Part of our will to move to Bangkok was being able to travel to much different places, for much less money.
There is no wonder why our first city trip was in Hong Kong. This is a city that I have been dreaming to visit for a long time now, and the current political situation there helped pulling down the prices.
We took advantage of a national holiday in Thailand to go explore the bay for the first time. This city has so much to offer we knew we couldn’t see everything in three days, so we had a lot of preparation ahead to make the most out of it.
This is a breakdown of what we did, it was mainly focused on an overall quick first taste of the city, and photographing the most we could. I wish we will come back again to see other things of the region!
Day one: Hong Kong Island and Victoria Peak
Just one metro stop away from our Airbnb and we reached Hong Kong Island, the centre of Hong Kong, where the fancier hotels, shops and luxury luxury cars are concentrated.
It is also home to scenic buildings and streets, such as Yik Cheong Building made famous by Instagram several years ago.
Then we took the old double-decker tramway to Hennessy Road, which is probably the cheapest way to get around the city (not the fastest). It enabled us to get a sample of the neighbourhood without having to walk – it was 30 degrees and very humid so being able to do sightseeing while being seated was mostly welcomed!
Then, off for a quick walk and lunch around Causeway bay and its neon road, I wish we came at night!
We then hopped in the metro again heading to Sheung Wan.
After a crazy big rain, which had us stuck under a construction site for a full hour, we walked around the famous Hollywood road. The area is known for its numerous art and antique galleries, but also hyped shops and cool cafes. There are also a lot of street arts all along the street.
The neighbourhood visit ended at Man Mo Temple, for a peaceful and enjoyable moment. There is such a relaxing atmosphere in this place, with its gigantic incense coils burning all around.
Not sure if the Taoists do this with their hands…
As time was running out for golden hour, we took a taxi to a pretty original location: Sai Wan swimming shed.
The place is just basically a pier to go for a swim, and although there is a strong current, apparently Hong Kongers like to swim from there. You can’t beat the view though!
You cannot end a beautiful day in Hong Kong without a beautiful sunset over Victoria Peak… Well at least theoretically.
We drove up to the top of the sunset viewpoint, to witness the – supposedly – awesome overlooking view of the city… To find out there was so much fog we couldn’t barely see the skyscrapers. I did not even bother taking a shot.
Here’s a sunrise shot of the viewpoint itself by the talented photographer Elia Locardi instead. Hopefully we’ll come again and be more lucky!
We ended up going to bed at 7:00 PM, totally exhausted by the trip and the full day going around the island.
Day two: Kowloon
There are lot of things to do in Kowloon, which is just as interesting as Hong Kong Island itself. Indeed, we ended up liking our day 2 better than the 1st one!
We took a taxi in the morning to head to – yet another – building made famous by Instagrammers: Choi Hung Estate. There is no wonder why its basketball court is loved by the pros and wannabe photographers/models, the pictures speak for themselves!
Right next to this building there is another less famous but interesting building for its symmetrical lines
Then we were headed to a typical Chinese park, which caught our eyes while we prepared the trip: Nan Lian Garden
On the other side of the road sits another interesting place : Chi Lin Nunnery. It is a buddhist temple much different from the golden ones we can see in Thailand
We then went to our last photo location of the morning: Lok Wah South Estate. Famous for its hole in walls perfectly aligned:
We thought there would be a lot of people but we ended up being just the two of us. So, we set up the tripod and had a little bit of fun!
It’s a pity the paint is getting all rusty. Couldn’t fix it in Photoshop without making it look odd.
A good surprise was this elementary school just in front of the parking lot, another funny colourful building in Hong Kong!
You cannot tell by the pictures but it was boiling hot outside, so we decided to have lunch and chill a bit in a mall, to take advantage of the AC.
Of course we didn’t go just to any random mall 😏
It was a good opportunity to visit the shining new K11 Musea mall.
We were very lucky as it has been under construction for 10 years and was just finished 3 months ago.
The place itself is nothing like what we know in Europe. It blends art, culture, nature and commerce.
The main attraction is this gigantic gold ball that’s hosting exhibitions and events
There are even guided tours in different languages! This is definitely a must see in Hong Kong for any architecture lover but stay still, there will be more from the next morning 😉.
We ended up being super tired and getting back to the Airbnb for a little nap.
Afterwards, we went to Aqua for a sunset drink with a view
Then we went for a quick walk to the avenue of stars to admire the skyline from closer. Just like the previous day, the weather conditions were not optimal…
Just before wrapping up the day, we went back to our place, which was located on the infamous Temple Street, known for its night market.
There is quite infamous point of view as well, just above a parking lot. The rain made the pictures even more dramatic!
We ended up eating in an Indian restaurant where we were the only two customers, apart from two other guys. They were French expats and one of them was from Lille! It’s a small world!
Day three: Architecture and West Kowloon Cultural District
On our last day, the accumulated tiredness had Clem sleeping the whole morning. Gaspard went out to shoot two impressive buildings
The first one was Xiqu Centre. When I first saw this place on picture, I knew I had to see for myself it when visiting Hong Kong!
The second one was the Jockey Club Innovation Tower, a building of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. It was designed by the talented architect Zaha Hadid.
Then it was time for the hotel check out, and our last visit. We chose something not too far from our place and not too far from the airport either, so we stayed in Kowloon and opted for West Kowloon Cultural District.
It’s another quite recent spot, and it is still under development. But we were able to go for a little walk along the bay. There was next to nobody on a Monday afternoon, it was really relaxing!
We had our last lunch in one of the trendy cafes along the shore.
Then we saw this interesting art installation: Competition Pavilion. A cool place to chill and watch the boats pass by.
This wraps up our three-day city trip in Hong Kong, we tried to do as many things as possible, and to find a good balance between wandering around, making photos and enjoying our time there.
We missed the beach, the treks up the mountain and Macau this time, so we guess we will have to go back some other day..! 🇭🇰
Adventure Outlook 
Yep! Bravo les gars !
Je suis fan des photos démultipliées dans le cercles !
et fan de vous, of course!
Bons baisers de Belgique
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