Cute Travels

a blog dedicated to all things cute around the world

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Giant Fuchiko in Hong Kong

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Blogging is both my hobby (this blog) and my job (other stuff).  Because of this, sometimes I get really sick of it.  It’s hard to write good quality content all the time (although I hardly ever do on this blog).  I wish I was one of those bloggers that could write about what I’m passionate about and still make money.  Unfortunately, what I’m interested in is so obscure so nobody wants to read about it.

This post is an example of “getting crappy blog posts out of my system”.  I don’t want to have to consider SEO or keywords or even if anyone will read this.  This post is about the gachapon character “Fuchiko”.  You can read more about her here but, in summary, she’s a little plastic figure that you buy in “blind boxes” (it means you don’t know which variation you’ll get until you open the box) or capsule toy machines (“gachapon”) machines in Japan. [Read more…] about Giant Fuchiko in Hong Kong

Big news!

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Hey guys, long time no post.  I’ll back in action soon, a lot has happened – I got married in November!  We took a vacation in Hong Kong and Japan afterwards and saw so many cute places.  So much to post about!

Until then – here are some photos:

Hello Kitty Secret Garden café – Hong Kong
Line and Star Wars Lego displays in Hong Kong
Cafe de Miki Hello Kitty cafe – Odaiba
Pon de Lion café – Solamachi
Ponponpurin café – Harajuku
Bunny themed café – Omotesando
Cats in Himeji park

 

Merry Christmas, and talk to you soon!

Moe Maid Cafe – Mongkok, Hong Kong

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When I pass a maid café, I can’t resist going in.  What can I say?  I like think the whole concept is pretty cute, if a little (or more than a little) pervy at times.  I didn’t expect to find a maid café outside of Japan so when I stumbled across “Moe Maid” in Mongkok, Hong Kong, I was pleasantly surprised.

While shopping in Mongkok we noticed a woman in maid costume handing out flyers.  We talked to her a bit and found out the cafe was nearby. 
We went up a nondescript building in a sketchy looking elevator to find a queue of high school boys.  Unfortunately we couldn’t get a seat at that time because we had no reservation, so we went to eat at an ice cream café instead.
Since we’d run out of things to do by the last day, we returned to Moe Maid just before going to the airport.  At first they turned us away but the friendly maid we met on the street the last time appeared and found us a seat. Inside there were lots of free tables so I don’t know if they just randomly refuse people or if people had made reservations and were coming soon.
The maids are really friendly and chatty, and the clientele were mostly groups of teenagers (unlike in the ones in Japan which are mostly frequented by older men). There was some anime playing on a TV screen so it’s a safe guess to say that most of the kids who hang out there were anime fans. I did feel a bit old, like I’d stumbled into a high school club but I decided to embrace the experience.
 
The menu is mostly simple Japanese food.  I didn’t try anything savoury but the iced rose latte was surprisingly delicious.  My friend’s iced dessert looked like poop but tasted decent.
I also had “cake of the day” which was tiramisu. It was nothing special but I ate it all.
They provided a bell to ring to call the maids but they didn’t kneel at your table/call you master/flirt with you like they do in Japan so that was a plus for me.  I find that kind of thing very forced and awkward.
The decor wasn’t great, it is a teeny tiny place.  I’d say it can fit a maximum of ten people. It’s fun to look out the window at all the people rushing by on the streets of one of the world’s most densely populated areas (Mongkok).  I wouldn’t recommend this place for the average tourist, maybe for teenagers or people who like anime. You probably won’t get in unless you make a reservation, there are much better places to eat in HK but we still had a fun experience. If you are a guy I’d guess they probably won’t let you in because it seems like they randomly refuse whoever they like.

Moe Maid Cafe,
Flat B, 5/F, Fook Tai Building,
24-26 Soy Street, 
Mong Kok

Avenue of Comic Stars, Kowloon Park – Hong Kong

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We found the Avenue of Comic Stars accidentally, and I’m very glad we did!  Our hotel was on Nathan Road so we walked past Kowloon park most days on our way elsewhere.  One morning we decided to go in, as we’d gotten up ridiculously early (7am) and nothing else was open yet.

The Avenue of Comic Stars is a temporary exhibition featuring characters from Hong Kong comic books. Therefore, none of them were familiar to me.  I could still appreciate the adorable designs though.
I can’t tell if this panda is crying or sweating.  Poor thing, either way.  
Seeing the figures made me really curious as to what part their character played in the comics.  If anyone knows the stories please let me know in the comments.
 
There were many more statues than those I’ve included here.  A lot were muscular, posing action figures so they didn’t appeal to me as much as the cutesy ones.  This blog is called Cute Travels after all, not Muscular Adventure Travels.
Avenue of Comic Stars,
Kowloon Park,
22 Austin Road,
Hong Kong

Charlie Brown Cafe, Snoopy Themed Restaurant – Hong Kong

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I’m on a mission to visit every themed restaurant in the world.  Well, only the cute ones.  The Charlie Brown Cafe in Hong Kong was my fifteenth.  And it was one of my favourites too.  I’m not even a big Snoopy fan, I found the show kinda dreary as a child.  However, the photos online looked adorable and it very close to our hotel so it was the first place we hit when we arrived hungry in Hong Kong.

 
It’s just off Nathan Road, a really busy and bright area.  The over-the-top signage makes it pretty easy to spot.  A big Charlie statue holds the menu outside.  Everything is in English, as is usual for Hong Kong restaurants.
All of the food was themed and completely adorable.  I always have this problem in themed restaurants – I must order the most elaborately decorated thing on the menu rather than the thing I want to eat. 
So, I ended up with much more food than was reasonable. I started with the Hong Kong style french toast, which was delicious.  It’s not made with brioche like french toast in France and it tastes like it’s been deep fried in butter.  It’s quite nice but I could feel my arteries clogging up more and more with each bite.
I got a seasonal hazelnut hot chocolate to go with it.  I love flavoured hot chocolate so this didn’t disappoint.

My friend got a small chocolate cake and I got a matcha sponge slice.  I like matcha a lot, it’s hard to find on menus outside asia so I make the most of it when I travel.

My friend ordered hotcakes.  They’re like Amerian style pancakes.
The decor is so warm and cosy.  They had an area for kids’ parties too, I’d say this place is really popular with children and teenagers.  Nice for tourists to watch the busy street below from a window seat as well.
The theme went from floor to ceiling.
Even the bathroom was themed too.
There was a little shop with Snoopy souvenirs – soft toys and phone charms.  There were also a lot of edible things you could take away like these cookies and lollipops.
Charlie Brown Cafe,
58-60 Cameron Rd, 
Hong Kong

Afternoon tea at the Ritz Carlton – Hong Kong

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I picked Hong Kong as a holiday destination for many reasons, and I’d be lying if didn’t say the amazing afternoon tea at the Ritz Carlton wasn’t high up on that list.  Afternoon tea is something I like to sample when I visit different countries.  With so many to compare, it’s kinda hard to impress me at this point.  Usually they excel in one or two areas but fall down somewhere, like delicious desserts and sandwiches but terrible scones.  Well, afternoon tea at the Ritz Hong Kong blew me away, stunning food, stunning view and a lovely relaxed atmosphere.

I have a thing for cityscape views.  Apparently it’s got the best best skyline in the world (I don’t know who decides these things but when you see it it’s hard to argue!).  
We booked by email a month or two in advance.  If you go here I really recommend getting the window seat like we did.  There’s really no point going otherwise.  The food is delicious but the most captivating thing is the view.  At the time of writing, this branch of the Ritz was the highest hotel in the world.
I am actually a bit scared of heights so I was afraid eating and being on the 102nd floor wouldn’t be a good combination (hello vomit) but I had nothing to worry about. The atmosphere is so relaxing, there was someone playing piano and the staff are so attentive.  
I ordered some Ginger and Herb tea to start, anticipating nausea from eating so much,  We had actually come straight from a massive lunch at a vegetarian restaurant, where we’d accidentally ordered  eight main courses thinking they were mini dim sum.  I’m not one to back down to a challenge when it comes to food, especially afternoon tea.
When I made the reservation I requested the vegetarian version, they informed us that it was already prepared.  When the food came out, we (and everyone else) spent more time photographing the food than eating it.  It would be amazing to stay and watch the sunset and Symphony of Lights from here but we had other things to do that day.
I started with the sandwiches.  They were very tasty.  The non-vegetarian ones had a more elaborate presentation, rolled up like a cake.  These sandwiches also started my obsession with mango salsa.
 
Moving onto the desserts.  They were all delicious.  And I’m not a dessert person.  Really, I can’t find any fault with this place.  
Finally I managed to eat the scones.  I don’t know how I did it.  They weren’t the most amazing scones in the world (M&S cream tea actually wins that category for me, surprisingly) but they were cute and miniature and perfectly acceptable.  
This final dessert was weird, it came on the scone tier.  Apparently it’s a “lychee and mango shot” but the top part looks like an egg and yolk so we were very suspicious for a while (since we are not lovers of raw egg).  Actually the orange part burst like an egg yolk when we poked it and was full of mango syrup. 
Ritz Carlton Hotel,
International Commerce Centre (ICC),
1 Austin Rd W,
Hong Kong