Our weekend trip to Hong Kong was less intentional than our usual travels. With both of us throwing in the towel at our full time jobs by the beginning of December, we suddenly had our New Years trip wide open. When I’m working I find traveling east stressful, due to the time difference (just as I’m relaxing in the afternoon everyone working back home is getting up). But this didn’t matter any more. And with Covid finally seemingly behind us, it felt like time to revisit Asia for the first time in years.
With our desired departure day a mere three or four weeks away, the cost of flights were looking like the total amount we wanted to spend on the entire trip. No thanks. And obviously all airmiles flights were fully booked for peak season.
SeatSpy is a service that provides immediate notification for any new airmiles availability on a saved route. We have been using it for years when cash prices are too high to stomach and there’s somewhere we really want to or really have to go. We set alerts to Singapore and Hong Kong as they are both major hubs for the rest of Asia. Singapore was our top choice as Sam had already been to Hong Kong a couple of times. We bought cancelable hotels in each city. The alerts were coming out every night at 2:20am. It was not ideal.
A weekend in… Hong Kong!
With T-minus one week to go, we still did not have flights to anywhere. I was starting to get antsy. I started to set an alarm at 2:20am. After three days of checking, two economy seats came up to Hong Kong for £100 each plus 40,000 Avios on December 27th. We opted to use a BA Companion Voucher, so it was only £100 plus 20,000 Avios each. It was decided, we were going to Hong Kong.
The next weekend, we booked a one way ticket from Hong Kong to Phuket for £85. Shortly after we booked a one way ticket back to London from Phuket via Abu Dhabi for £360 on January 15th. We would be away for 19 days. This was one of our longest trips to date, if not our longest!
It should come as no surprise that I didn’t do a great deal of research before we took off. Because I was, well, too worried about getting there at all. I researched some restaurants and craft beer bars but didn’t look much into activities. Sam had spent two weeks in Hong Kong in his early twenties, and a night on Hong Kong Island in 2019, so we had a good base understanding of the city.
Getting in to Hong Kong for the weekend
It was the night of the 28th December that we landed. We booked a last minute, ultra peak time four night stay at Bishop Lei International House right on the cusp of Central, though technically in Mid-Levels. We paid £139/night before cashback. Being at Mid-Levels you literally take a big escalator down into Central, which was a fun way to start our days. It was also really close walking distance to some of the sights that we recommend in this post.
We took the Airport Express to Bishop Lei on the night of December 28th. The train trip was spenny at over £20 each round trip, but it is an amazing service and the reason Sam was able to spend just a night in the city during a layover in 2019. I purchased the tickets in-app but later saw adverts that buying on the web was slightly cheaper.
The trip was smooth but we were tired and I may have been a bit cranky carrying my bag for the 20 minute walk from the train station to our hotel. This was exasperated by the fact that Google Maps was not three dimensional. In Hong Kong, there are directions, but there are also levels. We must have gone up and down three sets of stairs before finally being on the right street to our hotel.
It was uphill the whole way, but I was enchanted by the escalator that took us nearly the whole way there. It was decorated in Christmas lights and cut through the imposing city skyscrapers.
Our hotel was just a bit outside the Central hipster district on Hong Kong Island. It was still expensive at £125/night, but we did book on short notice and it was New Years. There was a view to a lush green hill from our highrise window. It was such a juxtaposition to the rest of the city.
We managed to grab a quick pint at Carbon Brews (which we re-visited a couple of times during our weekend in Hong Kong), but the rest of our first night was a write off.
Day One of a Hong Kong weekend
On our first day we ventured to visit the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery. First we stopped for a speciality coffee kickstart at Halfway Coffee (presumably called this because it is halfway up (or down) the Central-Mid-Level Escalator).
For breakfast we embraced roast goose and poached chicken at the excellent Yat Lok, the first of many Michelin recommended cheap eats in which we indulged.
Finally we ventured onto the public transport network with our digital Octopus cards on our phones. This is the best and possibly only way to get around in Hong Kong besides taxis.
Monastery, Market + more Michelin
Hong Kong is very hilly. Of course, the monastery was at the top of about 10 flights of stairs. Along the way were hundreds of individual buddhas to cheer you along. At first we thought these were the 10,000 buddhas of the monastery.
Upon reaching the first plateau we saw the monastery. The view was incredible, and it felt so calm amid the chaos of the city. In the monastery itself, it became obvious why it was called the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery. Photography was prohibited inside, but the tall walls were adorned in tiny, golden buddhas. Each was unique. It was something special.
We headed towards lunch via the Bird Market. Yes, the Bird Market. It was exactly like what it sounds like. Perhaps not worth a trip on its own, but if you’re in the neighbourhood, you may as well go check out many exotic birds for sale.
Lunch on Kowloon ticked off a couple more recommendations from Michelin. We split our lunch between Tim Ho Wan for wonton, dim sum, and steamed bbq pork buns, and Lau Sum Kee Noodle for very traditional (and a dying art here) bamboo-kneaded noodles. All washed down with a couple of local craft beers at The Ale Project Tap – one of the Young Master brewery outposts which we enjoyed not just for their beer but for their happy hour and loyalty deals!
A Night at the Races
That night we went to watch the horse races at Happy Valley Race Course. The name of the track is spot on. This was SO MUCH FUN I can’t even tell you. It takes place once or twice a week (usually Wednesday is the day to go outside of seasonal events), and is definitely worth a visit. Beyond the track was an incredible view of the Hong Kong skyline. This was a Christmas themed one, too, so there was an AB-InBev Santa giving out free pints if you dance. Which we did.
We got lucky on our first race and won against the odds. This fuelled the enthusiasm for the rest of the night as well as a ‘we can’t lose’ mentality. Contrary to our belief at the time, we did, in fact, lose every other race. But we had a blast drinking beers from plastic cups, cheering for the horses, and betting with gambling locals and expats alike. This was all on day one!
Day Two of a Hong Kong weekend
Day two, and we were off to see the Big Buddha, but first, another not-so-traditional-breakfast-for-us. Noodles. At Mak An Kee Noodle we indulged in delicious fresh Cantonese wonton soup noodles. Another fantastic Michelin bargain recommendation.
Sam had been to the Big Buddha situated on Lantau Island 15 years earlier. Google Maps said it was about an hour each way. First we’d take the subway to the end of the line, then we would go up a cable car to the Buddha itself. Sounded easy enough.
Cable Car Queues
WRONG. This is what happens when you don’t research. We turned up to swarms of people waiting in various lines. No one knew where to go or what to do. It was chaos. I got in one line while Sam investigated. “This is the line if you bought your ticket via [insert any number of 3rd party ticket providers].”
“But we don’t have a ticket.”
“The line to buy tickets is two hours. Or, you can buy them online and then you can go in this [ostensibly much shorter] line.
Well, that was easy! We bought online tickets (OUCH – £55 for both of us round trip!) and got in the short line. But this was just the line to the line to the line. The lines went on for an eternity, and each minute step in the journey took you to another line. It turned out that our first line was the line to redeem our online booking for tickets. This line was one hour. The next line was to actually line up for the cable car. This was another 20 minutes or so. If we each have our own version of hell, mine is waiting in a line. I was genuinely in hell.
This could have been avoided by arriving earlier, or knowing that getting in the first line didn’t actually require tickets. We could have figured it all out from that line. If I redid this excursion, which I would because it was one of my favourite things to do on our weekend in Hong Kong, I would buy tickets from a third party provider. Not only is it cheaper, but the lines end up much shorter. Then I would go early before anyone had really lined up anyway. It would have been a much, much nicer day.
Big Buddha
The cable car ride itself was scenic. It carried us over a body of water and up a forest. Towards the end, we could see the Big Buddha peeking through the clouds.
The immediate area upon getting off the cable car is like a weird fabricated Disneyland-esque area designed for tourists who don’t know better. As you get towards the Big Buddha, the walls of this gated faux community dissipate into a series of food stalls owned by locals. There were cows and statues along the walk, too.
We took a quick stroll down the Path of Wisdom before climbing the stairs to the Big Buddha. He was as large as claimed. The view was amazing. Once again photography was prohibited inside, but it was full of Buddhist art and writing. The descent had a much shorter line, maybe 15 minutes, and was just as scenic.
An evening in Kowloon
That evening, we explored more of Kowloon, which is the mainland area to the north of Hong Kong Island. We ate dinner at Keung Kee Dai Pai Dong. Dai Pai Dongs are open-air street food stalls. They must operate with a licence, but since 1956 the government has not issued new licences. They are a dying breed. Only 17 remained in Hong Kong at the time of our visit. We came to Keung Kee for the Hainanese chicken, and we were not disappointed.
After dinner we grabbed a couple of beers at Bound, a very cool local bar with some great beers but also evidently a great place for coffees or cocktails.
We walked through Temple Night Market, which was my favourite of all the markets we visited (including the Bird Market).
Every night at 8pm, there is a light and sound show along Victoria Harbour. All of the high rise buildings across the way in Central light up in a coordinated mini show. We picked up a couple of beers from a 7-Eleven and joined the masses of people who were there to behold it. Strangely, we bumped into the family with whom we shared a cable car earlier that day! They must have been visitors from the future who had read this post. The show was fun to watch. It was a delightful little cherry on top of such an interesting day.
On our way home we stumbled across a space-themed winter wonderland. There were installations designed to take photos in. Everyone dutifully lined up. I needed to go home. We headed back to our hotel in Central via the famous Hong Kong Star Ferry.
Day Three – New Years Eve in Hong Kong
Day three was the last day of our Hong Kong weekend. It was also New Years Eve. We wanted to stay local on Central because we knew it was going to be chaos in the evening. The plan was to walk through the Botanical & Zoological Gardens, then go up to The Peak on the aptly named Peak Tram.
Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens
The Botanical & Zoological Gardens were full of birds, monkeys, lemurs, otters, and a myriad of plants. The setup was open air, as if it was a standard park. We walked right in and out without having to pass through any gates or buy any tickets. A very easy, enjoyable, not to mention free, experience.
Peak Tram
We should have known this by the last day of our trip. We turned up to The Peak Tram, thinking it would be a standard but perhaps busy tram. There was, again, a giant line full of people being manned by the police. Sigh. It was about an hour wait in line, during which we ordered our tickets online. Tickets were £11 each round trip. This was the first of several lines to wait in, before finally getting on board.
Getting seats was competitive, but we managed to get seats next to each other and on the right-hand side which provided the best views on the way up (take the left-hand side on the way down). The ride was steep and the view up the considerable hill was amazing. We bypassed the touristic interior of the station at the top of the tram and went for a walk outside. We circled around the top of the hill, which was littered with gated apartment blocks and Teslas. After having a sufficient amount of time to admire the city below, we got in line to descend (maybe 30 minutes) and got lunch. Simply by visiting earlier, we could once again have avoided these lines.
Last meals of the year
The rest of the afternoon we took it easy and ticked off a few more places we wanted to visit for food.
For lunch we went to Ho Lan Jeng, the place was cool and full of young locals lining their stomachs before NYE kicked off. The food is Cantonese but modern and with a good dose of Western influences and methods.
We stopped by Wang Fu for snack of delicious traditional Pekingese pan-fried dumplings.
For dinner we went to Tsim Chai Kee. Here they make handmade noodles and give you a choice of three toppings. King Prawn Wonton, Fresh Minced Fish Ball, and Fresh Sliced Beef. There’s nothing else on the menu. Simple, legit, and refined to perfection. The eateries with the simplest of offerings often stand out as the best.
Finally we grabbed a couple of beers at Blaze which has a great location in Central and a very generous happy hour – which of course endeared us to the place.
New Years celebrations in Hong Kong
That evening, we planned to watch the fireworks for New Years. We made it to The Central Pier for about 10pm and walked along the harbour. People were very well behaved, but it was busy. We found a perfect spot to watch the countdown lit up on one of the skyscrapers across the river, and rung in 2024 to an incredible fireworks display.
We walked back to Central for a couple of beers before crashing after an action packed weekend in Hong Kong. Maybe we could have stayed out later, but we forced ourselves to go to bed so that we could be on our way in time to catch the ‘down escalator’ to the Airport Express in the morning.
Our Hong Kong weekend was full of fun and surprises. This was the first time in a while that we really hit the road to take in all the touristy things to do and see. It was exhausting, but so worth it in a city with so much to take in. We had an incredible time and will certainly return!
