Hong Kong
Over the summer I can count myself quite lucky that I went on holiday to Hong Kong.
Although I’ve been a few times with my family, I don’t think I’ve ever appreciated it as much as I should have, but this summer I realised what a great place it is. Being half Chinese means when I go over to Hong Kong it’s more to see family rather than a holiday, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get to do some sightseeing whilst I’m out there.
I’m one for a busy city and Hong Kong has skyscrapers pretty much everywhere. There are so many ways to go and explore and it really depends what you want to get out of it. If you want to take some snaps whilst travelling, use the trams, they are so cheap and you get to see some of the great buildings. If you want to get to a place fast then use the MTR, again really cheap (when I say cheap, I mean less than £3), or if you want to travel in comfort jump in a taxi for a little bit more.
If you want to get the best views of Hong Kong, then you should go to a place called The Peak as the views are just incredible. At night, Hong Kong looks equally as good, if not better, with the skyline all lit up. For anyone unfamiliar with Hong Kong it mainly consists of two islands, minutes apart by MTR or ferry. Catching a ferry over to the other side allows you to see both sides of Hong Kong, and at night it’s pretty special.
I love a 24-hour place, but sometimes you just want to be able to get away from things. Hong Kong has so many islands branching off of it, meaning there’s a lot more to Hong Kong than just the two main areas. I went to a small island called Cheung Chau, a place
renown for its seafood, to see my Grandad. If you’ll have scrolled through my instagram feed you’ll have noticed a lot of food snaps whilst I was out there! In general, if you love seafood like myself, you’ll love the food. So if you’re ever over in Hong Kong, go visit one of the other islands!
For food you don’t always have to go to a twentieth floor restaurant, one of the nicest meals I had during my trip turned out to be in the smallest of places on the corner of a market street in Mongkok where we had stools for seats. Hong Kong is a place where you should really embrace culture and don’t judge a place by what it looks like.
Of course, I can’t go without mentioning what the shopping is like. From high street to high-end, every brand has at least one shop somewhere in Hong Kong. I managed to pick some bits up from Topman and Ted Baker, and there were a lot of times where I passed a Louis Vuitton store wanting to buy a wallet and make my student overdraft suffer. Street style in Hong Kong is quite limited, with many wearing whatever they feel comfortable in due to the heat and humidity.
The other side to shopping in Hong Kong is the night markets. They sell pretty much everything. You can shop for a brand petty much anywhere or online, however the night markets in Hong Kong are unique, and quite different to your Brick Lane and Spitalfields markets, staying open to as late as 11pm. Tomorrow I’ll be uploading a short video I made whilst I was there!