Hong Kong & Macau, China

I liked Hong Kong much more at night than during the day. At night, you get to see beautiful things — the skyline from Victoria Peak, or the sunset from Sky100 Tower, with the lights making the city look like it’s three times the size of New York. There’s also Temple Street Market, which comes alive at night.

During the day, the temples are gorgeous — Nan Lian Garden, Wong Tai Sin Temple. It’s strange and beautiful to see how the city blends with the green of some of these parks.

Time of Year I Visited

I went in September. During the day it was very hot. At night, maybe a light jacket — but honestly sometimes you didn’t even need it, it was warm.

Did I Feel Safe?

Hong Kong is such a big city that I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of safety. From what I checked afterward, the reports back it up — it has a low crime index and a high safety score, violent crime against tourists is rare, and walking alone at night in busy areas is generally fine.

Where I Stayed

Le Méridien Cyberport: A genuinely beautiful hotel. I’ll be honest though — I was there for a team building event, so the location was chosen for the venue, not for tourism. If you’re visiting Hong Kong as a regular traveller, Central or Tsim Sha Tsui are the areas to actually base yourself — better connected, closer to the main sights, and an easier jumping-off point for everything.

Things to Consider

Macau: I spent the first two days exploring Hong Kong on my own, then went to Macau for a full day with a tour group. Macau isn’t a country — it’s a special administrative region of China, formerly a Portuguese colony. We went and came back by ferry, and the tour took us to see the most famous spots. We also went to a casino — the place is genuinely full of them, it’s actually known as the gambling capital of the world, bigger than Las Vegas in terms of the gaming industry. We also went to a shopping centre called The Grand Canal Shoppes, inside The Venetian hotel — there’s a section inside that’s a full recreation of Venice, with canals and gondolas. It’s wild. I found it really interesting to visit Macau as a day trip from Hong Kong.

The Big Buddha: I found it majestic — huge, beautiful, and the surroundings were stunning too. I’m not a fan of heights, and the cable car that takes you up can move quite a bit if there’s wind — worth keeping in mind if heights aren’t your thing. While we were there, we organised a quick meditation looking up at the Buddha. It was amazing.

Monster Building: Impressive to see. It’s a residential complex of around 10,000 people living across five connected blocks — better to go during the day, since you can appreciate the view much more.

Victoria Peak: Go at night. Seeing all of Hong Kong lit up from up there is spectacular.

Tai Chi class: I thought it would be boring, and it really wasn’t — there’s a lot more to it than I expected, lots of technique and strength involved. I did mine with Jay Wellness Academy.

Chinese karaoke: Hugely popular there — you book private rooms where you can sing and dress up. I thought it was a lot of fun.

What I Ate

Andō: A Michelin-starred restaurant where the chef, Agustin Balbi, is actually Argentine — he trained in Japan, so the menu fuses both. The food was excellent.

Lamma Island: You take a ferry over from Hong Kong. We went to eat seafood and fish, and there were so many varieties to choose from. I’d say it was one of the best meals I had in all of Hong Kong.

The food in general wasn’t great, even though I love Asian food. The best place I ate at was actually Japanese — BENKEI Okonomiyaki Teppanyaki (6/F, Stanley 11, 11 Stanley Street, Central). They cook right in front of you on a teppan grill, and there are also small tables around if you don’t want to sit at the counter. It’s a small place, so try to book ahead or get there early — it fills up fast because it’s genuinely that good.

How Long Did I Stay?

4 days. I think that’s a good number of days, including a trip out to Lantau Island to see the Buddha, and another to Macau or Lamma Island.

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