Where Pandas and Stars Align - Hong Kong's Illuminating Triumph
By Cruising With Honey - 21:24
Where Pandas and Stars align
Day 3 - Discover Hong Kong
Waking up on my third day in Hong Kong, I was hungry to see more, eat more and explore more. Today’s agenda included another lunch and dinner, and I was hoping to squeeze in a harbour cruise. At this rate, I was going to transform into a giant, spongey, juicy dumpling.
I was excited to head back to Tsim Sha Tsui, but this time by taxi. It’s probably a good time to share my experiences with the taxi service in Hong Kong.
• Some taxi drivers speak some English, some don’t speak any
• Most prefer cash but some do take credit card and Octopus card
• The back doors open and close automatically
• They are helpful with luggage
• I used the Uber app and selected the Taxi option. I found this was easier and avoided any possible communications problems. I could also track the route and it also meant that I didn’t have to carry around a lot of cash.
• THEY DRIVE FAST (but not over the speed limit)
Okay, so confession time here: I’m not the most relaxed passenger in any situation. I prefer to drive everywhere myself. Throw in a foreign city and a language barrier and it makes me nervous.
• Most prefer cash but some do take credit card and Octopus card
• The back doors open and close automatically
• They are helpful with luggage
• I used the Uber app and selected the Taxi option. I found this was easier and avoided any possible communications problems. I could also track the route and it also meant that I didn’t have to carry around a lot of cash.
• THEY DRIVE FAST (but not over the speed limit)
Okay, so confession time here: I’m not the most relaxed passenger in any situation. I prefer to drive everywhere myself. Throw in a foreign city and a language barrier and it makes me nervous.
However, let me stress, every single taxi was super safe. They know the roads and know how to navigate them. When I expressed a tiny bit of concern to one taxi driver after he took a corner a little too fast for my liking, he chuckled and said that passing your taxi licence in Hong Kong was only second to the hardest in the world, becoming a London cabbie. That made me relax, somewhat. My co-passenger/teen daughter however was as cool as a cucumber, loving the faster pace. Maybe I’m just getting old.
First stop, Cuisine Cuisine
Anyway, after a leisurely hotel breakfast, it was time for lunch at the dim sum restaurant, Cuisine Cuisine at The Mira Hong Kong. The hotel was gorgeous, decked out in Christmas cheer. Upstairs, the restaurant was cool and elegant and we were greeted with such warm hospitality.
Once again, I left it to our hosts to decide on our meal and what proceeded was a three-hour extravaganza of soups, dumplings, seafood and special slow-cooked red bean dessert that was velvety and rich.
Panda-monium and an Avenue of Stars
Lunch did however run over time, so unfortunately I missed the Aqua Luna Harbour cruise. I was so looking forward to cruising around the harbour on the traditional and iconic junk boat. It just means I’m going to have to come back to Hong Kong, and soon.
Then another, then another, then another eleventy-hundred more.
IT WAS UTTER PANDA-MONIUM.
On we continued down the Avenue Of the Stars – a promenade along Victoria Harbour waterfront that honours celebrities of the Hong Kong film industry, stopping to people-watch and of course snap a pic of the famous Bruce Lee statue.
Now in Central, the mission was to find some of the famous egg tarts that had somehow alluded us. We walked and walked and walked, and I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere as we ended up in Exchange Square, a complex of three massive office towers that house the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. There’s also a massive shopping mall where we found a delightful bakery and munched on macarons instead.
On to Mong Kok
Why does time speed up when you’re having fun? It was after 7pm and we had dinner reservations at the Michelin-starred restaurant, Ming Court at the Cordis Hotel at 7:30pm. Luckily, Central to Mong Kok was only a 15-minute taxi ride, and I enjoyed the array of neon signs that illuminated our path.
The standouts for me was the stuffed crab shell - so sweet and creamy – and the highly recommended 8 Treasure Soup. The fried rice was decadently served with fois gras and A5 wagyu beef. Make sure you visit Ming Court the next time you’re in Hong Kong for a truly special experience.
Tomorrow we were headed to DisneyLand Hong Kong, so there was not any time for an after-dinner cocktail (mocktail).
Reflecting on the last three days in this wonderous city, I felt intoxicated by its eclectic mix of refined cuisine, bright lights and lush nature.
Everything about Hong Kong was enticing and it just pulsated and exuded with excitement. I had fallen deeply under its spell.
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