Hong Kong Day 5: Dim Sum and Then Some

I decided to spend my last day in Hong Kong on a low-key note, since it was probably going to be awhile before I got another chance to rest. So I slept in, did my laundry at the hostel, checked out, and basically milled about the city at my leisure.

There were a few final attractions I wanted to visit before I boarded my evening flight. First and most important on my list was a little hole in the wall restaurant called Tim Ho Wan, which specializes in dim sum. What makes the dim sum at Tim Ho Wan famous is simple: it's good. Tim Ho Wan has a Michelin star to its name, and is billed as being the most inexpensive Michelin starred restaurant in the world (notice that I've been using "in the world" a lot when describing places in Hong Kong). The crowd assembled outside waiting to get in was ridiculous, but I had time to kill and curiosity to satisfy. I asked a person queued up how long she'd been in line, and she told me that her party of two had already waited for close to an hour. I resigned myself to twiddling my thumbs for awhile and went to the front to add my name to the wait list.

"How many in your party?"
"Just me."
"Come this way, please."

I tried not to gloat too much as I was led to a lone empty chair at an otherwise occupied table.

Tim Ho Wan is notorious for its  BBQ pork buns, so I ordered those along with a few other dishes. While waiting for my food, I did a little eavesdropping. The two young travelers I was seated with were from Korea, and my Korean is decent enough to know that they were talking about little ol' me. Eventually they said hi to me and asked where I'm from, and after I introduced myself I had a little fun.

"한국 사람?" (You are Koreans?)
"한국말할줄 알아요??" (You speak Korean??)
"조금 ㅋㅋ." (A little!)

Suffice to say the two turned red pretty fast, but they were nice and we chatted until my food arrived. The first thing I tried was a BBQ pork bun, and it took just one bite to see why they're so renowned. Hot and fresh with a sweet, cookie-like exterior, the interior is soft and chewy and packed with a savory morsel of BBQ pork. For less than $2, you get a plate of three, which is practically a steal when you taste how amazing they are. I also had vermicelli rolls and stewed beef, which were both excellent, but without a doubt the highest praise belongs to those incredible pork buns.

It's become a sort of habit of mine to visit the tallest building in a city on or before the last day of a visit, so from Tim's I went to the ICC, the International Commerce Center, and took an elevator up to the observation deck on the 100th floor. Although the view was obscured by fog, the observation deck was practically devoid of people so it was a nice chance to look out over the city and reflect on my time in Hong Kong. Following that I took the elevator up a few more floors to the Ritz Carlton for a cocktail, and as the staff courteously guided me to the hotel restaurant I did my best to look like I was the sort of customer who could afford a room at the Ritz . Sadly, all of the window booths were already reserved for afternoon teatime, an interesting cultural leftover from Hong Kong's period under British colonial rule. I had my cocktail regardless and scooted out.

I spent the rest of my day checking out small restaurants and trying to satisfy my hunger for Hong Kong food. Eventually I made my way to the airport and arrived without incident. I left Hong Kong that night around 8pm, on a plane that would take me to Bangkok, Thailand.