"Day with Denise" Special Tour of HK.

Collette and family are rocking over from Fiji for Christmas, only we'll be in New Zealand so they'll be doing their Hong Kong jaunting without us.

It's a pity to miss her, and when I got her letter asking for suggestions for what she should do, I said I'd put together a post of what I do with my HK visitors: my own special "Day with Denise" walking tour.

My first assumption is that my visitors can do The Usual Sights without me - Big Buddha, Disneyland, Ocean Park, Free-for-Tourists Junk Ride etc, etc - and that my role is to let them see a different HK than the one tourists usually get.

Also, since the only part of HK I really know well is my own neighbourhood of Wan Chai, "Day with Denise" is mostly based around here:

My Neighbourhood.

And it goes like this: Catch our wonderful MTR to Wan Chai and drop by to pick me up at home. Hopefully, it'll be after lunch because it takes me that long to wake up.

I'd then take you through Southorn Park, which I'd have already shown you since it's the view out our window, over to Johnston Road where all the sample shops are - although they're currently moving out to Western Markets because Wan Chai is gentrifying - and, if you're my kind of bargain-hunting person, we'll go looking through the racks and bins for Chanel and Dior and, if we're lucky, we'll find them because these sample shops are where the luxury market dumps their seconds, and you can often buy spectacular stuff for pocket change.


After that, we'd go along one of the Market Streets ...

Best shopping in town

... up and through to Queens Road East, and wander along to see the little Tin Hau Temple:

My favourite spot in Wan Chai.

After that, we'd backtrack to Hopewell Centre ...

Can't miss it.
It's the tallest building around.

... where we'd ride the glass elevator up to the 63rd floor ...

The view up;
everyone always wants to do this twice

... then, on the top floor of that ride, go to the little elevator up to "66", the revolving restaurant on top.

At "66" we'd only order a large pot of tea because this place is very expensive - except on Sundays when they have the cheap buffet, when we'd pig out bigtime - as a cover for using their tables, and spend a leisurely hour sitting and chatting as we go around once.

By then it would be late afternoon, so we'd either catch a bus on Queens Road East to get to the Peak, or else walk down a different Market Street to Lockhart Road ...

The World of Suzie Wong,
as seen from the skybridge.

... to gape at the gorgeous winsy little prossies in their mini-mini-skirts and thigh-high boots, all the while hanging on to husbands so they escape the attentions of their mean-faced mama-sams. Unless, of course, you have a husband who wishes to enjoy the whole "sailor on shore leave" flavour, in which case you'd walk several feet behind, so you'd get to laugh at 'em when they quickly get terrified. Scary ladies, those mama-sams, even for sailors on shore leave.

After that, we'd walk along the skybridge and stop off for another cuppa at Pacific Coffee, then we'd catch the Star Ferry ...

A HK Icon
and a Must-do.

... across to TST ...

A gorgeous ride.

... where we'd have yum cha in one of the Star House Buildings opposite the TST pier:

Wander around inside
until you find a restaurant.
They all do a wonderful yum cha.

Then just before 8pm, we'd dash out to get a really good spot to watch HK's famous "Symphony of Lights", which runs for 20 minutes.

Then we'd catch the ferry back to Wan Chai ...

Night ferry-rides are a
different experience to day-rides.

... to again walk down Lockhart Road till we come to a wine bar we like the look of - our favourite "China Town" recently changed hands, so probably our current favourite would be "Devil's Advocate" - and just veg out, drinking wine and more chatting.

This is a truly lovely way to spend a day so sounds like a plan to you too?