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Marie reporting from Hong Kong

Tuesday, 12 July 2011 by Irene Hoofs

{image above, A building in Causeway Bay area & world-famous Pacific Place mall}

 

**This report is written by Marie from Etincelle Creative Studio

If you live in South East Asia {I live in Singapore}, Hong Kong is a great getaway over the weekend... I happened to spend three days there last month {without my two children}and I loved it!

I had been to Hong Kong once beforehand so I didn't feel the urge to visit all the great touristy spots {aka Victoria Peak, Lan Kwai Fong etc....}{but do include a trip to the Victoria Peak if the sky is clear}. Instead I focused on exploring various areas in both Hong Kong island and Kowloon {mainland} which I will share with you here. But first beware that Hong Kong is very chaotic and has a dense population of more than 7 millions people!

Street sign and a fabric shop in Sham Shui Po

On day 1 I went by myself to explore the Sam Shui Po area as I had been told I could find fabrics there. #1 Sham Shui Po Mtr {Kowloon} What an amazing place! Streets after streets with shops selling everything from beads, lace and ribbons to sequins, fabrics, leather, metal parts and much more... a creative heaven!

Kilometers of ribbons at the Flying Dragon shop
92 Nam Cheong Street, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon

It's completely off the touristy path so expect to see mostly locals and not much English spoken there, but if you are into that stuff, it's well worth a visit {and it's very manageable}. Explore the following streets: Tai Nam St, Nam Cheong St, Ki Lung St and Yu Chau St. * Tip: It's worth knowing that shops selling fabrics mainly have samples in store {feel free to grab as many as you want}. If you wish to purchase a couple of yards, expect to come back the day after to pick them up. Warehouses are not located nearby shops...                                                                                   READ MORE>>>

The day after was spent with my husband who was in Honk Kong for work. We focused on two areas: Soho and Mongkok. And we walked a lot {like 7 hours non-stop *~*}. #2 Soho, Hollywood Road and the travelator {Hong Kong Island} Hong Kong island's Soho district is packed with restaurants, bars, galleries and shops which makes it a really lovely place to wander during the day. You can get off at Central Mtr and walk along Queen's Rd until you turn left on Cochrane St and catch the world longest escalator: the travelator or mid-levels escalator.
A building beautifully decorated {left} caught my eye while on the travelator {right}

We went all the way up with the travelator and then explored each street on the way down {easier this way!}. Hollywood Rd is known for its art galleries while Staunton and Elgin Streets are packed with restaurants of all kind {especially lovely for a date at night}. You will also find many food markets, tons of little shops with hidden treasures and local food shops too.

Elgin Street
TREE, Elgin Street
Also on Elgin Street, a furniture shop called TREE caught my attention. They claim to be the first eco-chic furniture boutique in Hong Kong and they carry a wide range of lovely pieces made of teak wood, bamboo etc... 
Both my husband and I are foodies, and we wouldn't miss a chance to taste the local food any time of the day:
Don't miss on the local food! Roasted duck and pork with rice and spring onion sauce

In the afternoon of the same day, we headed to the Mongkok area, another bustling area in Kowloon with plenty of street markets, dim sum yum cha and non stop traffic and noise... #3 Mongkok, Temple Street and the Ladies market {Kowloon} Get off the train at Mongkok Mtr and head to Fa Yuen St which is full of shoe shops {mainly sneakers}. You might want to buy a new pair of Converse or the latest pair of running shoes by Nike there... {much cheaper than in Singapore if I believe my husband}. Then wander in the Ladies Market {in Tung Choi St} for some good bargain before continuing towards Jordan Mtr and hit Temple St Night Market. Unfortunately I don't have any recommendation when it comes to food, but I would suggest to just try any place with a menu {with pictures}... very little if no English spoken at all in that area. Next, who would blame you to want to spend a couple of hours browsing the beautiful shops in air-conditioned shopping malls? Hong Kong is known to be a big shopping hub and you can head to IFC or Pacific Place malls confidently for your fix of beautifully designed/ crafted/ branded {read expensive here} stuff. And don't miss the local and gorgeous Lane Crawford department store!

Feeling at home in Lane Crawford's home decoration shop... Pacific Place mall

There is so much more to discover in Hong Kong, this above is only a sneak peek at what the city has to offer. If you have any tips or a favorite place, please feel free to share them with the rest of us in the comment section! I will make sure to check them out the next time I head there... Thank you for reading and sharing! * Additional reading for shopping in Sham Shui Po {here}

All images and text by Marie at Etincelle Creative Studio Marie's shop :: etincellestudio on Etsy Marie's blog :: Etincelle Creative Studio

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