Hong Kong - Quarterdeck

Going through some photos, I realised there is a heap I haven't gotten to about Hong Kong.
So, tonight it is about Quarterdeck!
Quarterdeck is located in Ocean Terminal in Kowloon.
I would say the food is pretty basic, but I did order 'au naturel'. We had wonderful service and had a pretty spectacular table. What was so good about this, for me, was that day I was so craving seafood. I was chomping at the bit to have some! After a shopping stint down that end of the terminal (designer kids area) I really needed to sit down. Hubby still doesn't know how much I spent shopping there. Ssssshhh.

So, here are the pictures.

Quarterdeck is just to the right of the boat pictured here.

And there you see the tip of the bow out the window. Along with possibly the best lemon, lime and bitters I have ever had!

 

Mixed seafood platter; crayfish, smoked salmon, mussels, clams and some sort of sea snail thing. Sauces were (weirdly) tomato sauce and the mustard coloured one was a ?mayonaise made with cray heads.

Close up of the snail thing, sans shell. No idea what it was, saw a few stuck on pilons in the harbour. Tasted good though.

Hong Kong - Tim Ho Wan

There are a heap of fabulous restaurants in Hong Kong. But if you are looking for good (1 Michelin Star) and cheap, you can't go past Tim Ho Wan.
The original restaurant in Mong Kok (Shop 8, 2-20 Kwong Wa St) is tiny! And I do mean tiny. It is akin to a shoe box. This is a photo of the outside

And yes, that is the queue to get in.

I couldn't take any photos inside, because there was no arm room to do much of anything (I am a very large westerner, not a small asian). This place is renowned as the cheapest Michelin star restaurant in the world. They are not joking. 3 of us were stuffed full for $120HKD - approximately $16AUD. For ALL of us. Not per person.
The highlight was definetly the baked BBQ pork buns. I could have eaten them till the cows came home. We kicked ourselves for not listening to the Euro outside who told us to order 4 serves of them. They are made from a sweet fried dough of 'pineapple buns'. Delicious!
You have to place your orders outside. You get a list in either chinese or english. You tick your boxes, and then as they call your table, you hand over your order. Be sure that when you get there, you get a table number as soon as you are there. We went at the right time and only had to wait for about 1/2 hr before getting a table. The larger your group, you will probably have to wait longer. Also with odd numbers.
This is not a place to go for a slow relaxing meal. You eat and then you get the fuck out. If you take too long, people start to frown at you.

The good news is that Tim Ho Wan has now opened a second restaurant in Sham Shui Po (G/F 9-11 Fuk Wing Street) and the restaurant there seats 150 diners.

Hong Kong - The Langham

Okay, so I am finally getting around to starting the food posts about Honkers.

People crap on all the time about how you should 'do high tea at The Peninsula', but really that is more about the name these days than anything else.
I really wanted to go to The Langham (8 Peking Road, Tsimshatsui). Oh man, am I so glad that we did!
We sauntered into The Langham - after our pedicures and massages around the corner.
"Tiffin Tea" is served in the Palm Court between 3-5pm daily. Currently it costs $298HK (about $35AUD) for 2 people. Plus 10% service charge of course ~rolls eyes~ I have a beef over service charges, but that is for another post.
nb: There are a couple of other options ie "Tiffin for Prince and Princess" which are $88HKD per person, and a selection of cocktails and mocktails to suit. Damn I love Bellinis!

Anyway, We had a selection of "The Sleeping Beauty" or "Beauty and the Beast". Sleeping beauty was all whites and blondes so I had to go for beauty and the Beast as that was all dark chocolates, lol.

Here we have Manjari chocolate dome, Black forest crystal and vanilla bavarois cream with crispy brownie.

This level had Dark and white chocolate Mille feuille (my favourite from the selection), Chocolate banana baked tart, Chocolate cupcake with valrhone frosting and gold leaf, Praline rice crispy and Raisin scones (preserves, clotted cream and butter served on separate plate).

Okay, I got stuck in before I took a close up of this level, lol. On it was Honey cured ham and mascarpone roulade, truffled organic cream egg with mustard cres, Smoked salmon and cucumber ribbons, peppered roast beef with onion relish and arugula, poached salmon and saffron quiche..

Dark and white chocolate Mille feuille (my favourite from the selection), Chocolate banana baked tart, Chocolate cupcake with valrhone frosting and gold leaf, Praline rice crispy.

And just a general view of "Palm Court"

Along with the food, came a great selection of Teas (black, green, flavoured, fruit and herbal) and coffee.

All in all, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND a visit to The Langham for high tea. The Hotel itself houses a few michelin star restaurants - which I could not convince any of my travel companions to go to :(

"Tiffin Tea" was just divine. It was exquisite, well presented, good service, nice ambience and, best of all, GREAT value for money!

Hong Kong - Funny signs

Just a quicky post as I seem to have developed Gastro and feel like crap.
So, the amusing signs ... I only took a couple of pictures of amusing signs. There were a lot more, trust me.

Wanko is every where!

Cockeye Model Dancers - I'd pay to see that!

Fook's Diamond - I would too honey if I could.

Hong Kong - Where to shop; part 2 Shopping Malls

I didn't get to as many shopping centres this time around. And the ones I did were a bit more on the upper end of the scale :)

Firstly,

Harbour City (near Star Ferry Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui)
The place is HUGE! But if you are into designer gear, particularly designer children and baby gear (authentic), it is AWESOME. And yes, I did indulge and got some great deals. Particularly a very nice Christian Dior dress for my daughter at half off. God I just love designer sales, and with the exchange rate I got it for a song. Below are some photos from the Ocean Terminal entry side and some of the shops ... and the amazing view from the malls windows.

As you can see, all the Xmas decorarions are up!

With views like this, I don't get much shopping done.

We also did IFC Mall. Not too far from the Star Ferry Terminal on Hong Kong Island side. We didn't have much time here as we decided to jump a cab and head off to Stanley Markets. Trouble with shopping with other people and they aren't into the same things as yourself.

Anyway, this mall is all about Luxury.

Langham Place Shopping Mall, Mong Kok

15 Storeys of shopping and worth checking out while you are in Mong Kok at the Ladies markets.

Photos below are all from the mall there

The One is a new Japanese style shopping mall that opened up whilst we were there. It is on Nathan Road in TST (Tsim Sha Tsui). TST is becoming (I found) very heavily influenced by Japanese. Of course it is still full of Pakistani men that harrass you at every turn for "copy watch" "designer bag" "suit" etc And even, on one lucky occasion "Hashish" ~eye roll~

Anyway, "The One" is big and beautiful. Photos below are from there.

And Silvercord Shopping Mall. I can't find a link for the mall itself, but found THIS one that you can use to have a perve as I didn't take any photos there.

I liked this place. Discount and seconds for some designer labels. You have to check carefully as most of them are seconds for a reason. Great place to get really cheap cosmetics and perfume.

We went to a few other malls, but nothing really worth noting.

The following is a list of ones that I have been to in the past, or ones that I really really wanted to get to - but was unable to due to my travelling partners :(

The Landmark

Festival Walk

Times Square

Elements

Pacific Place

K11 Art Mall

If you need more malls, you can find a list HERE (5 pages)

Hong Kong - Where to shop; part 1 Markets

One thing you learn in China/Hong Kong - they all bullshit. They will all tell you it is real, it authentic, it is famous brand, it is popular, it is well made, it is cheap etc. 8/10 I would say it is not what they say it is. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of reputable dealers - but you will rarely (if ever) find the 'real deal' on a street stall. Even the shops can be dubious, but that is for another post.
Just be prepared, know what you are looking for, do your homework, or if all else fails, take someone that knows their shit. You might think you can spot fake leather, but you would be surprised. Can you tell turquoise from marble imitation? can you tell real jade from fake jade?
Just be prepared and you should be right :)

Tai Yuen Street, Wan Chai

Hong Kong is renowned for several street markets. I will start with the more popular and well known ones...

Ladies Market
Tung Choi Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon (MTR Mongkok Station Exit E2)
Time open: noon – 11:30pm
A lot of the stalls here can be repetitive, but if you know how to bargain you WILL get a deal. See the end of this post on my tips for bargaining. Main items on sale are bags, accessories and women's clothing. Men's and children's clothing and toys is also on offer, but the predominant thing here seems to be bags atm.

Temple Street Night Market
Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon (MTR Jordan Station Exit A. Turn right into Jordan Road, then right into Temple Street - it is signposted)
Time open: 4pm - midnight
Once again, a lot of repetitive stalls. Similar items on sale as at Ladies Market - throw in some adult lingerie and mens decorative posing pouches and away you go! Lots of cheap eats at the start of the market. Nothing mind blowing, but good standard cheap fare.

Stanley Road Markets
Stanley Market Road, Stanley, Hong Kong Island (MTR Hong Kong Station Exit D and take bus 6, 6A, 6X, 66 or 260 from Exchange Square Bus terminus, Central). Or, for around $100-120HKD take a taxi directly from central.
Time open: 10:30am – 6:30pm
I would say there are a better variety of stalls here than at some of the other markets. They are not too keen on the bargaining here, and it does feel like the vendors have closed ranks a bit. They can be difficult to bargain with at times. Main things for sale are jewelry, kids clothes, kids costumes, Chinese artwork, silk collectibles and curios, as well as larger-sized clothing. There is a large sized footwear store here called Alibabas, it is down the little alley (in middle) that runs down to the waterfront. The waterfront has been developed beautifuly here, so be sure that you do not bypass it. There are a few stalls down there as well, but the jetty now is home to 4 large restaurants, plus the waterfront is littered with small cafes that have beautiful views.

Jardines Crescent Markets
Jardine's Crescent, Causway Bay, Hong Kong Island (MTR Causeway Bay Station Exit F)
Time open: 11am – 9:30pm
I actually didn't get a chance to make it here, but it is supposedly good for  inexpensive clothing, accessories and domestic goods.

Tai Yuen Street Markets
Tai Yuen Street, Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island (MTR Wan Chai Station Exit A3)
Time Open: 7am - 7pm
I found this one great for kids toys. I managed to get my kids a heap of Godzilla and godzilla related toys really cheap. 

Cat Street Markets (Cat Street)
Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
(MTR Central Exit D2 and turn right to Theatre Lane. Walk along Queen's Road Central towards The Centre. Then take the Central - Mid-Levels Escalator to Hollywood Road.)
Time open: 11am - 6pm
(Cat Street/Upper Lascar Road) Wonderful little flea market lining an antiques specialities street. I didn't get here this time, but I thoroughly enjoyed this last visit. Specialities are jade, silk products, embroideries and wooden handicraft items. Take someone with you that knows their stuff !

You can find further details about street markets HERE . Check all the categories, not just street markets, because they have them filed under what they mainly sell. Ones I would classify as street markets are not on their stree markets list.
Above I have only mentioned ones that I have personally found interesting, or ones that I would have liked to have gone to.

Bargaining
My rule of thumb is to always start offering less than half - usually around 30-40% of what the vendor is asking. I almost never pay over 50%  of what they have asked for.
What you have to remember - and actually DO!
* Be prepared to walk away! there is a very good chance that there are at least 20 other stalls selling the exact same thing you are looking at. And the further/deeper you go into the market, the cheaper you will get it!
* Never bother with the first stalls you encounter - all the tourists hit those first, so they are always harder to bargain with.
* Once again, walk away! Some stalls you don't even have to try bargaining with they just drop drop drop. Like one stall I was looking at a necklace, I wasn't particularly interested in it so I went to walk away. The woman dropped the price 200HKD in the beat of 3 seconds just to get me to buy something.
* Know what it is worth! Don't just think you are getting a bargain, KNOW that you are!
* Have  a cheap show purse. This is what I do. I put 100-200HKD in it and I keep the rest of the $$ in another purse in my bra. If I am having trouble beating something down, I will open my "show" purse and show them and say "I am sorry, this is all that I have". It has only failed me once - and she was a hard assed bitch.
* Always always be polite. You may be bargaining like hell, but it is never any excuse to be mean or rude.
* Try and learn basic terms in their language before you go on holidays. A little does really mean a lot. Be it "how much is that?" (phonetic pron: gay doh chin) or even a simple thank you (phonetic pron: shay shay). Be sure you get it right though. Hong Kong is mainly English speaking, but their main language is Cantonese. If you go across the border into mainland China for shopping (ie Shenzen) their main language is Mandarin.

That is about it. If I remember anything else, I will come and update, or if you have tips of your own, please comment!

Hong Kong

Well, I am back after 8 days of Hong Kong solid shopping :)


Completely knackered.

I will do a few posts on Hong Kong - in parts.
Where to Shop - Markets, or higher end. As well as a good tailor and jeweler (tailors and jewellers are everywhere in Honkers but these two that I will recommend are good and trustworthy).
Where to eat - Cheap and good. Higher end and good. Middle range and consistent.
Things to do - okay, so the ONLY thing I did other than shop was go to Ocean Park for the day, so this post will be about Ocean Park.
Funny Signs - what is a post on any part of Asia if you do not include any Engrish?!
Basic customs - What to do or say, even where to stand :)

I will start doing these posts in the next few days, once I finally unpack everything.