Welcoming the year 2021 brings us hope and optimism about the possibility of traveling again. Now that vaccines have finally being rolled out to different countries, people are somehow seeing a silver lining in ending our continuous war for COVID-19.

Hong Kong will always be a great destination for a diverse cultural experience where east meets west. The Hello! Hong Kong team is thrilled to showing you the city with a picture-perfect skyscrapers, Instagram-worthy lmust see sites, and Michelin-starred local Chinese cuisines.

If you will be travelling to the city for the first time, we know that finding a great place to stay in Hong Kong is the first thing on your traveling checklist, and thinking of a great place to stay is a bit daunting.

To help you out, we have put together our recommended places to stay whilst you are in the city. Check out our City guide page for more information and tips on other Hong Kong activities that you can do when you are out and about the city.

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Hong Kong is doing its best to prevent further the spread of the COVID-19 virus. As a result, the government has extended the social distancing measures until January 20, 2021. which means, the public gathering is only limited to 2 people per group, and a curfew for the dine-in restaurant until 6 pm.

Hong Kong is known for its delicious food and local Michelin starred restaurants. Due to these restrictions, and also to avoid getting infected with the virus, most people opt to do their own cooking and some of them prefer doing take away.

We know that you miss Hong Kong, especially its local cuisines. You are not alone! Our Hello! Hong Kong Tour guides miss them too! So we have asked some of them, which of the restaurants they miss going to, and their go-to orders. Below are their top pick restaurant recommendations.

Tsui Kee Dim Sum

As of the lockdown, Mel, hardly ever go out. He highly recommends visiting the Tsui Kee dim sum restaurant at Prince Edward. The restaurant offers different kinds of mouthwatering local Dim Sum that everybody loves!

Dim Sum is a large range of small dishes that Cantonese people traditionally enjoy in restaurants for breakfast and lunch.

Fulongmen Seafood Hotpot Restaurant

Just like Mel, Ryan hasn’t been in a restaurant for over 2 months now and he recall missing Chicken Hot Pot at Fulongmen Seafood Hotpot Restaurant. An all you can eat restaurant which is a perfect place to satisfy your cravings for some good ole hot pot with friends and family or Ryan’s favorite the Chicken pot.

Dai Pai Dong

Alex, our newest guide miss going to Dai Pai Dong- a type of open-air food stall in Hong Kong. His go-to order whenever he visits are the local Oxen rice noodles- one the popular Cantonese street food and the soft and sweet white rice cake that can also be found in wet markets or some shops selling Chinese pastries.

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One of the lovely things about taking a tour with us at Hello! Tours is that you will form a friendship with our guides. We were so excited when Gail Holloway, one of our tour guests, got back in touch to let us know she had published her first book which is set in Hong Kong and Japan! Gail came on our evening History and Culture Tour in Singapore. You can see in the pictures below that she had a wonderful time exploring the city and also was able to meet Hello! Tours CEO/Founder Laura Blackhall.

First photo: Gail (from left) beside Laura, all smiles after a day in Singapore. Second Photo: Gail and friends Locked in a jail cell in the former Supreme Court

You can now grab a Kindle edition of her new book on Amazon and visit her website https://www.gailholloway.com/ for more information about her new book, travel blogs, and to keep yourself updated on her new future projects.

Cherry Blossom Footsteps: Adventures in Japan and Hong Kong

Author: Gail Holloway
Format: Kindle Edition
Buy it here: Amazon

Twenty-something Lauren is embarking on her first-ever overseas adventure - to Japan for the cherry blossoms, Zen gardens and majestic temples, where she makes use of her uni studies. She then travels on to Hong Kong, where she traces the 1960s footsteps of her beloved nan, in more ways than one. This enchanting tale follows Lauren on a fun journey, through two vibrant Asian cultures. With ancient history, modern life, new friendships and romance, Lauren’s is a story of discovery - of new lands, and herself.

Photo and description credit: Amazon

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2020 was definitely a challenging year for everyone. A lot of plans, events, trips were canceled because of the pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus. The world stopped and borders were closed. Despite the challenges that everyone had experienced, people all over the world are resilient in overcoming the new normal and are hopeful for the year 2021.

In Hong Kong, the government replaced a traditional fireworks display over Victoria Harbour with a live-streamed virtual display to welcome 2021.

Video courtesy: Hong Kong Tourism Board

New year’s celebration probably is very different now from all over the world. How did your country celebrate new year's eve?

Hello! Hong Kong Tours team is very hopeful with what the year of the OX has to offer! We believe that we will all see you again in the year 2021!

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This year COVID-19 has put a stop to our ability to travel. We want to keep in touch and bring Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo to your doorstep. Hello! Tours team have come up with a very special program for all of you!

Every month we will send you a postcard and a thoughtfully chosen local gift with a video blog from one of our Hello! Hong Kong Tours guides telling you more about your gift and the place that we bought it. Your monthly membership fee will provide our team with some much-needed income. In return, we will select meaningful souvenirs, write a heartfelt message, and offer you discounts on future tours, when we can all travel freely again.

The Holiday by post membership program is available in all our 3 locations. Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan! Perfect for your personal collections and gift especially this coming Holidays!

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From it’s vibrant people, awe-mazing skyscrapers and even the public transportation, Hong Kong is a city full of colors. When you are in a Hello! Hong Kong tours, you will notice that each MTR station has different colors. Red for Central, Yellow for Tsim Sha Tsui, and the color goes on. Did you ever wonder why the colors are different for each station?

Aside from the obvious reason that colors help differentiate each station, The main reason is, bright colors were adopted to lighten up the subway system.

MTR colored station on our Hello! Hong Kong tour. Photo Credits: discovery cathaypacific

Architects planned the colors to help people navigate the system especially during the ’70s where people who don’t understand English or Chinese will be able to recognize the place by color. Most of the name of the colors were derived from its Chinese name, the meaning of its place, and the consideration for the place surrounding environment.

If you are out on a tour, don’t forget to take pictures with the help of our Hello! Hong Kong tour guide and tag our Facebook page Hello! Hong Kong Tours!

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Hello! Hong Kong is proud to be part of the ICM’s Virtual Banquet - streamed live on October 9, 2020 from Hong Kong. The annual banquet included a silent auction to raise funds to reach more communities in both the Philippines and Uganda that are in need.

Hello! Hong Kong donated 2 spots on our Residents Tour which were successfully contributed to HK$4,000 to the overall of HK$13,300,000 raised in the auction. We hope this contribution will help change lives of the people in Philippines and Uganda for the better. ICM has spent the last 27 years transforming over one million lives. For more information on their work please visit: www.caremin.com

ICM’s focus is on children living in poverty at the absolute bottom of the economic ladder, providing help, inspires hope and creates change in families earning less than US$0.50 a day.

Travel restriction is still in force and borders of every country are still closed to leisurely travels. Luckily, the government has relaxed the social distancing restriction allowing a maximum of 4 people in a group. Why not take advantage of the time being ‘stuck’ in our wonderful city and revisit the places that we normally go to. Just don’t forget to wear masks and bring your alcohol and hand sanitizers.

Hong Kong is a very unique city as there a lot of places and Hong Kong activities to explore! From a street market, shopping malls, Michelin street food, and hole in the wall restaurants that are rich in history!

One of the most famous and oldest dim sum places in Hong Kong that you can also visit when you book our HONG KONG ISLAND FOOD & CULTURE RESIDENTS TOUR is the Lin Heung Tea House. It offers the best dim sum in Hong Kong and the best place to experience the traditional way of ordering dim sum from a trolley.

Try dim sum served in trolleys on our Hello! Hong Kog Tour

Did you know that Lin Heung Tea has been featured in several films, including The Longest Summer (1998) and In the Mood for Love (2000)?. A lot of stories to tell about the place and our Hello! Hong Kong tour guide will definitely fill you in on those very interesting topics over dim sums and desserts!

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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.

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