Lingnan Garden and Tim Ho Wan

cont. April 15, 2018 Sunday -- A Short Trip to Hong Kong and Taiwan

Now that I am done posting my NCL Jewel Transpacific cruise I can come back and finish my report on our short trip to Hong Kong and Taiwan in April.

We have one full-day with no appointment or engagement with anyone on this day. We have been to most of the touristy sights in Hong Kong but I have never even heard of this one place called "Lingnan Garden" in my seventeen years that I lived there. I accidentally came across this garden when I was searching for videos on Youtube and I wanted to see this place in person on this trip.

         

Breakfast at the Hilton Garden Inn was plentiful. I especially liked their omelette/egg station.

We don't usually mind if the hotels we are staying in Hong Kong do not provide breakfast since there are so many choices out there that we could get a great breakfast from but since we get complimentary breakfast with our Hilton Honor Gold status we might as well enjoy this before heading out.

Very good cup of cappuccino. 

Lingnan Garden

I was born in Hong Kong, many many years ago, but I have never heard of this garden before. It came with a nice surprise when I saw a video of it on Youtube. Never knew that there is such a beautiful Chinese garden in Mei Foo Sun Chuen, in Lai Chi Kok. Now, I do know about Mei Foo Sun Chuen, which was the first private housing estate in Hong Kong and a well-established and organized community. 

Lingnan Garden is the Chinese Garden within the Lai Chi Kok Park, located in the back of Mei Foo Sun Chuen. In order to get there, we took the Tsuen Wan Line subway (Red Line) from Mongkok Station and got off at Mei Foo Station, Exit A. 

Exit A

Then just followed the signs posted for Lingnan Garden.

Watch for the little sign here for a right turn, which I think is Broadway.

Go straight all the way and under the apartment buildings.

Yes, go through this driveway...

...then make a right. Entrance of the park and garden is on the left.

Here is the entrance to the garden. Lingnan refers to Guangzhou (Canton) in Southern China.

A very classic Chinese garden amidst all of these tall apartment buildings.

Fish Pond

ricksaw

pavilions and corridors

It's hard to believe that this is Hong Kong!

So beautiful!

This path built with pebbles is actually a foot massage walkway. People would take off their shoes (with socks on) and walk on this rough surface as foot massage or exercise. Supposedly good for your health.

It was raining on and off so we had to sit and wait for the rain to stop.

Rain was quite heavy at times.

A very tranquil and serene place in this busy city.

Beautifully carved shutters

and decorative tiles on the roof

A small stream on the other side of the wall outside the garden in the park.

This is the trail inside the park in the back of Lingnan Garden.

Giant Chinese checkers

I really enjoyed our visit here at the Lingnan Garden and I highly recommend anyone visiting Hong Kong to get there if they have extra time. It's absolutely beautiful and there is no entrance fee. I am sure we would enjoy it even more if the weather cooperates. 

On our walk back to the subway station, we stopped at a store called Yau Shing, which is a convenient store type of set up like Daiso, but selling household goods with many interesting and unusual merchandise. It was like a treasure hunt for us and bought quite a few things there to bring home.

Tim Ho Wan, Olympic -- 18 Hoi Ting Road, West Kowloon, Hong Kong

Tim Ho Wan is a very popular dim-sum restaurant with branches all over Hong Kong. It had gained the Michelin one-star recognition which made it famous since 2010. I don't usually like to wait in lines and especially not fond of crowds so we have not been to any of its restaurants the last few times we went back to Hong Kong. I did vow to check it out this time around though. I have read that the Olympic branch is priced cheaper and not as crowded so that was where we wanted to go this afternoon after our naps. It's just a short walk from the Hilton Garden, all the reasons for us to try it out.

Walking up the pedestrian crosswalk to the other side of the West Kowloon Corridor (Ferry Street).

Holiday Inn Express on the right side near Hilton Garden.

Hilton Garden Inn, Mongkok on the left side of the crosswalk.

Ferry Street or the West Kowloon Corridor.

Hoi Ting Road towards Tim Ho Wan

Hoi Ting Road and Hoi Wang Road

Arrived at Tim Ho Wan, ground floor of Olympic City 2. No line! What a surprise!

the open kitchen

We got a table right away. Small tables and very close to each other.

They do charge $3 for tea per person. We were given an order sheet, we just check off what we wanted and handed it to the waitress and they in turn will bring out the food.

Sticky rice wrapped in Lotus Leaf, I called them 'Chinese Tamales'.

Sticky rice with pork meat and other ingredients wrapped inside the lotus leaf .

These are the best BBQ Pork Buns!

Crispy on the outside, sweet and savory on the inside.

Chicken feet in black bean sauce, yum!

Shiu Mai, not bad.

The atmosphere was much better than I expected and service was OK.

There were quite a few tourists there on that day.

Temple Street

With nothing planned for the evening, I figured that it would be kind of nostalgic walking along Shanghai Street all the way from Mongkok to Jordan. I am quite familiar with this area because the church we grew up at is in this vicinity. So, after our late afternoon tea at Tim Ho Wan, we set out on this walking tour.

I did not take as many pictures as I wanted as we walked along because I was afraid that people would be offended. Parts of this street is what some people considered the "Red Light District", it wouldn't be smart if I point my camera at the wrong person. It was totally safe just walking down the street though.

The Red Brick Building at Shanghai Street and Waterloo Road, Yau Ma Tei.

This is a historical building built in 1895. It is now the office and museum of the Yau Ma Tei Theater for Cantonese Opera nearby. Unfortunately, it was not open when we were there.

An interesting mural on the wall of the building next to it.

There are many traditional shops in this area of Shanghai Street, including stores selling restaurant supplies and kitchen wares, gold smiths and jewelers, incense and scented fans, plus many restaurants and small eateries basically for locals. 

Then we came to the Public Square Street Park and the Tin Hau Temple.

Before this became a park, there used to be small vendors here where our mom used to come and buy household items for use at home and at the orphanage. That was more than fifty years ago.

Finally arrived at the famous Temple Street.

Temple Street Gateway at Temple Street and Jordan Road.

Street vendors setting up their stalls for the night.

We were getting hungry by then so we crossed Jordan Road to Parkes Street to find Mak Man Kee Noodle Shop for wonton noodle. This was my mom's favorite noodle shop when we lived in Hong Kong.

A small but good bowl of noodle.

After a day of exploration we were definitely tired so we took the MTR and then walked back to the hotel for the night. Lobby of Hilton Garden Inn, Mongkok.

Flying out to Taiwan tomorrow.

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

                                                                                                                               Romans 6:23