Hong Kong Day 13: A Rainy Day in Hong Kong

Today was a hard day.

Everything we did in Hong Kong just felt a little more difficult than it should have. That happens on long trips. By this point, your patience is thinner, your energy is lower, and the little things start to stack up. So many of our earlier stops on this trip felt easy to navigate, which made Hong Kong feel even harder by comparison. Add in steady rain all day, and it meant we had to rethink a lot of what we had planned since several of our original ideas just didn’t make sense in that kind of weather.

Because of that, we weren’t in any rush to get out the door. We all slept well and let ourselves sleep in a bit, which felt like exactly what we needed. We went down to the main restaurant for brekkie. The food was great, but the space was crowded and loud, which made it feel a little more chaotic than relaxing.

After breakfast, we headed out for the day with our first stop being Man Mo Temple. We debated how to get there since the metro would still leave us with about a 10–12 minute walk in the rain. When we came out of the station, it wasn’t too bad at first, but then we hit a long stretch of stairs.

Hong Kong is incredibly hilly, and we had heard ahead of time that it isn’t the most stroller-friendly city. We tried adjusting our maps to avoid stairs, but more often than not, they were unavoidable. So we went into our now-familiar routine. Alison carried Madeline, and I hauled the stroller up. Not glamorous, but it got the job done.

Man Mo Temple ended up being a really interesting stop. It’s one of the oldest temples in Hong Kong, built in the mid-1800s and dedicated to the gods of literature (Man) and war (Mo). What stands out immediately are the giant spiral incense coils hanging from the ceiling. They burn slowly over days or even weeks, filling the space with a thick haze that gives the whole temple a distinct feel. Walking in feels like stepping into a completely different world, especially given that it’s tucked right in the middle of modern high-rises.

After the temple, we made our way toward the Central Market area. Getting there, of course, involved more stairs. Somewhere along the way, Madeline fell asleep, which ended up working in our favor.

One of the highlights in that area is the Central–Mid-Levels escalator system, one of the longest outdoor covered escalator systems in the world. Naturally, we had to ride it. Madeline has been obsessed with escalators this entire trip, so it was a little disappointing she slept through this one. We’ll just have to add it to the list for next time.

After wandering through Central Market, we headed to Tim Ho Wan for lunch. It’s famous for being one of the most affordable Michelin-starred restaurants in the world, and it definitely lives up to the reputation.

There’s always a wait, but with Madeline asleep in the stroller, we didn’t mind. We grabbed a number and waited about 30 minutes before being seated. They let us park the stroller right next to the table, and she slept through the entire meal.

We had to try the BBQ pork buns, which are their signature dish. We ordered two sets of three, which felt like a lot at the time, but they were so good we didn’t regret it for a second. This was one of the best things I’ve eaten in my life. We also ordered shrimp dumplings, pork dumplings, a pan-fried turnip cake, and some noodles in case Madeline woke up hungry.

We had tea with the meal. We’re not big tea drinkers back home, but it’s something we’ve started to enjoy more while traveling through this part of the world. When in China. They also gave us a complimentary milk tea, which ended up being really refreshing.

By the time we finished, we were full and very happy with that stop.

Madeline was still asleep, so we headed to our next destination and took the metro across the bay to Nan Lian Garden. She woke up along the way, and we could tell she was hungry, so we stopped at a bakery near the station and grabbed her a few pastries. She devoured them.

Nan Lian Garden was a great surprise. It’s a beautifully maintained classical Chinese garden designed in the style of the Tang Dynasty. Despite being in the middle of the city, it feels calm and tucked away. The timing worked out well too. The rain had mostly let up while we were there, so it felt like we had the gardens almost to ourselves.

Madeline loved it. She ran around, climbed steps, looked at ceramics with Alison, and spent a lot of time watching the koi and birds. It was a good reset for all of us.

As we were wrapping up, the rain started picking up again, so we decided to head over to the nearby Chi Lin Nunnery.

To get there, we had to go up another set of stairs. I asked a staff member where the lift was, and he pointed me in the right direction but mentioned they were closing in five minutes. We split up quickly. Alison took Madeline up the stairs while I ran to find the lift with the stroller.

Somewhere in that process, we had completely different ideas of where we were meeting.

I got to the top and didn’t see them. At first, I wasn’t too concerned, but after a minute or two, I started to wonder where they had gone. Then another minute passed, and I started to get a little anxious. I went back down toward the gardens, asking anyone nearby if they had seen them.

Meanwhile, Alison had gone straight into the temple complex. Right as she got in, they started closing things down and directed her toward the exit. The problem was, the complex is huge. The exit ended up being about a quarter mile away and across a busy street.

Madeline, for her part, was having a great time and kept asking to see more Buddhas.

Eventually, Alison was able to turn on her phone and share her location, and I made my way over to them. Definitely one of those moments where things escalate quickly, even though everything turns out fine.

From there, we headed back to the hotel. The metro ride took close to an hour, and by the time we got back, it was already around 6:00. We needed dinner, but the rain had picked up again, and Madeline was nearing the end of her day.

We checked a few restaurants in the hotel, but they were either full or required reservations. We also looked around Pacific Place Mall, which is connected to the Conrad, but most of the options were either too upscale, too busy, or just not a great fit for where we were at energy-wise with a toddler.

So we pivoted.

We ended up going with Shake Shack.

We had seen it everywhere on this trip—in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Hong Kong—and had joked about it multiple times, but didn’t think we’d actually eat there. We grabbed it to go and had a little picnic back in our hotel room.

And it was great.

The food tasted just like it does back home, which felt oddly comforting. I tried the Hong Kong mango bubble shake, which was fine, but the real win was just having an easy, low-stress dinner together.

Today felt hard. The weather, the terrain, the logistics, everything seemed to push back on us a bit. But when I look back, there were still a lot of really good moments mixed in. A great meal, a peaceful garden, a little adventure that ended safely, and a fun night in together.

Madeline accumulated quite a collection of stuffed animals

Not every day on a trip is going to feel easy, but even the harder ones seem to find a way to work out.

Here’s hoping tomorrow is a smoother day in Hong Kong.