Wandering Fel

Showing posts with label Central. Show all posts

If you are looking for the best cafehopping scene in Hong Kong, you should make your way to Old Town Central. The Old Town Central area is outlined by Wyndham Street, Caine Road, Possession Street and Queen's Road Central, with Hollywood Road coursing through the middle. The maze of streets and alleys in Old Town Central hide the city's best heritage, arts and hidden cafe spots. The area seems to be a very popular wedding photoshoot venue as well. We saw that there is a couple who was currently having a photoshoot (albeit the hot weather, ouch!) on a Saturday morning.

4D Hong Kong Foodie Trip: Cafe Deadend, Central

Old Town Central seems to be where a mix or urban settlement and shops residing side by side. I won't be surprised if the rental rate for a room here is skyrocketing despite the small size of the room and the outwardly-run-down appearance of the building. The area is rather quiet on a Saturday morning but you will be surprised when you want to look for seats in any cafe around this area.

YY and R5 could not really function without caffeine intake, so we asked Soe to bring us to nearest coffee place around here. He wanted to introduce us to one of his favourite coffee joints in Hong Kong but in order to reach the cafe, we have to wander around the neighbourhood for a while.

Serene area in Central Hong Kong for cafehopping

And made a turn into a deadend corner because the cafe that he brought us is named Cafe Deadend. What an apt and yet pretty creative name for this little corner cafe. The tables in Cafe Deadend were all occupied when we reached the cafe around 10.30AM. I suppose Cafe Deadend must have been pretty popular with the neighbourhood.

Cafe Deadend has both indoor and outdoor seatings but under the hot weather just like that day, I don't think there are people who wish to opt to sit outside because they would just literally melt away. Another point to note is that you have to do some self-serving if you are sitting outside. So if you want to receive table service, you should go for the indoor seating (if there's capacity).

Cafe Deadend, a quaint cafe in Central Hong Kong

At Cafe Deadend, you will be able to order any coffee brews of all kinds including dirty (a shot of espresso with cold milk) and iced espresso soda. Food wise, Cafe Deadend split their menu between before 12.30PM and after 12.30PM. Cafe Deadend's before 12.30PM menu includes Po's Morning (HKD 65) which consists of bread/pastries with butter/jam, Poached Eggs & Prosciutto or Crab (HKD 85) and all day bagels for HKD 90. Salads such as Kale Salad (HKD 120) and Caprese Salad (HKD 110) are available in their after 12.30PM menu.

The group were still full from the awesome dim sum feast at Dim Sum Square earlier, so we decided to just stick with coffee. YY who is a fan of hot coffee has ordered her usual favourite latte (HKD 45) while R5 sticks to Iced Cappucino (HKD 50). Coffees taste great although I don't think they are different from the coffee which I tried at 18 Grams at Causeway Bay. I do not really possess a discerning tastebud for coffee. Hahaha.

Coffees from Cafe Deadend at Central Hong Kong

We spotted more and more cafes and art boutiques alongside the same street at Old Town Central like Lighthouse, a store specialising in vintage lamps if you like to buy one to place in your room.

And Teakha, one of the popular Western teahouses in Hong Kong. I initially planned to visit Teakha but Soe said Teakha is somewhat similar to TWG in Singapore and both YY and R5 are not really a fan of tea so we just gave it a miss. Maybe next time, Teakha.

Cafe Deadend is located at:

G/F, 72 Po Hing Fong

Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

Opening hours:

Tuesday to Sunday 9.30AM - 6PM

Closed on Mondays

Time flies so fast when you are on holiday. It was suddenly our last day in Hong Kong. Sobs. Today we had a local tour guide which is YY's friend, Soe. He is currently working in Hong Kong and he has been in the country for nearly a year. I was wondering how he can stand the known-to-be notorious working hours in Hong Kong but he seems to be able to cope just fine. Since he should have been "seasoned" by Hong Kong food and culture by now, we asked him to bring us to his favourite dim sum restaurant. He suggested us to go to Dim Sum Square which is located at the corner of Hillier Street in Sheung Wan area of Hong Kong.

4D Hong Kong Foodie Trip: Dim Sum Square, Central

Dim Sum Square has picture menu completed with English translation which obviously works well for tourists. The dim sum restaurant offers a variety of classic dim sum from Pork and Shrimp Dumpling (HKD 16), Beef Meat Balls (HKD 10), Golden Spongy Cake (HKD 10) which I often see as offering to deity, and Spring Rolls (HKD 12). I left the ordering part to Soe and YY since they seem to be pretty efficient at doing it (meanwhile I was drooling over the menu).

Our orders did not come one by one so we did not have to wait for a long time to fill our starving tummy. I suppose steamed dim sum takes faster time to be ready for consumption. Dim Sum Square's rendition of Shrimp Crystal Dumpling (HKD 18) does not disappoint but the shrimps at One Dim Sum seem to slightly bigger compared to Dim Sum Square. I wonder if it's just my feeling though. This is the first time we eat Xiao Long Bao (HKD 18) and I feel that the inside of the xiao long bao is a bit dry (less soup inside). The Creamy Custard Bun (HKD 12) from Dim Sum Square is yummy but the custard filling is not runny like the Pork Custard Buns at Dim Dim Sum at Causeway Bay.

Har gau and xiao long bao from Dim Sum Square Hong Kong

One dim sum dish which is consistent amongst all dim sum restaurants is the rice roll. I have never tasted rice roll which taste as nice as the ones served in Hong Kong at any other countries. There is generous amount of pork stuffed in the BBQ Pork Steamed Rice Roll (HKD 15) and you can immediately tell from the picture that the dish tastes oh so good.

Bbq pork rice roll from Dim Sum Square Hong Kong

One dish that I do not really enjoy eating from Dim Sum Square is the Chicken and Chinese Mushroom with Beancurd Wrapping (HKD 18). The chicken and chinese mushroom beancurd wrap is served soaked in soup which taste pretty herbal-ish to me and I am not really a fan of Chinese herbal soup.

Chicken and sliced abalone in beancurd wrapping from Dim Sum Square

Meanwhile, nothing can go wrong when you order fried dim sum such as BBQ Pork Buns (HKD 14). The BBQ Pork Buns from Dim Sum Square tastes as good as the ones served at Tim Ho Wan. Hmmm, reminiscing this dish kinda makes me want to buy BBQ pork buns from Tim Ho Wan (since Singapore only has this dim sum chain) for dinner tomorrow.

Crispy BBQ Pork Buns from Dim Sum Square Hong Kong

Oh right, if you are staying at Causeway Bay, you may want to be a bit adventurous and take tram to Sheung Wan MTR station (which is our meeting point with Soe that morning) instead of taking the train. The first thing that you have to do is obviously turning on your Google Map and search for the nearest tram stop to your hotel. For us, the tram stop at Morrison Hill Road seems to be the nearer. Each tram stop is equipped with tram map display and you don't really have to give signal or anything because the tram has to stop at every tram stop no matter if there are passengers alighting or not.

You have to check the number and the direction of the tram and compare it to the map to ensure you board the right tram though. Thankfully YY and R5 seem to be pretty map savvy because to be honest, I keep getting my own butt lost whenever I travel by myself. Really. Even with Google Map.

If you are already in possession of Octopus Card (which is the card used to board bus/ MTR in Hong Kong), you can just tap the card upon alighting the tram. The one time fare is applied to all trams in Hong Kong (HKD 2.30 for adults/ HKD 1.20 for child/ HKD 1.10 for senior citizens). The tram can be quite cramped during peak hours so make sure you are holding to something secured if you end up standing in the tram to avoid falling down.

I could see that Hong Kong city is already up and bustling with people on a Saturday morning. Markets open pretty early in Hong Kong (not like its neighbour, Taiwan) so you can start your shopping activity early if you want to.

Once we have met with Soe, he led us to Dim Sum Square but he got lost in the middle of the way (are you sure you are already localised, Soe?). We ended up getting help from a friendly foreigner who seems to live in Sheung Wan neighbourhood. Sheung Wan neighbourhood seems to be kinda artsty just like its neighbouring area, Central.

A colorful staircase leading us to heaven full of dim sum. Nom. #piggyheaven

Dim Sum Square is located at:

G/F, Fu Fai Commercial Centre

27 Hillier Street, Sheung Wan

Hong Kong

Opening hours:

Monday - Saturday 10AM to 10PM

Sunday 8AM to 10PM

Sometimes when you are stuck in a office routinity, you feel like breaking out from that lifestyle. However, now that I am currently not working, I do feel some kind of weird feeling toward Central Business District (CBD) area. Human is weird, it seems that we cannot find satisfaction no matter what we do on this earth. In the first place, this kind of life is probably not what God intended for us to have at the beginning. CBD, the place where the money goes around in circle...if you ask me which part of Hong Kong is the designated CBD for the country, that's gotta be Central.

4D Hong Kong Foodie Trip: Wandering around Central

Central is the place where you can see all the skyscrapers displaying prominent names of financial institutions like Citibank, DBS (did not know that there is a branch of DBS in Hong Kong, really), Morgan Stanley, HSBC, and of course, the place where I used to work, my beloved Standard Chartered Bank. Oh wow, this Central HQ of Standard Chartered Bank looks so damn cool compared to my office at Marina Bay in Singapore. My friend asked me to pose here since after all, it's used to be where I spend most of my hours in the day is. Oh gosh. Why did I work so hard again? Ah right, to sponsor my travel I suppose. And the circle continues.

Standard Chartered Bank at Central Hong Kong

Hmm, I recall that Hong Kong has just survived against one of the worst typhoon in their history every, Typhoon Hato. I wonder how does it feel to work in those skyscrapers when typhoon is in town. Most likely you don't have to come to office on typhoon day, but then again, staying at home probably not any safer? Suddenly, I feel so grateful to work in Singapore where its worst natural disaster is probably...smelly haze from the neighboring country. Oh right, since it's is typhoon season in Hong Kong from June to October, you should be careful when you visit Hong Kong during these months.

Central Business District at Central Hong Kong

YY nearly forgot her main intention to wander around Central area of Hong Kong. Her husband of 2 years, who happens to be a philatelist, asked her help to buy some stamps from Hong Kong. Since none of us know the best place to buy stamps other than post office, YY decided to go for General Post Office. The building of the post office looks pretty much government-ish. Just like how the old office buildings in Jakarta look like. I wonder if Hong Kong goverment decides to keep it that way since after all old building exudes historical vibe of a city.

General Post Office at Central Hong Kong

The post office counter is decked out in green and white and somehow I got a very retro feeling about Hong Kong. This is where customers can queue for the counter to send their mail or package to anywhere in Hong Kong or outside Hong Kong. But if you are looking for stamps or any other collectibles such as postcards, you need to go down to the level below and make your way to the post office store. There are limited edition stamps and all but since I am not really a fan of stamps, I did not really buy anything. YY seems to be quite satisfied with her selection of stamps to add her man's collection. A happy man indeed to have YY as his ever devoted wife.

After YY's to-do-list is done, we continued our exploration in Central by tracing our way to Hong Kong's antique street, Hollywood Road. Despite being at Central for so many times, this is the first time ever I tried to trace my way to the road which is supposedly filled with history, antiques store, art galleries and fashion boutiques. In order to reach the road in the fastest way ever, we did try to cross many shortcuts just like this intriguing alley which is also functioning as a market for the nearby residents. You can find roasted meat, drinks, fruits, fishes and vegetables from this one stretch of market. It is so interesting to see the concept of wet market in Hong Kong. The markets here can be in all kind of spaces from one huge building to an alley.

After we exiting the market, we have arrived at Graham Street which is located right next to our destination, Hollywood Road. Why did I specifically mention Graham Street? It is because Graham Street is one of the many nice photo spots in Hong Kong as there is a street art on the left side of Graham Street. Street arts can be spotted here and there in Central area of Hong Kong, it's just you have to open your eyes widely to spot them, as they can be located in well...any nook and cranny of the city.

Welcome to Hollywood Road, the street full of independent fashion boutiques, antiques store, art galleries and hair studios. If you are looking to shop for clothes from local HK designer, you may want to visit The Fitting Room by Grana. The interesting concept about shopping at Grana is that while you can try for the clothes there, you cannot purchase by grab and go. Grana is an online store and you need to book your purchase 2 days in advance and they will deliver your order to your doorstep. Hence, the purpose of setting up the store at Hollywood Road is for fitting purpose as it is difficult to see how the cutting of the clothes match your body shape from the website. If local designer fashion is not your cup of tea, you can also find a lot of Korean fashion and Japanese fashion boutiques at Hollywood Road.

Wall mural at building in Central Hong Kong

Other than curiosity, my main reason to go to Central is actually to find something unique to give to my friend as birthday present. It's really not easy to find something different for birthday present so I dragged both YY and R5 to the former Hollywood Road Police Married Quarters or PMQ, for short. The building was initially built as a dormitory for police officers but it has then been converted into creative hubs with a lot of retail spaces selling all kind of artsy object and collectibles. If you are confused on where to start looking for art object of your desire, multi-label concept stores Goods of Desires and Kapok may be your best starting points. Picture taking is not allowed at any of the stores in PMQ though.