Make the last day the BEST DAY! (Day 6 Recap — Hong Kong March 2016)
At last, the dreaded LAST DAY of my Hong Kong trip had suddenly came about. Although I had already done so much in the preceding few days, I woke up with the feeling that I still had so much to get through! To make matters worse, my foot still was laboring me like crazy, and rolling out of bed that morning was a painful experience to say the least. Nevertheless, I was determined to make the MOST of this last day. So I thought back to the inspirational video above of Shia Labeouf, and told myself to stop whimpering and JUST DO IT!!!!!
The morning started with another encounter with the breakfast for champions (DIMSUM, of course!) as I met up with Vickie’s old friend from her church fellowship, Karla! Karla, who had now moved back to Hong Kong, had actually just finished a lengthy nightshift working at the Disneyland Hotel, so it was incredibly kind of her to come all the way from Lantau Island to meet us for breakfast that morning! Nothing like some yummy Char Siu Bao, hot tea, and good conversation to get the day started!
From there, we all went our separate ways. Since I was determined to get through as much as possible on this last and final day, I decided to detour from Vickie and her sister’s plans for the day, opting to go for one more SOLO ADVENTURE! My primary goals for the day:
- Hit up the Cupping Room once more (this time its flagship store in Central)
- Head to the famous Police Married Quarters (PMQ)
The Cupping Room’s Flagship Store => TROPHIES everywhere
Upon walking into the Cupping Room’s flagship store, the first noticeable difference that immediately captures your eye is the abundance of trophies featured on their prominent wall of fame! The trophies are representative of all the awards that their store’s baristas have won at various world-wide competitions over the past few years. No wonder their flat white is so delicious! haha
Beyond the trophies though, the main reason I wanted to come to the flagship store is because I didn’t get a chance to try their famous almond croissant during my visit to their other store on the preceding day. The croissants are baked here at their flagship store every morning, so as a tip for anyone interested in trying it, your best bet is to come to the flagship store! The almond croissant was definitely as tasty as advertised, as it had an awesome, not too sweet flavor accompanied by a fantastic flakiness texture that held true throughout its entire body.
Police Married Quarters (PMQ) => Intersecting History and ART
Fully awake for my solo adventure to the historic Police Married Quarters (PMQ), I ventured west of Central to this revitalized artsy hub on Hong Kong Island. PMQ was historically known as the first dormitory for Chinese rank and file police officers, and recently was redesigned in the past few years to become an art and shopping destination that still manages to preserve much of the architecture and styling of the original buildings. It truly is a sight to behold, and I’d definitely recommend it as a must-see for any aspiring Hong Kong traveler.
Hong Kong on Steps
Probably the coolest thing at PMQ is their famous Hong Kong on Steps exhibit which has artists from all over the world painting on various stairs throughout the PMQ building. Finding each of these respective stairs I found to be a bit of a hike because even though the map of the building showcases various corners of the building where the paintings are supposed to be, there are 7 different floors and so finding the exact spot as to where each painting was proved to be more difficult than I initially expected! Eventually I found all the paintings though, and I was glad that I did because these paintings were truly some of the coolest things I had a chance to see during my entire trip in Hong Kong.
Mott 32 — Hong Kong’s best Peking Duck and Char Siu Pork
Following a few hours of walking and shooting photos throughout PMQ, it was time to reunite with Vickie’s family and take them out for a dinner on our final night out! I had been especially excited for this one, as I saved the best restaurant for last, waiting for the opportunity to take Vickie’s entire family out for one last dinner before we all flew back to the states!
Boy oh boy, did this restaurant not disappoint! Mott 32, which opened a couple years ago, is located right in the middle of the bustling streets of Central, featured prominently right next to the HSBC skyscraper. The restaurant’s design in itself is an architectural work of art, as glass chandeliers and gold adorn the various walls and tables throughout in a manner that subtly brings light to this otherwise dark yet extremely inviting restaurant. Don’t let the lavish designs fool you though, the food itself is truly the highlight here, as it exceeds even the loftiest of expectations.
2 main items that every Mott 32 visitor must order:
- Peking Duck
- Char Siu (BBQ) pork
I’ve had Peking Duck at a variety of restaurants, both traditional Chinese and also western/fusionized spots, and none of them even come close to what Mott 32 offered. Each bite seemingly melted in your mouth, and I loved that they offered the traditional tortilla-like rice paper instead of the buns that are often offered at US restaurants serving Peking Duck. Likewise, the Char Siu pork was so tender and juicy, it’ll make you never want to eat BBQ pork from any other restaurant again. The pork itself is imported from Spain, so that should give you an idea of the great lengths they go to make sure this meal is cooked to perfection!
Late Nite dessert run at Sai Ying Pun + Enjoying the view of Victoria Harbour
Following dinner, we took a ride together back to Vickie’s mother’s hometown, Sai Ying Pun, where she introduced me to the most famous dessert spot there. This restaurant has been around for over 50 years, and they are famous for their hot almond soup, which regularly has lines of people all night even to this day. The soup is extremely soothing and was a perfect end to a night of great food!
From there, we made our way back across the Harbour to Tsim Sha Tsui where we took some final photos at the waterfront. Overall, the skies were fairly clear and we were fortunate to get some nice family photos!
The night is still YOUNG, Last Beer Run!!
Following our family night out together, it was still only 11PM and with a forthcoming flight at 8:30AM the next morning, I figured it’d only be fitting to stay up on this last night and just sleep on the plane! haha
Vickie was totally NOT up for this, but her twin sister Carol was, so the two of us hit the town up for one more fun night out! This was actually one of my favorite moments of the trip because I hadn’t had a chance to have one-to-one conversation with Carol in a long time, particularly since I got married to Vickie and we had all kind of gone ahead with our busy lives. On this night, it reminded me of when me and Carol used to always hang when we first met in college. Nothing to worry about, carefree living, and just enjoying each other’s company (albeit with alcohol now haha).
We ended up hitting up 2 bars in particular. The first bar was called Little Beer Room, and was a craft beer and wine spot with this rad Chinese bartender with a British accent who absolutely knew all the good stuff! The second bar was a Lebanese bar in Central, who had this super chill bartender who literally talked with both Carol and I the entire evening, telling us great stories about how he had moved to Hong Kong and managed to own this bar for the past 15+ years. He was so cool that Carol and I both decided to take a photo with him before we left.
From there, it was nearly 3AM and we made our way back to Kowloon to get ready to pack our bags and head to the airport within the next couple hours. At long last, my Hong Kong trip was finally coming to an end…
