My plane took off from LA late Sunday evening. One overweight bag fee, 15 hours, and 4 movies later, I woke up in Hong Kong airport on Tuesday morning.
I was particularly excited to begin my travels in HK because I have a few friends that live in the area. Additionally, some of my Santa Monica Rugby family happened to be visiting HK during my first week, so it gave me some buddies to explore the city with. (Of course, this also meant that my liver would be taking a much more aggressive beating than it originally anticipated after beginning its jetlagged journey.)
Getting into the city from the airport was relatively painless, but the saga from exiting the train to getting to my buddies’ hotel room (since my airbnb wasn’t ready until the afternoon) was just that…a saga. First, I did not anticipate so many damn hills in the city, and limited amounts of the sidewalks were paved, so I was the obviously out of place, sweaty foreigner trying to lug 100 lbs of luggage over cobblestone-y hills and steps down the street. There are also apparently multiple Butterfly hotels in HK (good to know), so it took two stops and roughly 45 minutes for me to make what should have been a 10 minute trip.
Thankfully, my buddies Taylor and Jess offered to let me shower in their room and leave my luggage there while we explored the city a bit and grabbed lunch. We settled on ramen nearby their hotel, then decided to take a walk down to the Harbour (look how British I am with my spelling already) and take a ride on the Star Ferry. It was super cool to see the different types of buildings around the city, though the bamboo scaffolding horrified Taylor, our resident construction expert. We also encountered the ultimate #couplegoals on the boat (the grandmother later thanked us with some HK candy, and of course we accepted candy from a stranger because we live on the edge).
The ultimate #couplegoals, HK edition. Star Ferry ride.
My airbnb is located right off the famed escalators in Central, which is fantastic in general…except for the fact that half of the escalators were down or under construction. This, in addition to the extremely unhelpful taxi drivers, meant that I got another cool 45 minute workout consisting of a fully uphill/upstairs walk with a 60 lb farmer's carry on one arm and 40 lb rack carry in the other. (Shout out to 34 North for getting my body ready for this unanticipated physical challenge.)
We then met up with our other fellow ‘Phin brother, Pat, who has been living in HK for the last couple years. Put a rugby brother behind the bar, and it is not hard to imagine how the nights escalated quickly.
SMRC Phins reppin’ hard in HK. Missy Ho’s.
Sightseeing for me was limited because the days were largely spent recovering from the night before and working. However, we did do a night time do-over ride of the Star Ferry for the famous light show, which was amazing and definitely worth the double ride.
Nighttime Star Ferry ride. Now with more lights!
I’m looking forward to seeing more of what HK offers, especially as I settle in a bit more. I’ve finally unpacked my luggage, so it’s beginning to feel more like home. We’ll see what adventures come my way in the next few weeks. Also, I think I will be documenting my weekly “best ofs” at the end of each of these posts. If there are any places that I still haven’t visited, please do let me know so I can be sure to add it to my to-do list!
xo,
Sin
Sin’s Picks: Fave eats and drinks of the week
Missy Ho’s - Pat’s bar aka Ground Zero for the SM Phin crew.
Tim Ho Wan - Dim sum (and then some). Despite the rushed service and weird underground location in a mall/train stop, the bbq pork buns made everything worth it. The buns were a sweet savory cross between biscuits and cornbread and we were THERE. FOR. IT.
The infamous baked bbq pork buns of Tim Ho Wan.
Yardbird - This much-hyped yakitori restaurant did not disappoint. The meatball was my fave of this trip (I say this because I plan on going back and eating my way through the entire menu/bird). Also, order a mezcal mule and maitake tempura. You’re welcome.
The egg yolk dipping sauce just put this meatball yakitori over the edge. Yardbird.
Little LAB - Really inventive, fun cocktails that I had never tried/heard of before. Standout was a jasmine tea infused gin mixed with some sort of apple concoction that was delicious.
Mak’s Noodles - Light, springy wonton noodles in a soul fulfilling broth. I got mine with brisket and beef tendon, which I dipped in a mix of the tableside condiments (some form of spicy, fermented bean paste, vinegar, and soy - do not skip these).
These wonton noodles did not disappoint. Look at that glossy beef tendon there too. 😍 Mak’s Noodles.
Cheung Hing Kee Shanghai Pan Fried Dumplings - I’ve been on a neverending quest to find the same dumplings a friend first introduced me to in Shanghai, and I’ve finally found them! The pork and shrimp ones were hands down my favorite. I’m also eternally grateful to my friend Rose for teaching me how to properly eat them, especially as I watched two Korean people next to me burn their faces off while eating their first soup dumplings. Skip the truffle one - stick to the pork or pork and shrimp ones (the latter were my faves).
Front to back: truffle and pork, pork, shrimp and pork soup dumplings. Cheung Hing Kee Shanghai Soup Dumplings.