Crazy Hour HK$19/beer

Now, you can fin cheap beer in Tsimshatsui East, the luxury 5-star hotels area.

During 'crazy hour' 6-8pm at Sticky Fingers, selected draft beer is only HK$19/pint, with free flowing unlimited order. I always order my cold fresh Stella Artois after 6pm. :D

Sticky Fingers itself ia a rock n roll bar, which usually a Filipino band perform everynight after 10pm of cover music. It is also the venue for the "World Battle of Bands" semifinals in Hong Kong. There's a large open bar with a tiny dance floor in front of the stage. There's also some Filipino working woman picking up customers at the bar everynight.

Crazy Hour: 6-8pm Daily. HK$19/selected beer
Happy Hour: 8-10pm Daily. Buy one get one free
Live Music nightly after 10pm

Sticky Fingers
Address: Shop 61-63 & 67-70 Tsim Sha Tsui Centre, G/F 66 Mody Rd, Tsimshatsui East, Kowloon, Hong Kong. [MAP]
Phone: +(852) 2369 8988
How to get there: Tsimshatsui MTR Exit P, walk along Mody Road towards Shangri-la Hotel for about 3-5 mins. It's right opposit to The Royal Garden Hotel, near SaSa.

Salon de Ning

Sophisticatedly ostentatious bar lounge on the Kowloon-side.

The décor: The interior design is inspired by the opulent private residences of 1930s Shanghai celebutante “Madame Ning.” There are four themed rooms: the L’Afrique, tent-like with back-lit lattice windows and a U-shaped Moroccan alcove; the Ski Room, a rustic Swiss Chalet complete with cozy fireplace; the Boudoir, the Madame’s own dressing room, with vintage hats on the ceiling. Stepping into them is like stepping into an old Shanghai movie scene.

The drinks: Signature drink "Ning Sling", a combination of Absolut Mandarin, lychee liqueur and passion fruit purée garnished with mint and lychee. Champagne-lovers, the bar carries an exclusive label created by Deutz of France.

The crowd: The stylish crowd who bothered to dress up. No T-shirts, shorts or flip-flops.

The music: Live band playing disco, 70s, 80s and 90s from 9pm till late on the weekdays. DJ on the weekend playing more tasteful tunes, such as jazz classics, bossa beats and ambient.

Salon de Ning
Address: B/F, The Peninsula, Salisbury Rd., Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. [MAP]
Phone: +(852) 2315 3355

Innovative Wine Tasting Bar

Wine tastings became fun with gimmicky Enomatic Wine Serving System. Enomatic is a state-of-the-art computer controlled wine serving system that monitors the operation of each bottle and allows the poured wine to be set to any quantity. The unit features individual bottle positions that can adapt to different sized bottles, electronic push-button operation, and back-lit display. The anti-oxidation feature is automatically activated whenever a new bottle is added in the system. The computer also tells the restaurant how long a bottle has been in the Enomatic.

I visited the Tasting Wine Bar in Hong Kong on Friday night. You can taste a wide selection of wines with a variety of prices, that wouldn’t usually be offered by the glass. The bar offers 40 varieties of wines (32 Reds, 7 Whites, 1 Rose), from Old to New World wines. Many of them are unable to sample in normal restaurants / bars without purchasing the whole bottle. Instead of spending more than $500 for a bottle of wine, I can taste half portion of the same wine for $89. They even have wine from Lebanon. They also offer tapas & cheeses (free one serving during happy hours), which are excellent companion to wines. I poured my own glass of wine without touching a bottle!

How does the Digital Wine Cellar works?

1. First, you walk over to a big glass-fronted box with wine bottles in it.
2. Insert a prepaid debit card
3. Hold your wineglass under a spout
4. Press a button
5. and -- Huhuu -- dispenser pour your Shiraz.

You have 3 choices to choose from the system:-
(1) By the glass (150ml)
(2) Half glass (75ml), or
(3) Tasting portion (25ml)

Each bottle is marked with the price per different serving size. The prices changes on a digital display. Cost wise, for tastings portion (i.e. 25ml), price ranging from HK$14 to HK$170 at the top end (Vintage 1997) .

The downsides of this bar was that the lights were too bright, and the low ceilings made the room very noisy and when crowded with people. Service could be improved though.

Where can I find this wine machine in Hong Kong?

Sky Lounge at Sheraton Hotel
Address : 20 Nathan Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. [MAP]
Tel : +(852) 2369 1111
Opening Hour : Mon-Thur 16:00-01:00; Fri 16:00-02:00; Sat 14:00-2:00; Sun 14:00-01:00

Tastings Wine Bar
Address : 27-29 L/G Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong. [MAP]
Tel : +(852) 2523 6282
Opening Hour : Mon-Sat 17:00-02:00 (Sun Closed)

Chinese Junk Boat Cocktail Tour

How about sailing in Hong Kong's beautiful harbour, in an traditional Chinese junk boat, with a stylish cocktail on your hand?

There's a private run junk boat called Aqua Luna (or “Cheung Po Tsai” in Cantonese), run by Aqua Restaurant Group, which owns some of Hong Kong’s most cutting edge luxury restaurants in HK, including Aqua, Ayuthaiya, WasabiSabi, etc.

Aqua Luna is probably the last traditional Chinese Junk boat to be designed and handmade in Hong Kong. This 28-metre junk was built in by a 80 year old master craftsman, supervised by an equally experienced 73 year old ship-building veteran, over a period of 18 months, using traditional Chinese boat building methods which have now all but died out in Hong Kong.

Price per person: HK$150 (day)/ HK$180 (evening) - 45 mins including cocktail /drink

Reservations:
Phone: +(852) 21168821
Website: www.aqua.com.hk
Email: info@aqua.com.hk

Sweet Shanghainese Cuisine

Restaurant Name: King's Lodge

I am not a fan of this restaurant, but if you craze for Shanghai Xiao Lung Bao and love wine chicken, and is looking for food in Tsimshatsui area, you can check this place out. Do not expect any good service or nice settings. The environment is noisy and a bit crowded. Suitable for lunch or a quick dinner. Typical Shanghainese taste, food here are a bit too sweet and oily for my tastebud.

Price: HK$50 - 150 per person

Food Review: Shanghai Xiao Lung Bao (小籠包) was one of the two dish that worth a try. It came in 4 buns in a bamboo steam basket, hot & juicy when biting. Another worht-trying dish is Wine Chicken (醉雞), It served cold, with chicken soaked in good quality yellow Chinese wine. The flavour of wine was strong, love it. However, the taste was a bit too sweet. too much bones in the chicken, with some cold white fat attached to the skin, not very tempting. Fried River Shrimps (清炒河蝦仁) had no taste at all, only crunchy. Fried Rice (霸王炒飯) only have eggs & spinr onion, very simple ingredients which is easy for one to do at home. It was very dry, if you like it dry, you'll love it. Deep Fried Shrimp Toast (蝦多士), very oily, not chrunchy enough, again the shrimps were tasteless. Cold Eggplant Salad (涼拌茄子) was OK, nice, though a bit too sweet for my taste.

Phone: +852 2723 1003

Address: G/F, Oriental Centre 67-71 Chatham Road South, TsimShaTsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. [MAP]

How to get there: 5 mins walk from Tsimshatsui MTR

Local Cheap Eat 2

Restaurant Name: Macau Restaurant

My 2 favourites "Char Chan Tang" (HK style eating house) are Tsui Wah and this one, Macau Restaurant. Selling points of this place are: Fast, Good, Cheap! Besides serving high quality of food, they always change their menu and launch some new dishes. It is not a decent place to take your date for fine dinning as noisy and crowded, expect to share tables with strangers. Do not expect good service here, and you probably have to queue up outside the restaurant during peak hour.

Price: Less than HK$50 per person

Favourite dish: Pork Chop Bun is a must try here. Taste & texture like French baguette, very crunchy, sandwich in the middle was a juicy & steaming pork chop and some fried onion, HK$17. Only limited to sell 200 buns per day. First come first serve.

Food Review: Another signature dish is the Roasted Pigeon, HK$28. Custard Tard, HK$6, very crispy but also oily, sugar was a little burn on purpose so it looks dark brownish. I love the Iced Coffee here, served in cold stainless steel cup with some chocolate power sprinkled on top, HK$12.

Phone: +852 2366 8148

Address: G/F, 25-27 Lock Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong (MAP)

How to get there: 5 mins walk from Tsimshatsui MTR

Drum Jam

After participating in this African hand drum jamming circle, you may gt addicted like me. It's a 100% hands-on drumming session. No matter you are a professional drummer, or you never drum before, everybody can join this jamming session and have fun. Highly recommended that you take part in at least once in your life time. Drumming is a powerful activity to motivate, energise, heal and connect people.

The jamming session is hosted by Kumi Masunaga, one of the most famous African drum instructors in HK, and her facilitators.

There is a monthly free drum jam session in Fringe Club. And every alternate Sunday at the Tom Lee Music Carnival at HK Cultural Centre Piazza, right next to the starferry in the waterfront.

Drum Jam Hong Kong
Price: Free admission. Drums provided.
Check out the monthly schedule here.