October 26, 2024
It wasn’t my first time to Hong Kong. I’m traveling there regularly since 2008…mostly 2 or 3 times a year for two to three days. And since the flight is almost 12 hours long, I’m always happy when it’s over and I’m on the ground again.
Yet – Hong Kong is one spectacular city. It is big, it is loud, it is crowded, luxurious, shabby, dirty, modern, traditional, flashy at night, trashy during the day and it offers literally everything you could imagine. From Hong Kong Island to Kowloon, the surrounding islands like Lan Tao or Lamma Island, Stanley Beach, Victoria Harbour, the Peak, Repulse Bay…the list of things to do in or around Hong Kong is endless. And so are the price ranges.
You can have a really tasty, simple, traditional dinner sitting on plastic stools in a tiny restaurant the has the charme of a laundry room or have something on the go in one of the countless street kitchens. And you can go and visit one of the many 3 star gourmet temples where you pay several hundreds of dollars for a meal…there’s literally no limits. The area around central or on the Kowloon side close to the river are good examples for that. I usually tend to eat where the locals go – the regular people that is (the rich people don’t like to sit on plastic stools). I love traditional, unambitious, honest food – especially the street markets with their vendors are so exciting. You can find all sorts of different specialties and its fresh, cheap and delicious. Don’t get me wrong: I love dining in a restaurant with a nice interior but I don’t like it to pretentious. The food won’t taste any better then somewhere else and I don’t see a reason to pay the higher prices just because I have to pay a name or brand.
I’m just gonna talk about one restaurant that I want to point out. It is called One Dim Sum and it’s located at the Kowloon district close to Prince Edward station. Every time I go there, there’s a long line of people in front of the restaurant, waiting to be seated. And every time the owner of the restaurant makes sure, everybody is happy. The Dim Sum you can get there are the best I’ve ever tried and the attention to details is stunning. Remember what I said? “Unpretentious, cheap…”? One Dim Sumhas got 1 Michelin star (!) and is amongst the highest rankings on Tripadvisor. The prices? Unbelievable: for around 24 Dim Sums I paid around 70 HKD which is literally a steal. If you ever get the chance go and visit this restaurant. It’s definitely worth the wait. The owner is a very lovely Chinese man who speaks very good English and even a little German and he really takes care of his guests and gives great recommendations.
During my last visit to Hong Kong I decided to take a hike over Lamma Island. It was a warm, slightly overcast day and May 1st…a public holiday! What a bad idea this was. Me and 780 other people were standing in line to get on a ferry to the island and I had almost given up on this plan, when boarding started and I found myself in the middle of the crowd with no chance of getting out. So I went through with it and once on the island, the masses spread out and it got much more enjoyable. It was a beautiful hike on this 7 km route from the tiny village to the bigger one. I passed beaches, beautiful green hills, had great views of the coastlines and in the end a wonderful meal with fresh prawns in a restaurant right at the beach. It was a lovely day and I took many pictures. When I returned back home, the passenger situation was much better and the view onto Hong Kong island from the water is always stunning – especially when the sun moves towards dusk and everything appears in that golden glow.
The next day was reserved for a bit of shopping in the morning and some relaxation at the pool in the afternoon before taking the flight back home in the evening.