First Day, No Sleep, Tim Ho Wan, and Victoria Peak | Hong Kong - Day 1

Last updated on January 3, 2026

I’M HANGING IN HONG KONG THIS WEEK!

For my first vacation since moving to South Korea and taking an English-teaching job, I’m fulfilling my wish to visit a place that reminds me of my family. I missed hearing Cantonese spoken at home and eating Cantonese food, things that I grew up with. In this blog post, I’m taking you along with me on the first day of my arrival in Hong Kong after coming from South Korea. I will be immersing myself in the local streets, eating at a popular dim sum restaurant, and ending the day with a night skyline from Victoria Peak.

Riding on an empty subway at night on the way to Incheon International airport

I spent my whole Saturday anticipating my flight, which was at 5 in the morning on Sunday. Gotta make my way to the subway station before it closes around midnight! (I was actually surprised to see how empty it was on a Saturday night.)

The airport was also quite empty…

Waiting at Incheon International Airport

It was my first time riding with Hong Kong Express, and I was pretty impressed!! I didn’t have any problems riding with them. It was a simple and comfortable (surprisingly has good leg space!!) 3-hour ride for me.

Flying from South Korea to Hong Kong — South Korea → Hong Kong

Landing at Hong Kong International Airport — GOOD MORNING, Hong Kong International Airport

The plane arrived by 8 AM, and I was soon on my way to drop off my luggage at my accommodation. At that point, I felt like a zombie, having barely slept for 3 hours. But no time to waste!! MUST. GET. FOOD.

Airport Station to Hong Kong Station — Airport Station -> Hong Kong Station

Octopus card, extremely convenient to pay for public transportation as well as in convenience stores!

Dim sum at Tim Ho Wan

The first touristy thing I did was eat dim sum at Tim Ho Wan in North Point. As I waited for my friend to arrive, I added us to the waitlist. Wait number 85 for two people. Our wait was about 20 minutes! Not too bad.

Tim Ho Wan's order form — Tim Ho Wan’s order form

dim sum in HK — Starting from the top left going clockwise: steam pork dumplings with shrimp, vermicelli roll stuffed with beef, baked bun with BBQ pork, steamed chicken feet with black bean sauce, steamed fresh shrimp dumplings, steamed beancurd skin roll filled with pork and vegetable, pan-fried turnip cake

I thought it was delicious! Ever since moving to South Korea, I haven’t had dim sum, so I do miss having it with my family back in the U.S.!!

Next, we walked around the North Point area. It was a really sunny, hot, and humid day! We stopped by a Pacific cafe to grab a drink and chill in the A.C. I got an English tea latte! We took some time to look at what we wanted to do next.

Sightseeing in Central, Hong Kong

After that, we got on the MTR (Metro Transit Rail) to go to Causeway Bay, then to Central, to see the shops there. I was actually quite overwhelmed by the amount of people everywhere. There are crowds EVERYWHERE. The first words that popped into my head when I encountered all those people were “This is a human traffic jam.”

Crowd of people in Hong Kong crossing the road — Crossing the road in Hong Kong

But besides the people, I’m really loving the architecture of the buildings in Hong Kong. I love the different colors, and there are A LOT of tall buildings! Due to Hong Kong’s large population, there is barely any more land to build homes on, which is why they build so many floors up.

We walked around Soho in Central for a bit, then stumbled upon the longest escalator in the world, the Mid-Levels Escalators. The downside of the escalator is that you have to walk all the way back down.

The view half way up the Mid-levels escalator

At the top of the Mid-Levels Escalator — I made it all the way up!

Going back down the Mid-Levels Escalator — Now going back down~

Walking around Central (Hong Kong), some cool artwork on the buildings — Walking around the area, some cool artwork on the buildings

Skyline at Victoria Peak

To finish off our first day, we went to Victoria Peak! Here is where you can get the best view of the Hong Kong skyline. We took Bus 15 near Central Star Ferry, which gets us close to the top of the Peak. It is also the most affordable compared to taking the tram. However, it takes a bit of time because it is a local bus that stops along the route. If you’re in no rush, this is a great way to save a bit of money and get a feel of the Hong Kong mountain.

Different landmarks on the Central directory pole

On Bus 15, going up to Victoria Peak — On Bus 15, going up to Victoria peak

We got a great view from the Sky Terrace 428. The entrance fee is HKD$52, roughly USD$6.62. We spent a good amount of time standing there and staring at this beautiful view in the night sky.