*dimsumdolly* - the different morsels of the life of a foodie

Taking It Slow in Hong Kong

So I jetted off to Hong Kong with my cousin and sister on a last-minute whim and spent a good six days there relaxing and eating my way around the city.

To me, the best way to enjoy Hong Kong is to take it slow and do it at a relaxed pace. This sounds like an oxymoron when it comes to the high energy that characterises the place, but you CAN detach yourself from the buzz and take a backseat which would then make a visit to Hong Kong even more enjoyable. Not that I've ever had a bad time in Hong Kong during all my visits. Perhaps it's because I speak and read Cantonese pretty fluently, I feel really at home there.

If you're not that into shopping like me (really, there's only so much of Causeway Bay 銅鑼灣 and Central 中環 I can take), one of the best things to do is to go on a hike or go kayaking. I didn't manage to do any of these this time as I was busy going from place to place to meet up and have meals with friends. And on the day I was supposed to go hiking at Shek O 石澳, the weather didn't permit. So that was a real bummer. I've paddled on the south side of Hong Kong island at Deep Water Bay 深水灣 and Stanley 赤柱 and I've heard that you can also go paddling in Sai Kung 西貢. Hong Kong has some amazing and beautiful scenery which many tourists never discover because they're so caught up in Causeway and Central.

For the more adventurous, hop onto any bus and see where you end up. Explore the suburbs and really get a feel of how the locals live. This time I explored a bit of Tsuen Wan 荃灣 which you can get to by taking the Tsuen Wan line on the MTR (the red line). I went to the Sam Tung Uk Museum 三棟屋博物館 while there and it was interesting to learn about the history of the area and the Hakka people who lived there about 220 years ago.

It's good fun exploring Hong Kong by bus and the mini-bus and it's something I'd highly recommend to people who have already been and done that when it comes to the more touristy parts of the Hong Kong.

Posted by DSD at February 26, 2008 7:18 PM