Temple Street Market is a must-visit in Hong Kong. The vendors are incredibly friendly and clearly…read morelove to bargain, which makes the experience fun and engaging. There's an endless variety of merchandise to browse, along with plenty of food stalls offering tempting local eats. The area felt safe, lively, and was very easy to get to with a quick Grab ride. A great spot to soak in the energy of the city.

Temple Street Night Market / Kowloon (Hong Kong) -- By the time Jamie W and I made it here on our…read morevacation, we visited two legendary night markets in relatively quick succession, Raohe Street in Taipei (review: https://yelp.to/iQFcRkmz6h) and Jalan Alor in Kuala Lumpur (review: https://yelp.to/5ShCfX6Vhg). Both were bustling cultural microcosms full of a wide and diverse variety of culinary delights. My expectations were set high. This is my roundabout way of saying I found this market to be on the meh side. Even though Temple Street might be the most organized of night markets, it came down to a lack of enthusiastic energy on the part of the thirty-plus hawkers and purveyors here. They didn't help motivate us as much to try anything that looked appetizing beyond one grilled octopus skewer (photo: https://yelp.to/ZmGraLPefh). It was pretty good for what it was. The food stalls took up just the first block of Temple Street. The rest of the market consisted of tents and stalls where they sold gadgets, toys, electronics, cheap souvenirs, and T-shirts of which Jamie bought a couple from an enterprising senior (photo: https://yelp.to/caewEJ9-pR). I've read that lingering COVID restrictions may have caused a change in the dynamics of the market. If true, the impact apparently snuffed out much of the unique character it might have had. RELATED - Exploring Hong Kong? Here's my collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://bit.ly/3AGgadg

Pottinger Street / Central (Hong Kong) -- Even though this wasn't my first trip to Hong Kong, I…read moremust've conveniently forgotten how steep the hills can get to elevation-challenged tourists like myself, especially the steep inclines to be found in the Central district on Hong Kong Island. That's why there are helpful automatic walkways and escalators under long canopies over certain roadways. That was definitely a smart urban renewal move built back in the '90's, but Pottinger Street has been left intact. This atmospheric walkway consists of a series of steps and inclines on terra firma and retains its vintage Hong Kong charm with seemingly random stone slabs that connect Connaught Road Central up to Hollywood Road. Souvenir kiosks line the street on both sides, and they apparently change depending on the holiday season. Jamie W and I were here too early to see Christmas trinkets and decorations, but we saw stall after stall of local tchotchkes and T-shirts. It's worth the stroll in either direction. RELATED - Exploring Hong Kong? Here's my collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://bit.ly/3AGgadg

A touristy three or four block sloping street made up of granite slabs that aren't quite stairs…read more Its official name is Pottinger Street, named in 1858 after Henry Pottinger, the first Governor of Hong Kong, serving from 1843 to 1844. Fun fact was that in the early days in HK, Chinese and European residents used to live separately in different neighborhoods. Pottinger street once acts as a rough boundary between the two groups. The Chinese used to mainly live west of the street and westerners to the east. Today there are various vendors selling trinkets and services such as caricature painting on the street. Many blockbuster HK movies have had iconic scenes filmed here including "Lust Caution", "October Besieged City", "Infernal Affairs III", and "Dragon and Phoenix Fight".

Central Market in Hong Kong was the first wet market in the city. Now it is a fresh food market…read morethat also has dry goods and restaurants. It is a fun food market to explore. Central Market is one of two existing Bauhaus market buildings in Hong Kong. Beside the market was the first public female restroom in Hong Kong. At one point, Central Market was the largest meat market in Asia. The building was renovated and most recently reopened in 2021. So nice to explore the stalls and sweet treats that are available to buy. Make sure to have yen as not all of the vendors accept credit cards. Love the anime characters. Try the roasted goose. (Thanks to our Houston CM Jandito, for that recommendation.)

Lots of cool vendors, snack spots, sit down restaurants, etc. has a bit of everything. Located in a…read morenice area with tons of different entry points. Very clean as well. Not as busy on weeknights, super busy on the weekends closer to lunchtime and after.

Chungking Mansions features curry restaurants, and foreign exchange offices, which often acts as a…read moregathering place for some of the ethnic minorities. The place is old and lack of maintenance, and the unusual atmosphere of the building is compared to the former kowloon walled city. There's also a back door of the building open to public in the alley.

A legendary building in Hong Kong…read more Was really craving some curry, rice, na'an and some masala to tingle my tongue. TONS of food varieties downstairs on the main floor of Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani, Indonesian Halal food. We had a soft, tender lamb curry with naan which was gorgeous in a thick gravy. Lots of guava and mango juices. The entire building has decades of character. An old place which is legendary in Hong Kong.

I went to Hong Kong for the first time last month. I know nothing about Hong Kong comics or comic…read morecharacters. I didn't even know this magical place existed. I was just wandering around Kowloon, trying to figure out what to do for breakfast, then I got distracted by the entrance for the Hong Kong Avenue of Comic Stars in Kowloon Park. There are statues of comic characters from Hong Kong comics and Hong Kong comic artists. It's fun, and cheesy, and cool. If you're like me and have no knowledge of any of these characters there are little plaques (in English and Cantonese) that tell you some information about these characters and the artists who created them. The attraction is free to check out, and it's fun to pose for selfies with statues of penguins and super spies. Kowloon Park itself is really nice and is definitely worth checking out. Kowloon Park is a short walk from the Jordan MTR Station. The Tsim Sha Shui Station is close by as well. I went here 3 times in 5 days. That's how much I loved it. Maybe I'm just a nerd, but this is a fun place to visit and worth seeing if you're in Hong Kong.

Stumbled upon the Avenue of Comic Stars walking around Kowloon Park…read more I love the huge cartoon characters. Very fun and colorful. I had no idea who any of the characters were but it was still cool. The stairwell exiting was pretty awesome. The super hero pig was my favorite! My pose when I pig out! If you are at Kowloon Park, stop by here and check it out!

I love the ancient temples, it speaks with volumn without saying anything since it's right there in…read morethe walls, the structures, the gates, the set up, the statues, the burning incense, the folks that comes over the years, decades...it's such a peaceful, tranquility and calmest being there.

A must visit treasure in HK. Pretty easy to get to if you take the MTR. Walk from Sheung Wan stop…read morefor about 15 minutes. Lots of local markets to visit. Plenty of coffee shops around.

Times Square happens to be a luxury brand mall in HKG, not an iconic spot like NUC. The mall is…read morehuge, over 8 floors of luxury and high end brands, electronic store, food court and few other variety of stores. The inside of the mall looks absolutely stunning, all slick and clean, modern design integrated across all the floors. We explored the mall over half an hour, floor by floor. Since we were not looking to purchase anything expensive, we were just enjoying the walk and view of the mall. Few stores we went in, staff were very friendly and willing to assist with any question.

It was our young daughters' first international trip and I had to solo parent for two days. For one…read moreof those days, I brought the girls to this mall because they have Blooms Coffee, Lego Store, and City Super. With jet lag and solo parenting, caffeine is undeniably a top priority and I had the pleasure of trying the tiramisu latte from Blooms Coffee. It definitely gave me a strong kickstart and without too much sugar. And then we took off to exploring the different floors - being amazed with the Zootopia 2 decorations and display, visiting the Lego Store, finding souvenirs to buy at City Super, and making a Christmas wish list at the Lane Crawford store. We easily spent three hours in this mall. It's spacious and clean. The staff were helpful and friendly. I would definitely revisit the next time we are in town!

I couldn't find the restaurant 'The Queen' on Yelp, so I'm reviewing it here since it's in the same…read morestructure! Funny, because the restaurant itself was rather tough to find as well. The entire building was glorious in all its classical attributes and design elements, and I can see why it's a landmark in the city--hence why it's on here and not the Michelin restaurant. Go figure! Anyway, the food was very well made and super flavorful, as you'd expect from a fancy restaurant. But the weird thing was how empty it was. There were only about half a dozen tables, and not a single patron besides us during peak dinner hours. Very odd indeed! Maybe it's the high prices or the hard-to-find location, but only hours later did we finally have some company join us. My only quibble is the high prices, but the portion sizes and quality were excellent, so it's perfectly fine for an occasional fine-dining splurge. All the dishes were extremely well made, and my favorite was definitely the seafood fried rice. God(s) Bless Hong Kong.

1881 Heritage is an open-air mall with a hotel and lots of yummy restaurants... also is absolutely…read morebeautiful! Located in TST, Kowloon district of Hong Kong, it's definitely a must visit! This was once a 19th century police HQ building and a lot of the artifacts and historical monuments, such as the time ball tower & bomb shelter have been preserved well; still available for viewing by visitors. There are so many shops here, literally a shopper's paradise! Lots of luxury shops and fine dining restaurants here. Whenever I am in HK, I always have to visit ;)) Definitely one of my favorites place to go... perfect place to go regardless of time of day & is right by the Victoria Harbour!

While wandering around Wan Chai, I came across the Blue House and the Hong Kong House of Stories…read more The Hong Kong House of Stories (香港故事館) is a tiny museum that is packed with nostalgic old items from Hong Kong's past, giving you a quick glimpse into the city's history and how much it has changed over the years. The space is small, so it doesn't take long to explore, but it was fun to poke around the exhibits and appreciate the effort that went into curating them. I also liked that there were some handmade souvenirs that I could pick up! It was a charming and worthwhile stop, especially if you're in the area already.

This is an old restored building with a little shop in the bottom floor. The shop keeper tells the…read morestory of the history of the building, which was cool to hear, as well as sells different handmade items from the shop (technically they are for donation). The shop also has other strange and curious things to browse through.