Around the last year, I went to Hong Kong (on yet another food trip) with office friends. We're lucky because we work in Manila, so we get an extra holiday for the 24th of June, Manila Day. It's great for us because Manila Day also happens to fall on San Juan's "wattah wattah" Day - or the Feast Day of St. John the Baptist, where traditionally people wet each other, so it's also a local holiday in San Juan, where Sofia goes to school. This year, while the local holiday fell on a Tuesday, I decided to book us flights to Hong Kong so we could maximize the weekend with only one day absent. Fortunately, classes also got called off on Monday, so Sofia got lucky.
We had to take the red-eye flight early Saturday morning because I used miles for our ticket, so I couldn't be choosy. Hahaha.
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It was rainy when we arrived so we could only see Hong Kong in gaps
between the clouds. |
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| Sofia was so excited before landing. |
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| Especially when she saw a rainbow. |
We decided to take a taxi to Auntie Stella's flat in Tin Hau because over-all it was just much easier, given we barely had any sleep, and this cost us 300HKD! This makes sense to me if you're part of a big group as it will come out roughly the same as taking the Airport Express and cabbing from Hong Kong Station. It was only when we took the bus to the airport did I realize how cheap taking the bus was in comparison. The Express Bus which stops near Auntie Stella's flat costs around 40+HKD, while the regular bus taking the scenic route (be prepared to spend an hour and a half but departs directly from under their flat) costs only 21HKD!
Our welcoming committee was Ninong Jacob and Max.
All we did over the long weekend was eat! Hahaha.
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Really good dimsum from the cheap and cheerful place a block from
the flat. I sweat it was the best Chongfan I've ever had.
This is where I picked up BBQ Pork Pastries for breakfast every morning. |
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We made it to the Original Michelin-starred Tim HoWan in Sham Shui Po
and their BBQ Pork Buns were really good. |
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Out of curiosity, we really made a trip to Tim Ho Wan in IFC to see if there's
a perceivable difference, and Ady and I both agree that the IFC BBQ Pork
bun is bread-ier, and sweeter, as the topping of the bun from SSP is subtler. |
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It was still worth the trip to IFC because we were able to get our
Dark Belgian Chocolate Soft Serve and Ice Cream Cup fix. |
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I love the fruit from Hong Kong. They have the sweetest lychees with
really small seeds, and the cherries and berries are really cheap.
It's really worth the trip if you come during lychee season. |
We really enjoyed the Roof top BBQ.
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| HK Skyline with the Mountain View |
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| More Hong Kong Skyline |
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| Waiting for the BBQ Master to start grilling |
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| Yummy Steaks |
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| Steaks cooking on Uncle Joel's new BBQ Grill |
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| BBQ Master Uncle Joel |
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| Perfectly Medium Cooked Steak |
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The side dishes were also yummy.
Eggplant, Spinach Couscous and Chickpea Din FYW. |
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| This little girl doesn't look like she didn't sleep. |
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| Family Picture with Max. |
The next day, we went to Ocean Park but the eating continued.
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We needed to pass by for the discounted Ocean Park tickets so we had
Portuguese Egg Tarts and Assorted Dimsum for pre-brunch. |
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Then we meet the boys for brunch at The Hong Kong Country Club,
where Jacob's friend invited us and ordered enough food to last us till dinner. |
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| Sofia had a blast in Ocean Park, despite not being allowed on certain rides. |
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Then we met Auntie Stell and Uncle Joel to go on the Star Ferry and catch
the Light and Sound Show. (more on this in a separate post) |
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Dinner was at Auntie Stella's hole in the wall Dumpling
place in Wan Chai. |
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You can have your dumplings boiled or pan-fried and they were really good,
except I could only eat one of each because we saw Ebeneezer's a corner
away, so we knew that we'd be having a second dinner. Hahaha. |
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Ady ordered Chicken Biryani and I ordered Lamb Biryani with extra
green sauce. There's a reason why it's on our to eat list. It was so good. |
The next day, Ady and I left Sofia with Jacob in the morning, while we shopped in Causeway Bay.
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Then we just brought home Double Pork Rib and Vegetable Rice
from Delicious Kitchen. |
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I brought Sof to shop in the toy shops,
but she seems to be growing up. |
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| She's now more interested in buying stationary products. |
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Since she wasn't able to shop for a lot of things,
she just hoarded snacks from the grocery instead. |
We also had Sofia's Top 3 Meals in Hong Kong (which deserves a separate post).
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| Thai Style Hainan Chicken just below the flat. |
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| Din Tai Fung - which she's been craving for since a few months ago. |
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| And Saboten, which used to be one of our Singapore staple restaurants. |
Sofia really enjoyed Hong Kong.
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| We spent a lot of time in Ikea even if we didn't buy anything. |
Sofia wanted to do a pictorial on the rare occasion that we had the MTR station to ourselves. Parang day-off lang.
We also did a pictorial with Mister Men and Little Miss in Causeway Bay.
I think all the walking took a toll on Sofia. Her favorite thing to do was just hang out with her Ninong Jacob and his friend and play wii.
Since we were just hanging around at home on our last day, too full to want to eat anything else, we decided to just take the scenic route by bus to the airport instead since we just needed to go down to catch the bus. That's how I found out it only costs 21HKD! Such a steal. Hahaha.
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| Like a Boss. |
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| After 5 mins, she was asleep. Hahaha. |
Thank you so much Auntie Stella for flying in to join us in Hong Kong, and Uncle Joel, Ninong Jacob and friend Jeremy for having us and baby-sitting Fi! Can't wait to come back. I just need to look for another long weekend and cheap flights. just saying.
Cheap and Cheerful Dimsum Place (Not it's real name)
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| Ngan Mok Street corner Yacht Street, Tin Hau |
The Original Tim Ho Wan
G/F, 9-11 Fuk Wing Street, Sham Shui Po
Nearest MTR station: Tsuen Wan Line, Sham Shui Po, Exit B2
Tim Ho Wan IFC Mall
Shop 12A, Hong Kong Station
(Podium Level 1, IFC Mall) Central
Godiva IFC Mall
Shop 1029-30, Level One,
IFC Mall, 1 Harbour View Street,
Central
Peking Dumpling Wong
118 Jaffe Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Ebeneezers
Click here to see branches in Hong Kong
Delicious Kitchen
Shop B, G/F, 9-11Cleveland Street,
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Koon Thai Hai Nam Chicken
Shop D G/F. 67 Electric Road
Tin Hau
Din Tai Fung
G/F, 68 Yee Woo Street
Causeway Bay
Saboten
7E163, Level 7, Departure Level, Terminal 1,
Hong Kong International Airport Restricted Area (after immigration)
Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong
