10. Sam’s Tailor
When your city ranks as one of the best cities in the world to pick up a suit, you simply have to mark this as a fashion “MUST-HAVE” in your itinerary. A-list clientele of the rich and famous have included the Black Eyed Peas, Margaret Thatcher, Armani and all the U.S. Presidents since Richard Nixon, this bespoke legendary tailor can rev up a suit for you in just 24 hours – 2 days if you are not in a hurry. Located in humble Burlington House, the business does not advertise. Publicity is all word-of-mouth. You would miss out if you didn’t make yourself part of this clothing legend!
Sam's tailor
Ground Floor, Burlington Arcade 94 Nathan Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 2367-9423
Website: www.samstailor.com
9. Hong Kong Nightlife
Hong Kong has a deadly arsenal of drinking spots that can cater to everybody, from those who fancy a sophisticated tipple to those out on a serious session. The party rocks on both sides of Victoria Harbour these days, with new bars opening around Kowloon and a bevy of reliable late-night revels that raise the decibels nightly. It's generally very easy to gain access to any of Hong Kong's nightspots, provided you are well dressed. Be sure to leave the flip-flops and shorts back at the hotel. Hong Kong's nightlife warms up with cocktails or champagne on rooftop terraces and kicks off with the after-work crowd for happy hour drinks. At weekends, join the throng for Hong Kong nightlife until dawn. Your best bet is Central District, Lan Kwai Fong to be precise - Hong Kong’s nightlife hub famous for packed DJ-bars as well as chilled dance sounds.
Lan Kwai Fong
Central District,
Hong Kong
Website: www.lankwaifong.com
8. Local Delicacies
Lamma Island Seafood
For the travelling hungry boy it is absolute tradition that you should get your fingers and stomach ready for the incredibly flavoured famous Hong Kong seafood. Preparing fresh seafood is a culinary art in Hong Kong and one of the best spots - Lamma Island. Why not feel bold and enjoy prawns, fresh chilli crab, scallops and ever so delicious, razor clams with Szechuan sauce where skilled Cantonese chefs will have you salivating over the distinctive flavours and textures of their fishy dishes. You can personally pick out your favourite seafood right out of the fresh seafood tank and just about every seafood from the ocean is available for your palette!
26 Sok Kwu Wan
Lamma Island
Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 2982 0210
Website: www.china-hongkong-travelguide.com/lamma-island.html
Hong Kong is king when it comes to Dim Sum –you may have had Dim Sum elsewhere, but until you’ve had it in Hong Kong you haven’t tasted the best! However, Dim Sum isn’t only about the food, it’s also about the buzz; Dim Sum restaurants are heaving at lunchtimes and alive with the sounds of clicking chopsticks and boisterous Cantonese - a sight in itself. Dim Sum does not refer to a particular dish, but rather a collection of small plates or snack foods served in bamboo baskets. Luxe ingredients, steamed, fried or baked are tucked into buns, rolls and dumplings for exquisite taste. The Lung King Heen (View of the Dragon) restaurant on the fourth floor of The Four Seasons Hotel is just as respected for its dim sum. Make sure you sink your teeth into the middle portion of the classic char siu baau (barbecue pork bun), you will find the most savoury char siu ever! With a bit more experimentation, dim sum is known to be the haute couture in Cantonese culinary traditional foods. You should wait and expect the best, chopsticks in hand.
The Four Seasons
8 Finance Street, Central
Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 3196 8888
Website: www.fourseasons.com/hongkong
7. The Upper House
It seems almost unfaithful to not even talk about hotels in Hong Kong with how high a bar have they set over these many years. Slated as Hong Kong’s newest fashionable address, you are sure to get a great first impression when you stay at The Upper House. In-room registration with the aid of a tablet PC, iPod Touch as hotel directory, concierge folded in to front of house staffing, the feeling is intimate and smart in the same breath. The most standout factor - the corner room 180-degree-view bathrooms where you can revel in seductive walk-in rain showers and alluring sunken tubs that will blow your mind and prune the hands plus you get floor-to-ceiling windows offering views from everywhere! It's the hotel's relaxation wow-factor and the largest hotel bathroom ever by far. Ranked as Hong Kong's Best Hotel for sexy style and eclectic character and might we add, sophisticated eye candy for the modern urban nomad.
The Upper House
Pacific Place, 88 Queensway
Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 2918 1838
Website: www.upperhouse.com
6. The Steak House WineBar + Grill
A lot has been made of the link between food and sex - we know much about that. However, when it comes to knowing “where’s the beef”, the macho die-hard beef lovers are in for a feast. Personal experience aside, the steak aphrodisiac that will arouse your desire is one of the many things at The Intercontinental Hong Kong’s Steak House that will make you go hmmm. It reinforces the notion of amazing meats and wine as a man’s ideal food. A selection of ten different gourmet steak knives, twelve special blended mustards and eight exotic rock salts imported from around the world will be presented to you upon your order. You’re going to have to forget calories completely at this point and be particularly greedy when you reach the stage of indulging in their oversized desserts. Your palette will leave feeling so fulfilled and satisfied that reaching for your wallet will seem like a chore.
The Intercontinental Hong Kong
18 Salisbury Road, Kowloon
Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 2721 1211
Website: www.hongkong-ic.intercontinental.com
5. Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
A regular visitor could be excused for thinking there is more shopping mall space per head in Hong Kong than anywhere else in the world. However, for sophisticated shoppers and tourists, the ball has just started to roll with the recent opening of 1881 Heritage just along side the road of one of the largest and popular established shopping malls, Ocean Centre and Harbour City that are also worth exploring. Located on Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon, which also boasts high-end designer labels for those who wish to ravage their wallets to their hearts desire, some of the most concentrated, frenetic shopping is available on this side of town.
1881 heritage comprise a shopping mall, a heritage hotel, and an exhibition hall. Its scarcity of charm has become known when the Former Marine Police Headquarters dating 1881 has been re-integrated as a high-end romantic yet intimate, luxury shopping site keeping the colonial architecture. Canton Road has now become Hong Kong’s Beverly Hills Rodeo Drive. For overseas folks not quite in the know, our tax-free shopping policy will keep yourself and definitely your wallet hungry for more!
Canton Road
Tsimshatsui
Kowloon
Hong Kong
4. Zuma
Our blackbook lowdown on this restaurant-cum-bar-cum-lounge is chic atmosphere, ambience and is the place to see and be seen. The wine list is broad with a comprehensive sake menu as well as a range of high-end wines and innovative cocktails. Fantastic place to impress guests or a date, Zuma is a blend of fine dining and earns it a stellar place in Hong Kong's night scene. Zuma's upstairs 6th floor lounge is bold, lined with rare sakes and music, labelled "sexy" for cocktails till late. The first thing that will catch your eye is the sparkling sake – how often do you hear that? Yuzu sparkling sake and Rhubarb infused sake are two things you’ll be hearing a lot of at Zuma and you just have to get it! The 10,000 square foot space, accessible from the Queen's Road entrance of The Landmark, is split-level, connected by a stunning spiral staircase. You are never too cool for drinks at Zuma!
Zuma
Level 5 & 6, The Landmark
15 Queen's Road, Central
Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 3657 6388
Website: www.zumarestaurant.com/zuma_hk.html
3.Big Buddha
Amongst the entire night scene and drinks, it would be nice to get some spiritual freedom and immersion with this most amazing Hong Kong cultural experience. This extraordinary statue is the world's largest outdoor Buddha statue, by using bronze, it's 34 metres tall and weighs 250 tonnes. Perched at the top of a remote mountain top on Lantau Island, the giant figure looks peacefully out over an isolated world that straddles the line between peace and chaos. Visitors can climb the 268 stairs and scramble up the hill to reach the platform where the Buddha is seated and be part of the Buddha’s serenity. This shrine is veneration for devotees and one of Hong Kong’s most popular tourist sights. This is more than just a religious icon, more than just a tourist attraction, it’s an entirely different world!
Lantau Island, Ngong Ping
Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 2985 5248
Website: www.np360.com.hk
2. The Peninsula Heli-tour & Spa Package
You need therapy, serious therapy! This is an experience where do you not need to be well-heeled for once. However if you have the money, then flaunt it! Soar high with this helicopter flight depart from The Peninsula Hong Kong’s rooftop for a 15-minute ride above the sparkling city in this twin-engine Aerospatiale Squirrel helicopter, where the pilot will point out the major city landmarks, spectacular coastline, and outlying islands. After the flight of fancy, you should completely unwind in a therapeutic massage or specific facial at The Peninsula Spa by ESPA. Everything at "the Pen" is tops in terms of service and style so whatever you do, you can’t really miss this unique Hong Kong indulgence.
The Peninsula Hong Kong
Salibury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 2920 2888
Website: wwww.peninsula.com/Hong_Kong
1. Hong Kong Horse Races
Horseracing runs in the blood of Hong Kong people. Watching the horseracing under the dazzling lights of Hong Kong’s Happy Valley racecourse has to rank as one of the world’s most exciting sporting spectacles. The big draw is the racecourse itself, which makes for a show stopping electric show during the Wednesday night races. In all honesty, Hong Kong’s obsession with the horses is more an obsession with gambling, however, aside from the gambling and the racing, Happy Valley is very much a social affair. Beer tents and make shift hot-dog stands keep 40,000 people fed and watered, and much of the racetrack turns into the city’s biggest al-fresco bar. The venue is regularly packed, boasting an electrifying atmosphere that is rarely replicated on other racetracks. For sheer excitement and the opportunity to rub shoulders with the locals, it is a rare and exciting chance to capture the essence and the vitality of Hong Kong Chinese culture.
Happy Valley Racecourse
2 Sports Road, Happy Valley
Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 2895 1523
Website: www.hkjc.com/english/index.asp