-in-law will disown you!!!...mother-in-law ok lah!
Today Hong Kongers are a very friendly lot and helpful too although there are still some black sheeps...why black sheep huh??..must be a racialist guy who came out with this label....like Darkie Toothpaste???...around especially in the service sector (one thing great is that they don't use China Chinese labour!! otherwise you will have to curse and say "throw your mother's smelly shoes")...like we were nearly conned by the hotel male receptionist when we were checking in...he asked if we would like to upgrade our rooms for an additional HK$200 per night plus taxes 10 percent surcharge..to a better room with internet and improved facilities et al...so we agreed but then changed our mind...we don't need room internet access...holiday what..then he quickly offered to only charge one room but auto upgrade the other free....hmmm...should have smelt a rat lah..(no rats found but the room's toilet bowl don't drain off)...and being dumb and jaded after the flight and journey to the hotel we again agreed...until I noticed that he was merely switching the rooms already allocated to me to my friends and vice versa. I questioned him and he said the rooms were preassigned by the computer (isn't that the case for all reservations made prior to arrival...???) and when we check in he has to manually downgrade unless we agree to pay the surcharge...what bullshit...not first time checking into a HK hotel...and so I questioned him on the practice and got agitated with his answers which were rubbish...so wanted to see the duty manager...he immediately changed track and said since he has wasted our time he will leave it as per allocated...bullshitter..otherwise we will be HK$1,760 poorer and foolisher...hey this is at Holiday Inn Golden Mile in Tsimshatsui leh not some shoddy shaddy hotel in Kowloon and the audacity of the guy....I am sure the hotel management must have instructed him to do so...wonder how many guests at that hotel were and will be conned into this unprofessional gimmick...so be careful with such gimmicks/tricks when you check in...I wonder is this a common practice amongst hotels in HK now that time is bad..I hope the HKTA is aware and puts a stop otherwise HK's reputation goes into the gutter.
We also experienced another attempted "cheating" at a local restaurant...the bill amount was too large for the food we consumed...wanton noddles, mixed dumpling soups and milk teas and holicks....came upto HK$245...we asked the lady to itemise and she refused and so we did it ourselves and it came to HK$211....she backed off and said her mind is not a calculator...and another bullshitter..probably they eat too much of beef and beef tendons noddles..hey, we know you know that we are foreigners but don't try to cheat us...like everyone else times are bad and every cents also count...heard this is becoming also a common practice at local restaurants...so don't rush for the bill but check the items and price...if it is lump sum ask for it to be itemised...kena con otherwise...fragrant harbour indeed!!..."throw your mother" lah!!
Hong Kong is acknowledged as a glutton's paradise and if eating is your passion....just the place for you...but do get out of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon...go into the New Territories especially the old villages where unfortunately modernisation had won the day and now new highrise spouts into the sky but old restaurants still exist...like in Sham Tseng where the HK roast goose originated and the original restaurants (Chan Kee now on the main Road and Yung Kee) are still there, patronised largely by locals and prices are much cheaper than that at Central...Sai Kong...seafood...(prefers Cheun Kee Seafood....the inner one along the sea front) prices are cheaper than Lei Yue Mun and Lama Island...however a 5 day trip is definitely not enough for food hunting (we didn't have much time for shopping...but we did go into the wet markets...should not miss making such a trip (do go to the one either in Wanchai, Causewaybay or Kowloon City, which has more Teochew stuffs...very interesting and totally different from ours and also the back lane markets (like pasar malam but during the day) which are all very colourful...as we were hopping from one eatery to another at distances apart) and to satisfy your cravings...and desserts are oh! so heavenly!..the varieties...wow...every dessert also want to try but...wide eyes ,tight stomach as the Cantonese saying...popular outlets are the Huai Lau Shans...for birdnest in young coconuts and bidnest with snow frog's...you know what lah huh don't ask so much...and Honeymoon Dessert....love their chinchow with red beans soup with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and walnut cream soup....etc...hmmmm....luckily all the walking burnt out all the calories...5 meals a day.....arrrh I don't want to go to our hawkers for at least a week!!!.....actually I am already hungry so have to caoi...

Went to see my TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) physician today for acupuncture...got a frozen shoulder from too much of household chores especially having to wrestle with the wok, the mop. the iron (hey...iron clothes lah!), the dog and etc...etc...etc...everyday.
Interestingly the discussion went into the topics of cholesterol and hypertension...2 very common diseases in all of us gluttons and kan cheong people (aiyah rushing from food court to foodcourt when there is so much publicity on what and where to eat... and kiasu mentality..everything much try and then must give expert comments to friends...shows one upmanship mah..pressure lah).
Cholesterol is very natural in all of us who live to eat and not eat to live and the gluttony in us does not believe in the word "dieting"....sinful lah. Take medication? Got side effects mah....not healthy. What to do?....die, die much eat what....favourites like bak kut teh, rendang, pork knuckles, spare parts, soup kambing (mutton lah not goat!), nasi byrani are yummy, yummy.
Hypertension (high blood pressure) results...surprisingly...more from our lack of sleep! Yah what...nowadays got to check very frequently e-mails (can't do without the blackberry..why black huh?), facebooks...many friends..don't know how come (must kay poh to see what your friends are doing and the photos they post for you to see especially the travel ones, so that you also say...I want to go there...pok kai like that and so blood pressure goes up and up...! money not enough), and like me also do blogging...which means my novels that I have bought to read for relaxation are now neglected....also starring too much on the PC screen can result in eye tension (starting from strain...don't buy notebooks)...so hypertension results when all are added up. But for some, I learnt from my TCM physician is worst, especially the ladies who are hopelessly hooked on watching non-stop their Korean dramas (very in-thing now...no more the HK ones..passe already, the aunties must be super fluent in Korean...which language school huh?) on VCD...wah auntie ah...want to dream about the Korean hunks ah? (in fact one auntie came for acupunture because she got a partial frozen face (minor stroke)...reason? sleeps about 2 hours nightly as she spent her time on Korean dramas....more thrilling and exciting.....uncle where were you and what happened???....uncle must be computering huh?? Ahah! Uncle also got hypertension, says he has giddy spells...hmmm....too much computering...sure or not?
So TCM physician says we must have at least 7 hours of sleep nightly and on weekends go for total chill-out.... how to in this hot and humid weather????...and now with this bad economic situation, every night also see your boss's face in your dreams....nightmare man....so how to have a restful sleep?
TCM physician says....don't play, play..cholesterol plus hypertension equals...STROKE!
So what to do?? go dieting and be goodie, goodie..sleep early....early to bed, early to rise..makes a healthy man???...I think he is also trying to help increase world population!
OK got to go for early sleep...7 hours at least....hope don't meet my ex-boss half way during my sleep!!

My doggy has a sadistic streak in her. She gets perverse satisfaction of making my life miserable especially now that she got wind of my unemployment...seeing me at home daily and taking full advantage of that!
I thought that since I do not need to wake early for work now that I don't have to go to work I I'll have the luxury of a little sleep-in. So I have stored away my alarm clock which had kept faith with me over the years but doggy has decided otherwise...hearing the silence every morning she appoints herself to be the official alarm clock...and without fail, she barks her head off every morning at an unearthly hour to make sure that I get up...urrrgh!! and if not the neighbours will step in....already got complain man (must remember to tie up her mouth tonight! hmmmm). Not only that. She now makes it a point that she is to be served breakfast before everyone else or else another round of mayhem from her...showing temper or what ...where did she get such a vocal cord???? Must blame the mother! Doggy also insists that she reads the newspapers first and after she has gone through there is not much news left....sigh.., spare the advertisements (can't afford 2 copies so have to go on-line...and I am having eyestrain trying to speed read before she finds out I have some leisure time...wah lau this is worse that a maid's life man..must not let her mix with the neigbourhood dogs...too much gossips).
When she is fully satisfied that she has given me a full dose of stress (wah working life also not so stressful ah) she goes to my favourite armchair to curl up...and giving me that silly classical doggy grin...feels like smacking it off her face!. Ah now, thinking to myself, I will have some peace and quiet, so time to read my novel and put my legs up before I start with the daily household chores...but no! seeing me sitting down on another chair she wants to engage me in a game of play catch ball with her or play catch me....me trying to catch her and she my legs..darn I am no longer a young sprinter! Results??? a few torn pants...wifey refuses to patch them up...too much work and me...embarassing to bring them to the tailor...hey also cost money must economise!
I think doggy is also an exhibitionist apart from a masochist. In the afternoons when the sun is hot she wants to go sunbathing!!!!!huh??? Yes. She has already hijacked my floor mat as her "beach towel" and lie blissfully on it and turning from time to time to sun her belly and back....won't be surprised she will next demands for a pair of shades (better get one from the pasar malam...a Cartier)....and I have to sit besides her (now you know why I am so tanned...chow tar!..) pandering to her needs...when thirsty she just barks and she has to be served quickly by.....now I have realised I am the servant and she's the boss...gosh...what a bossy little......!!!...one of these days I am going to sneak her to the barber and have her hair...oooops furs lah..shorned off then she will have a good time sunbathing without suntan oils....wifey says she will become one little "hot dog"....I think bbqed more like it...wonder what will the neighbourhood dogs ( a gossipy pack of bums pampered by their maids..say about her new look when she goes for her strolls...my satisfaction to take it back on her superior highness!!...me servant she boss huh!!! Wait..next week she will be packed off to the kernels...hee, hee, hee, hee....try to be boss there lah! (owners call such places "pet hotels"...get real!) when wifey, I and friends go for our week holiday....blissful... no more "morning calls" from doggy (must also remember to unhook my hotel room phone!!!).. hmmm..dreaming about it...hey that darned dog is barking again so have too go now...TTFN!