If you follow my blog, you would know I had the fortune of winning 2 pairs of 1-way tickets to Hong Kong thanks to Scoot’s instagram contest. Though originally the flight for the tickets was slated to be on 15th Nov, Scoot somehow managed to kindly change the date to 30th November (next Saturday) instead. The catch is that it’s 1-way only, and you need to pay for taxes ($43 a person).

I was originally in a bit of a dilemma on whether to go or not, but the bf being in shenzhen, very skilfully persuaded me to go so that we could spend some quality time together in Hong kong over the weekend. Looking at my workload and schedule, it seemed ok so I just took a day off, then booked a return flight on tiger for $130.

image credit to investwithalex

So yes, I am going on a whirlwind weekend trip to Hong kong! :)


The only other visit I’ve ever made to Hong Kong was a couple years back when I had to visit Guangzhou for work.
Guangzhou isn’t really my ideal kind of place to stay for the weekend so I took a train ride from Guangzhou over to Hong kong on Saturday and spend the weekend wondering aimlessly along ladies street, the flower market and the bird market (very impressive).


Didn’t shop much because the prices didn’t seem that cheap and also I wasn’t in the mood for it, but I took plenty of photos and was pleased with the vibrant colours and very interesting and diverse kind of subject matter available all around for street photography.

fruit stall meets Tsim Sha Tsui 



 

Paid an absurd amount of money to book last minute a small hotel room in Sheung Wan, which, though nice, was really not necessary since it isn’t that convenient and a bit too upmarket for me (now I know better, that I should stay near mongkok or Tsim sha Tsui)

quiet time in the room

One morning I had a less than pleasant experience eating at a local Cha Chaan Teng off Sheung Wan – didn’t know a clue about how to get a seat, order, and make payment… Had to trouble a few very impatient and upset-looking waiters, and share a table with a bewildered local.

Finally on Sunday, already homesick, I left Hong kong for beloved Singapore. A mere 2 days in Hong Kong had already left me feeling alienated, alone, and reeling from the bright lights, crowded streets and unkindly atmosphere.

blinded by their bright lights...

This time since I’ll be meeting with the bf, we haven’t got anything concrete planned. I'm hoping this trip won't be as solitary-feeling as my previous one (should be much better since having the bf there is a huge plus regardless of where we are, as long as we are together...)
I suppose we may just really spend a good deal of time together resting in the hotel room, or walking around aimlessly on the streets as I once did.

The bf likes a laidback kind of holiday, so I was hoping to plan something along those lines. I found a couple of interesting alternative accommodation types in Hong kong. Most are either out of our budget or not available for the period we’re going to be there, but these are cool to keep in mind for future trips:

Homely B&B Espace Elastique in Tai-O, a fishing village in Lantau island. A little on the pricey side, but the style of accommodation is similar to those unique b&bs you can find in Taiwan, and the location is a huge plus (great option to escape the maddening crowds in Hong kong!), and also I love the idea of a café & bnb all in 1.

image credit to airbnb

image credit to tripadvisor

image credit to airbnb

For those who like to rough it out, you can consider ‘camping’ out in Lantau island in these Teepees from Palm Beach at Cheung Sha Beach! So incredibly cute, eeeee! The bf was really excited by the idea of this but the price tag was beyond what we could muster, so the idea has been shelved for our next return trip.
image credit to sassymamahk

There are a couple of interesting alternative accommodation types listed here on travel CNN and Hong Kong Magazine, consider giving them a shot the next time you visit hong kong!
In the meanwhile i'm still eyeing the teepees despite our limited budget but we'll see how that goes....