Ever since the 2 people per group restriction was implemented in Hong Kong, our Hello! Hong Kong tour guide Mel mostly stays at home and realized there are lots of things to do! So, he started to cook more and try out some simple local recipes that he always wanted to try. One of which is the famous Hong Kong milk tea!

Did you know that Hong Kong-style milk tea originates from British colonial rule over Hong Kong. The British practice of afternoon tea, where black tea is served with milk and sugar, grew popular in Hong Kong. Who wouldn’t want to try it?

Looks like Mel is not the only one having fun making his own made milk tea. His dog Nyla looks happy and wanted to try what his favorite person made.

Hong Kong Milk Tea ala Mel

You will need:

2 Litre of water to boil.

8~10 tea bag ( English Black Tea, from Sri Lanka )

200 ml of evaporated milk

6 tablespoons of sugar

Instructions:

Boil water

Once the water is boiled, put the tea bags in to simmer for 5min.

Take out the tea bags and squeeze out till they are dried.

Turn off the heat, add the milk, and add the sugar gradually to taste.

I put the mixture into a bottle and chill it in the fridge.

Its just a great refreshment for these hot summer days.

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We are now in the last quarter of the year and looks like COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon. But, that won’t stop our Hello! Hong Kong tour guide Don in practicing his baking skills by making his own made Christmas cake!. Don made sure that he makes use of his free time wisely and productively, other than baking, he is currently doing stream walks and coast steering which are awesome fun in the heat as you are wet most of the time.

We believe that sharing is caring so Don, has shared with Hello! Hong Kong tours his newfound Christmas cake recipe.

Christmas Cake

8 oz (250 g) butter
8 oz (250 g) caster sugar
5 eggs
8 oz (250 g) plain flour 2 oz (60 g) self-raising flour
Pinch salt 1 teasp ground nutmeg 1 teasp ground allspice 1 teasp cinnamon
8 oz (250 g) raisins
8 oz (250 g) currants
1 lb (500 g) sultanas
2 oz (60 g) glace cherries
2 oz (60 g) almonds (blanched, slivered or flaked)
2 oz (60 g) lemon peel (I use fresh grated rind from 1 lemon instead)
2 oz (2 tblsp) brandy, sherry or orange juice.

Notes: Butter must first be “creamed” until it changes colour and then the sugar is gradually added. For electric baking, preheat oven to 325°F (165°C) then reduce temperature to 275°F (135°C) when cake is put in the oven. For gas, no need to preheat. Put cake into cold oven then light gas, 275°F (135°C).

Baking Instruction:

• Prepare tin: line 8 inch (20 cm) x 3 inch (8 cm) tin with two layers white paper and on the outside cover with one layer of brown paper (I use foil for outside). Recommend also cover outside with damp tea towel.

• Cut the white paper 2 inches (5 cm) longer than circumference of the tin, allowing 3 inches (8 cm) more than depth of tin. Turn up a 1 inch (2 cm) band along one edge and slash at 1 inch intervals. This will enable paper to sit smoothly in tin. Bases for lining the bottom should be cut fraction smaller than base of tin to allow them to sit completely flat on top of the interlocking slashed band.

• Sift plain and self-raising flours with salt and spices. Combine dried fruits with almonds, cherries and lemon peel. Soften butter, working until light in colour.

• Gradually add sugar and cream together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at time, and beat well, can add little flour to prevent separating, then add remaining flour and fruit alternately, and lastly the brandy.

• Put mixture into tin and make a slight hollow in centre.

• Bake in oven 275°F (135°C) for about 4 hours. Can lightly cover with foil after 3 hours or so if browning too much.

• When cake is taken from oven, allow it to sit in tin for 15 mins or so to set. Then gently lift from tin and allow to cool without removing the paper. When cool store in airtight tin. For added protection, wrap in cling wrap and/or foil.

Christmas came a little bit early for Don so as a special offer in partnership with Chef Rajesh, they are offering a 10% discount to all Hello! Hong Kong customer who wanted to book a Zoom online cooking class. For more information, you can email him at don@indiansummerhouse.co.

#getinmybelly #goodeats #travel #traveloften #wanderlust #discoverhongkong #love #food #foodporn #instagood #instafood #eathongkong #foodie #foodadventure #hk #tourism #travelbug #hellohongkongtours #hkfoodie #instafood #happy #getinmybelly #eathongkong #bbctravel #foodie #foodadventure #hongkong #china #hk #instatravel #adventure #welltraveled #tourism #travelbug #lonelyplanet #travelstoke #hellohongkongtours #hongkongtour #hkfoodie #foodtour #privatetour #personaltour #personalguide #hkstreetfood #hklocalfood #coronadiaries

Clam digging was one of the main sources of income for locals in the past. Nowadays, it is an extremely popular Hong Kong activity. That is why our Hello! Hong Kong tour guide Ryan did not miss the chance of spending his free time digging up clams with his friends. What a great way to stretch those back muscles and arms from your own harvest isn’t it? But of course, Ryan made sure to end the day by dipping in the cool ocean water!

Nothing beats a freshly harvested clams straight from the sea for dinner! He even got a big one!

#homekong #wanderlust #discoverhongkong #instacool #photooftheday #bbctravel #hongkong #china #hk #instatravel #adventure #welltraveled #tourism #travelbug #condenast #lonelyplanet #hellohongkongtours #hellohk #ilovehk #hongkongtour #cnntravel #homekong #privatetour #personaltour #tourguide #privateguide #personalguide

Room 309 brings a flair of Victorian-era alchemist’s den. Its richly decorated interior is a perfect getaway for those who seek a certain cosy intimacy. To access the mixologist Antonio Lai’s Room 309, you must acquire a key
card and fill out a check-in form from The Envoy—the adjacent bar in The Pottinger—to be able to enter.

The bar’s outstanding cocktail menu features 8 “invisible” drinks that mix colourless ingredients in an attempt 
to focus on the taste rather than aesthetics—to this end, unconventional ingredients such as peanut butter, salted egg yolk and yoghurt contribute to one of the most unique cocktail experiences in recent memory.

Photo credit: World’s Best Bars

Address: 3/F The Pottinger Hong Kong, 74 Queen's Road Central, Central
Operating Hours: Mon - Thu: 5:00pm - 12:00am, Fri-Sat: 5:00pm - 2am, Sun: Closed
Website: www.room309.hk
Nearest MTR: Central Station

Nestling in happening Sai Ying Pun, transformed from an old ping pong hall into spacious, urban chic interior, and hidden hangout vibe, where to enter you have to find a small red door with “Ping Pong City” inscribed in Chinese. It is the hip spot for stylish sipsmith’s and cocktail casualistas alike.

This stylish Gintonería, as the name entails, focuses on gin-based Spanish-style drinks. Artisanal pours from the spiritual home of the now cult cocktail dominate the list, each served with garnishes and accompaniments expressly added to draw out the flavours of the specific gin or tonic involved.

Photo credit: Pinterest

Address: 129 Second Street L/G Nam Cheong House, Sai Ying Pun
Operating Hours: Mon-Wed: 18pm-12:30am, Thurs:12pm-1am, Fri-Sat:12pm-2am
Tel: +852 9835 5061
Website: www.pingpong129.com
Email: info@pingpong129.com
Nearest MTR: Sai Ying Pun Station

The recently opened XX is a chic, luxuriously furnished, Hong Kong’s first speakeasy for ladies only. XX, named after the chromosomal combination only females possess, tucked into a hidden corner of the Rosewood Hong Kong hotel. To enter the venue, head through the grand double doors, up the elevators and down a dim corridor somewhere within the walls and you will find an inconspicuous knob. Flip the panel up, enter the password, and with a resounding whoosh, the wall will open inwards. It is by reservation only.

Expect sultry and intoxicating cocktails, among others: Sexy, a champagne-based cocktail, is a concoction of jasmine, bergamot orange, fizz and London No. 3 Gin. BFF, a refreshing, light, easy-on-the-throat highball that pairs Fair vodka with cucumber juice, pine needles, and yuzu vinegar and Macho, a Japanese influenced, equally sophisticated in its blend of lemongrass, matcha, Palo Santo, and Lillet Blanc.

Photo credit: Prestige Hong Kong

Address: 5/F, Rosewood Hong Kong, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui
Operating Hours: Tue-Sat: 6:00pm - 12am. Sun-Mon: Closed
Tel: +852 5239 9219
Website: www.xxspeakeasy.hk
Nearest MTR: Tsim Sha Tsui Station

This bar packed a true sense of a bar within a bar, hidden in the mezzanine level on MO Bar entering through a secret phone booth, it is the haven for stellar cocktails and equally amazing snacks. This hip and intimate spot is a unique collaboration with the operators of the iconic New York cocktail bar PDT (Please Don't Tell), PDT Hong Kong features creative cocktails developed by renowned mixologists Jim Meehan and Jeff Bell, with a talented bar team led by New York transplant and Bar Manager, Malaika Suarez alongside Head Bartender Kervin Unido.

Don’t miss PDT NYC’s legendary cocktails such as Benton’s Old Fashion and Big Fan, created for Hong Kong with locally brewed Moonzen Fujian radler. A range of delicious hot dogs, Impossible Burger served with a generous heap of waffle fries and tater tots are designed by two Michelin-starred Chef Richard Ekkebus.

Photo credit: JetSetReport.com

Address: Landmark Atrium, 15 Queen's Road Central, Central
Operating Hours: Mon–Sun: 4pm-12am (Temporarily Closed)
Tel: +852 2603 6020
Website: www.mandarinoriental.com
Email: LMHKG-RESTAURANTS@MOHG.COM
Nearest MTR: Central Station

Our founder and CEO of Hello! Tours, Laura, has been going through the ups and downs of steering the three Hello! Tours locations through this difficult time. With another friend from the travel industry, she has started a podcast to try and find solace and humour in this new world.

Insights, stories, and revelations await as Laura and Jessop bring their firsthand experiences and guests to the show as we all move forward together.

Click the image to listen to the podcast.

Le Boudoir oozes chic and sexiness thanks to its French bed-chamber inspired décor, with chandeliers, paintings in gilded frames, and Art Deco mirrors, mixed with Asian accents. It might be a little hard to find, hidden in the basement level right by sister venue Pastis, with its subtle entrance on Wyndham Street, but once you’re in, you will be blown away.

Under the crystal chandeliers, Le Boudoir’s mixologist, Max Traverse, whips out elegant cocktails, specially designed for Le Boudoir’s clientele, go for the Elle for Leather cocktail, a tantalizing champAgnesed concoctions or the Boudoir Collins, an elevation of a classic is prepared with fresh mint leaves and elderflower cordial to impart a fresh, grassiness to the Beefeater gin-based drink.

Photo credit: The Honeycombers

Address: Basement, 65 Wyndham St, Central
Operating Hours: Mon-Sat: 7pm-2am, Sun: 7pm-12am
Tel: +852 2884 9566
Website: www.pastis.hk/boudoir
Nearest MTR: Central Station

The name gives away the vibe of this hidden little gem, considered to be one of the best bars in Wan Chai, Back Bar is hidden via a side door in an alleyway on Ship Street, adjacent to the adjoining restaurant, Ham and Sherry. Just look for the yellow neon Back Bar sign near Ham and Sherry, then walk 5-6 metres down the side alley and you'll find an unmarked door to your right. 

This nostalgic yet vibrant speakeasy pays homage to Hong Kong’s iconic cha chaan tengs (Hong Kong Style Cafés) with a selection of creative, colourful cocktails by award-wining Ryan Nightingale, to match the retro vibe. The signature cocktails names play on movie titles and the drinks list is a book of parody movie posters. Chic and dimly lit, these den is the perfect spot for after-work drinks, or for a get-together with friends on weekends. Sample their diverse menu of tapas, including a Sunday special burger and fries combo.

Photo credit: SMCP

Address: 7 Ship St, Wan Chai
Operating Hours: Mon-Thu: 5:30pm-1am, Fri-Sat: 5:30pm-2am, Sun: 5:30pm-12am
Tel: +852 2555 0628
Nearest MTR: Wan Chai Station