My kids' favourites in Hong Kong

Who would have thought we'd still be here after more than 5 years ... going 6. And no plans to leave as of now. The twins were 20 months when they arrived, big sister was barely 4. That's how time flies. Over the years, the kids have developed their own love-hate relationship with Hong Kong, although it's mostly love. It's all they can really remember.

The "hate" part is mostly related to strangers touching them, grabbing them for pictures and other not always appropriate behaviour. And yes, they do comment on the loud burping as well. As far as the inappropriate touching goes, that's mostly a thing of the past. Blond haired, blue eyed, boy - girl twin toddlers (can you get any luckier with both a boy and a girl ...?! My husband got the thumbs up many times ...) was just too much too handle for some. In the beginning we laughed about it, and the twins didn't really seem to care either. It was especially hard if we were asked to wait somewhere, and we basically had nowhere to go and within minutes we would be surrounded by hordes of Chinese. It has gotten a lot better, they're less interested and it's less obvious these days that they are twins. Most people don't believe me when I say they're twins and they insist that the boy MUST be younger as he's smaller ... right?

Anyway, Hong Kong has lots of things to love, and my kids happily agree! It's easy to travel around, taxis are cheap, lots of little parks, playgrounds and sports' facilities, food everywhere, it's safe city ... Sure, it's not great for strollers (especially double ones), public toilets are not always clean (but are never far away), the air can be polluted, the humidity can be horrendous but the good outweighs the bad in my opinion!

So a simple list of our kids' favorite things to do in Hong Kong! 
* Hong Kong Park
* The Botanical & Zoological Gardens
* The Coastal Museum of Defence
* Quarry Bay Playground and the Fireboat
* Big Wave Bay Beach near Shek O and St. Stephen's Beach near Stanley (very quiet, lots of shade, sunny in the afternoon and a small restaurant with tasty food)
* The Peak (and the hike around the Peak, all flat), take a public bus or taxi up and take the Peak Tram down (may still be busy, but going up is almost impossible).
* Science Museum is always a hit.
* The Temple of the 10,000 Buddhas is nice for slightly older kids who don't mind climbing stairs.
* Stanley is always great for a run around, especially now with the new Stanley Plaza, lots of kids' clothing as well (mostly up to 6 years old).
* Chi Lin Nunnery & Nan Lian Gardens near Diamond Hill.
* Lamma Island's family hike takes about 2 hours, very flat, and easy with a stroller as well.
* Taking the tram, especially the one with final destination North Point as it pushes itself slowly through a crowded market.
* Great for a stroll or a picknick, Tai Tam Country Park.
* The escalator is always a nice ride up and it brings you to lots of nice restaurants with a wide range of cuisine in Soho!
* The renewed Maritime Museum near the Star Ferry Pier in Central is worth a visit too, great views and lots of things to touch!

And there are many other great things around Hong Kong ... the Hong Kong Heritage Museum in Shatin has a nice kids' area, the Space Museum in TST (slightly older and some of the exhibits are not fantastic), Lantau with the cable car and the Big Buddha, Po Toi Island is a simple weekend ferry ride away from Stanley, the Dragon's Back Hike for those who are slightly older (5-6 years +), my children are still keen to drink a soft drink in the Ritz Carlton's Ozone bar on top of the ICC (I promised so many times), Wetland Park is quite far out but worth a visit, there's a lovely hike from the Police Museum on Stubbs Road down via the Aberdeen Reservoirs into Aberdeen, Sai Kung is good for a hike, lunch and the beach around Clear Water Bay. And there's always Disneyland and Ocean Park, but I am a strong believer that fun for kids doesn't have to include entertainment parks. There is seriously lots to do in Hong Kong!

Their favourite places to eat ...
* Din Tai Fung without a doubt, dim sum ... expect huge lines during the weekend so we're usually there just before noon.
* Little Burro ... big but tasty.
* Vietnamese Saigon in Stanley, they love soft shell crab.
* Shek O Chinese and Thailand Seafood Restaurant in Shek O, they love calamari (any good calamari will do), Blacksheep is another option in Shek O.
* The Glasshouse, our new neighbourhood Chinese joint on Braemar Hill (North Point) with good sweet and sour pork and calamari!
* Cannot go wrong with Pizza Express, the one in Stanley is great and so is the one in Ocean Terminal.
* Same goes for Classified, many locations over Hong Kong, kids options too ... with crayons.
* My kids don't like all sushi (neither do I, despite having lived in Japan), but they love Sen-ryo, they just pick of the belt what they do like, reasonably priced as well. 
* And if all fails ... there is always McDonalds ... and the famous American chain doesn't get much cheaper than Hong Kong ...