I spy with my little eye... Hong Kong Diaries - Part 1!

The Gentleman and I decided to visit Hong Kong on Eid break: a revolution based on umbrellas? I had to check it out! So it started at the airport, Terminal 1, trying to board despite the endless queues and insane traffic on Sheikh Zayed Road.

We had picked a hotel with a very central location: the Pottinger. A boutique hotel in a teeny tiny street. That's one of the first things we noticed: the city is a big mismatch of everything. You will find a fancy shop next to a butcher, next to a bar, next to a furniture store. Dubai is sometimes a bit too tidy, you can't get surprised: if you're in the fashion alley at Dubai Mall, then you know it's all going to be clothes, if you are at Pier 7 in the Marina, then you know it's all going to be restaurants. In Hong Kong, you get surprised at every corner of a street, and that's very refreshing!

A tired yet happy face after a night flight.

And so off we went to explore! Coming from a city where you can't really walk, we were determined to use as little public transport as possible, so we didn't go very far, but we wandered around the neighbourhoods of Central, Wanchai and took the ferry to have a look at Hong Kong Island from the mainland. 

On our first day, we focused on Central, Hollywood Street and ended up by chance at PMQ, the new hub for creative addresses on Aberdeen Street. It was fun to wander the floors of this center once we understood how to pass from one side to an other (two brains, one building, we can do this!).

I expected to find lots of girlie shops in Hong Kong until I remembered that Kawai was a Japanese concept, not Chinese... So Bread'n Butter was pretty much an exception, a very pretty pastel chamallowlike exception though!

Don't get me wrong, we still managed to buy gifts out of a mushroom, so if you really want your daily dose of Kawai, Eat & Play is the place for you!

Soho Fama, a restaurant located in PMQ too is more representative of the Hong Kong we discovered: quirky and arty! 

Even in an arty shopping mall, we stumbled on a wedding photoshoot. And in case you were wondering: it wasn't a fashion shoot, they were whispering sweet words to each other when I stole that picture. 

Which leads us to an other favourite: The Refinery. Literally fell for these bunny caps! "A little bit difficult to wear with a straight face" as the Gentleman put it but so cute!

After (a sleepless night and) a long walk, we sat down at Libertine, a little restaurant located right in front of PMQ on Aberdeen Street, for a quick coffee before heading back to our hotel.

The lessons of this first day in Hong Kong: 

1- this city is STEEP! Now I understand why Hong Kong ladies don't wear heels: it's the best way to kill yourself.

2- if you live in Hong Kong you don't need to go to the gym: my bum and legs were hurting at specific places after walking for 2 hours up and down the city.

3- shopping is tricky: since the city is packed, lots of shops are located in the higher floors of the buildings. Which means that while you are looking down on your feet to keep your balance, you should (in theory) also look up. Being a neophyte at that looking-up-and-down thing, I chose to focus on my life rather than shopping...

... to be continued...