this final instalment concludes my travelogue on our really fun Hong Kong trip. 🙂

thanks to the characteristic eagerness of our trip leader, who booked this 2-room serviced apartment at Ovolo Hotel 256 Tung Chau Street West Kowloon at Sham Shui Po >2 months before our 10-13May2013 Hong Kong trip, we checked into the 25th floor “penthouse” (top floor) on 10.5.2013. 🙂

there were 2 tiny bedrooms with queen beds but a huge living area. the only complaint was that the toilet & bathroom facility were kind of small & not well designed.

& we had a free refillable mini-bar (like a hotel Club Floor) – a waste as we were all teetotallers & the Singha beers stayed put in the fridge in our 3 nights stay. 🙂

this trip had come about as someone wanted to redeem his expiring krisflyer points (though he could not make it in the end for important reasons), and with a trip leader perpetually nosing for good travel deals, and a couple other eager recruits, things kind of came together easily. 🙂

as there were 4 of us and my – everyone is a lighter traveller than the other! – we took a cab (which cost in total HK$272, the maths gymnastic had somehow baffled our national schools gymnast champion) from the airport to Ovolo doorstep instead of the usual Airport Express.

busy street at Sham Shui Po

though I usually stayed at Tsimshatsui for convenience, Ovolo was about 10mins walk from Sham Shui Po MTR station, and I found it quite ok. besides there were other untold advantages to sharing a 2-room apartment (such as juicy gossips even for a lazy me..haha). 🙂

Sham Shui Po area was also a flea market heaven for apparel and pc/electronic products, though my interest was limited to snapping a few pictures to capture the vibrant street scene. 🙂

Hong Kong’s beef noodles 牛腩牛杂面.

I am an unabashed sucker for HK’s 牛腩面. 🙂 unlike Singapore 牛腩 which are brisket with connective tissues, HK’s 牛腩面 uses the belly or parts nearest the belly.

I felt bad this time though as JK wanted to have wanton noodles, and for some reason the street leading from Ovolo to Sham Shui Po MTR stations though dotted with 牛腩面 stalls which also sold wanton noodles but somehow did not have the type of 牛腩 I was looking for. & my friends had to patiently walk up & down the streets with me in order to locate a stall that did. I got what I wanted but JK’s wanton noodle was below the standard of Jordan stall which she craved.

we had completed both the 5.7km Dragon’s Back hike (and another 5.3km hike of the Pak Fu Lam park & reservoir route at The Peak which was more than what we planned for) all in 1 day on 11.5.2013. On Sunday 12.5.2013, we decided to go for the mid-level escalator walk. 🙂

1/2 Roast Goose 烧鹅

we did not want to go Yung Kee 庸记, and having earlier read Robyn Lee’s recent visit to Yat Lok 一乐, we decided to start at Central MTR and walked to Stanley Street (rather than IFC Mall at the start of the escalator at Hong Kong MTR station side).

we were not disappointed. we ordered 1/2 roast goose for HK$200 and I think HK$80 for a plate of char siew & siew yoke to share among the 4 of us.  they were very good – goose was crispy & fragrant (tasty), so was the pork. 🙂

mid-levels escalator (from IFC Mall to Conduit Street)

parts of the escalator were under maintenance..

Tai Cheung egg tarts

we came down from the escalator at Lyndhurst Terrace & found the famous Tai Cheung egg tart shop, apparently a Chris Patten favourite. 🙂 we each took a HK$3.50 egg tart each. it was good. egg tart not something I particularly fancied or craved for but I enjoyed it all the same. 🙂 and we had a bean curd drink each as well, I think it was like HK$5 for each bottle if you also bought the egg tart. 🙂

we walked a bit along Hollywood Road. none of us was like really must see temple type so we gave Man Mo Temple  文武庙 a miss. 🙂 JK was looking for bicycle shops & found one for accessories. 🙂

good street map that shows the mid-levels escalator route

we walked further up the escalator & passed SOHO (South of Hollywood) & the mosque & ended at the Conduit Road mid-levels residential area which was 135m above the start point. here we took the bus & got back to Central MTR 🙂

c.h.e.f andy