Such an awesome shot I captured of miss A when we arrived at the hotel!
It sounds so strange to say this but we just completed (as a family), our 4th visit to the most amazing city in Asia- Hong Kong!! We went first on our honeymoon, then on our way to moving to our new home of Kuala Lumpur, then with Ava at 11 weeks old en route to the USA, and finally this time just tagging along while David worked! To say I am obsessed with this city is an understatement! Its always so much fun- the vibe, the vast arrays of cultures, the people, the skyscrapers, the cuisines, the nightlife, the shopping (!!!!), the exploring, and on & on. You get the gist right? I just love it. Every time I go, I’ve gone back to some favorite spots and always find new gems along the way.
This trip was a tad different, as I am sure you can imagine, traveling to one of the world’s busiest cities, with a 10 month old in tow! Yikes. So busy and so chaotic but we managed between our awesome Chicco umbrella stroller and Ergo carrier. Lots of breaks to play, eat & sleep, but she was a trooper schlepping around the city shopping with mommy- LOL! We were also hoping to spend some time with some friends who live there- 1 was out of own so we only got 1 side of the dynamic duo but in any case, a win in our book!
Here’s a glimpse of our quick 4 day trip to the rainy city (May has historical rain amounts but this year even more so!) Put a damper on my hiking ideas but oh well, just as fun in other ways :).
We arrived Wednesday mid-day. We typically stay on the Kowloon side but this time due to business meetings and wanting to explore Hong Kong Island more, we stayed at the Renaissance Harbour Hong Kong at the convention center. It’s literally smack dab in the middle of both directions of the island so a quick cab ride or MTR stop to whatever we wanted to do, plus the added bonus of being a quick 5 minute walk to the Star Ferry terminal when we went over to Kowloon for a few hours! After getting Ava a nap, we hopped in a cab over to the Cauwsway Bay area (just southeast of us) to try out a pub we heard stocks some global micro beers (we love micro beers and rarely get there in KL!).
Fun at Dickens!
The Dicken’s Bar at the Excelsior Hotel was a great little find. It’s more of a british gastro pub but they did have a handful of bottled micro beer from the states that were delicious, and ew did venture into the British IPA world and enjoyed our tastes very much :). After we met up with some of David’s colleagues for Korean BBQ. I can’t remember the name of the place we went to but in all honesty, I wasn’t overly impressed either so there ya go!
Don’t they look so much alike?!
Thursday was a mommy & me day! Since the majority of my Hong Kong exploring has taken place in the Kowloon area, I was excited to stick to Hong Kong, thus we hopped in a cab and headed back over to the Causeway Bay for some girl-time shopping! We checked out a couple shopping malls & just wandered about the crazy and hectic Hong Kong streets! I forgot how jam packed it was so strolling along with Ava either in the Ergo or the stroller was just HOT and overwhelming! But we survived and succeeded in purchasing a few things for missy :). Thursday evening David had a work dinner so Ava and I met them for happy hour at the hotel and mommy enjoyed a much needed glass of wine (ok, 2 of them) while everyone went googoo-gagga over Ava for a bit :).
Shopping with Mommy!
Friday we woke up to a downpour of rain starting at about 2am and pretty much going all day long. That meant my big idea of taking Ava on a hike to the south end of Hong Kong island to a cool place called Dragon’s Back was out. I’m so bummed as the hike looked like it has some amazing vistas as well as a fun break from city life but alas, we were rained out. Just another excuse to go back again :). So what to do- more shopping of course! Again, I headed back to the Causeway Bay area to check out more baby shops but my plans were thwarted by losing my wallet in a taxi cab!! After a very long day back at the hotel of filling out forms & the amazing staff at the hotel dealing with the Hong Kong police & constantly checking my accounts online before closing them out, we got a call….an unbelievably honest and kind soul found my wallet and called the number on my biz card inside for return. Hallelujah!! I could not believe how amazing my day finished off! We celebrated by taking Ava outside to a fun little swing set the hotel had when the rain stopped and of course finished the day with room service and wine of course :).
Our girl LOVES to swing!
She just loves it!
Finally Saturday arrived and we had the hubs/daddy all to ourselves for a whole day- yea us :)!! After a leisurely start to the day, we walked over to the Star Ferry Terminal and took a quick cruise with Ava over to Kowloon, as David really wanted to get a few shirts made at his favorite tailor- William Cheng & Son. I’ve actually had some things made myself here back on our honeymoon when I was a working gal and needed some suits :). It’s a wonderful tailor if you ever find yourself in Hong Kong needing one. They don’t have guys haggling you on the streets to come in and basically work off referrals and do an awesome job, and the turn around is great, with them coming to your hotel! While he did that, Ava and I hung out at the ISquare mall and checked out Hong Kong’s 1st Babies-r-Us! Don’t I live an exciting life!? LOL. After some purchases we all went upstairs to the Golden Palace Seafood Banquet Hall for some lunchtime Dim Sum. We cannot get enough of this cuisine- Dim Sum and Thai are tied for our favorite cuisines here in Asia! They did not disappoint and we left happy and full.
She’s totally obsessed with her daddy these days and would not even think about sitting in the stroller unless he was holding her hand. Awe, be still my heart! <3
Hello Kitty outfit in honor of HK!
Views from the Star Ferry of Hong Kong Island!
It turned out to be a gorgeous day!
Dim Sum fun 🙂
The afternoon took us back to Hong Kong Island to meet up with an old friend from my UW days. We decided a nice little microbrew pub crawl was called for so we met up in SoHo (my fav area of Hong Kong Island!) and started at the The Roadhouse Taproom– it’s a fun little Texas BBQ joint serving up both bottles and tap beers from around the world! Delicious and so refreshing :). We then headed over to Tipping Point – an actual brewery in SoHo brewing their own kind plus serving both tap and bottle of a variety of brews from around the world. What fun!! We had our fill of some IPA madness and had such a great time, and Ava behaved herself with some new toys I had purchased- a win win for us all! After this fun Jon took us on a little strong through an area of Hong Kong we hadn’t been to before- the Sheung Wan area- heading west I guess that would be. Anyway, along the way were some awesome tree roots growing out of the side of walls and some eclectic shops and cafes to browse in. We also stopped in what was the oldest temple on Hong Kong Island- so cool. Our little tour ended at this new little mexican place Jon had heard about and luckily it had just opened the day prior- called Little Burro. WOW. It’s like a Hong Kong knockoff of Chipotle (don’t get all pissy McDonalds, they are still different). Anyway, it was delicious!! Seriously the closest I’ve had to good mexican food anywhere in Asia, and that says a lot!
Microbrew pub crawl!
Roots of a tree growing out of a wall!
Crazy amounts of incense at this temple!
Bamboo Scaffolding- crazy!
What a fun way to spend the day and a fun way to say goodbye to Hong Kong. Sunday we left for the journey home, always bittersweet but knowing its only a quick 3.5hr flight away makes it easy to say goodbye and see you again real soon Hong Kong!
The stunning final sunset of Hong Kong this trip!
Until next time~ pay it forward my friends,
Kimbra
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