Went for a 4D3N trip to Hong Kong with some of my colleagues not for work, but for toy-hunting and food. Hong Kong is really a paradise for toy collectors. Compared to Singapore, they have a much bigger variety and they are cheaper too. Additionally, all the toys are concentrated around the same location. For this visit, we stayed mainly at the Mong Kok and Yau Ma Tei regions, and already shopped to our hearts' content. Our plane ticket was really budget too, at just around S$200 for a return trip with Jetstar.
Hotel
We stayed at The Cityview Hotel, which was conveniently located just 2 minutes' walk away from Yau Ma Tei MTR station. And most importantly, it was very near all our toy haunts.
We booked our rooms at around 23rd November 2012, two months before our trip. The rates were quite good:
26th Jan 2013, Saturday = HKD1,020 (S$161.39)
27th Jan 2013, Sunday = HKD680 (S$107.59)
28th Jan 2013, Monday = HKD680 (S$107.59)
So on average, we paid around S$63 per night per pax. The rooms were decent and clean too, so there was nothing much to complain about. But the soundproofing was not that ideal, so good luck if you get a room just outside the lift.
Location: 23 Waterloo Road, Yau Ma Tei
Nearest MTR: Yau Ma Tei, around 2 minutes' walk
Toys
Hotel
We stayed at The Cityview Hotel, which was conveniently located just 2 minutes' walk away from Yau Ma Tei MTR station. And most importantly, it was very near all our toy haunts.
We booked our rooms at around 23rd November 2012, two months before our trip. The rates were quite good:
26th Jan 2013, Saturday = HKD1,020 (S$161.39)
27th Jan 2013, Sunday = HKD680 (S$107.59)
28th Jan 2013, Monday = HKD680 (S$107.59)
So on average, we paid around S$63 per night per pax. The rooms were decent and clean too, so there was nothing much to complain about. But the soundproofing was not that ideal, so good luck if you get a room just outside the lift.
Location: 23 Waterloo Road, Yau Ma Tei
Nearest MTR: Yau Ma Tei, around 2 minutes' walk
Toys
1) Richmond Shopping Arcade
What I got here:
- A soft toy of Sadaharu from Gintama, HKD168 (S$26.58)
- Asuna from Sword Art Online, HKD270 (S$42.72)
- Revoltech Iron Man Mark III, HKD320 (S$50.63)
This was my favourite toy haunt place compared to the rest, as it carried the kind of figurines that I collect. The toy shops took up around four floors, but the basement had the most treasure.
I stupidly bought Asuna without checking out other shops, and was a bit miffed when I found another shop selling it for HKD220 (S$34.81). Damn! As for the Iron Man, it was going on a discount along with Revoltech Iron Man Mark II (only HKD120 - S$18.99! Pity I already bought it in Singapore for much more than that). I missed Iron Man Mark III in Singapore, and now it was either out of stock in most areas, or cost more than S$70. So this was a pretty good steal at around S$50.
The circumstances under which I bought Sadaharu was more amusing. I saw the soft toy at the basement on the second and third day of our trip, but did not buy it as I found it quite expensive. But on the night of the third day, I watched an episode of Gintama and was so tickled by Sadaharu that I decided to buy it the very next day.
For those who are unfamiliar with Gintama, here is a picture of Sadaharu:
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| Sadaharu taking a bite off Gintoki's head. Source: animecrazy.net |
Location: 101 to 105 Argyle Street, Mong Kok
Nearest MTR: Mong Kok, around 5 minutes' walk
2) In's Point
What I got here:
- Super Robot Chogokin Gurren Lagann, HKD320 (S$50.63)
- Super Robot Chogokin Aquarion EVOL, HKD250 (S$39.56)
- Super Robot Chogokin Aquarion Genesis, HKD400 (S$63.29)
The best thing about this place was that it was just a minute's walk from our hotel. You can't really get anything more convenient than that!
This was where we got acquainted with the Super Robot Chogokin series. Being a fan of Gurren Lagann, I thought that the Gurren Lagann from this series looked pretty good. We chanced upon it at HKD388, and thought it was already reasonably cheap. Then we continued and found another shop selling at HKD370... another at HKD350... and finally one at HKD320. That was it and my colleague and I swept two boxes without any further hesitation.
The Aquarion EVOL was really a good deal, because all the other shops we saw were selling it for above HKD300. As for the Aquarion Genesis, I only found one shop with it and bargained it down from HKD440 to HKD400.
Location: 530 to 538 Nathan Road
Nearest MTR: Yau Ma Tei, around 2 minutes' walk
3) Sino Centre
What I got here:
- P.O.P One Piece Arlong, HKD468 (S$74.05)
Compared to the above two places, this was less interesting. There were not as many toy shops, for one thing. And the building had quite a few other non-toy shops. But the figurine I got from here - Arlong from One Piece - was one of the best deals. When this came out for preorder in Singapore, it cost S$122.80. I gave it a miss then, as it didn't really capture my eye. But when it arrived and I saw it physically at the toy shop, it actually looked good, much better than I thought. By then, the price was already S$144.50.
So when I saw it at HKD468 here, it was really a no-brainer for me to get it immediately. The box was damn bulky though; Jetstar did not allow me to carry it on-board and I had to check it in.
Location: 582 to 592 Nathan Road
Nearest MTR: Between Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok, around 7 minutes' walk
Food
1) Australian Dairy Company
I visited this place before in 2009, but I had apparently forgot about how long the queues were.
The queue was so long that I had to use the panorama function of my iPhone 5 camera to take this picture! If the picture is still not clear enough, the queue stretched from the entrance (on the right side) all the way to slightly left of the shop 'Digital 23' (on the left side).
But the queue cleared very quickly, as the turnover rate was very fast. So despite the long queue (I think there were more than 50 people in front of us?) we got a table in around half an hour.
This was done with egg white and milk. It was really good, albeit quite filling. One portion would be just nice for two people to share.
This was the best of them all. I have never liked scrambled eggs that much, but this was totally different. It was so - damn - good! I think it also has to do with the kind of eggs they use (from Australia?), and they probably added some milk and cheese in. But it was simply fantastic! I doubt if I will order scrambled eggs again back in Singapore...
Macaroni with soup seems to be a breakfast staple in Hong Kong, so we ordered this. It was all right, but hot soup on a cool day certainly helped!
This lost out to the scrambled eggs on toast. And four of us ordered four of this...
We definitely ordered too much here. It was a mistake ordering when we were extremely hungry (our last meal was around eight hours ago), so we ended up being too full and had to takeaway some of the bread. And just to clarify, when I took this picture, I was holding another plate of food on my left hand (not enough space), and some dishes were still not served yet!
Location: 47-49 Parkes Street, Jordan
Nearest MTR: Jordan, around 3 minutes' walk
2) Tai Hing
Roast goose is a must-try whenever one visits Hong Kong. I initially requested for Yung Kee, the supposedly most famous place for roast goose in Hong Kong, but was told that it was horribly expensive and that their standards have dropped. So one of my colleagues suggested Tai Hing instead, which is a Hong Kong-styled chain restaurant with outlets all over Hong Kong and even China. Our first visit was on our third day, where three of us ordered char siew, roast pork, and half a roast goose. The roast goose was so good that we went again the next day, and this time, four of us shared one whole roast goose and nothing else.
Both were cold, so they didn't taste that great. The roast pork skin was also a bit soggy and not crispy enough. Maybe it was the timing of our visit - at around 3pm.
The roast goose was so good! It may look like roast duck, but the flavour and texture of the meat was different. I would even say that roast goose is an 'upgraded' version of roast duck. The meat is more succulent, and I noticed that the fats were quite different from roast ducks'. The fat from roast duck was more rubbery and chewy, and if you were to scrape them off, they would come off mostly in one piece. For roast goose, the fats were much more liquid and juicy, so while trying to scrape them off, I ended up with a plate swimming with oil.
I don't know whether there are better places for roast goose in Hong Kong, but this is definitely good enough for me. For my next trip, I will certainly drop by Tai Hing for more. And with no char siew or roast pork as distractions.
Location: G/F. Shop J, Po Ming Building, 49-57 Lee Garden Rd, Causeway Bay
Nearest MTR: Causeway Bay, around 3 minutes' walk
What I got here:
- P.O.P One Piece Arlong, HKD468 (S$74.05)
Compared to the above two places, this was less interesting. There were not as many toy shops, for one thing. And the building had quite a few other non-toy shops. But the figurine I got from here - Arlong from One Piece - was one of the best deals. When this came out for preorder in Singapore, it cost S$122.80. I gave it a miss then, as it didn't really capture my eye. But when it arrived and I saw it physically at the toy shop, it actually looked good, much better than I thought. By then, the price was already S$144.50.
So when I saw it at HKD468 here, it was really a no-brainer for me to get it immediately. The box was damn bulky though; Jetstar did not allow me to carry it on-board and I had to check it in.
Location: 582 to 592 Nathan Road
Nearest MTR: Between Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok, around 7 minutes' walk
Food
1) Australian Dairy Company
I visited this place before in 2009, but I had apparently forgot about how long the queues were.
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| Entrance of Australia Dairy Co. |
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| Crazy queueing |
But the queue cleared very quickly, as the turnover rate was very fast. So despite the long queue (I think there were more than 50 people in front of us?) we got a table in around half an hour.
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| Steamed milk pudding |
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| Scrambled eggs on toast |
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| Macaroni with egg |
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| Scrambled eggs with bread |
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| Our table was practically overflowing with eggs. |
Location: 47-49 Parkes Street, Jordan
Nearest MTR: Jordan, around 3 minutes' walk
2) Tai Hing
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| Char siew and roast pork |
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| Second visit - one whole roast goose |
I don't know whether there are better places for roast goose in Hong Kong, but this is definitely good enough for me. For my next trip, I will certainly drop by Tai Hing for more. And with no char siew or roast pork as distractions.
Location: G/F. Shop J, Po Ming Building, 49-57 Lee Garden Rd, Causeway Bay
Nearest MTR: Causeway Bay, around 3 minutes' walk
