And finally! Here's the first part of my review to Hong kong. Didn't buy anything at all, just ate a lot, and did quite a fair bit of photo-taking.

stuffed myself silly with dim sum

Firstly, gotta thank Scoot for organising the perthfectboluo competition so i could have a chance to win two one way tickets. To be honest however their regular return fare is way too expensive so we took tiger on our returning flight back.
Packed light as it was a short 3D2N trip. Basically everything i brought is below:



The flight was a midnight flight (took off at around 130am) so whilst waiting for the boarding gate to open, my sis and I just bummed around in the airport. I tried to stay awake and not be grumpy (difficult), while she tried not to be too excited about this last minute trip..


The flight was very smooth and we landed in Hong Kong as per the original estimated time (around 6 plus am). After clearing customs and immigrations, we took the free airport shuttle from town into Tsim Sha Tsui, which is convenient and very frequent (most services are once every 5~10 minutes). Read more about the various services and the stops they stop at here. We took K3 and got off at Holiday Inn, then walked over to the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station area.  


Tsui Wah Restaurant 翠華餐廳, located at G/F & Cockloft, 2 Carnarvon Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. We hadn't originally decided on eating there but rather chanced upon it as near where our drop off point was. It's signature dishes include Boluo bun, yun yang and Hainan chicken rice. 

We arrived slightly past 7, and the restaurant was largely empty when we entered. The waiter ushered us quickly to a comfy booth seat near the stairway leading upstairs. 


As we weren't really in the mood for Hainan chicken rice and had little faith in the Hong kong version of it (when Singapore does it so well!) we went for the set. We also ordered a 猪仔包, or toasted bun with butter and condensed milk drizzled on top, and a cup of yuan yang to wash it down with. 


The omelette was rather nice (it's done McDonald's style, presumably they cook the egg with milk to give it a more watery texture) but everything else was rather forgetable. Service was friendly though- the waiter was kind and explained to us the various sets and also chatted with us for a bit, asking where were we from. 

happy diner

Following that as it was still too early for check in, we went to the nearby Kowloon park to stroll around and enjoy the fresh air. 



My sis, who's an avid learner of Tai Chi, was really excited to see so many middle-aged and elderly folk practising Tai Chi in the park. With a lot of time on our hands to kill, she picked a spot and started her daily practice while i sat around and people-watched. 

Tai-Chi 

bummin'


From the park, we walked towards the direction of Mongkok, away from Tsim Sha Tsui as i had arranged to meet the bf at Yau Ma Tei station. On the way to the train station we walked through the Avenue of the comic stars, which was quirky and cute. It's a walk way with statues of famous Comic characters created by native artists. 


Statues we saw included martial arts hereos 'wind' 风 and 'cloud' 云 from the famous wind cloud 风云 comic, and also the comical Lao Fu Zi. 


famous Lao Fu Zi 

Following that we strolled down towards Jordan MTR station. While wandering around aimlessly, we spotted a long queue forming on Parkes street and wondered what the fuss was. Walking nearer, we realised it was Australia Dairy Company 澳洲牛奶公司, at 47-49 Parkes Street, Jordan, Hong Kong 佐敦白加士街47號地下.  It's a local diner famous for it's milk desserts

To go, take MTR to Jordan Station. Go out to the Exit C2. Walk straight and cross a street- this shop is located at the right side, beside mak man kee noodles (selling Wanton noodles). The opening hours are Monday – Sunday from 7:30am – 11:00pm. Would recommend you visit early for breakfast else to avoid having to queue 15-20 minutes outside to wait for your seats. Conversely you can do takeaway which is faster and convenient. 

huge signboard you won't miss

shop exterior 

It's signature dishes are it's Egg sandwich, Egg pudding, Milk tea. We had a milk tea and the egg pudding (pale white one) to share because we were still full from breakfast. Also ordered an egg sandwich takeaway for the bf. 


The milk pudding was very smooth and flowy, but a bit too sweet for my liking. We were glad we ordered one to share- didn't think we could stomach one each! 


Dining there was quite an experience. the waiters are all dressed in what looked like white lab coats with the restaurant name on it, giving it a very lab or pharmacy feel. Having to share tables in the small and cramp dining area is very common, so be expected to do so, otherwise opt to takeaway. 
The waiters tend to be very aggressive and impatient so be sure to be quick and firm when you decide to order and give clear instructions, otherwise you will be scolded for wasting their time. 

takeaway egg sandwich for the Bf. 

Following that we took a stroll from the Jordon MTR to Yau Ma Tei MTR area. Accompanied the sis to find a bookstore called Kubrick that's located in a hard-to-find location. 


After browsing through the books for a while, the bf confirmed he had arrived so went to meet him at Yau Ma Tei MTR. We decided to go for brunch since he hadn't had anything to eat since morning. 
The nearby Mido Cafe – 美都餐室 (Cha Chan Ting) (2 storey shophouse where the 2nd floor has a row of glass windows) seemed like a good choice. 
To go there, exit Yau Ma Tei MTR Station, Exit C. Turn into Mang Ming Lane, then turn left at the second left turn onto Temple street and walk to the end. Mido cafe will be on your right, at the corner. 
It's opening hours are 8:30am-9:30pm. 



The cafe is famous for having retained it's classic old-style Hong kong Cha Chaan Teng decor, looking like a diner from the 70s. It's signature dishes are it's Pineapple bun, yun yong milk tea. Spare Ribs Baked Rice, Fried Noodles with Sliced Pork.

We had the fried noodles with sliced pork and the pineapple bun. The fried noodles was alright- the pork was tender and juicy, but the noodles were a bit to dry, and there wasn't quite enough sauce for it to soak up. The bun was very forgettable. Drinks were also very average. 



Overall it was an alright dining experience. Considering the quiet surroundings, it's a good place for a catch up over some food in a 70s nostalgic kind of setting, though a tad pricey.



Went back to our hotel in Yau Ma Tei to check in and take a quick shower and nap to recharge. When we woke up we were all ready to walk out the night! We loosely followed this map. Went to visit the goldfish market, which is near Fa Yuen street. Loads of different kinds of fish for sale and on display. 



While we were strolling along the street we chanced upon a famous pastry shop, 奇趣餅家 Kee Tsui Cake Shop, located on G/f., 135 Fa Yuen Street (Mong Kok)旺角花園街 135 號地下. 
It's famous for it's old wife biscuit老婆餅、egg tart蛋撻、chess biscuit棋子餅、摩囉酥、燒餅、雞仔餅. The store interior is really old-school, and the staff very stern-looking. 
After taking a few photos I could feel daggers being shot from their eyes at us so I hastly bought 2 pastries with red bean filling that were laid out on the huge rattan sieves.   From the way they display their pastries, if you viewed it from afar you'd have though they were selling dried fish, or other dried/preserved goods! 


Sadly though the pastry wasn't amazing. The outer doughy later was very chewy and the red bean paste rather tasty, but it wasn't awesome. We decided for dinner to be hearty affair at the famous One Dim Sum (一點心). To reach there, take MTR to prince edward, exit station walk 1 minute towards jinghua building. Address is Shop 1 & 2, G/F, Kenwood Mansion, 15 Playing Field Road 太子運動場道15號京華大廈地舖1-2號

The dim sum joint is famous for it's Chee cheong fan, Har Gow (prawn dumplings), and Fried Egg Stick with Condensed Milk (Dan San).

queuing outside the famous dim sum place

very extensive and clear menu 

We ordered a few dishes - the Har gao, siew mai, century egg with minced meat porridge, fried dough with condensed milk, chee cheong fun with spring onion and steamed char siew bun. Unfortunately their popular fried char siew buns were sold out.  




Overall we found the quality of all dishes to be at least above average, with the har gao and char siew bun in particular standing out as being very tasty. The serving portions were very generous (more than 10 rolls of chee cheong fun in that 1 plate! and so many small dried prawns in 1 roll of chee cheong fun). 

Neighbouring tables all seemed to order the minced beef balls, but as the bf doesn't take beef, we didn't order. You should definitely give it a try if you visit. 

For dessert/as a sweet starter we had the dan san/zha dan/fried dough sticks with condensed milk and coconut flakes, which is their signature dish. The plate was HUGE. I would advise against ordering it unless you have at least a party of four, or someone dining with you who LOVES sweet stuff. Because this thing is really. sweet. We were so stuffed with everything else and found this so cloying we finished barely 1/3 of this. Funny thing was when we asked for the bill, the waitress told us we could takeaway the leftovers if we wanted to, but we said no as we didn't think either of us wanted to eat it, and she gave us a look of shock/disgust. Haha. Suppose it must be considered to be very wasteful. 


We were really full after dinner, so we walked around the Mongkok area for a while. Then i remembered there was a famous pastry shop nearby, Taicheong bakery near Mongkok east MTR exit C, so we started to walk towards that direction. It's a bit of a long walk from Mongkok to Mongkok east but just follow the overhead bridge/footbridge. It's easily a 10-15minute walk so be prepared that it will take some time. 

image credit to owner

The pastry shop is in the exit C area of the train station, nearer to the bus terminus, not located in the shopping mall. You need to exit the shopping mall and walk towards the bus terminus/taxi stand area before you see it. 

Bought an egg tart and egg yolk pastry as after-dinner snacks. Was really tempted to buy more but the bf dissuaded me. Was still so full from the dim sum dinner! After taking a leisurely 20 minute walk back to the hotel and a nice long bath, we settled into bed and started to dig in. 


The egg custard portion of the egg tart is very soft and delicately flavoured, and the biscuit portion of the tart is crumbly and slightly sweet. I can see why this is their signature dish. However my personal preference is the flaky kind of egg tart, such as the Tong Heng diamond-shaped egg tarts, in chinatown Singapore (3 mins from my office :D), so for me this was just above average. 


The egg yolk pastry, on the other hand, was divine. I love sweet pastries/things and this did the trick. the egg yolk was still slightly soft, not too oily, and the lotus paste was smooth and just the right sweetness. The outer layers of the pastry was flaky and crumbled in my mouth. Divine! 
The bakery also sells other pastries like wife biscuit so be sure to buy some back for friends or family when you visit in Hong Kong. We hadn't planned for it and didn't have time so we didn't but I definitely plan to do so in future.