Dear Steemit friends,
Today, our sweet journey takes us to Hong Kong. Hong Kong reminds me of many cherished memories. I grew up in Shen Zhen which is a city close to Hong Kong only separated by a small sea. People from Shen Zhen often make trips to Hong Kong for this reason. I remember my parents taking me to Hong Kong a-lot in my childhood.
All pictures below other than those marked with sources are of my own photography
Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region in China, it is considered one of Asia's hubs for the international financial services industry. It's also a significant center for international shipping. Many people call it "The Eastern Manhattan".
When I was younger, Hong Kong only had two things that interested me, the Ocean Park and Disney Land. I used to cry when my parents take me shopping, but now, I enjoy shopping, walking the streets, discovering new things, eating street food etc. This particular journey was actually random. I was waiting to receive my passport back for a visa to Taiwan and because of my Shen Zhen residency card, I could visit Hong Kong without my passport.
I stayed in the shopping and recreational center -- Causeway Bay, it's location is very central and very convenient.
Night scenery of Causeway Bay
The Urban Characteristics
Hong Kong has seen rapid population growth and with it, a population density that has continued to rise. From my memory alone, I can see the difference in space between buildings as they edge closer and closer to each other. Although Hong Kong has tried to build artificial islands in a bid to create more land, their own earth has already been depleted and now most of the earth comes from Shen Zhen. Even with these active expansions, there continues to be a surge in people coming to Hong Kong and the housing market has boomed due to the ever increasing demand.
As of today, house prices in Hong Kong remain the second highest of any city in the world. You can expect to pay $1 million USD for 20 square meters. This has led to people living in tiny crammed apartments. Lets take a look at the "Art of Crowds" in Hong Kong's ultra urban densely populated city.
This is a photo I took in Shanghai of skyscrapers in the Pu Dong area..
Contrasting this with Hong Kong, you can see the buildings are almost touching each other. My friends told me that you can't even open your window too far, or you'll touch the neighboring building.
Behind me, Victoria Harbour
The dome building is the Council of Hong Kong and Statue Square is beside it.
Bank of China Tower and HSBC Tower behind me.
Landmark Square in Central.
Public transport in Hong Kong is quite developed. From the glass platform bridge connected to landmark square, you can see a lot of trams. These are transport tools that have nearly completely disappeared in the mainland.
In Landmark Square, you'll see brands such as Harvey Nichole and other British brand name stores inside. Before Hong Kong's return to China in 1997, it was a British Colony for 156 years, therefore Hong Kong has a lot of British influence.
Sevva afternoon tea in Central
Marie Antoinette's Crave
Sevva is well known for their Marie Antoinette's Crave cake. It's a really pretty sponge cake with raspberry source and fresh butter. Macaroons surround the side of the cake and are themselves quite soft. The candy's around the cake are quite hard and difficult to eat. I think the cake looks really pretty but it's too sweet for me!
Chocolate Float<
This chocolate float is a made with their own chocolate cream and vodka, mixed with chocolate Martini. Even though it's sweet, the alcoholic content of the drink is quite high so I drink it in little sips to avoid getting too tipsy.
The founder of Sevva created this cocktail from the painting 《3:14pm, Pacific Ocean》of Alex Prager.
2012, Archival pigment print,121.9cmx114.6cm(print)124.5cmX116.8cm(frame), © Courtesy Lehmann Maupin New York and Hong Kong.Source.
This drink is like a 3D painting, the white chocolate is like an inverted image in alcohol.
I love street food
I want to introduce two yummy street restaurants：
DimDimSum is an award winning and reputable restaurant. One of their must try dishes is the Pineapple bread with stuffing. Also, their Prawn Cheung Fen tastes quite a bit different from other places, it's crispy inside! So yummy..
The burnt juice brew eggplant is a peculiar shape, when I saw it in the menu, I just had to give it a try. It's something you won't find anywhere else and probably not many people will cook it at home. Inside there is meat paste and shrimp, it's not too oily but very tasty.
Tsui Wah Restaurant is an established and famous restaurant with many branches all over Hong Kong. It strongly represents Hong Kong cooking culture providing a wide varieties of Hong Kong-Style food. Perhaps my favourite dish is the Cream Piglet. The butter is used to set a coat on the bread and condensed milk is poured on to it afterwards to complete the taste. This is definitely a MUST TRY whilst in Hong Kong.
Car noodles is also a featured dish of Hong Kong. You can see through the workmanship that it is really authentic. The saline taste is moderate and the thickness of the noodles is just right. At the bottom in the soup, there are also peppers adding a peppery taste!
Warm Tips
Internet Sim Card： Since everything is expensive in Hong Kong, you can save a bit of money by picking up an internet sim-card at any 7-Eleven. You can be online within 5 minutes!
Dear friends, with so much to cover, I will have to introduce the rest to you in the next blog!
Hope you like my post and see you in my next one.
亲爱的Steemit朋友们，今天我们的甜蜜旅行来到了香港。说起香港我会觉得很亲切，可能因为我小时候在深圳长大，住的地方与香港隔海相望，父母就常常带我去香港游玩。这次去香港，是机缘巧合，因为从大陆去台湾需要办理台湾颁发的签证，所以在等待签证的时候，我就从深圳坐船去了香港。 香港是中国两个特别行政区之一，位于南海北岸，是全球重要的国际金融、服务业及航运中心，有““东方曼哈顿”的美誉。为了方便逛街，我选择住在香港的购物娱乐中心——铜锣湾。
香港的城市性格我记忆中的香港，随着香港人口越来越多，楼房越盖越高，楼房的间距越来越小。虽然这里一直在努力的填海，把大大小小的岛屿填成一片，泥土不够，就从深圳拉来，但是无法抵挡房子少，要住得人多。 结果造成香港是全球房价第二贵的城市，用100万美元只能买到20平方米。
中环Landmark广场香港的公共交通很发达，通往Landmark广场的玻璃天桥上能看到有轨电车，这是在大陆的城市几乎消失了交通工具。Landmark广场里可以看到Harvey Nichole英国高级百货，因为香港在1997年回归中国之前，当了156年英属殖民地，所以随处可见英国产品的影子。
中环Sevva下午茶这个餐厅非常注重设计，他们的特点是蛋糕好吃！玛丽皇后外形美爆了，海绵蛋糕体夹着覆盆子酱和少量鲜奶油，马卡隆特别酥软，不过上面的糖珠又硬又大，合起来吃就是有点太甜了。巧克力漂浮，Sevva创办人从Alex Prager的画作《3:14pm, Pacific Ocean》创作出Chocolate Float这杯鸡尾酒。我觉得Chocolate Float这杯酒就像立体的画作，杯中的白巧克力好像是画作在酒中的倒影。
我爱街边小吃推荐2家好吃的街边餐厅：香港 点点心餐厅，很有名气的点心店，有馅儿的菠萝包最出名。鲜虾肠粉和别的地方不一样，里面有脆脆的一层，很好吃！
翠华餐厅，香港老字号，更是港式饮食文化的代表。最有名的当然是奶油猪仔包，香酥的面包上涂了一层奶油，之后淋上炼乳，猪仔包是来香港必吃的，真的太香了。
温馨提示
住房： 如果是背包族或者计划整日在外面玩得朋友，可以选择住在铜锣湾，吃喝玩出门就有。但是由于这里地租太贵，如果不想花太多钱住酒店，就只能住在像飞机舱一样狭小的房间，这是我人生中住过最tiny的房子，还挺可爱。
上网卡：来到香港，第一件时要了解下自己的电话卡是否收费很贵，如果需要专门上网的电话卡，建议去7-Eleven就都搞定。
Steemit的朋友们，今天我们就先玩到这里吧，之后还有更多有趣的秘密地方, 等着我们去发掘, 我们下个贴见！
If you are interested in my other blogs related to Travel please check out these other blogs below^^
Sweet Journey: Kending - Everything I could possibly want! Part 1.
Memoirs of Malta : Popeye Village and it's crazy water dance party.
My adventure to Tenerife.
Discovering the legend of Hainan.
Barcelona and the Sun's Colour Palette.