Outside business hours at a typical dai pai dong in Kong Kong. Photo / Getty Images
There's an airy, open feel to The Elephant Grounds cafe's Old Town Central home, with warm wood tones, vertical gardens and an upstairs book nook with comfortable leather sofas. My typically millennial pick for breakfast is the avocado sourdough with dill yoghurt ($18). Don't forget an expertly prepared coffee and
"The Peanut Gallery", a wildly photogenic peanut butter icecream sandwich with strawberry jam and candied peanuts. $40 total.
PMQ (Police Married Quarters) represents a great undertaking to revitalise a historical residential site. Now it's a retail/creative centre scattered with installations and exhibits, you can happily spend time window shopping for design-led brands ranging in price from high street to high end.
Cat Street Market, a black market for stolen goods during the colonial period, is now a hub for quirky antiques such as old Hong Kong movie posters and street signs. Allow $50.
The renowned street food stalls called dai pai dong are now an endangered species in Hong Kong, because the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department is not renewing any licences. Thankfully, as long as this generation passes their licences to the next, grandfather laws will keep them alive. Sing Kee represents the essence of dai pai dong street-food culture. Among the numerous stalls on Stanley St, it is the most packed. Try the fried oyster omelette and chilli crab and fish and don't worry too much about the hygiene department. There is no official opening time but it is great on a hot day with a cold beer. $10.
Built in 1847 during the Qing Dynasty and situated halfway up the beautiful Victoria Peak, Man Mo Temple is one of the oldest in the city. The plain wooden exterior is at odds with the wonders inside. Wander among the elaborate golden decorations, hundreds of lanterns and huge red coils of incense and be sure to have your fortune told. Ask your question and hand over $20, then shake the jar until a single stick rises to the top. The Man Mo Fortune Stick predictions book will tell you what is in store.
