Monocle Shop, Hong Kong 2013

We dropped into the Monocle store, had a look around, a good conversation with the storekeeper and other patrons, picked up a few issues.

Hop Inn, Hong Kong 2013

Finding a place to stay in Hong Kong can be difficult for the young but not so affluent traveller. When travelling, I like to find a place that's a combination of affordable, comfortable, clean and pretty. It took awhile to find that place in Hong Kong but I finally found it in Hop Inn. Located in two locations in Tsim Sha Tsui, each room in Hop Inn is individually designed by a local artist or illustrator. No two rooms are the same! The rooms are small (as are most rooms in HK) but cozy and comfortable. Very important as we spent quite a bit of time lazing around our beds, catching up on long-neglected videos and social media. 

We stayed at the location in Carnavon, located on the highest floor of the building, high above the bustle of TST. There is so much personality at Hop Inn, the walls are signed by every one who has passed through, there are little touches of flora, fauna and recycling, and the corridors are endlessly sunny during the day. Not to mention how special each room is, I was lucky enough one day to still be in the hostel as the cleaning lady was going around her rounds of cleaning checked-out rooms and she allowed me to go in to the two rooms she had finished. Very cool rooms they were, I wish I could have gone into the rest. And ironically I don't even have photographs of our own room.

Wing Wah Noodle Shop, Hong Kong 2013

Everyone needs to eat at least two bowls of wanton noodles in Hong Kong just to realise how different wanton noodles can get when made by different stalls. We tried our second bowl at Wing Wah Noodle Shop at Wan Chai near the end of our trip. I can't wait to try out more bowls when I next go back to Hong Kong!

The Coffee Academics, Hong Kong 2013

The Coffee Academics is an intimidating place to step in, not helped by the name, the multiple references to coffee everywhere, the slightly gothic decor and the extensive collection of coffee brewing equipment at the coffee bar. We went in after our dinner at Cafe Corridor to top off our stomachs with (more) coffee and sweets. We got a patio seat which we highly recommended for people-watching and a cool evening breeze.

Desserts were kept simple with a honey strawberry tart (yums!) but decided to go experimental with our coffee with an espresso con panna, a macchiato and a piccolo latte. My espresso con panna was an eye-opening experience, to be honest, I wasn't even sure how to drink it! Do I mix the whipped cream into the espresso or do I just sip the different layers straight from the cup? I did both, if you were wondering.

Filme Home, Hong Kong 2013

For someone who shoots film, Filme has to be on your itinerary when you visit Hong Kong, if only for the thrill of seeing the biggest collection of films in the world. I was ooh-ing and ahh-ing as I scrutinised every film stock that the owner has collected over the years. There's also a good selection of film and film cameras for sale (a tad overpriced, imo). But what really sucked most of our time there was paging through these two enormous photo albums of sample photographs of all the negative or slide films the owner has come across and used. What an amazing resource! It was so awesome to compare and contrast between so many type of films stocks and to see how what the developed prints of rare films look like.