Hong Kong with a Toddler

Hong Kong is an autonomous region of China, made up of several islands just south of the mainland of China. It has a gorgeous city skyline with skyscrapers on the two main populated areas of the Kowloon Peninsula and Hong Kong Island—separated between the two by Victoria Harbour. Hong Kong was once a possession of the British and it still carries some of the British character, such as driving on the left side and speaking English. However, a lot of the culture and cuisine are heavily influenced by China, specifically Cantonese. Matt and I visited Hong Kong once before, in 2012, while we were stationed in Japan. But, our experience now was very different than our experience back then. For example, visiting Hong Kong this go around meant that the weather was cold, I didn’t have a broken arm (as I did when we visited before), and we were visiting Hong Kong with a toddler in tow.

Departing and Arriving

Packing for Hong Kong with a toddler and two adults was more in-depth than our previous trip to Phu Quoc. For one, this trip was for 5 days / 4 nights. And, the weather was projected to hover in the 50s—burr! We also recently acquired a hiking backpack meant to carry toddlers, so we had to bring a big enough suitcase for the bag to fit into. We breezed through Noi Bai International Airport with no issues, as we said in our last blog, they let families with children cut lines and board the airline first. Once we landed in Hong Kong, it was around lunch and we were anxious to get out of the airport and to our hotel to unload and eat. Once we made our way to immigration we saw the longest line we had ever seen and dreaded standing there with a child. Luckily, the line was (slowly) moving the whole time, but it was ridiculous how many people were in one line. After we picked up our bags and made our way to the taxi lines, there were three different taxi lines departing from the airport to three different regions in Hong Kong, so you need to know where you are going before standing in the appropriate line.

Lesson of the day: be sure to have a decent amount of the local currency—the Hong Kong Dollar—before you leave the airport and make sure your bank knows you are traveling.

Day 1:

Upon arriving at our hotel—the Intercontinental Hotel—we dropped our bags and then made our way to Harbor City—a large mall with many restaurants. We headed to the Cheesecake Factory, but once we found out the wait for a table at 2pm would be over an hour we went next door to a Dim Sum restaurant. We ordered a few different small plates of different Dim Sum and filled our hungry tummies happily.

Then, we headed back to our hotel to take a little rest while enjoying the gorgeous harbor view from our room. After relaxing for a little bit, I started to get an upset stomach which took me out for a few hours that evening. Matt—the one who cannot sit still in a new place—decided to let me rest and took Lily downstairs to the lobby and enjoyed a snack and drink while looking out at the skyline and enjoying the live band.

Later that evening once I felt a little better we decided to check out the Temple Night Market where locals sell souvenirs, clothes, purses, toys, electronics, etc. The walkway between shops was very narrow and not very stroller friendly. We only ended up buying Lily a summer dress that we thought was cute. We then headed to a local restaurant nearby where Matt ate a duck and rice dish while I didn’t eat, as I was still feeling a bit queasy.

Day 2

The last time we were in Hong Kong we really wanted to go to see the Big Buddha—where you take a 5.7km cable car ride to the top of a mountain, but the weather was so windy that they closed it and we weren’t able to go again before leaving. I wasn’t going to let that happen again so we chose to try and go on our first full day in case it was closed we could try again. The terminal for the cable car was far from our hotel on Lantau Island, near the airport, so we took a taxi there and bought our tickets. Matt got the tickets for the crystal cabin which I didn’t know until boarding the cable car meant that it was a clear glass floor so you can see everything below you. I am not a fan of heights and he likes to push my limits with this fear.

Being that it was cold outside, it was definitely cold inside the cable car for the entire 30-minute journey up a mountain. Luckily, we packed Lily’s winter hat and mittens, but none of us had brought our winter coats (oops!)—and it was freezing!

To get to the Buddha—the world’s largest bronze, sitting Buddha—we had to walk through Ngong Ping Village where there are shops, restaurants, and even a Starbucks for tourists. Once we got to the base of the Buddha we could barely see the big Buddha as it was so cold, misty, and foggy. To get a good glimpse we had to go up 268 steps to the top. Once we made it (huffing and puffing) we showed Lily the Buddha and she got scared and hid her face.

We took some quick pictures went inside the temple area underneath the Buddha and headed back as we were freezing. Along the way back to the cable car terminal we passed by the Po Lin Monastery that had a number of free-roaming cows before departing. Once we made it down the mountain we decided to take the train back into the city as it was cheaper than a taxi.

Later that evening, we wanted to check out another night market so we went to the “Ladies Market” which is supposed to sell items primarily related to women and children. However, it turned out to be pretty similar in souvenir items to the Temple Market, but had more clothes for sale. We also stopped at H&M to get Lily a warmer jacket for the next few days.

Day 3

This day was all about spending some time on Hong Kong Island. We first started with the Peak Tram ride up to Victoria Peak to take some photos of the view from atop the peak of the skyline below. It was super windy and cold up there as well and Lily was a bit fussy, but she was excited to ride the “trolley” (tram) as the trolley is a significant icon in her favorite TV show, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. We didn’t spend much at the top as it is mostly shops and restaurants. However, we did stop at the Hard Rock Café’s Rock Shop to purchase our guitar pin, something we try to do in cities that have a café. There is also a Bubba Gump restaurant and Madam Tussauds for visiting tourists as well.

After our tram ride down, we decided to head out to Stanley Market. This is a market on the other side of the Island and we purchased a Chinese character idiom picture that translates to “100 years of a happy marriage.” We deemed it a perfect wedding present for Lily when she gets married as it has a double meaning. You see, it has the “100 years of a happy marriage” written in Chinese symbol but what is also fascinating is that the first two Chinese characters of this idiom spell out the flower lily in Chinese!

Tip: One thing you should know about Stanley Market is that you cannot bargain here, the prices are fixed, but pretty fair. In addition to Lily’s present, we bought placemats, purses, and ties.

Day 4

This was our last full day in Hong Kong and it ended up being a wash. We were going to go out to the Science Museum, but Lily wasn’t feeling so good and didn’t want to go anywhere. Finally, after hours of lounging around in our hotel as Lily napped and recovered from her funk, we mustered ourselves to go to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Using one of the new purses I bought at the Stanley Market the day prior, I downsized Lily’s diaper bag to a few things and we took off. However, we quickly realized that Lily was still feeling ill. After we sat down at the restaurant and ordered drinks, Lily went from bad to worse and threw up all over herself and Matt! Remember when I said I downsized the diaper bag? That meant I didn’t include an extra pair of clothes or plastic bag. So, we had to sit there waiting for our food with the smell of vomit. But our night didn’t end with just a singular puking incident. No, Lily threw up several more times throughout the night. And she only felt better after Matt rushed out to the local pharmacy to get her some relief. Thankfully, she was fine the rest of the night.

We left Hong Kong exhausted from the previous day’s events. Luckily, our return trip held no new surprises!

 

Don’t Forget to Pack: Warm clothes if you are traveling in the winter and an umbrella for the sudden weather changes.

Food:  Since breakfast wasn’t included with our hotel stay, finding a traditional western breakfast was hard. So, if you’re planning a Hong Kong visit, make sure your stay includes breakfast!

Observation on Hong Kong: Most people speak English, including taxi drivers but make sure you have your intended destination translated into Cantonese in case they do not speak English. Google Translate worked.

Hotel Review: Intercontinental (there are two of them!) on Salisbury Rd which was close to the Star Ferry, a metro stop, and shopping areas. It was a great hotel and staff were very friendly and helpful. However, it was a very busy hotel with what appeared to be mainly businessmen and women staying there. We definitely enjoyed the view of the Harbour from our room!

Transportation: Taxis are easy to get where you want to go when traveling with a toddler but can be expensive, and the drivers are pretty crazy on the roads. The Star Ferry is super cheap to get from one side to the another. The MTR (metro) was not stroller friendly as some areas have no elevators and the entrance gates weren’t big enough for a small stroller to pass through. It can also be very crowded during the week. However, rates were cheap. Walking with a stroller was no problem and the sidewalks were kept up very nicely.

Things we didn’t do, but wanted to do: Science Museum, the Ave of Stars (near our hotel) was under construction, and the Space Museum (next to our hotel) was under construction.

Check out more blogs about our travels here.

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