Travel Ideas for Hong Kong

HI GUYS, this is the last travel related posted I’m going to do for a while until October (when I go Japan :D). Thought I’d do this as a ‘places you should go in HK’ as opposed to a travel diary because 70% of the time I was in HK was spent shopping MWAHAH.

#1 Ocean Park

Ocean park is a theme park that is basically a combination of Sea World and Luna Park. There are only one or two rides worth going on (the rest are too childish) and you get to see seals, dugongs, fish, shark, pandas and lots of other animals :D It’s built over a mountain (not sure who thought that was a good idea…) and so you have access to half of the park on one side and then you have to take a cable car/train over to the other side for the other half of the park. Tickets are about $60-70 per person and there are also fast passes for $20-30 per person which allows you to skip the line for 5 “rides”. I can say we pretty much choose the worst day to go because it must’ve been at least 40 degrees (or so it felt) and the park was HUGE and the paths are like MOUNTAINOUS (up-hill… you know what I mean).

There is this underground display where all the seals are and you can watch them swim about and feel like you're underwater too! I swear these little things swim sooooo super fast, couldn't even get a photo with them T_T

The pandas are kept in a separate conservatory where the space is designed to mimic their natural habitat. There is no talking or flash photography in this area because we don't want to frighten the pandas! They only give birth to one cub at a time and there is only a certain small period during the year that they mate. If they miss out on this period they have to wait another year! That's why they are endangered :( I heard China donated 4 pandas to HK (YAY GO CHINA-HK RELATIONS) but um yeah I hope they are healthy and make more baby pandas soon :D Also, just want to let you guys know, at ocean park there is a chance to donate to these pandas if you ever go. I think it's a great cause and that we should all contribute, just that little bit, to save these fluffy babies!

This is an even cuter version, the red panda!! Doesn't it look ADORABLE just hanging there... Wish i could live its life... so carefree :3

Also found one of these vintage looking telephone boxes that I just HAD to take a picture with!!

If you're the type that goes to theme parks for the rides, then this ones a pass (there is about one scary ride here), but if you're like me that enjoy a SEA world kind of experience then definitely a good place to visit if you get the chance. I mean its like a zoo and a theme park in one, kill two birds with one stone ;) 

#2 Moomin Cafe 

This adorable cafe is located in Harbour City (a HUGE shopping centre with just about every brand you can think of, a shopping MUSTGO). They make moomin-themed deserts and drinks. I'm not exactly familiar with moomin but I saw it a lot in HK so maybe its more popular over there?? ANYWAYS, look how cute these green tea lattes look? (Glass cup is cold latte and mug=hot). The waiters also moved these huge stuff toys versions of the characters to your table so you can enjoy the delicious drinks with your favourite character. The exit is through a small souvenir store that sells everything MOOMIN so if your into that, definitely check it out!!

#3 Town Square

In a lot of the shopping centres in HK they have these awesome displays. This one is of the recent movie, Finding Dory (which i LOVE btw) and I also saw Line ones, Rilakuma ones, Japanese Neko ones, etc. Awesome for snapping some cute pics while you shop!! There is also a huge Lane Crawford in Time Square (the equivalent of David Jones but fancier) and I heard they frequently do sales up to 70% off branded shoes and bags. I'd imagine around sales period in December it'd be even better. Also they have their own points reward system so rather than going to the independent stores, if you shop cosmetics, its just more worth to buy it there and gets some points along the way :D These points then can be traded in for discounts and products. 

These wide pants I actually got in ALAND for super cheap ($30-40 AUD). I've been seeing them in all my fav youtuber's clothing hauls so I felt pretty excited when I saw these ones. Plus they are a bit different because it combines the wide pants design with the design of dungarees. These were really good for HK because it was really hot and these were super airy but at the same time long enough to protect my legs from tanning (I got just about 5 shades darker in the 2 weeks overseas T_T). My bf thinks I look like a nun in these but MEH I like them :D

#4 Jumbo Seafood Restaurant

I didn't actually eat here but because its a floating restaurant, legit just in the middle of the harbour like an island all by itself, I hear it's a really popular tourist sightseeing place. The view is super pretty at night because all the lights get turned on. The craftsmanship on the building itself is amazing as well... so detailed o.o

#4 Victoria Peak

So to get to this peak you can either drive, take a train or walk up (don't recommend walking, I hear its a nightmare especially in the heat). We were lucky enough to have my bf's dad car us up (yes, that's legit what they say in canto, car us up HAHAHAH). The view is spectacular, especially at night. You really come to understand why they call HK a city that never sleeps! You have to check the weather report before you go though because it was super foggy when we went and that kind of ruined the view + photos (UNLESS they were clouds.... thats what my bf thought but really...?).
There is also a shopping centre up there so if you go in the day you can do some shopping and some sightseeing at the same time. You might be wondering why there a shopping centre on top of the mountains but apparently thats where the rich people live and they need to shop just like everyone else. Not quite sure why you would live on a mountain when you could live close to the harbour but OKAY...

There is a cable car service but the line was 45minutes long when we went (despite it being like 10 o'clock at night...). We were searching everywhere for a place that sold a selfie sticks but couldn't find one ANYWHERE (I broke my in Singapore T_T). Why wouldn't a touristy place like this sell selfie sticks? If that were China, they'd full take that opportunity... So my bf thinks maybe it's banned because you can totally use it as a weapon and whack people in the face?  Well, that's the closest to an explanation we got ._.

That's pretty much all the "sightseeing" I did in HK. As I said 70% of the time was spent shopping, 20% eating so...ANYWAYS, you might be wondering since she spent so much time shopping what did she end up buying? WELL. That brings me to my haul which will go up in my next post so stay tuned ;)

In the meanwhile heres a little sneak peak at a portion of what I hauled...

<3 H