The 22,000km Trip (23) Hong Kong: Dim Sum with a Twist

Needless to say dimsum is a must in Hong Kong but cute AND hip dim sum places? Yes please! It's very popular so you really need to reserve in advance (and even then it's hard to get a spot) but thanks to Miss Nancy Pants, we did it! Such a great way to end my last night in Hong Kong. It was met with a lot of hardship but I'm glad I stopped by HK will be and forever be my third home that I will always keep coming back for!

Oozing custard buns

Piggy pork buns

Rose infused rice cakes

Cotton candy mango grapefruit sago

The interior looks like a cafe, can't tell it's a dimsum place at all!

Busy business lady Nancypants

Aaaandd.... last minute tea house run for a quick after-meal snack and last minute gossip talk. See you soon again Nancy!!! Thanks for taking me around and sorry we were both so so so sick...let's hope we will be healthy the next time we meet up somewhere in the world!

The 22,000km Trip (22) Hong Kong: Cloudy conditions

One of the things I wanted to do when I came back to Hong Kong was to climb the big Buddha. It's a little bit far out of the city and it's deep in the mountains but the views are magnificent. Well... if it's sunny. I took a risk, hoping that it would at least the clouds will clear out at the top but nope, you can barely see the Buddha from several feet away! I was devastated.

But in hindsight, I can't help but think that the weather and what I saw was exactly inside my head. All during that time, my mind was foggy, cloudy, damp, and cold all at the same time. There was a lot going on during that time and these pictures couldn't of described them better.

On sunny days, this is supposed to be a off-route optional mini hiking paths which takes you to the "Wisdom Path" in which the rows have wooden planks with the Wisdom Sutra written on it. On foggy days...well it looks like a scene from a horror movie. It was seriously quite frightening, I though I was going to be killed by a serial killer hiding behind one of those planks! But hopefully these pictures didn't scare you away, I swear that on sunny days, it's an amazing place many local people come here for its serenity and beauty!

The 22,000km Trip (21) Hong Kong: Won Tai Shin

When I go back to a country, there's always certain things I have to do. For Tokyo, I need to go get my sushi fix. In Paris, I need to get my drugstore fix. In Hong Kong... well I need to get my fortune telling fix! I need t warn you that I'm not that much of a particularly superstitious person. But I do believe in "spiritual energy" and Won Tai Shin in Hong Kong and Erawan Shrine in Bangkok seem to have a good vibe whenever I go there and it uplifts my spirits somehow. I was in a desperate need for some uplifting with literally my body breaking down so I decided to make a visit.

And now for the fun part... fortune telling time! First I need to shake this cylinder of sticks until one pops out "naturally". I then write down the number and take it to the gazillion of fortune teller stalls in a nearby building. The lady that I go to always always foretells everything I'm always getting goosebumps but she wasn't there that day so I went to another man. According to him, I'm in luck with people who's names are associated with "water" (whatever that means), I must study a lot (to finish my thesis I assume), and my health is in excellent shape. The last one...really? Really? I just literally went to a hospital 24 hours before... Well let's hope that it will be for the rest of this year!

The 22,000km Trip (19) Hong Kong: At Night

As with many Asian cities, Hong Kong is a 24 hour city. People are hustling to markets early in the morning and grabbing a bowl of jok or morning coffees. But it's really at night time when the city begins to come alive as a whole new being. Eateries and stands start to formulate on roads; expats and party-goers roam around the bars; and the neon lights are gleaming and beaming. After Bangkok, I thought I was done with night markets but I decided to give it a go to one of the classics: The Women's Market around Jordan/Mongkok area. The markets used to sell nick-knacks for quite cheap and was a good spot to hang around and grab some late night snacks. I've heard that all changed and they were right. It wasn't drastically different; the stands were still there and you can smell the waft of food. But it's not quite the way that it used to be. Call it the "gentrification of the night scene" where it caters more to tourists and less foods due to more strict health inspections. But nevertheless, the atmosphere still remains vibrant and busy.

The 22,000km Trip (18) Hong Kong: Kennedy Town

I knew Hong Kong had been rapidly changing since I was last here 5 years ago, but did not expect to change this much! One of the (good) surprises was that there's now a subway going through to Kennedy town. For those who are not familiar with the area, it's a very quaint and traditional neighborhood on the outskirts of busy central commercial area. Distance wise, it's quite convenient to commute but unless you have a car or use taxi, it was not so smooth sailing (as compared with other further areas which were fully connected by the MRT). Hallelujah for the easy access due to the new subway station. I've also seen new hip coffee shops and restaurants popping up which is perfect considering that Hong Kong University is nearby. I just hope that the area doesn't get too gentrified which tends to be the trend in any city nowadays.. 

The 22,000km Trip (17) Hong Kong: Sick

As people know, I got violently sick during my stay in Hong Kong.
Blame it on my Airbnb owner who ran out of hot water one night. Or the scrambled eggs I had the night before. Whatever I did, I woke up one morning feeling violently sick. I had a lunch date with Nancy Pants so I half crawled to her work place in Central where I almost collapsed and that's when she took me to a hospital. I was quickly diagnosed of having intestinal infection and was given a million pills and antibiotics. The hardest part of all this is not the pain involved but the fact that I'm not able to eat as much!

The doctor warned me not to overeat on greasy food, which really leaves me to eating jok. Thank goodness for Hong Kong and its jok! I don't mind duck egg and sliced pork jok at all.

The 22,000km Trip (16) Hong Kong: Local Lunch Time

It's always been a tradition to meet up with Nancy pants wherever we are in the world and this time was no exception. Now having moved to HK from Qatar, she generously invited me to lunch in her local area right near her work place in Kwai Chung Commercial Plaza. I love that it's a commercial area for locals and I don't have to make my way out of mainlanders and tourists at good prices. Food is just as local and cheap but perfectly flavored to my likening; just how I like my food in HK. I even came back here a couple times to do some good shopping. I can spend a whole day here if I had to with its numerous food courts, shopping complexes, and most of all bargains going on.  If you don't like the glitz and glamour of the Central area shopping, make your way out to Kwai Fong station in the New Territories, you won't regret it.