Hong Kong Day 2: Victoria Peak Garden, Shopping & Sai Ying Pun

Check out Hong Kong Day 1: HKIA, First Airbnb & Duk Ling if you haven’t.

Woke up around 7am plus on day 2. Had cheese bread bought from the previous day for brekkie. By the time we’re ready to rock, it’s nearly 9am.

By the way, we checked the weather forecast and noted that there will be rain on Tuesday onward (day 3). We planned for an outdoor activity on day 3, and because of the forecast rain, we changed it to day 2 which is today.

We took MTR to Central station, and from there walked to The Peak Tram Lower Terminus at Garden Road. Yup, we’re visiting Victoria Peak aka The Peak again (my second time) but this time we’re doing something different. We’re visiting Victoria Peak Garden. I bet most of you haven’t heard about this place before.

If you’d watched HK TVB dramas from a long time ago, I’m sure you’re able to recognize this building which regularly appears in TVB dramas. This is Bank of China Tower. We passed by it on the way to The Peak Tram Lower Terminus.


And this is Cheung Kong Centre just beside Bank of China Tower.

The iconic ding-ding aka Hong Kong double-deck tram.

St. John’s Cathedral under construction.

Nearing the Lower Terminus, the road is an uphill climb. A little tough for me. Haha

There weren’t many visitors when we arrive at the The Peak Tram Lower Terminus around 9.35am. We used our Octopus card to pay for the Peak Tram ticket, and right away proceed to wait for the tram. If you’re buying physical tickets, then you would have to queue.

Didn’t have to wait long for the the Peak Tram.

Enjoyed the ride!

A look at the tram’s track.

Outside of the Peak Tower, we came to this road below.

Starting at this road aka Mount Austin Road (10.04am), we’ll hike up to Victoria Peak Garden which boosts a large garden and a nice sea view towards the south side. Admission is free. Not many visitors know about Victoria Peak Garden, especially not those that come with tour groups.

It’s pretty quiet on weekdays (we visited on Monday). On weekends, I heard that a couple of stalls are open near the pavilion aka viewing platform of Victoria Peak Garden. Toilets are found at Mount Austin Road Playground and near the viewing platform of Victoria Peak Garden.
Btw, Victoria Peak Garden is a dog-friendly place.

The trail to Victoria Peak Garden is by following Mount Austin Road, which is pretty narrow as you go up. There are actually quite a few hiking trails surrounding Victoria Peak. We choose this fairly easy one (although not easy at all for me!) because it’s walking on the tar road. Recommended walking time is 20-30 minutes. I’ll reveal below how long we took. There are houses and apartments along Mount Austin Road and I’m very sure they belong to the rich.

If you have a car, you can drive up to Victoria Peak Garden. You can even hire a taxi to bring you there. But of course, walking is the best. If you know the secret pathways (it’s all within Victoria Peak Garden), you can bypass a couple of difficult snaking climbs and save time. We did this on the way down.

While we were at our starting hike up point, an angmoh ‘quite’ elderly couple also started at the same time. Can you guess who’s fitter? 😛

FYI, you can’t reach and visit the ‘real’ peak of Victoria Peak. Why? Because the summit is off-limit to the public. It’s the site for radio telecommunication facilities. Victoria Peak Garden is the closest point to the summit.

After few minutes of hike (already feeling the difficulty), we came to Mount Austin Road Playground. It’s a large playground plus garden.

While walking up Mount Austin Road, we met several construction workers working on some pipes along the road. Also met and talked to several locals to make sure we were on the right track.

Later, we also encountered several ang mohs either going up and down the road.

Chanced upon this magnificent grand tree!

I stopped many times along the way to catch my breath and my sis had to wait up for me. Hahaha Good thing is there were many large trees that make the walk up pretty cool and nice. It was pretty windy too. Of course, we sweated a lot due to working out our body.

Mountain Lodge was the former summer residence of the Governor of Hong Kong on Victoria Peak on the Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. The former Mountain Lodge, an alternate residence for the Governor of Hong Kong, was located there. It has been demolished, but the park remains as an attraction at the Peak. ~ source Wikipedia

Gate Lodge was the living quarters for the keeper of Mountain Lodge. It’s the only structure from part of Mountain Lodge that remains.

Beautiful garden which we came across. We didn’t know it was part of Victoria Peak Garden initially. Saw a golden playing there and I sincerely wished he’s still there when we’re on our way back.

And finally… a peak at our destination. Very near now.

Pavilion at Victoria Peak Garden, built on the former Mountain Lodge. It’s the end and top most point of Victoria Peak Garden. Took us 30 minutes from the start of Mount Austin Road to walk up to the pavilion. Ehh not bad la even though I stopped a lot! Two factors that helped me walk up this steep road are my sister and positive thinking. 🙂

If I’m not mistaken, the island there is Lamma Island (facing south). Near this pavilion is yet another trail if you’re interested to take another path down.

From the pavilion, we followed a path down and came to this Victorian gazebo. The couple were taking wedding photos.

Beautiful beach at the garden. There were a few gazebos here too (just like the one above) which is good for photo-op. Met a couple of gardeners who were busy looking after the place.

Dog latrine at Victoria Peak Garden.

Flowers at the garden. Are these orchids?

Yet another path down, we found this beautiful pavilion. And guess what? The golden retriever was still there, playing with his owner. So lucky of us. I talked to the lady and get to know the golden. Gah I miss having a dog.

All those paths that we took via the garden are the shortcuts I mentioned earlier. We exited the garden and walked back down along Mount Austin Road and very soon arrive back at The Peak Tower.

Took this compulsory photo near the men’s toilet. Apparently there’s a door to outside aka smoking area. The Hong Kong view is awesome as always eh?

We left The Peak at 11.30am. Took tram back to Lower Terminus using Octopus card again.

We then walked to the nearest tram stop and rode the tram to Fleming Road. Our destination? Lunch at Kam’s Roast Goose (1 Michelin star restaurant). Please click the link to read my review.

I thought I never had roast goose before but while writing this post, I chanced upon this old travel post from 2007 and found out I had roast goose before from a less impressive restaurant. Funny thing is in 2007 and as well as 2018, both times I visited The Peak and ate roast goose on the same day. LOL

While waiting for our queue number to be called at Kam’s Roast Goose, we chanced upon a shop called Prizemart (just beside it). If you remember my day 1 post, I mentioned about Best Mart 360° (優品 360°). Well, Prizemart has the same concept. They sell food products at a very affordable price… until I can’t believe it’s that cheap! For example, Ritter Sports chocolate 100g is selling at HK$8 only (what???) and there’s are a lot of flavors, some from Europe too. I also bought Giotto (a product from Ferro Rocher) and it’s so yummy! Go give it a visit. I bet you’ll be wow-ed by the prices. We bought a couple of food items only as we are traveling to another place after our lunch, so prefer not to carry heavy stuff.

After lunch, we walked to Honolulu Coffee Shop as it’s very near (only few minutes). I had never eaten Honolulu’s egg tart before so was really excited to try it.

Look at the arrays of pastries.

More here…

Hmm somehow the color of the egg tart doesn’t look appetizing. It’s too yellowish which means one thing. And I was right, the egg tart (HK$9) is below par. I also bought polo pau HK$8, a letdown.

Next, we took the MTR to Sai Ying Pun because I wanted to visit three shops here. All food related. LOL. First, we visited Yu Kwen Yick, an almost 100 years old brand famed for its chili sauce. But I’m not here for their chili sauce because I rarely eat chili nowadays. I’m here for their black bean paste. They have other products as well such as chili black bean sauce, chili oil, chili soy sauce, plum sauce, etc. Best thing is their products are free from preservatives and all those weird chemicals that are easily found in almost all packaged food nowadays. I only bought one item because their products are not cheap for my standard. Haha

The second shop we visited is Fu Cheng Yuan Ji. It’s a very tiny and cute ceramic shop located at Centre Street.

I would buy ’em (not vases but other stuff) if I can carry ’em over sea. Haha

The owner is very friendly. I bought a couple of spoons, bowls and sauce dish. Btw, that’s not me ya. A random customer.

Finally, the third shop we visited is Tak Chong Sum Kee Bamboo Steamer Company. It’s one of the last remaining bamboo steamer shops in Hong Kong where everything is made by hand.

That’s no hired worker. That’s one of the family member.

I planned to buy a bamboo steamer although I already have one however upon looking at the shop, I back downed because I realized if I buy it I won’t have space for other stuff. Haha Then I was told they don’t have the bamboo rice scoop that I was looking for because the bamboo season is not here yet… something along the line. So I went back empty-handed. 🙁

We then went back to our lodging to rest since it’s been a very tiring day. On the way near our place, we stopped by their open-air market and bought a bunch of very long banana! We reached our Airbnb place at 5pm. After resting for 2.5 hours, we went out again. As we were still full from our very expensive lunch, we decided to have just tong sui in the evening. Luckily there’s one nearby called Mum’ Dessert Shop. Click the link to read my review.

After getting our dessert, we visited McDonald’s to have a look-see (kepoh la). Saw this Dinosaur Series ads. Wah I’m proud!

Then we walked around the area a little more before I sensed a suspicious person. Not sure if I was the one who overreacted or what but I saw a young man eyeing both of us weirdly (he even gave a snicker) when I turned around. So I told my sis to stop and let the man pass. After sensing us not behind him, he stopped a second and walked on. Then we quickly turned back and walked another way. Thankfully all are well. Fhew! I may have exaggerated (I would never know if I was right or wrong), but at least we took the necessary precaution and everything’s safe and sound at the end.

The people we mingled with today were quite cold and some were really rude like the one at Kam’s Roast Goose. They don’t smile readily or being friendly anymore. Sad.

That’s all for day 2.