Hong Kong, China's Pearl of the Orient, was once a city of refuge for Chinese who were suffering from the World War. It was perhaps one of the most recent countries who left the British colony and went back into China's arms only 20 years ago. Hong Kong has always been famous as a shopping and food paradise, though food in Malaysia and Singapore is generally better. But many are wondering, what is there to do in Hong Kong? How do I make my trip worthwhile? Fret not readers, you will be treated with the best of my recent Hong Kong trip and learn how to make the best out of your own.
I have travelled to Hong Kong once 12 years ago with my family. At 13, embarking on a journey with a group tour seemed satisfying as ever. But when I had the chance to explore Hong Kong on my own, I realised there's more to Hong Kong than I could ever imagine. Read on to find out more on the must-haves in your itinerary to make your trip to Hong Kong worthwhile.
Ed's note: This article focuses on notable places to visit. For food and shopping guides, please wait patiently for the upcoming articles.
1. The Racecourse Experience
It was the idea of my travel buddy, Teik Hoo to visit the Happy Valley Racecourse and I am glad that I agreed to it. Horse racing has been and still is the most popular sport in Hong Kong. The people in Hong Kong bet on horses more than they bet on numbers. To proof their enthusiasm, they have branches of their Jockey Clubs everywhere, allowing public to place bets and collect their winnings at a location convenient to them. Also, you know the people are very much into something when the crowd was crazy during race day.
The entrance fee is a small amount of HKD 10 (RM 5.60) and I can tell you that it was hell good an experience. Besides watching the race, you could also drop by at the
Hong Kong Racing Museum (free admission) to learn more about jockey history. And to experience the hype, you could try your luck by placing a bet. Bets start from a minimum of HKD 10 and their
official website provides you tips for free. Don't look down at the tips though, Teik Hoo won HKD 20 on his HKD 200 bet just by following the tips accordingly.
2. Trailing the History of Hong Kong
According to various sources, Old Town Central is the best place to experience Hong Kong in history. We obviously did some research before landing in Hong Kong and got plenty of information about Old Town Central. Popular website
Discover Hong Kong had this
wonderful booklet about Old Town Central available for download and it includes five different routes around Old Town Central for people with different interests.
We followed the trail of
Time Traveller on our half day trip around Old Town Central. We started off from
Possession Street (which is about 10 minutes walk away from
Sheung Wan MTR station) and proceeded to
Tai Ping Shan Street, passed by the
Hong Kong Museum of Medical Science,
YMCA and
Tai Kwun and visted the
Man Mo temple. To motivate ourselves for walking further, we stopped by the famous
Tai Cheong Bakery and bought egg tarts for tea. From there, we strolled along Hollywood Road towards Lan Kwai Fong and finally arrived at the Central MTR station. There are four other routes we have yet to explore but I personally think the route we chose was the best of all.
As an avid Disney fan, no one could stop me from going mad and crazy when I stepped into Disneyland. It was my second visit, my first being 12 years ago, when the park first opened its doors. And my god, the change is tremendous! We purposely picked Halloween to visit as we know there would be special parades and the park would stay open until 11pm, instead of the usual 8pm. You think you are too much of a grown-up for Disneyland? Give
Hyperspace Mountain,
RC Racer and
Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars a try and I guarantee you'll shout like a kid. Imagine me riding on
RC Racer shouting my lungs out with an eight-year-old girl sitting right beside me for her
THIRD attempt on this ride. There goes my face and dignity...
 |
| The iconic fountain right at the entrance |
 |
| It's Halloween! |
 |
| Featuring everyone's favourite mouse! |
 |
| The Castle Entrance |
 |
| Cinderella's reaction when she sees cute little children |
Get your tickets at
Klook to skip the queues - you wouldn't want the queue to waste any minute at Disneyland really.
4. Witness the Daily Flag Raising Ceremony at Golden Bauhinia Square
20 years ago, China gave Hong Kong a huge Golden Bauhinia statue to commemorate the return of Hong Kong into China as a special administrative district. Since then, the Police Band of Hong Kong has been holding the
flag raising ceremony every single day without fail. To add on, there will be a performance by the local pipe band on the first day of every month to enhance the ceremony. We started our journey very early just to witness the enhanced flag raising ceremony and boy, thank god we were on time. The ceremony was solemn but it was awesome. I stood there for a whole 30 minutes shooting a video of the whole ceremony while paying respect to this meaningful event (at least in their eyes). It was something I have never experienced and I didn't regret waking up early for this monthly (enhanced) ceremony. For more information about the schedules of the flag raising ceremony, check it out
here.
 |
| The Golden Bauhinia Statue |
 |
| The Police Band |
 |
| Flags raised to celebrate the return of Hong Kong to China |
 |
| To enhance the flag raising ceremony: The Pipe Band |
5. Walk around Golden Bauhinia Square for a Comical Treat
After witnessing the flag raising ceremony, we had a stroll around Golden Bauhinia Square and saw various comic icons such as Old Mister Q and Li Xiaolong. Then we realised, the park (known as the Anicom Park) was filled with various figures of comic icons of the Hong Kong's Animation and Comic industry. We weren't familiar with most of the figures to be frank but we had fun taking photos with them. So if you are huge fan of comics from Hong Kong, this is an awesome place to visit - and its free!
 |
| Introducing, the world famous Old Mister Q aka Lao Fu-zi |
 |
| Seems like my hair is beyond disaster even the hairstylist had no idea what to do! |
6. Step into the Oldest Living Theme Park in Hong Kong - Ocean Park
If you are trying to compare between Ocean Park and Hong Kong Disneyland, don't bother - 'coz you will see a clear comparison between the two in my next article. Generally, Ocean Park is more of an educational theme park, for people, young and old, to learn about wildlife and its preservation. I would recommend visiting Ocean Park if you are pretty much into animals and marine life - especially if you love dolphins and pandas. But do take note that the pandas hide in their cages most of the time, so you will be lucky if you get to see him up close. However, we see nothing special for its 40th anniversary (the park first opened its gates on 1977) besides for some special souvenirs - that is kind of a turn-off in my opinion.
 |
| Ocean Park Entrance |
 |
| The magnificent ocean view kept us motivated when we walked from one end of the park to another |
 |
| The trainer is feeding and training the dolphin at the same time |
Get your tickets via
Klook for a special discount if you are travelling in groups of two.
7. Visit the century-old Hong Kong University (HKU)
I mean how often does a person have the chance to step foot on the land of the century-old university in Asia? We all know of many of them in the West but it is pretty scarce in the East. When we first arrived at Hong Kong University, we were amazed by its size. It was
ENORMOUS and mind you, I did not exaggerate. We felt a little awkward when we started our tour around campus, I mean, who wouldn't? Imagine being surrounded by students and lecturers who were at campus for a purpose and you, in the contrary, were here for a tour, looking around, taking photos. Fortunately, not long after, we realised we were not the only one! There were quite a number of visitors around the university campus, strolling around on the, what do you call that? oh - streets.... of HKU. So please, please, take an hour of your time to drop by this more-than-a-century old campus, I doubt you will regret it.
 |
| The Clock Tower - the signature of HKU |
 |
| Part of the new campus of HKU, built in commemoration of their centennial anniversary |
 |
| The new campus has top-notch security with restricted areas gated |
 |
| An old man taking a selfie of himself with the beautiful garden scenery of HKU |
I believe the museum has free admission for a reason - because they want people (local or foreign) to learn more about the development of Hong Kong. Like mentioned, Hong Kong started as a city of refuge for the people from China during the World War II and later it continued to be governed by the British until 1997. However, the return of Hong Kong to China does not change Hong Kong in any way, as the British has signed an agreement with China saying that Hong Kong should stay as it is for the next 50 years. That's why Hong Kong is a "Special Administrative District" of China.
 |
| Hong Kong Museum of History |
 |
| The entrance to the museum |
9. Play Around with Scientific Inventions at the Hong Kong Science Museum
This museum is especially fun for children and teenagers where they can play around with inventions and learn the relevant scientific (or mathematical) concepts at the same time. The museum is built based on
STEM concepts (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) so it would be a great learning platform for students of all ages I had fun playing some of the games and inventions but I picked some of the interesting ones only. Teik Hoo, on the other hand, tried everything he could see, making his HKD 20 (RM 11.10) ticket more worthwhile.
 |
| The entrance to the Hong Kong Science Museum, located right opposite the Hong Kong Museum of History |
10. Take a Day Trip to Macau
I mean, since you are already in Hong Kong, why not visit Macau as well? The district was well known for its UNESCO heritage, particularly the infamous St. Paul Ruins. We took the ferry from Hong Kong and then a bus from the Macau ferry terminal to Senado Square, the most popular attraction in Macau. From there, it was only a short walk to St. Paul's. It was a pity we didn't get to visit Taipa Village and the casinos, all because I spent too much time shopping but I was glad that Senado Square and St. Paul's did not let me down. And have I mentioned about the delicious Portuguese Egg Tarts they have? They were beyond words...
 |
| The Legendary (and tasty) Po-tart! |
 |
| The Streets of Senado Square (I) |
 |
| The Streets of Senado Square (II) |
 |
| The pool of people admiring (or should I say, capturing) the beauty of St Paul's Ruins |
Next up, I will be sharing the food we had during our 8-day trip. After that, I shall share about everyone's favourite - shopping!
Torn between Ocean Park and Hong Kong Disneyland? I will soon share an article about the two in comparison, hopefully to help you choose, if you can't do both.
***
This post is part of my Best of Hong Kong series. Up next, come watch the showdown between the famous Hong Kong Disneyland and the 40-year-old Ocean Park.
***
Instagram:
@musicgerald
Feel free to link my blog to yours, and share this post to your friends if you find it useful.
Questions? Comment below!
All photos are captured using
Huawei Mate 9
Comments
Post a Comment