A Review on Shamrock Hotel

This is my second time staying at Shamrock Hotel.

For those who already know me, I am a fussy aunty. To get me to stay at the same hotel, you really gotta be good.

When I say 'good', it certainly doesn't mean that the hotel is luxurious. I find it foolish to spend an obscene amount of cash on a luxury hotel when you spend more than 10 hours outside of it. And of course, I don't have that kind of money to throw away for a family of four.

We took A21 bus from the airport and alighted at Stop Number 12

The bus has an LCD panel which states the names of various hotels at different stops. 

Shamrock Hotel was one of them.

The bus

Took about 50 minutes to get us to the bus stop opposite Shamrock Hotel

Across the road

It ran out of family rooms by the time I booked it on Agoda.

I booked 2 rooms with double beds. 

Amenities and facilities were in order

Nice bathtub for a modest room

After my unpleasant experience with the tiny room on one of my Hong Kong trips, I searched for hotels with more spacious rooms. Location was the priority but room space was the next major concern. A too-small room makes you feel claustrophobic and it's hard to move around. When you get back from out there after one whole day, the last thing you want is to be frustrated by the small space which limits your movement in the room.

This hotel is just a shop away from Jordan MTR. It is a stone's throw away from a few famous eats ie. Australian Dairy Company, Mak's Noodles and Mak Man Kee Noodle Shop.

It is also a short walk to Temple Street Night Market.

Most important of all, Jordan MTR is central to many tourist attractions. It's highly accessible to these places and all the good eats in Mong Kok, Wan Chai, Central etc.

The staff are polite and communicate in English. They take their initiatives to meet your needs. For example, the bell boy asked me what time I had to be at the airport and suggested that I should take a cab so that time would not be so tight. He could even tell me exactly how much the fares were between a cab and the bus for a trip to the airport.

The hotel is also affordable. It cost me just $750 for 4 nights for 3 adults and 1 child.

No beautiful view. In fact, I think the window was locked, but that didn't bother me. We were given the second floor and it didn't matter to me either. I was not there to admire the skyline of Hong Kong.

My priorities were:

- location

- affordability

- room spaciousness

If you are like me looking for just the above, Shamrock Hotel would be perfect.

Day 5 - One Dim Sum, Jenny Bakery, Island Beverley, Yat Lok

Thursday, 27 June 2019

It would be a shame if there had been no attempt to shop in a shopping paradise. The last day in Hong Kong was kept for last-minute shopping.

I had to try this 'better than Tim Ho Wan' place, One Dim Sum

There was no queue in the morning and for the first time in Hong Kong, we got to have a decent-size table for four

I was totally looking forward to all that I could eat!

Steamed chicken & Mushroom Rice

Baked BBQ Pork Buns

Shrimp and Leek in Rice Roll

Steamed Glutinous Rice with Chicken Wrapped in Lotus Leaf

Prawn Dumplings

Chiu Chow Style Dumplings

Bean Curd Rolls in Fish Broth

Mango Custard Rolls

Pork Dumplings - that's what they wrote on the menu!

Verdict:

Those people who raved and gushed over One Dim Sum ought to be shot!

'Better than Tim Ho Wan'? Which Tim Ho Wan did you go?!!

'Best dim sum'? Oh my ...

It wasn't just me. All of us shared the same sentiments. "Best?!! Maybe these people have never eaten dim sum before."

It was at best average. I would go as far as to say that Singapore's Yum Cha is superior to One Dim Sum.

Only the Mango Custard Rolls were quite edible. It had a 'Chef recommendation' icon beside it. It had better be the best of all the items.

I couldn't bring myself to eat another chee cheong fun. 

William had to finish them against his will.

Coco was also disappointed with the baked BBQ buns, after eagerly placed an order for them upon a friend's mother's recommendation

Not sure why people would recommend One Dim Sum. Read that it is also a One-Michelin Starred restaurant but it certainly didn't taste that way to us! Service was good though.

After our misadventure at One Dim Sum, I thought I would be able to have a shopping good time at the malls in the area. 

To my disappointment, the malls in Hong Kong do not seem to open until 2pm or 3pm!

When I entered Allied Plaza at 11am, only one or two shops were opened! 

I didn't give up.

I moved on to New Town Mall, another 10 to 15 minutes' walk away. To my astonishment, most of the shops had not opened either!

Never mind. "Let's go to Tsim Sha Tsui. I'll go buy my Jenny's cookies first before going to Rise Shopping Arcade."

I was met with this when I reached my destination

For the glorious buttery cookies that would readily melt in my mouth, I climbed to the second storey.

A hand with a cookie sample stuck out as I was about to reach the second floor. Hey, Jenny's Cookies need no introduction, much less a sample! So I said,"No." and asked the lady in the baking apron,"Where's Jenny Bakery?".

Her face, surprisingly, immediately sank into a state of sian-ness and threw her index finger over her shoulder to direct me.

I was puzzled why a Jenny Bakery ambassador could be so careless and lacklustre in her service attitude but I felt awfully pai-seh when I saw the apron with the big words "Top Bakery"!

OMG! This is embarrassing.

But she shouldn't have stood at the door of Jenny Bakery to promote her cookies, right? It's easy to misunderstand.

Jenny Bakery at the second floor

It's a bakery like no other. No breads, buns or cakes on display to entice potential customers. 

Just get in line, suckers!

I bought 2 small tins of 4 Mix Butter Cookies and 1 big tin of the original Butter Cookies

My sister reminded me that Jenny Cookies are also available in Singapore.

I replied,"The ones in Hong Kong taste better."

Nobody disputed that.

We walked on to Rise Shopping Arcade which was in a small alley. Seemed dingy.

The security guard advised me on the opening hours of the mall: 3pm (!!!)

Bye, Mall!

As we trotted back to Tsim Sha Tsui MTR, we passed by a boutique that went by 'Sixty-Eight'. I bought my only dress from Hong Kong and two bralettes mean for backless dresses. Not sure if I have any use for it but the aunty in me won the debate: Buy lah! You never know when you will need it!

My virgin Ding Ding trip was on this electric tram.

Before boarding it outside Central MTR, William and I had a few frustrating moments trying to understand the routes and how the routes worked.

We checked out the route map at the tram stop and the sign in front of the tram, and asked the driver if he was going to Causeway Bay.

The driver only shook his head. That's just about how helpful he was.

We went back to figuring out how it worked again and William eventually got it. He matched the last  destination with the sign on the tram and told us that that was the tram! 

We boarded the tram from the back and sat at the upper storey as advised by the whole world - "for a better view".

I was surprised that the tram was quite tiny inside.

When another tram came towards our direction on the neighbouring track, I finally understood what people meant when they said the trams were very near to each other. 'So near that you could stretch out your arm to touch the other passengers sitting by the windows.' 

My favourite place to shop at after my last trip

This tiny 3- or 4-storey shopping mall is just next to Causeway Bay MTR.

It sells mainly Korean fashion and the shop owners do not allow customers to try on the clothes. However, I have bought 3 dresses here on my last trip and I loved them.

This time round, I didn't manage to loot any good finds though.

When I asked if I could try this on (just pushing my luck), the saleslady said no and showed me the price tag 'HKD 980'.

How rude!

We rushed here for our last meal in Hong Kong at 3.15pm.

"We must target to finish our food at 3.30pm." I told them.

"Huh? That's impossible!"

Wouldn't I know that? But still must try, right?

No queue and immediate admission at that timing

In the Michelin Guide from 2015 to 2019!

What's a Hong Kong trip without Yat Lok roast goose?

No goose drumsticks (again!) so we placed an order for half a goose

After a hasty but satisfying lunch, we rushed back to the hotel and the bell boy offered to call a cab for us. HKD 300 for the trip as opposed to HKD 33 per pax for Bus Number A21.

We never noticed that cute logo on the wings until then!

At 12.30am, William decided it was a brilliant idea to pay A&W at Jewel a visit.

There was still a queue, albeit a short one.

And who eats fried chicken at A&W?

Like I said, if it had been fantastic, it wouldn't have died out in Singapore decades ago! 

People are doing the 3- or 4-hour queue just for nostalgia's sake.

Where to go:

One Dim Sum

G/F 209A-209B Tung Choi Street (Prince Edward MTR Exit A)

Opening hours: 11am - 12.30am (Mon to Fri), 10am - 12.30am (Sat & Sun)

Jenny Bakery

Shop G24 Ground Floor & Shop 42 1st Floor
Mirador Mansion
54-64 Nathan Road
Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon

(Tsim Sha Tsui MTR Exit D2)

Opening hours: 9am – 7pm

Yat Lok 
G/F, 34 - 38 Stanley Street, Central (Central MTR)
Opening hours: 10am - 9pm (Mon to Sat), 10am - 5.30pm (Sun)
Closed every last Wednesday of the month

Day 4 - Joy Hing Roasted Meat, Stanley Market, Kau Kee Beef Brisket

Wednesday, 26 June 2019

It was a day for winding down and exploring yet another Market, Stanley Market. But first, we had to have our first meal of the day.

We travelled to Wan Chai for this world-famous roast meat shop, Joy Hing

It's a must-eat, as recommended on TripAdvisor. So we did.

A small shop, as usual

but we got a shared table like this very quickly

I spotted the roast pigeon

"Not available in Singapore. We have to have it." I instructed William.

The uncle at the shop proudly declared that their specialty is rice with roast goose and char siew, so we placed an order for 3 plates.

The char siew looked dry and thick but it was tender. I wouldn't say it was 'succulent'. Just tender.

The roast goose was a tad dry and mediocre. Nowhere close to Yat Lok.

Roast goose at the foreground with char siew at the back

Coco and I each tried a piece of the roast pigeon and William had to down the rest. 

Firstly, the wing had a lot less meat than a regular chicken wing. It was harder to tear apart compared to a chicken wing so it was harder to get what little meat there was out into your mouth. 

Secondly, it had a slight odour to it when we bit into the meat. In fact, William said, after eating the pigeon,"Anyway, my mouth is so smelly now. It doesn't make a difference to me whether I eat smelly tofu now!" 

Yeah, we didn't like it.

Despite all the glowing reviews, I don't think we will ever return. 

We felt that Joy Hing's char siew was just average and didn't justify all the wonderful reviews on the internet.

I am always intrigued by Hong Kong's disarrayed buildings

Hong Kong is also called the Pearl of Orient but it doesn't feel delicate or elegant like a pearl. The buildings are often old, run-down and in need of a facelift (like me), yet it's supposed to be a prosperous city. Why can't a Chinese-dominated 'prosperous' and affluent city be like Italy, London or Paris, with old but beautiful apartments?

So we took a train to Central MTR where banners and a video on the recent protest silently protested against the protesting public greeted us at the exit.

No, we did not witness any form of protest or had a whiff of any hint of protest among the public.

We followed the Google map directions and walked to Central bus interchange (5 to 10 minutes' walk) to look for Bus Number 6 and the kind Indian gentleman holding the plastic bag took his initiative to ask where we were going. He recommended taking 6X but I said that I wanted a scenic route so we queued up after him. 

And we were off in five minutes

That's the ding ding that I told myself was a must-do for this trip

It was a 50-minute journey and some parts of the journey were winding.

Coco felt sick in the stomach, literally, from all the winding.

The bus also goes to Repulse Bay

We had to figure out which stop to alight at. 

I googled and found that we should stop at 'Stanley Village'.

I followed the internet instructions to 'cross the road and walk down the slope to the market'.

Coco felt that Stanley Market was a better Market than the other markets that we had been to. 

"It's not full of pirated goods," she quipped.

The biggest haversack we ever saw

We crossed the road for the small bus interchange and took 6X back to Central bus interchange.

We were too tired to explore Repulse Bay

A Christian cemetery in the city

We went for a 'must-eat' for our dinner at Kau Kee Beef Brisket

A short queue.

We were in the queue and I was looking elsewhere when Coco asked me,"What's that?" while pointing at the lady at the counter. Apparently, the lady had knocked at the glass panel and pointed to a table available to us. Wow, she expected us to understand mute code!

Rules for eating here:

- Minimum spending of HKD55 per person

- No change for HKD1000

- No outside food and drinks

- No luggage

- No strollers

- Wait in line on the left (for eating in)

-Wait in line on the right (for take-outs)

A small shop too

Beef brisket e-fu noodle soup

The beef brisket was just the way I like it: tender and not-too-lean.

I had read online that half of it was fatty meat and I was looking forward to it. It wasn't the case, but it didn't taste lean like most beef brisket I have eaten. I am not a noodle person. I would take rice anytime over noodles but I didn't mind the efu noodles at all. The broth was hot and flavourful. Everything in the bowl came together nicely for a wonderful eating experience!

Coco asked,"How did you know about this place?" which goes to show that she enjoyed her bowl of noodles too!

I must say, though, one man's meat is another's poison. The two younger China ladies sharing the table with us had differing opinions about the same noodles. One finished hers till the last drop of broth while the other left more than half the bowl of noodles untouched.

Beef brisket kway teow soup

After a few days in Hong Kong, I have grown to like iced milk tea. 

I have never liked milk tea. I drink earl grey at afternoon tea, but not with milk. I remember feel nauseous as a child when I tasted milk tea and that feeling locks in with age. However, I enjoy the Hong Kong iced milk tea as a thirst-quenching drink.

Coco and I were tremendously satisfied with the experience at Kau Kee. Not so for William though. 

He said after I had gone out of the shop to look for HKD 1000 change, the lady at the counter kept staring at him, hoping to stare him away so that she could admit a new batch of customers.

He insisted that it was a form of abuse and no matter how delicious the food is, he would never have returned to the place for all the abuse he has to endure.

We returned to Jordan's Temple Street Market for a last-minute shopping for Baby's favourite cousins'  souvenirs.

Interesting aprons

Where to go:

Joy Hing Roasted Meat

Block C, G/F Chong Hing Building, 265-267 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai (Wan Chai MTR Exit A4)

Opening Hours: 10am - 10pm (Mon - Sat)

Closed on Sundays

Stanley Market

Take Citybus services 6, 6A, 6X or 260 from Exchange Square Bus Terminus (Central MTR Exit B) to Stanley Village (50 min)

Kau Kee

21 Gough Street, Central (about 15 min walk from Central MTR)

Opening Hours: 12.30pm - 10.30pm (Mon - Sat)

Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays