Discover Hong Kong: A Quick Guide

We came here because they are known for their egg tarts. We also ordered a lemon tea and a milk tea. Like Macau, Hong Kong has a culture of egg tarts, although it is not quite as robust. Since we’re basically egg tart experts at this point, we decided to try a few while we were in the city. They were more on the British side with egg-y filling and a crumbly, dry outside. If we put this in our Macau rankings, it would be right in the middle, with the filling being quite enjoyable.

Our next stop was Halfway Coffee. Of course, we always try to get specialty coffee on every trip, but we came here for the incredible aesthetic. They are known for their wall of intricately decorated mugs above the espresso bar. The interior of this shop is immaculately designed, with a dark, moody vibe and vintage furniture. We sat near the back with an awesome antique vacuum tube radio.

When our drinks came out, we knew we had hit gold. While they don’t serve pour overs, the coffee here is absolutely high quality. I got a latte with beautiful art, and Yemisi got a fresh-pressed juice. Both tasted great and matched the vibe perfectly. Of course, the iconic mugs enhanced the aesthetic. This cafe gets really busy, so be prepared for a wait. Even though we arrived 15 minutes before they opened, there were already several groups outside, but now we understand the hype.

This tiny temple is located on Hollywood Road, several blocks away from Sheung Wan Station. Man Mo Temple was probably constructed sometime in the 1840’s, although according to their website, nobody is sure exactly when it was built. The temple is dedicated to the King Emperor Man and the Holy King Emperor Kwan. There wasn’t much info available in English, but their official website has more trivia if you’re interested.

By this point, we were working up an appetite. We took the Island Line all the way to the end at Chai Wan to visit Sun Kwai Heung BBQ. As always, we found this place through the amazing Mark Wiens. They are known for their char siu, which is roasted and glazed pork belly. If you’ve never had char siu before, this is one of the most succulent and flavor-packed meats you can get, and nowhere is as good at char siu as Hong Kong. The staff at Sun Kwai Heung spoke no English, which is totally fine, but they were very nice to us and so helpful in helping us order the right dish.

Hong Kong is perhaps the most photogenic city in the world. There are a few famous roads for photography that capture the feeling of the city, but they often have lines and crowds to get the right shot. We found this spot from Instagram user @insynced, who has lots of awesome photography from Asia. If you get off the Island Line at Quarry Bay and walk up Healthy Street, you can walk up a steep staircase to a shockingly great view of the city, bridges, bay, and Kowloon across the water.

At some point, we saw someone recommend Chi Lin Nunnery but dismissed it because it was a bit out of the way. Thankfully, we ended up with just enough time to pop over and check it out. This is a massive Buddhist temple complex built to house nuns in 1934. The complex is broken into three areas: the main temple, the dormitories, and Nan Lian Garden. We arrived at Diamond Hill, which is where the iconic Choi Hung Estate basketball courts are located, making this a perfect place to double up. It’s funny to think how close we were last time we were in the city without realizing it.

Next to the nunnery is Nan Lian Garden. This is a relatively small but highly manicured garden with several restaurants and cafes attached, serving high-quality traditional Chinese tea and food. There is a large golden pagoda with a striking red bridge in the center, which reminded us of Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto. The garden is absolutely beautiful and makes a great addition to the nunnery if you choose to visit. Sadly, for some reason, almost every path and seating area was closed off.

You are not allowed to have food, use tripods, or really do much of anything other than walk on the main path. It felt pretty restricting and limited our time to a short 15-minute stroll through the garden. Of course, we understand keeping it clean and undisturbed. But with most of the paths and bridges closed off and sparse seating, it’s hard to stay long enough to enjoy the most interesting parts of the garden.

I don’t usually get dark roasted coffee, since I prefer super light, acidic, and fruity tastes. Since I had a lot of trust in their abilities, I went for a medium roast, which was a great decision. The coffee had the taste of a bourbon whisky, but with absolutely no trace of bitterness or unpleasant notes. If you know about coffee, you know how impressive a perfectly brewed medium roast coffee is. I can highly recommend Uncle Ben for its unbelievably high-quality coffee, great staff, and unique vibe.

Taking a total 180 turn from Uncle Ben, we have a more traditional specialty shop with EN Coffee. Trying to burn a bit more time before dinner, we popped in and got another pour over and single origin chocolate milk. This shop definitely knows what it’s doing, with delicious coffee and friendly staff. We thought this was the least interesting shop of the day in terms of drink quality and interior design. That’s not surprising though, considering the insanely high bar Halfway and Uncle Ben set. If you’re looking for a solid shop in that area you can’t go wrong with EN Coffee.

Bakehouse is a popular bakery in Hong Kong, known for sourdough pastries. There are several locations around the city, and in our experience, all of them are quality. We came for the famous sourdough egg tarts. These were incredible and probably beat most of the tarts we had in Macau. The sourdough crust was super crunchy and flaky with all the savory goodness we could have hoped. Inside, the filling is a little eggy, but overall very creamy with the perfect balance, which we really enjoyed a lot.

It’s always a good time to visit the Avenue of Stars because of the city view, but it really comes to life at night. We arrived at sunset, which gave us a beautiful view of the golden light washing over the skyscrapers. After the sun fully set, the bright city lights show off why Hong Kong is often said to have the best night lights in the world. There are so many varied buildings, and the compact elevated nature of the city gives the skyline a great silhouette.

I’m not going to bury the lead, the light show was very disappointing. There were a few green lasers, and maybe 15 moving spotlights. Some buildings had LED strips that coordinated, and some of the advertisement panels had graphics that matched the show. However, it was very disjointed. Many city lights, buildings, and most of the advertisement boards did not participate, and continued on shining bright as usual. The buildings and boards that did participate were not overly impressive.

The very last activity we did was Victoria Peak. This view overlooking the city is one of the most impressive places in Hong Kong. Usually, people take the funicular to the top. However, we have read that it has very long lines and high prices, with locals only recommending taking it if you really love funiculars. We decided to take a local green mini bus, which departed on a direct route from the Mini Bus Terminus to the Peak.

The bus ride was very beautiful, and as we climbed higher and higher, we were blown away at how steep and stunning the cliffs of the mountain were. There are tall buildings all the way to the top, and Hong Kong really makes use of every square foot. Victoria Peak is a further 30-minute walk from the Peak bus stop, but we didn’t intend on going to the top. Instead, we hung out around The Peak tramway station.