hello hong kong~
it's been a couple of years since our last proper family trip where we all travelled together (and that only half counts because or schedules were all over the place, so we were only really all together for like 3 days before someone inevitably had to leave). SO! this was--an experience. when is a family trip anything but?
day 1: we landed in hong kong sometime in the afternoon, and headed straight for lunch at our favourite airport chain restaurant, ho hung kee. i've been there a handful of times over the years, but this was the first time i'd been with my sister, and then she said the restaurant name out loud and we cracked up for like a full minute. we're twelve, it's ridiculous. the flight had been really early, though, so we were wiped by the time we got to our hotel, and ended up spending the rest of the afternoon napping. yay productivity!
when we finally dragged ourselves out of bed, it was dinner time, and my dad wanted to go to kam's roast for roast goose, only it was, like, 7.30 by the time we got there and THEY WERE OUT OF FOOD. OUT OF FOOD. it was mind boggling. we were starting to get hangry by then, but we spent the next ten minutes wandering the nearby streets looking for a random restaurant that looked appealing. (there was a sandwich cafe right next door, but of course we couldn't go there. parents can be so hard to please.) luckily, dinner turned out to be pretty good, and we all went back to the hotel feeling pleasantly full.
family photo on the changi airport skytrain
we found thomson road!
day 2: we woke up surprisingly bright and early (well all of us but one of the brothers), and headed to a nearby cha chaann teng for breakfast. the last time we'd come to hong kong, we'd eaten at gum wah cafe a bunch of times, but never that early, so it was only after we got there that we realised less than half the menu is available in the morning ): we ate, regardless, and then wandered around the little streets going shopping for shoes and trinkets and lego pikachus. and also fruit. all the fruit. it was fantastic.
shopping in the little street markets is my favourite
we went back to the hotel to put all our good away, and then cabbed to lin heung lou for lunch. it was probably the most exciting dining experience we had while we were there. it was PACKED, and we had to hover around tables to get a seat. and then once you did get a seat, they'd wheel out carts of food that one of your party would have to run up to with your order chit to fight over the food. IT WAS GREAT. the waiters were brusque but crazy efficient, and some of the dim sum there i'd never even heard of, never mind tried. MY FAVORITE KIND OF MEAL. it wasn't the most delicious meal i've ever had, and i don't know that i'd go back, but i recommend it at least once for EVERYONE. although it definitely helps to be pushy and to have someone who speaks cantonese with you.
once we were done with our meal, we wandered down the street, then stumbled across a famous wonton mee stall. which, obviously, meant that we had to stop for noodles. the waitress was a hilarious little old lady that spent the entire time being teased by my dad and teasing him back in kind. she ran out of the restaurant to take our photo for us after our meal, and she held up traffic to get the shot. it was lovely.
the tang quartet wandering the streets of hong kong
the family that eats together stays together
after that, we went for a spate more of shopping, entering several adidases, optician shops, and everything in between. just before we got back to the hotel, my sister stopped to buy a bowl of mala tofu (which was pretty tasty), and then we hung out for a little bit before getting ready to go for our fancy dinner at a one-michelin star restaurant, ming court. i'd eaten there with my parents before, and it wasn't ridiculous overpriced, BUT THE ROAST PIGEON THERE IS BASICALLY THE MOST DELICIOUS THING I'VE EVER EATEN. and the meal we had that night was so good, it was my sister's favourite meal out of the trip. it was so good no one even thought to take photos till the food was all gone.
all decked out for the family meal
posing with every christmas tree on the way
day 3: another day of waking up bright and early brought us to mui kee porridge for breakfast. it was SO GOOD. the bowl of innards and the sliced fish porridge, in particular. IT WAS SO GENUINELY DELICIOUS. not to mention ridiculously inexpensive. i wish i could go back for another bowl. once we were done eating, we went back to the hotel to get ready for our day out. we all had different things we wanted to do, so we split up before heading out again. my dad, my brother and i first went to langham place to do a spot of grocery shopping at marks & spencer, but then my brother had to leave for lunch with a friend and my sister joined us to take the train over to hong kong island to visit pmq, an upmarket-ish hipster shopping complex comprising individual independent shops.
BUT FIRST! we stopped for lunch at uni-ya, which translated to english meant house of uni. unfortunately, the uni was not that great. we also sampled their sashimi and a bunch of humongous african oysters, which were bizarre and not in a good way. pmq was a pretty long (and hilly) walk away from the train station, so we ended up making several stops at little shops along our way there.
HUGE OYSTERS AT UNI-YA
CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS OUTSIDE THE TRAIN STATION
i even found nicholas tse's food shop on the way to pmq!
some of the shopping we indulged in before even getting to pmq included a diffuser (that makes my room smell like qoo and peaches omg it's delicious), hangbag holders, DELIGHTFUL post-it notes and pocket mirrors. in fact, it took us so long to actually get to pmq that the rest of my family made their way to us so we could all go there together.
wreaking havoc at pmq!
i loved pmq. it was full of the most interesting little shops, and some of them sold amazing clothes, or games, or accessories. we spent a couple of hours there, and then wandered back towards the train station to go for dinner. we stopped to see an apartment (because that's my parents' thing) and it was SO SMALL AND SO EXPENSIVE but so well designed, genuinely idk how people live there. we also stopped at a famous beef noodle restaurant (even though we were on our way to dinner at kam's roast) and my brother bought a $30 bowl of beef soup. $30!!!!!!! he did say it was one of the best things he ate on the trip, though, so there is that.
colour coordination is key
we finally made it to kam's roast, where the queue was ridiculous, but we were at least early enough to get a goose. we waited long enough to hear the hostess start telling people that they were out of goose, though, and then patted ourselves on the back for ordering it once we'd started waiting in line. the meal was GREAT, especially the goose and the amazing bowl of goose blood we ordered. it was possibly my favouritest of the trip! and afterwards i took them all to foxglove a speakeasy bar that was masquerading as an umbrella shop.
AKA KINGSMAN COME TO LIFE. it was SO COOL. the exterior especially, and the umbrella lever they had to pull to open the secret door. we missed out on the live jazz performances, and the drinks were abysmal, but the interior was just as cool and detailed as the outside, and we all got a kick out of it, so i'd call the night a success. mostly. as soon as we got outside my sister started feeling sick, so we bundled her up and headed back to the hotel for some much-needed sleep.
drinking at foxglove
I FOUND HIS SHADOW!!!1111
day 4: i was the only one up early enough the next morning to have breakfast with my dad, so we headed out in search of a delicious wanton noodle place. unfortunately, the place that i'd googled was closed for the day (the fuckers), so we ended up wandering into a nearby restaurant called dragon court. it was genuinely the worst service of the trip, with nasty and inefficient people all round who clearly had repeat customers that they liked and spent all their time chatting with, but the food was so cheap (because of their ridiculous pre-11am food discounts) and some of it so delicious, that i would probably go back again if given the chance.
mmm, mini abalone siu mai
NOT mmm - this weird melon custard fried mochi thing
after breakfast, we wandered back to the hotel (but stopped to buy several boxes of facial masks along the way, and also stopped to see a bunch of old restaurants, because why not? everyone else was up once we got back to the hotel, so we all got ready to go out for lunch. (or second breakfast, depending on which of us you were talking to.) there was a little line at tim ho wan, but we barely waited to be seated, so that was nice. i also love tim ho wan A LOT, so that helped.
LUNCH! SECOND BREAKFAST! FOOD!!
after breakfast, we walked around the area (which turned out to be a clothes shopping district) and bought ourselves a bunch of clothes, shoes, and extremely cheap snacks(?!?!?!) my sister and i stayed out a little longer to wander around looking for (and finding) cheap clothes, and then we walked back to our hotel and spent a little more time at the mall attached to the hotel, called moko. I STUPIDLY LEFT MY CREDIT CARD at one of the shops there. or - no, because the cashier never gave it back to me. but i didn't realise it until much later that night, whoops.
more christmas decorations at moko!
i was mostly distracted because we had to rush off for dinner at federal restaurant. the food was pretty tasty, but then my sister lost her shit and went off on one of her rampages about how awful her life has been and how unfairly she's been treated and her now-typical poor-me self-victimisation spiel and more or less ruined it, sooooooo :) :) :)
day 5: last day of the trip!! and by this point i was ready for it to be over. my parents and i went for pig blood porridge at one of the cafes my dad and i stumbled across the day before, and it was PRETTY FREAKING TASTY oh my gosh. i could eat that every day. afterwards, my sister and i went to do a little more shopping on the streets, and stopped for taiwanese chicken while my parents very sweetly went to pick up my credit card. my sister ate all the taiwanese chicken on her own, and then thirty minutes later was chucking it all up in our hotel room. a better person would forgo mentioning that karma's a bitch, but i'm not that, sooooooo :) :) :)
day 1: we landed in hong kong sometime in the afternoon, and headed straight for lunch at our favourite airport chain restaurant, ho hung kee. i've been there a handful of times over the years, but this was the first time i'd been with my sister, and then she said the restaurant name out loud and we cracked up for like a full minute. we're twelve, it's ridiculous. the flight had been really early, though, so we were wiped by the time we got to our hotel, and ended up spending the rest of the afternoon napping. yay productivity!
when we finally dragged ourselves out of bed, it was dinner time, and my dad wanted to go to kam's roast for roast goose, only it was, like, 7.30 by the time we got there and THEY WERE OUT OF FOOD. OUT OF FOOD. it was mind boggling. we were starting to get hangry by then, but we spent the next ten minutes wandering the nearby streets looking for a random restaurant that looked appealing. (there was a sandwich cafe right next door, but of course we couldn't go there. parents can be so hard to please.) luckily, dinner turned out to be pretty good, and we all went back to the hotel feeling pleasantly full.
family photo on the changi airport skytrain
we found thomson road!
day 2: we woke up surprisingly bright and early (well all of us but one of the brothers), and headed to a nearby cha chaann teng for breakfast. the last time we'd come to hong kong, we'd eaten at gum wah cafe a bunch of times, but never that early, so it was only after we got there that we realised less than half the menu is available in the morning ): we ate, regardless, and then wandered around the little streets going shopping for shoes and trinkets and lego pikachus. and also fruit. all the fruit. it was fantastic.
shopping in the little street markets is my favourite
we went back to the hotel to put all our good away, and then cabbed to lin heung lou for lunch. it was probably the most exciting dining experience we had while we were there. it was PACKED, and we had to hover around tables to get a seat. and then once you did get a seat, they'd wheel out carts of food that one of your party would have to run up to with your order chit to fight over the food. IT WAS GREAT. the waiters were brusque but crazy efficient, and some of the dim sum there i'd never even heard of, never mind tried. MY FAVORITE KIND OF MEAL. it wasn't the most delicious meal i've ever had, and i don't know that i'd go back, but i recommend it at least once for EVERYONE. although it definitely helps to be pushy and to have someone who speaks cantonese with you.
once we were done with our meal, we wandered down the street, then stumbled across a famous wonton mee stall. which, obviously, meant that we had to stop for noodles. the waitress was a hilarious little old lady that spent the entire time being teased by my dad and teasing him back in kind. she ran out of the restaurant to take our photo for us after our meal, and she held up traffic to get the shot. it was lovely.
the tang quartet wandering the streets of hong kong
the family that eats together stays together
after that, we went for a spate more of shopping, entering several adidases, optician shops, and everything in between. just before we got back to the hotel, my sister stopped to buy a bowl of mala tofu (which was pretty tasty), and then we hung out for a little bit before getting ready to go for our fancy dinner at a one-michelin star restaurant, ming court. i'd eaten there with my parents before, and it wasn't ridiculous overpriced, BUT THE ROAST PIGEON THERE IS BASICALLY THE MOST DELICIOUS THING I'VE EVER EATEN. and the meal we had that night was so good, it was my sister's favourite meal out of the trip. it was so good no one even thought to take photos till the food was all gone.
all decked out for the family meal
posing with every christmas tree on the way
day 3: another day of waking up bright and early brought us to mui kee porridge for breakfast. it was SO GOOD. the bowl of innards and the sliced fish porridge, in particular. IT WAS SO GENUINELY DELICIOUS. not to mention ridiculously inexpensive. i wish i could go back for another bowl. once we were done eating, we went back to the hotel to get ready for our day out. we all had different things we wanted to do, so we split up before heading out again. my dad, my brother and i first went to langham place to do a spot of grocery shopping at marks & spencer, but then my brother had to leave for lunch with a friend and my sister joined us to take the train over to hong kong island to visit pmq, an upmarket-ish hipster shopping complex comprising individual independent shops.
BUT FIRST! we stopped for lunch at uni-ya, which translated to english meant house of uni. unfortunately, the uni was not that great. we also sampled their sashimi and a bunch of humongous african oysters, which were bizarre and not in a good way. pmq was a pretty long (and hilly) walk away from the train station, so we ended up making several stops at little shops along our way there.
HUGE OYSTERS AT UNI-YA
CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS OUTSIDE THE TRAIN STATION
i even found nicholas tse's food shop on the way to pmq!
some of the shopping we indulged in before even getting to pmq included a diffuser (that makes my room smell like qoo and peaches omg it's delicious), hangbag holders, DELIGHTFUL post-it notes and pocket mirrors. in fact, it took us so long to actually get to pmq that the rest of my family made their way to us so we could all go there together.
wreaking havoc at pmq!
i loved pmq. it was full of the most interesting little shops, and some of them sold amazing clothes, or games, or accessories. we spent a couple of hours there, and then wandered back towards the train station to go for dinner. we stopped to see an apartment (because that's my parents' thing) and it was SO SMALL AND SO EXPENSIVE but so well designed, genuinely idk how people live there. we also stopped at a famous beef noodle restaurant (even though we were on our way to dinner at kam's roast) and my brother bought a $30 bowl of beef soup. $30!!!!!!! he did say it was one of the best things he ate on the trip, though, so there is that.
colour coordination is key
we finally made it to kam's roast, where the queue was ridiculous, but we were at least early enough to get a goose. we waited long enough to hear the hostess start telling people that they were out of goose, though, and then patted ourselves on the back for ordering it once we'd started waiting in line. the meal was GREAT, especially the goose and the amazing bowl of goose blood we ordered. it was possibly my favouritest of the trip! and afterwards i took them all to foxglove a speakeasy bar that was masquerading as an umbrella shop.
AKA KINGSMAN COME TO LIFE. it was SO COOL. the exterior especially, and the umbrella lever they had to pull to open the secret door. we missed out on the live jazz performances, and the drinks were abysmal, but the interior was just as cool and detailed as the outside, and we all got a kick out of it, so i'd call the night a success. mostly. as soon as we got outside my sister started feeling sick, so we bundled her up and headed back to the hotel for some much-needed sleep.
drinking at foxglove
I FOUND HIS SHADOW!!!1111
day 4: i was the only one up early enough the next morning to have breakfast with my dad, so we headed out in search of a delicious wanton noodle place. unfortunately, the place that i'd googled was closed for the day (the fuckers), so we ended up wandering into a nearby restaurant called dragon court. it was genuinely the worst service of the trip, with nasty and inefficient people all round who clearly had repeat customers that they liked and spent all their time chatting with, but the food was so cheap (because of their ridiculous pre-11am food discounts) and some of it so delicious, that i would probably go back again if given the chance.
mmm, mini abalone siu mai
NOT mmm - this weird melon custard fried mochi thing
after breakfast, we wandered back to the hotel (but stopped to buy several boxes of facial masks along the way, and also stopped to see a bunch of old restaurants, because why not? everyone else was up once we got back to the hotel, so we all got ready to go out for lunch. (or second breakfast, depending on which of us you were talking to.) there was a little line at tim ho wan, but we barely waited to be seated, so that was nice. i also love tim ho wan A LOT, so that helped.
LUNCH! SECOND BREAKFAST! FOOD!!
after breakfast, we walked around the area (which turned out to be a clothes shopping district) and bought ourselves a bunch of clothes, shoes, and extremely cheap snacks(?!?!?!) my sister and i stayed out a little longer to wander around looking for (and finding) cheap clothes, and then we walked back to our hotel and spent a little more time at the mall attached to the hotel, called moko. I STUPIDLY LEFT MY CREDIT CARD at one of the shops there. or - no, because the cashier never gave it back to me. but i didn't realise it until much later that night, whoops.
more christmas decorations at moko!
i was mostly distracted because we had to rush off for dinner at federal restaurant. the food was pretty tasty, but then my sister lost her shit and went off on one of her rampages about how awful her life has been and how unfairly she's been treated and her now-typical poor-me self-victimisation spiel and more or less ruined it, sooooooo :) :) :)
day 5: last day of the trip!! and by this point i was ready for it to be over. my parents and i went for pig blood porridge at one of the cafes my dad and i stumbled across the day before, and it was PRETTY FREAKING TASTY oh my gosh. i could eat that every day. afterwards, my sister and i went to do a little more shopping on the streets, and stopped for taiwanese chicken while my parents very sweetly went to pick up my credit card. my sister ate all the taiwanese chicken on her own, and then thirty minutes later was chucking it all up in our hotel room. a better person would forgo mentioning that karma's a bitch, but i'm not that, sooooooo :) :) :)