Hong Kong - Day 1 (Temple Street Night Market - St. Andrew Church - Harbour City - Clock Tower - Hong Kong Space Museum - Museum of Art)

We are interested in seeing the Canton Fair in Guangzhou, and instead of making a straight trip there, we chose to stop by Hong Kong first. The Air Asia one-way ticket from Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) to Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) costs RM 461.45 per person. We traveled to Hong Kong back in 2016 and this will be our second visit. Our flight leaves on schedule at 9.30am and we arrived at HKIA earlier than expected at 12.10pm. My partner had an Air Asia Vietnamese coffee, which was decent and had a hint of sweetness and bitterness afterwards. If you use Big Pay, you will get a discount of RM 1.

Air Asia Vietnamese coffee - RM 8

We fill out the arrival card inside the plane and are done with immigration by 1pm. We took our bags and walked to the MTR Customer Service Center in front of the arrival hall to activate our Octopus card. Your Octopus card will be deactivated after 1,000 days of inactivity. Do not worry, as you may go to any customer care center at MTR stations to have it reactivated free of charge. We reload HKD 100 onto each of our Octopus cards and use them to pay for the Citybus A21 to the city center (HKD 34.60 per person).

Just follow the signs "to city" and Citybus A21 is a double-decked bus with air conditioning. We were able to board the bus at 1.35pm and arrive at the Prudential Center (bus stop no.12) around 2.45pm. Right after leaving the airport, the bus made one stop to pick up more passengers, and it was packed with many people standing. For the bus to stop, you must ring the bell. Otherwise, it will just keep going. The Prudential Hotel is just around the corner from bus stop no. 12.

MTR Customer Service Center at the Hong Kong International Airport

Follow the sign board "To city"

Citybus A21

After checking into our hotel about 3.20pm, we went to Mak Man Kee Noodle Shop for a late lunch. The shop is about 5 minutes (350m) walking distance from the Prudential Hotel. We had tiger prawn wonton noodles in soup and dry noodles with tender beef or brisket. The noodles have a distinct lye flavour and are quite springy. The noodle's texture isn't something I particularly enjoy. A little too firm for my taste. The noodles in the soup version are a little bland, but the wontons taste nice. The prawn is juicy and fresh. The beef noodles have a strong five-spice powder flavour but the beef tastes good. It's tender and soft. Perfect when paired with their chili sauce.

Mak Man Kee Noodle Shop

Chili sauce

Soup

Tiger prawn wonton noodles in soup - HKD 45

Dry noodle with tender beef or brisket - HKD 52

Address:

Mak Man Kee Noodle Shop

G/F 51 Parkes Street,

Jordan, Kowloon

Kai Kai Dessert is about a 5-minute walk (350m) from Mak Man Kee Noodle Shop. There's at least more than ten people queuing outside the shop, and the queue duration is roughly 10 minutes. We chose the traditional mango dessert with pomelo and glutinous rice dumplings in sweet ginger soup. There are eight glutinous rice dumplings filled with black sesame. I think this is one of the nicest glutinous rice dumplings I've tasted. It's really soft and chewy. The hot ginger soup is slightly sweet, yet has a strong gingery flavour. It pairs perfectly with the glutinous rice dumplings.

On the other hand, their traditional mango dessert tastes regular, with sweet mango chunks, large sago and pomelo pulps. To place your order, simply scan the QR code on your table and pay at the counter with a minimum order of HKD 20 per person.

Kai Kai Dessert

Glutinous rice dumpling in sweet ginger soup - HKD 27

Traditional mango dessert with pomelo - HKD 40

Address:

Kai Kai Dessert

No. 29, Ning Po St,

Jordan, Hong Kong

Opening hours: 12pm to 1am

It takes around 2 minutes (130m) to walk from Kai Kai Dessert to Temple Street Night Market. Many of the stalls were already set up when we arrived at the market around 4.20pm. There are stalls selling clothing, souvenirs, mobile phone accessories, handbags and many more. We headed to St. Andrew Church after taking a brief stroll. St. Andrew Church is an 11-minute walk (700m) from Temple Street Night Market. The church is available to the public and is one of the oldest Protestant churches in Kowloon.

I noticed a post on Instagram about Hashtag B's famous Napoleon tart and decided to try it. The bakery shop is a 6-minute walk (450m) from St. Andrew Church. However, when we arrived around 4.50pm on a Saturday afternoon, it was completely sold out! We then decided to try our luck at Bakehouse, which is 450m (about 6 minutes) away from Hashtag B. Unfortunately, their sourdough egg tart sold out as well!

Temple Street Night Market

Temple Street Night Market

St. Andrew Church

St. Andrew Church

St. Andrew Church

St. Andrew Church

Address:

St. Andrew Church

No. 138 Nathan Road,

Tsim Sha Tsui,

Hong Kong

To satisfy my sweet tooth yearning, I went to hunt for Dalloyau in Harbour City. The walk time from Bakehouse to Harbour City is around 4 minutes (300m). Basically, we get lost in Harbour City trying to find this Dalloyau shop. We finally located it, but they only sell chocolate soft serve ice cream and you must pay an additional fee to dine in for ice cream. I made the decision to forgo this shop and hunt for another one.

View from Harbour City

Harbour City

Address:

Harbour City

No. 3 - 27 Canton Road,

Tsim Sha Tsui,

Kowloon, Hong Kong

I chose to try the Mister Softee ice cream van after seeing it had a huge line while strolling from Harbour City to the Hong Kong Space Museum. The soft ice cream has a creamy texture, but I find it to be overly buttery. We strolled past Victoria Harbour and the clock tower on our way to the Hong Kong Space Museum.

Mister Softee ice cream van

Soft ice cream - HKD 13

Victoria Harbour

Clock Tower

Spotted a red mini taxi

The Hong Kong Space Museum is situated in Tsim Sha Tsui close to the Hong Kong Museum of Art. It has a unique dome-shape, and the admission price is HKD 10 per person for adults. We spent just thirty minutes in the Hong Kong Space Museum before moving on to the Museum of Art.

Hong Kong Space Museum

Hong Kong Space Museum

Hong Kong Space Museum ticketing counter

Entrance ticket - HKD 10 per person (adult)

Hong Kong Space Museum

Hong Kong Space Museum

Hong Kong Space Museum

Hong Kong Space Museum

Hong Kong Space Museum

Address:

Hong Kong Space Museum

No. 10 Salisbury Road,

Tsim Sha Tsui,

Hong Kong

Opening hours: Monday to Friday - 1pm to 9pm; Saturday & Sunday - 10am to 9pm

Closed on Tuesday

Admission to the Museum of Art is free, and we spent forty minutes there. There are five floors with some great artwork and artifacts. On level 5, you can see the magnificent Victoria Harbour, and there are even seats where you can rest and enjoy the view.

Museum of Art

Museum of Art

Museum of Art

Museum of Art

Museum of Art

Museum of Art

Museum of Art

Birthday wish from Sherry

Address:

Museum of Art

No. 10 Salisbury Road,

Tsim Sha Tsui,

Hong Kong

Opening hours: Friday to Wednesday - 10am to 6pm (to 9pm on Saturday & Sunday)

Closed on Thursday

Tai Fung Lau Peking Restaurant is roughly a 12-minute walk (850m) from the Museum of Art. The first time we tasted Peking duck was at this restaurant, and we chose to return after nearly 8 years. The restaurant remains the same, and the staff is still very polite and helpful. After a long day of traveling and walking, I was exhausted and had a little headache. But the Peking duck tastes just as fantastic as it did before. My partner ordered long beans with stir-fried pork which was tasty, but it was disappointing that the side string was left unpeeled. 

(Total bill - HKD 495 including free flow of Jasmine tea, hot drinking water, side dishes and wet tissue packet)

Tai Fung Lau Peking Restaurant

Side dishes (It's included in the bill)

Side dishes (It's included in the bill)

A chef with thirty years of experience slicing the Peking duck

Half portion of Peking duck

Steamed pancakes

Long beans with stir-fried pork

Address:

Tai Fung Lau Peking Restaurant

No. 29-31 Chatham Rd,

Windsor Mansion, Tsim Sha Tsui,

Hong Kong

After dinner, we decided to call it a day and walked to Tsim Sha Tsui MRT, rode one stop to Jordan Station (HKD 4.80 per person), exit E and returned to our hotel. It's only day one in Hong Kong and we have already walked 12 kilometers in the warm and humid weather.

Pubs in Tsim Sha Tsui