Hong Kong 2025 Day 2: Mong Kok & Central Mid-Levels Escalator (香港.旺角+中环半山扶梯)
- Rick
- Aug 6, 2025
- 9 min read
Updated: Oct 18, 2025
6th August 2025, Wednesday | 🌧
We were awoken at around 6am by commotions along the corridor outside our room and in adjacent rooms. Doors opened and closed repeatedly with impatient knockings and callings. The occupants next door had been talking loudly past midnight the night before and they probably could not wake up early and warranted "morning calls" from their companions.
We feedback to hotel reception about the noises and were told that a group of children was in Hong Kong for certain ballet competition and staying in the same stretch of rooms as us. They would need to prepare for their competition every morning and would outstay our trip in Hong Kong. Anyway, we were offered to change to another room, which would be ready after 3pm. So, we packed our belongings, checked-out and deposited our luggage at concierge.
Hong Kong Observatory’s weather forecast for the day was a rainy morning till noon, but it was cloudy with no rain when we stepped out of The Cityview at 8:45am.
Instead of taking the MTR, we strolled through Mong Kok (旺角) in the quiet morning and arrived at Kam Wah Cafe & Bakery (金华冰厅) just after 9am. The cafe had two outlets close to one another, separated by a money changer, in the same row of shops — this was probably the 3rd / 4th restaurants or cafes that we had came across that had multiple outlets next to one another. For a light breakfast, we had Kam Wah Coffee (金华咖啡, HK$20), Hong Kong-style Yuen Yeung (港式鸳鸯, HK$20), Kam Wah Cafe's popular Pineapple Bun with Butter (菠萝油, HK$13) and Egg Sandwich (鸡蛋三文治, HK$22). We experienced for ourselves why Kam Wah Cafe was so popular.
We had planned to have breakfast in two parts but did not expect the sizes of the bun and sandwich to be bigger than in Singapore and Malaysia — but, to be fair, food prices were higher in Hong Kong. We strolled towards the next breakfast destination at a slower pace. At a mini-supermarket, we bought some candy apples and two packs of blueberries — not consuming enough dietary fibre was a common problem when travelling and vegetable dishes in Hong Kong were generally more expensive.
10:30am, we came to Tim Ho Wan (添好运), at the edge of Sham Shui Po (深水埗), for Hong Kong dim sum. Tim Ho Wan was Michelin-recommended as well and popular in Singapore too. The Sham Shui Po outlet was the flagship.
After going through the menu, we settled on their Signature Baked BBQ Pork Bun (招牌酥皮焗叉烧包, 3 pieces for HK$33), Shrimp Dumplings (晶莹鲜虾饺, HK$38), Steamed Phoenix Claws with Black Bean Sauce (豉汁蒸凤爪, HK$28), Pork Liver Rice Rolls (黄沙猪润肠, HK$32) with a pot of tea. In Hong Kong, pig liver was referred to as "猪润" instead of "猪肝" for auspicious reason due to the inelegant pronunciation of "肝" in Cantonese.
Half a kilometre away, nearer to Prince Edward MTR Station (太子站), we came to Heartwarming (暖心芝作), another Michelin-recommended store. The store specialised in making all sorts of dessert using black sesame seeds. The Black Sesame "Film" Rolls (黑芝麻菲林卷) would be available only from 2pm to 7pm, so we bought a Black Sesame Soya Milk (黑芝麻豆浆, HK$15), a Black Sesame Pudding (流心黑芝麻布甸, HK$25) and a Black Sesame Paste (石磨黑芝麻糊, HK$30) that were easier to takeaway and consume later.
Walking past a small park few minutes later, we decided to try the Black Sesame Pudding, which was smaller in size. It was delicious and we finished it. We also took mouthfuls of the Black Sesame Soya Milk and Black Sesame Paste and kept the remaining for later.
We continued walking towards Apliu Street Flea Market (鸭寮街跳蚤市场), taking in the street scenes along the way. But, it started raining before we could browsed through the flea market. We ran to Exit A2 of Sham Shui Po MTR Station (深水埗站) for shelter as we were just few steps from it. The rain got heavier and more people poured into the station.
A quick check on Hong Kong Observatory's website showed that it had issued a black rainstorm warning till 3pm — "black" was the highest-level warning when heavy rain was expected to fall citywide, exceeding 70 millimetres of rainfall in an hour. We decided to take the subway to a station in Central that was connected to a shopping centre and to wait out the rain. We decided on Admiralty MTR Station (金钟站).
12:30pm, we exited from Admiralty Station and came to Pacific Place to wait out the downpour. But, we did not have to wait long, the rain subsided to a light drizzle slightly after 1pm. We decided to use Hong Kong Tramways (香港电车) to get to Central Market.
We arrived at the tram-stop identified as "64W Admiralty MTR Station (金钟港铁站)" and heading west towards Kennedy Town Terminus. We could board any trams that came along. When the next double-deck tram came, we boarded from the rear of the tram and sat on the lower deck. When the tram arrived at the tram-stop identified as Pottinger Street (砵典乍街), we moved to the front and tapped our Octopus cards to pay the HK$3.30 fare (adult) each before alighting.
60 metres' walk and we came to Central Market (中环街市), a historical bazaar that had been relocated and rebuilt few times and now housed modern shops, restaurants and markets. The ground level was mainly the Dining Ground (中环食坊) with premium food stalls and a supermarket known as Chef's Market. The second level (1/F) was occupied by numerous small and chic shops selling souvenirs, toys, fragrance, fashion wear, etc, and also a restaurant called Gu Liang Cai (久两菜), serving Teochew cuisines. The top level (2/F) had more shops as well as a stretch of corridor named Street Food Central (中环食街) with a number of smaller stalls selling snacks and beverages.
Street Food Central was also a connector that linked Hong Kong MTR Station (香港站), via One International Finance Centre (One IFC) and Hang Seng Bank‘s Head Office (恒生银行总行), to Central Mid-Levels Escalator & Walkway System (中环至半山自动扶梯), a series of covered escalators that traversed the inclined streets of Central. Opened to the public in 1993, the 800-metre link was the longest in the world. The escalators brought commuters up- and down-hill in east-west directions whereas public buses traversed on roads in north-south directions.
Travelling on the Central Mid-Levels Escalators (henceforth "the Escalators") was a great way to explore Central. The up-going escalators made it easier to ascend the inclined streets and many shops and restaurants were located near it.
It might seem we had eaten a lot for breakfast, but those were small items and more than 3 hours back. At 2:35pm, we exited the Escalator at the intersection with Wellington Street (威灵顿街) and came to Tsim Chai Kee Noodle (沾仔记), yet another restaurant recommended by Michelin Guide. Tsim Chai Kee was popular for its wanton (prawn & meat dumpling) noodle.
We ordered a duo-toppings noodle soup (双拼面, HK$47) with wanton and beef, and a Three Treasures Dry Noodle (三宝捞面, HK$62) with wanton, beef and dace fish meatball (鲮鱼肉球). The dishes were hearty and undoubtedly delicious.
Stepping out from Tsim Chai Kee Noodle, I saw Mak's Noodle (麦奀云吞面世家), another restaurant in the Michelin Guide, across the street. Mak's Noodle served wanton noodle too. Patting my filled stomach, I guessed it would have to wait till another time — we tried Mak's Noodle on The Peak on Day 4.
Up the Escalator again, we came to Tai Kwun (大馆) next. It could not be missed as the Escalator seemed to be bringing its pedestrians straight to the historical site. The premise was the former Central Police Station Compound that included three declared monuments: the former Central Police Station, the former Central Magistracy, and Victoria Prison. An art museum, known as JC (Jockey Club) Contemporary (赛马会艺方), which housed art galleries, was also located within the premise. We spent nearly an hour here to explore the historical buildings.
Exiting from Tai Kwun, we continued on the Escalator along Hollywood Road (荷李活道) and up Shelley Street (些利街). At the intersection with Staunton Street (士丹顿街), we came to Bakehouse, a bakery right next to the Escalator. We had no intention to go for more food initially, but seeing that their popular specialty was Sourdough Egg Tart and a short queue at its doorway, we decided to go for it.
We bought 2 Sourdough Egg Tarts (2 for HK$25) to try. Instead of flaky pastry crusts, the egg tarts had sourdough for the crust giving them soft and chewy texture. The caramelised custard was sweet, but not overly. It was definitely a popular pastry for youngsters — judging from the composition of the queue.
We decided not to keep going up the Escalator as there were no other points of interest (to us) on the tourist map accompanying the Escalator. Breaking away, we walked downhill, uphill sometimes, through a couple of streets, missing a turn at one point, down the steps of Ladder Street and came to Man Mo Temple along Hollywood Road. The time was 4:30pm.
There were more than one Man Mo Temple (文武庙) in Hong Kong, and the one in Central was the best-known, largest and oldest — being constructed between 1847 and 1862 — and a declared monument. It was dedicated to the God of Literature, Man Cheong (文昌), and the God of War, Kwan Tai (关帝, a.k.a. 关公/关羽). We spent about 15 minutes to explore the temple and moved on.
We were dry on drinking water and was looking around for convenience stores when we came across Sheung Wan Cooked Food Centre (上环熟食中心). We walked in to look around but most of the stalls in the food centre, above a wet market, were either preparing to close for the day or still resting before their opening hours. Unlike in Singapore's hawker centres where tables and chairs were fixed and free-sitting, the tables and chairs in the cooked food centre were properties of individual stalls and meant for their own customers only. They would be kept after their business hours. We left after walking one round in the food centre — nothing to drink.
5pm, we came to Shun Tak Centre (信达中心), which fronted the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal (港澳客轮码头). Outside the twin-tower building, we took a picture of the Western Market (西港城) but did not visit the historical building with modern shops and restaurants — similar to Central Market. In Shun Tak Centre, we bought bottled water from 7-Eleven, and also noted the locations of the ticketing counters of two ferry services and departure gates — all on the 3rd floor — as we would be going to Macau on a day-trip the next day but preferred not to pre-book tickets during the off-peak period.
The basement of Shun Tak Centre was connected to Sheung Wan MTR Station (上环站) where we took the subway to Central Station (中环站) and changed to another train on the Tsuen Wan Line (荃湾线) to Yau Ma Tei.
Back at The Cityview, at 6:20pm, we moved our luggage from concierge to another room on the 9th floor, right to the end of the corridor. It was a Supreme Twin Room with slightly different room configuration but a bigger bathroom with bathtub — standing in a bathtub to take showers was not really to my liking but it would do for few days. There was even a retractable clothing line for hanging clothes.
7pm, we headed out for dinner. We came to Hing Kee Restaurant (兴记菜馆), along Temple Street, for claypot rice. The restaurant spanned 4 shop units in a row and we were seated in the 2nd unit (from left) with mostly non-Cantonese speaking crowd — mainly visitors to Hong Kong. From some spoken languages and accents, I figured there were Koreans, Chinese, etc, and we spoke mostly in Mandarin with occasional English.
Hing Kee had a long list of claypot rice with different toppings, including chicken, beef, spare ribs, Chinese sausage, etc. Going for the Beef & Chicken with Rice Pot (牛肉滑鸡煲仔饭, HK$80) was the best way to try two dishes at one go. We also ordered their signature Deep Fried Oyster Cake (兴记煎蚝饼, small for HK$80). These were two hot-sellers of Hing Kee. Two days in Hong Kong and all the beef dishes we had tried so far did not disappoint us.
After dinner, we strolled around Yau Ma Tei, visited a couple of mini-supermarkets, such as DS Groceries (大生生活超市), Bestmart 360° (优品360°), etc, to get some cheap local products. I bought a bottle of UCC The Blend 117 (HK$29) freeze-dried instant coffee — apart from being cheaper than in Singapore / Malaysia, it was more for drinking in the hotel room every morning as most traditional coffees served in Hong Kong were either added with evaporated milk or mixed with tea to make yuen yeang (鸳鸯). It was not that I did not enjoy Hong Kong's milky beverages but my gastric could not tolerate milk protein.
Done with shopping, we retired back to The Cityview. Our new room to the end of the corridor was so much quieter unless the unit opposite us was occupied. We slept early this night as we would need to wake up very early the next day.
Day 3 | Part 1: Ferry to Macau Taipa & Coloane (澳门一日游.上)
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