HELLO HONG KONG!!!
So, I’m on a 1-week trip to HK~ It’s been over 1.5 years since I traveled outside of Korea (it’s a long time for a wanderluster like myself), and since my sister is currently living here, I figured it was a great opportunity to check out a new country/city where I can get free room and board. And since my mom hasn’t had the chance to travel much lately, she joined me, for a girls’ trip!
Prior to arriving, I didn’t have any expectations…. I didn’t even have any time to plan the trip, check out where to eat, what to do, or see. I literally only started looking into what to do once I arrived here. More than anything, I just wanted to get away from Seoul and Korea, to get some distance, perspective, and clarity. Perhaps HK isn’t the best place to go for a calm vacation, but it certainly is the place to eat, eat, shop, and eat some more. I can do without the shopping part, but I’m down with eating. I don’t have much desire to do a whole lot of touristy things, but so far, we’ve hit up the major touristy spots, just to be able to tick that off the list… I’m mainly looking forward to just hanging out at cafes, checking out various neighborhoods, shopping for fresh local fruit, etc.
So here are some things we did on Day 1. First thing’s first: Victoria Peak! Although it was an overcast day, the view was still impressive. Seoul seems pretty flat in comparison to the high skyscrapers here in HK. I would love to check out the view at night too, if we have time by the end of the trip.
Taxi ride~ weird having the driver on the other side. :)
We also looked around Tsim Sha Tsui, and then went to Kung Tak Lam for Shanghai vegetarian cuisine. When you’re in HK, ofcourse you have to get some dim sum! As soon as we were seated, they poured us some hot jasmine tea and brought out the menus. After ticking off all the various items we wanted from their dim sum menu, they started us off with an ‘appetizer’ of peanuts, tofu, and cucumbers, marinated in a soy sauce dressing. We were so hungry that it didn’t last us very long. Good thing we didn’t have long to wait before the dim sum started to come out!
Won ton soup. I really enjoyed the clean, refreshing flavors of the dumpling and soup. And the filling was so good too!
More delicious dumplings, with chive filling.
Savory Chinese pastries, stuffed with vegetarian sweet ‘pork’! I got pretty excited about these, since it had been so long since I had anything resembling a meat pasty~ plus, they were so adorable to look at. Though the filling was a tad sweeter than I was expecting, the pastry crust was delicately flaky and flavorful.
Although we really enjoyed almost everything that came out, there were a few that I wasn’t too fond of. The steamed veggie shrimp dumplings…. the pouch was a bit too starchy and glutinous for my liking, and I guess vegan shrimp just isn’t my thing.
Deep-fried tofu skins filled with some veggie meat pieces and carrots.
Inside view! Though this was on the oily side, it was crispy with a bit of chewiness, and the flavors were really nice.
Digging in~~ There were a few other dishes I didn’t photograph (we ordered a lot, hehee). We ended it all on a sweet note, with some mango mochi rice cakes dusted in coconut. They were super soft and just melted in the mouth. Not bad for the first dim sum meal in HK!
View of the skyline from Avenue of Stars. HK’s skyline is really impressive and… well-designed, if there is such a thing as sky-line design. Every building is right where it should be.
It’s like every photo I’ve seen of HK, but in real life! :)
After walking our feet off around TST, we headed to the Intercontinental Hotel for afternoon tea at the Lobby Lounge. ‘High tea’ or ‘afternoon tea’ is one of those British traditions that remain in HK since its colonial past. But instead of just some tea and humble scones, it is a decadent ‘must-try’ experience here in HK. Every hotel offers their own luxurious afternoon tea-time set including a mix of scones, savory sandwiches, and desserts, all balanced on a three-tier tray. It is definitely one of the priciest things we’ll be doing here, so we figured we’d splurge and go all-out-fancy-pants.
Too bad none of the food was vegan, so I mostly just admired the presentation. However, they did have soy milk (upon request), which I enjoyed with some tasty freshly brewed coffee.
They also brought out some complementary small fruit salad bowls with fresh mango, dragon fruit, and lychee. There were a few pastry crumbles on top, but I just ate around them.
The whole experience was really relaxing, and I loved being able to see the harbor through the high glass windows. Who knows when else I’ll be able to experience something like this with my sister and mom~ <3
And then at the end of the day, we took the Star Ferry to cross the harbor. My favorite part so far. The ride was soooo short, only like 7 minutes, but it was so refreshing, and the view of the harbor paired with the setting sunlight across the water was gorgeous. I would totally do this again before I leave!
Walking around Sheung Wan, my sister’s neighborhood. So that about wraps up day one. Hope everyone in Korea is fine and dandy~ Stay tuned for more sights & veggie eats in HK!
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