Ladies Market - Hong Kong

There are many accredited markets in Hong Kong and possibly the most famous which was the first to be made official was Ladies Market. It is not my favourite for shopping as it can become rather overcrowded which makes the experience more of a hassle than a pleasure, however it is worth seeing. If you want to shop be prepared to haggle if you are lucky you may get 50% off the asking price.

The market runs along Tung Choi Street, from Argyle Street to Dundas Street in Mongkok. Although its name is taken from its reputation for selling bargain fashionable ladies clothing and also to distinguish it from 'Mens Market' ,Temple Street Night Market, this is nowadays something of a misnomer and the market sells a huge range of ladies, mens and childrens clothes, sports goods, electrical goods, toys and souvenirs. Any “designer labels” are almost certainly fake but nevertheless there are bargains to be had and you can negotiate huge discounts from already low asking prices. This is a large and very busy market and negotiating through the crowds here can be exhausting. The section of Tung Choi Street where the market operates is pedestrianised and closed to vehicles between 4pm and midnight on Mondays to Saturdays and between 12 noon and 10pm on Sundays and public holidays. Sections of neighbouring Sai Yeung Choi Street, Nelson Street and Soy Street are pedestrianised from 4pm to 10pm on Mondays to Saturdays and 12 noon to 10pm on Sundays and public holidays.  Market information in this paragraph courtesy of Hong Kong Extras

Just to give you an idea of the atmosphere and huge variety of goods from beautiful to tacky I am sharing lots of photos of the market. As there are so many I have kept them small, click on photo if you really want to see something in more detail. Be warned if you ever visit that many stall holders will not be keen on you taking photos if you are not buying, so take care. 

That's it for the virtual shopping

Address:Tung Choi Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon

• OPENING HOURS - 12 noon to 11pm daily. Most stalls are open by 1pm. 

GETTING THERE – MTR to either Prince Edward and take exit B2 or to Mong Kok and take any of exits B2, D2 or D3. Prince Edward MTR Station and Mong Kok MTR Stations are at the northern and southern ends respectively of the market.
Bus 1, 1A, 2, 6 or 9 from Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry pier and get off at Nelson Street station

Sources for more information:-
Ladies Market - Discover Hong Kong     Hong Kong Extras - Markets

All photos are my own taken in October 2011. 

  All rights reserved by LindyLouMac Photo Collection 

The photos may also be viewed individually in my album entitled - Travel Tales - Ladies Market - Hong Kong at My Flickr.com account.

This is my last post about our most recent trip to Hong Kong, but hopefully I have given you plenty of ideas for your own visits. Or that you have enjoyed your armchair travel.  Next time the Travel Tale will be from Thailand.

Sai Kung - Hong Kong

Sai Kung town, which now has a population of about 13,000 was a small undeveloped fishing village until the fishing industry declined in the 1970’s and many fishermen moved into other businesses such as fish farming, eco tourism and seafood restaurants. A major reclamation project between 1978 and 1993 led to subsequent development of new buildings, shops, promenade, piers, public swimming pool and other facilities. Improvements to roads and public transport have seen the town grow to become a commuter town popular with ex-pats but the town still retains much of its old charm and fishing village atmosphere. The colourful harbour is always a hive of activity and sampans line the promenade selling catches of seafood direct to the public and local seafood restaurants.
The plan was to have lunch at one of the many fish restaurants along the promenade, where you can choose your own fish from the tanks, or even direct from the fishermen, then discuss with the waiters how you would like your choices cooked.  
I will let the photos tell the story, yes I did take the first one because of the red mini!

Strange Sculptures!

We made our way through the town to the promenade which is where as I mentioned earlier all the action is. 

We selected Hung Kee Seafood Restaurant to have lunch at, we choose our fish from the tanks and then discussed with the waiters how we would like it prepared.

After to lunch we had a stroll around the town.

Our last stop was to buy tea, an interesting experience as you taste before you buy.

  After tea it was time to head back to Mid - Levels

Getting there:-

MTR KWUN TONG LINE to Diamond Hill MTR Station then KMB bus service 92 (approx every 12/20 mins – journey time about 40 mins) to Sai Kung Bus Terminus (next to harbour side). 

There are other ways to get there with a combination of MTR and bus, but this is the way we got there and it was a pleasant scenic ride. The final stage of the journey is always going to be on a bus, as there is no MTR there.

With thanks to the following sites for the background information included in this post. The links will take you directly to the pages on Sai Kung if you are interested in learning more about the area. 

Sai Kung - Hong Kong Extras     Hung Kee Seafood Restaurant  Wikipedia - Sai Kung Town

                                      All photos are my own taken in October 2011.

                                  All rights reserved by LindyLouMac Photo Collection 

The photos may also be viewed individually in my album entitled Travel Tales - Sai Kung - Hong Kong at My Flickr.com account. 

Travel Tales - Island Hopping - Hong Kong

One day during our last visit we took advantage of a beautiful day with glorious blue skies to go and take a trip out to the islands. Our first choice for the trip was Peng Chau but thanks to me making a mistake with the pier number we ended up on the ferry to Cheung Chau instead! Fortunately it did not matter as it was a lovely day for island hopping.

Our daughter was with us and I do not think she or my husband were too happy with me at first, but if I had not made this error we would certainly not have had time during this trip to visit the Japanese Tea House on Cheung Chau. Yes, you read that right, it is called Hometown Tea House and is run by a Japanese lady, Takahiko-san, who has lived in Hong Kong for 28 years. I am not sure how many years the Tea House has been there but it was a delightful place to visit and enjoy a sushi snack and herbal tea. The owner was very friendly and we had our photos taken with her and signed her guest book. It is known all over the world and has featured in several guide books.

We then caught another ferry across to Peng Chau our original destination to try out a restaurent that had been recommend to our daughter. Les Copains d'Abord, a French style Wine Bar, owned by a Frenchman and yes we had Wine, Bread, Cheese, Pate and a cold meat platter. After lunch we went for a walk around a small part of the island.

Our next hop was over to Lantau Island - Discovery Bay  a car free location that is popular with families, especially ex-pats that want to live outside the city. Not even taxi's are allowed into the residential area, you have to walk from the outskirts, or hop on a free town bus that will ferry you further into town. Or if you are very rich you can purchase a golf buggy to get around, numbers of which are extremely limited so they fetch high prices. It was an interesting place to visit, sit with our pre-dinner drinks and do some people watching. Apparently the bay is surprisingly affordable and with a 20 minute 24 hour ferry service connecting it to Central, it has many attractions for commuters. We caught this ferry back to Central ourselves from where it took us longer than the ferry had taken to get home to Mid-Levels, hence one understands why travel to work in the city centre can be easier from the outlying islands, especially Discovery Bay.

Tall Ship Arriving in Discovery Bay at the same time as us.

I hope you enjoyed island hopping with me!

I have only written briefly here about my own experiences and have left the photos to tell the story. I have included a number of links throughout the post which if you click on will take you directly to further information on the place mentioned.  There are over two hundred photos from that day out so you have only viewed a tiny fraction of them here. I also share photos from our travels on  LindyLouMac's World in Photos, or you can view the full album here.

Sources for more information:-

Cheung Chau      Hometown Tea House (scroll down page to find the right section)
 Peng Chau    Les Copains d'Abord      Lantau Island - Discovery Bay 
 Hong Kong Extras - Excellent site with all sorts of information on Hong Kong, including how to reach these places I have mentioned today.

All photos are my own taken in October 2011. 

  All rights reserved by LindyLouMac Photo Collection 

The photos may also be viewed individually in my album entitled - Travel Tales - Island Hopping - Hong Kong at My Flickr.com account.