Hong Kong 2014 Day 3

Happy Women’s Day!! Today, we left our rooms much later than planned (because it’s gonna be a long long day!), and headed straight to One Dim Sum 一點心 near the hotel, because we have read good reviews about it (and also because we didn’t had enough of dim sum)!

One Dim Sum is the other One-Star Michelin dim sum place that doesn’t break your wallet (the more famous one is of course Tim Ho Wan 添好運). It opens daily from 11am on weekdays and 10am on weekends. Right from the moment it opens (in fact probably before it opens), a long queue would be formed. Waitresses will start handing out waiting numbers and number of pax on a piece of paper, and the big wait will begin. The restaurant has big glass windows so those waiting can drool on those eating. 🙂

True enough, there was already a queue formed when we arrived at 9.40am, 20min before its opening time on weekends. Luckily for us (because we were a group of 5) we managed to get into the first seating 😀 and the feasting immediately began! We ordered twice and tried a total of 18 items 😮

We all felt that the meat items here were very delicious. In particular, the Chicken with Mushroom and Fish Maw 北菇棉花雞 was exceptional! The chicken was so tender and juicy! Hubby and I also found the Steamed Minced Beef Ball 招牌牛肉球 here much nicer than the one at Tim Ho Wan. Both had some sort of orange peel as ingredients, but the flavours here blended very well and did not taste jarring like the one at Tim Ho Wan. The Veal Chop with Black Pepper 黑椒牛仔骨 was also very tender and not those unable-to-chew-through type. Ms. V loved the Fried Egg Stick with Condensed Milk 古法炸蛋散! Drenched in condensed milk, it was a visual delight and very enjoyable to eat. In fact, it caught the attention of other diners and one of them turned around to ask about the dish 🙂 The least favourite dish was the very ordinary fried spring roll 韮王炸春卷:P But both hubby and I felt that One Dim Sum was the best among the 3 dim sum places that we tried during this visit, and it was also the most affordable! Oh, and do try to spread your orders as the food gets served very fast… Poor Ms. V, our dainty eater, had a mountain piled up by the time we were done with the first round, as we were very busy trying to clear the table to for more items and just kept putting food into her bowl… 😛 (Total damage: HKD346)

We penguin-walked out of One Dim Sum feeling so full and satisfied 😛 So off we went to the street market at Garden Street 花園街 for some last-minute shopping before returning to the hotel for check-out. Ms. W grabbed a couple of tops within minutes 😮 Ms. Y and Ms. V found more lovely mobile phone covers, and all the girls bought some really cheap “Kipling” and “Long Champ” bags at HKD10 each… haha! Ms. W could not forget the lovely taste of the street foods of 龍津美食, so we also went hunting for the shop to tabao back to the hotel.

After freshening up, we left our rooms and gathered at the hotel lobby to decide on where to go next, and also to leave our luggage with the concierge. We had intended to leave the luggage at the hotel and come back just before midnight to take the airport express to the airport for our 6:50am flight the next day. Ms. W and hubby had a quick chat with one of the managers, who advised us to take a 5-pax taxi at around 2am instead of the airport transfer at 12 midnight (so that we can eat more, buy more!). We were concerned about the cost (as most of us had little money left and we still had so much to eat) but we were reassured that it was more affordable for us to take a taxi, and unlike Singapore, there were no midnight charges in Hong Kong. Phew! By the way, we were not supposed to eat street foods at the lobby and had to find an empty spot in the shopping mall next door to finished up the food after getting a gentle reminder from the hotel staff 😛

We decided to chiong to SOGO at Causeway Bay 銅鑼灣, as Ms. W wanted to check out some bags. Boy, were we lucky! Her favourite Hiroshima label was having a week-long sale, and so she got a very beautiful leather bag for SGD100+. She very happily whipped out her credit card and also used the bag immediately. No point adding on to the luggage when the bag can be readily utilized 🙂 We also spent some time at the supermarket, where Ms. Y amd Ms. W got more Wife Biscuits 老婆餅, and Ms. V had a disappointing attempt to get some chocolates for her bosses. The strange salesgirl offered options of getting chocolates in nice boxes, and after Ms. V decided on what to get, the salesgirl then proceeded to check and advised that the boxes were not available. Duh?

So, we gotta have some good lunch to compensate for the disappointment 😉 Our trusty guidebook suggested Wing Kee Noodle 榮記粉麵, and there was still a queue despite being 2+pm. We agreed to splitting tables in order to get seated quicker. The staff was very kind to get some of the diners to change seats when there was an opportunity, so that we could all sit together in the end 🙂 The concept is very simple; pick the type of noodles 車仔麵 (油麵/幼麵/粗面/米粉/米線/河粉) you want, and the types of ingredients you want – up to 4 or 5 types (with prices ranging from HKD30 to 40). You can of course go without noodles and just have ingredients. There were also a couple of side dishes that you could order. More delicious pig’s blood 淨豬紅 for us (we couldn’t get enough of it), and the savoury Chicken Wing Tips in Soya Sauce 美味雞翼尖 were very good! The noodles were also good and did not have that usual alkaline taste. We also tried their version of canned Coke with Lemon 檸樂 (flavour not available in Singapore). Overall, a satisfying meal!

Next stop was Jardine’s Cresent 渣甸坊, which was a tiny street market dotted with small shops selling clothes and accessories, where Ms. V got herself a very pretty purple bag 🙂

We were feeling quite tired and wanted to have some angmo coffee, but it was very tough trying to get seats on a crowded Saturday! We tried Cafe Corridor (recommended by Ladyironchef), which was really a tiny cafe hidden inside a long corridor, but it filled with people. We went opposite to Times Square but all the cafes were full too. Finally, we settled for ToastBox… Yar, the very same one that we find in Singapore… LOL! Ms. Y and Ms. V shared a toast set, while the rest of us got some drinks. I recommend you skip the lemon tea here 😛 Hubby said that the coffee was… just coffee. Haha! Anyway, we nua-ed here to give our legs some much-needed rest.

Finally, we decided to go for an early dinner before going for our tram adventure 😀 Chee Kee 池記雲吞麵, here we come! Well, this is Hong Kong and we simply had to eat some wantons 😀 We shared some Shrimp Dumplings 鮮蝦雲吞, big Braised Mushrooms 蠔油冬菇, bouncy Fried Dace Balls 炸鯪魚球 and sweet Poached Kailan 油菜芥藍. The noodles here were very thin and again, without the alkaline taste. This was quite a surprise to us, as we always ended up with alkaline-tasting noodles no matter which shop we visited during our previous trips. However, this time, none of the noodles we tried had that taste that I disliked so much… (Total damage: HKD239)

After dinner, we basically hopped on the tram at the tram stop just outside the restaurant. My bad, I couldn’t read the directions properly and we ended up at the terminal stop… haha! We asked the driver how we could get back, and he directed us to another tram stop, where we got up into the next tram that was departing. We managed to get seats at the upper deck, and hubby and I were trying very hard to understand the tram map. A very kind Hong Kong lady heard our mumbling and asked us where we were going. We told her that we wanted to go to IFC, and she assured us that we were on the correct tram, but that it would take us quite a while to reach.

All too soon, it was her turn to alight. We said our goodbyes and within the minute, she came back to the upper deck and apologized profusely that we were in the wrong tram! Turned out that she usually takes the tram that goes IFC, but not today. So she quickly told us to get off at the next stop as then we could take the MTR which was just nearby. We quickly got down, and she waited for us at the stop to give us further directions on how to get to the MTR. We were so grateful that we met such a kind and helpful lady! All these bad reputation on how unfriendly the people in Hong Kong could be, and yet, we have been treated with kindness by so many. And somehow, they knew we were Singaporeans! Must be our accent and Singlish 😛

We ended up skipping IFC as it was getting quite late, but instead took the MTR to Yau Ma Tei 油麻地 to go visit the Ladies Street 女人街. Along the way, we saw different street performances, with various groups singing, dancing or performing acrobatic arts.

Things at the Ladies Street 女人街 seemed more expensive than Temple Street 廟街, e.g. the same USB thumb drives cost twice as much here. I guess you gotta bargain here! Ms. Y got herself a new bag 😀 And after visiting and bargaining at a few stalls, I got myself a fold-able iPad cover at HKD80 (original price ranged from HKD120 to 140). For the same brand and design, some were magnetic and some were not. Even within the same stall, the magnetism varied across the colours, and finally, I took the one that the fold-able part actually remained fold-able and sturdy. Luckily, hubby was around to stop me from selecting the poor quality covers! I had believed the stall owners when they said that the cover would stay folded with the weight of the actual iPad -_-

Along the way the gals kept raving about how good the dim sum was at Dim Dim Sum 點點心 (because when they were there yesterday) so we decided that we should have supper there 😛 since it opens until 2am. We waited close to an hour till almost 11pm for a table 😮 and it was not longer only because Ms. W told them that we were willing to squeeze at a 4-pax table. It wasn’t that bad a squeeze actually, I think we had a harder time trying to squeeze all the food items on the table 😛

The dim sum items here were quite unique! The Po Lo Bun 真係菠蘿包 here actually had pineapple bits in it 😀 Ms. V and Ms. Y liked the Honeycomb Sponge Cake 滋味蜂巢糕, while I enjoyed the Stuffed Eggplant 燒汁釀茄子. But what really blew our minds away was the Chee Cheong Fun 腸粉! It was gleaming with oil and looking very smooth and appetizing when it arrived, not at all like those half-tattered, overly cooked types that we see sometimes. The skin was thin enough that it looked slightly translucent, with a slightly chewy texture, and it was so good, I forgot how the fillings tasted like 😛 I could eat the skin just with the sauce! The Carrot Cake 香煎蘿蔔糕 did not have the slightly bitter taste like Tim Ho Wan, but it wasn’t as crispy. The Pumpkin Cake 富貴黃金糕 was a total disappointment, and it was the only item that we did not finish. Also because we ordered (again) 18 items in 2 rounds. 😮 (Total damage: ~HKD 390)

We were full of satisfaction as we slowly strolled back to the hotel around 1am to collect our luggages, and nua-ed at the lobby till 2am 😛 Managed to catch a taxi at the lobby and off we went to the airport! The ride was very smooth and it cost us HKD240 and we reached a very quiet HKIA at 2:30am. By this time, most of the cushioned seats were occupied by sleepy tourists and we only managed to get a round table with chairs. Some of them were very well-prepared with blankets and pillows! Didn’t managed to get much rest because (being Singaporeans) we were waiting eagerly for the Scoot counter to open at 3:50am so that we could grab seats next to one another.

Check-in counter opened at 4am and we were second in queue. Got seats in the same row but it was 4+1 this time 😦 We went past immigration without any much hassle (they didn’t asked Ms. V to take off her boots!) and off we went to the boarding gate to catch some rest before boarding. The airport was very conducive for sleeping as the lights were dimmed / switched off, and none of the shops were open…

When it was finally time for boarding, things became quite chaotic because the ground staff did not get the passengers to board by row numbers but instead allowed everyone to board at the same time. This of course led to a mad rush to get in line to board. After settling down, we all dozed off…

Finally touched down Singapore at 10:30am, and our Hong Kong 2014 trip officially ended. But of course there was another surprise waiting for Ms. V at the arrival hall. But that’s another story… 🙂

Useful links:

• One Dim Sum 一點心 – Shop 1 & 2, G/F, Kenwood Mansion, 15 Playing Field Road, Prince Edward 太子運動場道15號京華大廈地舖1-2號
• Wing Kee Noodle  榮記粉麵 – Sugar Street, Causeway Bay 銅鑼灣糖街27號A地 下
• Jardine’s Crescent 渣甸坊 – Jardine’s Crescent, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Island MTR Causeway Bay Station, Exit F 香港島銅鑼灣渣甸坊, 港鐵銅鑼灣站F出口
• Chee Kee 池記 – 84 Percival Street, Causeway Bay 銅鑼灣波斯富街84號地下
• Dim Dim Sum 點點心 – G/F, 112 Tung Choi Street, Mong Kok 旺角通菜街112號地下, 11am – 2am