How to spend Three Days In Hong Kong

How to spend Three Days In Hong Kong

• Monday, 9 January 2017

I have always loved all things oriental so Hong Kong (and my first visit to China) in September was a huge deal for me. Everyone that we’d spoken to prior said that three days was the perfect amount of time there but now that I've done it, I disagree. In hindsight, I would have loved an extra day, there were so many more places to visit, restaurants to eat at and roads to explore; there is a lot more of Hong Kong that I want to see. So until next time, I thought I'd take you through what we did..

DAY 1: Hong Kong Island
 We were pretty jet-lagged when we arrived so after checking into our room on the 22^nd floor of The Harbour Grand Hotel, the first thing that we did was take a nap. By the time we woke up just after midday, the rain had stopped and we could see the amazing view over Kowloon from our window.

We found the tube is the fastest way to travel around so we hopped on just outside our hotel at Fortress Hill and headed to Central. From there, we caught the star ferry to Kowloon in search of lunch. Our first day was all about getting to know Hong Kong so we just wandered the streets until we found somewhere. We ended up in a little café down a side alley; it was full of locals so we thought it’d probably be a good choice. Wanting to try something new we pointed at a picture on the wall and ordered that with some rice; neither of us could work out what part of the animal it came from but it was really delicious.

The evening was spent drinking cocktails in Lang Kwai Fong (the backpackers nightlife street as we were told). We started off at a table outside on the street and finished on the roof of Ce La Vi in our trainers and shorts. The view from up there was amazing and since it was dark, the whole city was lit up with bright lights and animations up and down the buildings. 

DAY 2:  Lantau Island
 The plan for day two was to visit the big Buddha on Lantau Island but of course things don’t always go to plan. We caught a boat over to the island instead of getting on the tube again and decided to drive up and get a cable car down but half way up the mountain we came to a police block; there had been a landslide so we couldn’t drive any further. Andrew suggested getting the cable car up but after our last cable car disaster (that time in Santorini and the power plant blew up) I wasn’t too sure especially when the mountain was falling apart beneath it. Obviously it was a bit of a pain but we didn’t let it ruin our day – we were only in hong kong for 3 days and I wanted to make the most of it. Lantau island is known for two things; The Big Buddah. And Disneyland so we hopped back on the tube and caught the Disney Express. Yep, it has its own line.

We arrived at about 2pm and paid £54 each for a day ticket which gave us until 7.30pm. It was pouring rain by this point but neither of us cared; we love Disneyland, it was still warm and it meant that the park was almost empty – we queued at each ride for 5 minutes at most! The park is very compact and the 5ish hours that we had there was the perfect amount of time to do it all. We had enough time to ride everything and still go back to do some again! I loved how all my favourites were the same but with a little twist to them, it made everything even more exciting! I won’t ruin it for you but Thunder Mountain had a big surprise that we totally weren't expecting, it’s a small world was huge and the haunted mansion had a whole different story behind it.

We left at closing, ran back to the hotel to grab some more cash and caught the train straight to Central. So many people had mentioned the star ferry at night and this was the perfect opportunity; we got the see Hong Kong sparkle.

At the other side, we ate at a Chinese restaurant called Peking Garden (that’s what my local is called haha). We had heard their duck was pretty good so that's what we ordered. Unlike my local, five minutes later, there was a woman in a surgical mask standing at our table slicing up a whole duck right in front of us. Worried that we might still be hungry (like that was going to happen), we ordered a plate of special fried rice too. The more time I spent in this city, the more I loved it.

DAY 3: Kowloon
  On our last day I felt like I got the see the real Hong Kong. We took a map and navigated the city ourselves starting with a trip to Man Mo Temple and a little wander around SoHo. We came across the escalator and stopped off for a fresh mango juice.

Our next stop was back to Kowloon for lunch at Aqua. Again it was super high up and we ate lunch looking over Hong Kong Island. We both ordered the most delicious udon noodle soup with thinly sliced Wagyu beef. Swiftly followed by some ice cream.

All fuelled up, it was time to hit the markets. We walked along Nathan road which was absolutely crazy; it was like a motorway lined with shops overflowing with people – quite an experience on its own! Sadly we only had time to do one market - we decided on the Ladies Market and I was pleased that it was the one that we did get to see but I wish we had had time to see the others as well. The market was full of all the sorts of rubbish you buy from China on Ebay and I loved it! Just as you got the end of the block, there was another street in front of you bursting with more stalls.

We came home with a new phone case, a silk dressing down, a tea set for Andrews’s sister, a load of ornaments for him, a packet of pens, some magnets; the list goes on! I really got into the bartering and when the women weren’t getting angry (lol) and shouting at me, I managed to save so much money!

Whilst we were pretty exhausted by the time we finally got to end of the never ending market, we wanted to make the most of eating guilt free Chinese food every day so for our last evening so we ate at the hotel’s restaurant. A plate of sweet and sour pork, some more special fried rice and a bottle of champagne to celebrate our time in Hong Kong!

Have You Been To Hong Kong?

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