Central, Hong Kong

Aug 14, 2018

 

Just a metro or boat trip away from our base in Lantau, we ventured into Central for a day of exploring. I’d snapped the above pic a few days earlier on the way back from a Junk Boat outing, sitting on the front of the boat watching the skyline get closer.

My boyfriend hadn’t been to HK before so I wanted to take him to a couple of the sites and everyone I spoke to told me we had to visit Grassroots Pantry and that it would cater for my veggie / gluten free / general dietary woes. I also wanted to buy things and walk on streets because I am easily amused.

 

 

But first, coffee. I love HK cafe culture and Coco Espresso’s iced lattes and cold brew provided welcome relief from the crazy humidity. On this trip we also visited N1 Coffee & Co in Kowloon where we picked up a bag of beans to take home.

 

I was very keen to take the escalators (my favourite thing about HK) up to mid-levels as a way of seeing the city without getting overly sweaty (humidity makes me grumpy). Hopping off at Hollywood Road, Grassroots Pantry did not disappoint – I had the vegan nachos with pulled jackfruit. My plans to pop back for some snacks were scuppered by a torrential downpour…more on that later.

 

We hopped in an Uber to the top of the Peak and got dropped off at the park rather than the viewing platform. No one else was around, I was wearing a vintage dress and sandals with absolutely no grip and it felt like a thunderstorm was imminent so we decided to go on a walking trail despite not knowing how long it would take to complete.

 

 
Despite my boyfriend having to carry my handbag while I tried not to slip and die, the walk was quite nice – the humidity was almost bearable and aside from some bugs it was peaceful. We saw this waterfall and speed-walked the last few hundred metres, arriving at the shopping centre right before a T1 storm.
 
 
One of us had a grilled cheese while we waited for the rain to stop. It didn’t. I was actually enjoying it having not seen rain since April in the UK. We braved a rather terrifying tram ride down (ticking off another “HK must” in the process even if the windows were all steamed up) and then got wet all over again getting back to IFC Mall and I definitely didn’t accidentally whack people with my umbrella and it’s not really my fault because I am so out of practice using one but it didn’t happen anyway. 
 
 
 
We found a Japanese restaurant in the mall and I had a cocktail which (I think) contained whiskey and lemon sorbet and it was very restorative, especially after viewing the menus for at least three other places and discounting them all. We also had some okonomiyaki fries which were delicious but not very photogenic and then hopped on the MTR back “home” to collapse in a heap.