Like the past few days, we started by walking her dogs in the morning. We started a bit later than usual, but that was alright since my girlfriend planned our entire day and had everything ready. We ventured down the same path, to the same quiet area by the stream/river. Unlike last time, we went further down the path since there was still some time to kill. When we felt it was enough time, we started to head back to her place to get ready for the day. As a side note, I didn't realize it back then, but many cars around this community (especially JDM sports cars) were rocking some sort of Volk Racing wheel. I saw a bunch of TE37s, of various iterations, CE28s and ZE40s. There was even a Mugen CRZ nearby!
But back to the day - after arriving back to her place, we got ready to head down to town. Her dad was able to drop us off at the MTR station. I can't recall if this was my first time or not, but it was very reminiscent of the trains in Japan. I believe there was one transfer, before we made it into Kowloon. Our first stop was at a restaurant called PiCi. It specialized in Italian food. We arrived right when it opened, which was the right time since it was about 60-70% full in about 30 minutes. They had lunch specials, which included an appetizer, the main course and a dessert. I opted for a... cold cut appetizer with cheese, followed by a... pasta dish and a yuzu topped Panna Cotta. (I should really take pictures of the menu next time). She opted for Burrata Cheese, Tagliolini Truffle and Tiramisu (strange I can remember hers and not mine).
As we waited, we were served a small loaf of bread. They had the traditional olive oil + balsamic vinegar for dressing. I was feeling hungry, so it wasn't nearly sufficient to whet my appetite. The appetizers came out quickly - my cold cut with cheese tasted alright, but didn't blow my mind. Once I was done, I didn't have to wait too long before getting my pasta dish. It tasted alright as well - better than Italian chain restaurants in Canada. I had to say that her Burrata Cheese and Tagliolini Truffle was miles better than what I had. Finally, the one thing I enjoyed more than hers was dessert. The Yuzu Panna Cotta was mild, but tangy. After we finished eating and paid for the bill, we headed to a nearby mall to visit.
This is Our Place (or TOPs) mall felt catered to teens or young adults. There were various floors to check out, but we didn't spend too much time here. Our next spot was Langham Place, a more upscale mall. She had a few appointments in the office towers there. Before attending her first appointment, we explored the mall a bit. It was very grand, with a lot of floors that reminded me of TD Square/Bankers Hall here. It was odd seeing Christmas decorations, since I always travel during the summer. Instead of saying Merry Christmas, their theme was "Merry PotatoMAS". I guess they have a potato as their mascot? It was cool to see how a different country celebrates Christmas. When it was nearly time for her first appointment, we headed off to the office towers. Unlike elevators I've seen elsewhere, there's a touch screen near the base of "the hall of elevators". You punch in the floor you want to go to, and then it directs you to the elevator to go (ie: Floor 60 is Elevator B). When we entered the elevator, I noticed there were no buttons to press, besides the open, close and emergency buttons. The touch screen outside told the elevator where to go.
The first appointment took us up to a wide open clinic. It had a wonderful view of, what I'm assuming, was Victoria Harbour. I didn't have to wait too long before she was finished. There was about an hour before her next appointment, in a different clinic, so we went back down to the mall area to look around. When it was time, we repeated the process of going to the touch screen to pick the floor, followed by going onto the elevator the computer tells us to go. The second location wasn't as big, nor as high. It didn't matter to me since I already had a view of the scenery.
With that finished, we headed back into Kowloon to look for more snacks. We went to a place to get Napoleon tarts. It wasn't that great. Stopped buy a bubble tea shop for some milk taro tea - that was meh. We then ended up at a K11 mall. This mall had a bunch of luxury shops inside, in which we perused for a bit before heading back out to the harbor. Last time, in 2023, I was unable to go to Hong Kong Island. I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to do so this time. The ferry to go across was extremely cheap - about $1 CAD. Granted, it only took about 10-15 minutes, but it was nice to see the skyscrapers scattered around the island. When we made it to the other side, we headed to the bus terminal to find a bus that will take us to Victoria Peak. Since we were first in line, waiting for the bus, we had prime seats inside. The ride itself wasn't too long; we got to see sunset as the double decker bus made its way up the mountain. There were huge condo complexes and houses with winding driveways. I can only imagine how much these places cost.
As we got to the top, we got off and went to the Sky Terrace building to walk around and take in the sights. It was a bit chilly being high up, but the views made up for it. Looking back now, it's probably one of the most beautiful night cityscapes that I've seen in my life. After walking around some more, we decided it was time to head back down to our final destination - to Central. We boarded a small mini-bus back down to near the ferry. We then walked to IFC mall, which hosted Hikiniku: a Japanese restaurant that specializes in A4 Wagyu hamburger steaks. With a reservation in hand, we didn't have to wait long when we arrived. The place was quite crowded with all sorts of people. We sat around chefs cooking the hamburger steaks. There were a variety of condiments to try with the steaks, along with unlimited rice. We both got 3 steaks each, which was more filling than I expected it to be. Really stuffed with all the food we ate, we left and headed to the MTR station to take a train back to the New Territories.
When we arrived at our final station, her dad came to pick us up, after picking up her mom and brother from work. Overall, it was a day full of new sights and eats. Kowloon and Hong Kong Island reminded me strongly of being in Shinjuku or other busy districts in Tokyo: full of people, and seemingly most of them being tourists. The more I travel to Asia, the more I'm starting to realize I like quieter sections of the country.
Only two more days to go before I head back to Canada!
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