Saturdae with Bae in HK

I have been so lucky to be able to explore such an incredible city for so long and my excitement topped out at TT coming to visit for the weekend! We had talked about wanting to see Hong Kong and me getting sent here for work was just the push we needed for a spontaneous weekend trip exploring together. I couldn’t wait to show him everything I had already experienced!

Tim got in extremely late on Friday night. It was supposed to be around midnight but with the inevitable flight delay, he didn’t end up getting to downtown until around 2am. Nevertheless, we had planned to meet downtown in Central so that I could show him Lan Kwai Fung in full force on a weekend night.

Luckily, his delay didn’t really affect LKF’s agenda. People flock to Lan Kwai Fung to party in the streets until the very wee hours of the morning. It was raging when we finally walked up the winding hill of bars and clubs with people drinking and dancing in the streets.

We checked out two bars on the strip and walked the full length of the neighborhood to really get a feel for all the corners! Finally making our way back home well past our bedtime.

Opting to sleep in a little to make up for Friday, we woke up Saturday morning ready to venture!

First, stopping for breakfast at Kam Fung, a local well known cha chaan teng. Cha Chaan Teng literally translates to “tea restaurant” and is kind of like Hong Kong’s version of a diner. Tiny and nondescript, these establishments often offer all day menus filled with eclectic, affordable Western and Asian comfort foods.

We took our tiny seats and perused the rather large menu, settling for one of Hong Kong’s famous pineapple buns with butter,

an egg tart,

and an egg sandwich. This is the first time we’ve had a “real” egg sandwich since moving to Asia. It was a welcome treat!

All washed down with a milk tea/coffee. A lot of Asian countries have milk teas, which you’ve all seen, but Hong Kong goes a step further to combine the milk tea with coffee for a bit of a tangier, more caffeinated beverage. Usually taken hot, we always order iced because it’s just too darn hot on this continent.

Having finished breakfast, we headed out into the heat. Despite being hot, Hong Kong is a pretty walkable city. We started in Wan Chai

stopping in at the Wan Chai Market.

Headed straight harbor boardwalk in Tamar Park

and then on to Central.

One of our goals for the day was to have an authentic Hong Kong dim sum experience, complete with carts, and all the dumplings one could imagine.

With this in mind, we set off to Lin Heung Tea House where we were told we couldn’t have a more authentic experience if we tried.

Lin Heung Tea House is a two story building located in bustling Central, Hong Kong. The dim sum carts exist but don’t expect them to come to your table. The second they exit the kitchen, restaurant patrons get up from their tables and run to the carts, pushing and shoving their way to the front, and grabbing the dishes to take back to their tables.

TT did a great job at pushing his way to the front but, to be honest, the food on offer was not what we were looking for. We had two dishes that were pretty meh and then decided to wrap up and try somewhere else. It was a cool experience and definitely packed to the brim with locals, but the food was few and far between and we were way too hungry to sit and wait around for dishes that we didn’t really want.

Heading next to Dim Sum Square which, as a small restaurant, did not have dim sum carts roaming the floors, but did have delicious dumplings and small plates.

As afternoon approached, we took the historic Star Ferry from Hong Kong island across Victoria Harbour to Kowloon.

The Star Ferry was founded in 1888 and operates a fleet of 12 ferries carrying 70,000 passengers back and forth across the harbour A DAY – that’s 26 million passengers A YEAR!!

While you can cross the harbour by bus or railroad, the charming Star Ferry remains a favorite of visitors and locals alike. It is inexpensive, quick, and affords you the gorgeous views of the Hong Kong skyline from one of the great harbours of the world.

A little cloudy…but you get the gist.

Kowloon is CROWDED. As soon as you step off the boat, you are confronted with swarms and swarms of people. Think Times Square.

We battled our way through and kept walking, headed for the Ritz Carlton Hotel which houses the bar Ozone on the 118th floor making it the highest bar in the world.

1. Do not attempt to walk to Ozone. It is very far away and basically all highways…but by the time you realize this, you are too far into your journey to turn back!
2. Bring a sweater!!!! The roof of Ozone is open (which is insane since it’s on the 118th story!). We went when it was just beginning to turn dark and it was really windy and cold! Luckily, there is also an inside area.
3. Don’t go on a cloudy day. From outside, it didn’t seem too cloudy but visibility from the bar was really bad.

All in all – Ozone is a cool place to go if you’re staying at the Ritz Carlton hotel but I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to see it.

We wandered back through Kowloon and through the famous Temple Street Night Market

stopping for a quick seafood dinner and a FANTASTIC chocolate banana filled egg waffle

before re-boarding the Star Ferry to head back to Hong Kong island.

Two tired and happy babels.