Causeway Bay is one of the favorite places I must visit whenever I am in Hong Kong Island. It could be the nostalgic feeling I have grown over the years – where I eat, sleep and shop in Causeway Bay when I was based in Hong Kong few years back. So this time around, when I brought my wife and my mother for a 5D4N Hong Kong free & easy trip, I have included visiting Causeway Bay Hong Kong as part of the itinerary.
When it comes to shopping, I prefer Causeway Bay to Central or Admiralty. Central and Admiralty are surrounded with high-end shopping malls that carry luxury brands that appeal more to the rich and famous. Causeway Bay, on the other hand, is a unique juxtaposition of old and new. You get to appreciate big and swanky shopping malls amidst rows of century old shop houses. The vibe here is also very different from Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon as you get to see more Caucasians and English speaking locals. Causeway Bay also boasts one of the highest rental rates for retail stores in the world.
Times Square Hong Kong
This is like the gathering place for yuppies in Hong Kong and tourists alike. It’s a huge swanky mall (a whopping 12 floors!) where most of the big fashion and luxury brands have a store front. You will find brands like Salvatore Ferragamo, Coach, Samantha Thavasa, Lane Crawford, Gucci, Burberry, Bottega Venetta, YSL, Montblanc and many others.
Plan at least half a day to shop at Times Square Hong Kong. There are also some restaurants at the basement and a familiar restaurant name to Singaporeans will be Crystal Jade. If you are lucky, you may catch some promotional events where you may watch Hong Kong actresses/actors performing on stage. I’ve even seen the famous Hong Kong pop star, Leo Ku performing here once!
How to Get There
By Train: MTR Causeway Bay Station, Exit A
Opening Hours: 10am to 10pm, daily
Address: 1 Matheson Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Island
Jardine’s Bazaar and Jardine’s Crescent
Jardine’s Crescent (渣甸街) is a long, narrow street market lined with bazaar-style shops selling bargain items like cheap fashion, watches, jewelry, hair accessories, make-up and other low priced stuff mainly targeting at young teenagers. Be ready to haggle for even lower price here.
Jardine’s Bazaar, which is just the next street from Jardine’s Cresent, has a few gems of its own. First, being the Tai Cheong Bakery (泰昌饼家）. I swear I have had eaten the best egg tart here and it was also ex-HK governor, Chris Patten’s favorite. The egg tarts are made fresh daily and it’s definitely worth the queue if any. The crust flakes are crispy and the egg custard is creamy, soft, aromatic and sweetness is just perfect! Beside the egg tarts, their almond cookies are also quite famous and my wife can easily spend HKD400 (S$63) on their almond pastries.
Along Jardine’s Bazaar are a few restaurants that serve authentic Hong Kong clay pot rice or “Bo Zai Fan” (煲仔飯). Clay pot rice is a superb dish during winter time when the piping hot sticky rice never fails to keep you warm. Frankly, any of these restaurants selling clay pot rice is good. But if you are really picky, look for one where many locals are queuing. I swear nobody does it better than the Hongkongers when it comes to Bo Zai Fan like no one does better chicken rice than Singaporeans!
How to Get There
By Train: MTR Causeway Bay Station, Exit F
Opening Hours: 11am to 9.30pm, daily
Address: Jardine’s Crescent, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Island
SOGO at Causeway Bay
This is a huge departmental store from Japan. It’s 16 story tall building houses almost everything from luxury brands to high-street fashion. When you need to recharge, go down to Basement 2 where there is a supermarket that sells mainly Japanese confectionery and cake. The famous Yuen Long’s Hang Heung “Lou Po Beng” (恆香老婆饼）can also be found here too. You don’t need to travel all the way to Yuen Long (元朗) to get your fix! Again, you can easily spend a few hours shopping here.
How to Get There
By Train: MTR Causeway Bay Station, Exit D2
Opening Hours: 10am to 10pm (Sun – Thu) / 10am – 10.30pm (Fri-Sat)
Address: 555 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Island
Island Beverly Center
This multi-storey shopping center is right across the street from Sogo. It may look nondescript but it’s a all-time favorite with the locals. There are about hundred over of hole-in-wall shops there selling mostly imported Japanese and Korean fashion. Many of the stores sell unique stuff and you can easily discover some gems here. Some stores even imported brand new Burberry Blue Label bags for sale here – which means you don’t need to fly all the way to Japan to get one now.
How to Get There
By Train: MTR Causeway Bay Station, Exit E
Opening Hours: 11am to 10pm, Daily
Address: 1 Great George Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Island
Yee Shun Milk Company – Steamed Milk Pudding
Yee Shun Milk Company (義順牛奶公司) is a very popular local dessert store that specializes in milk desserts, originated from Macau. It’s located along Lockhart Road and it’s at the stretch just behind SOGO. You may miss it as the store front is really plain with no fanciful signage. Just look for a fading green sign with the name on it or if you see a queue outside a nondescript store, that could be it.
Apparently, all the milk desserts (hot and cold) like ginger milk pudding, almond milk drink, red bean milk pudding and many others are all so good. I find it hard to recommend which steamed milk pudding tops as the best-selling dessert here. The whole place is very cramped with seats closed to each other, many locals rather buy in many tubs at one go for takeaways. Be prepared to share tables with others – this is a place to eat and just go, not ideal place for chatting.
But overall, it’s worth the visit and the milk they used are top grade and very fragrant.
How to Get There
By Train: MTR Causeway Bay Station, Exit C
Opening Hours: 12pm to 12mn, Daily
Address: 506 Lockhart Road G/F Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Island
