Outside of suit making and hiking, we enjoyed some other fun aspects of Hong Kong.
Ferries
Just like Sydney, Hong Kong has ferries as a part of public transportation. Not only were they efficient, cheap, and really easy to use, but we also had a blast riding them. On our way back from the tailor (across on Kowloon island), we took the ferry to soak in all the city sights.
Making our way on the ferry at sunset.
While we were there a cruise ship was in port!
Pulling into the ferry terminal.
There were actually a couple different piers, so we never had to wait long for a ferry.
The ferries themselves were pretty big and comfy for the short ride across.
Looking at Hong Kong Island from Kowloon.
Trolleys
There were moments in Hong Kong that we felt like we were in San Francisco: hellooo trolleys! They were an adorable way to see more of the city. The major benefit being that they were a bit slower than buses, so we could just look out the (open) windows and soak it all in. We spent an afternoon roaming around on the trolley and people watching: perfection.
Trolleys ran right through the heart of the central district.
Gotta have those artsy trolley shots. Plus showing off my new HK pearl earrings!
Trolleys ran super frequently, and had a wonderful leisurely pace.
Look at this guy loving the trolley life!
Shopping
In Hong Kong, we did something that we really haven’t done on this trip: shopping! I finally convinced Adam that this would be a fun place to roam around for souvenirs. We spent one afternoon in and out of stores and while we didn’t buy much, it was fun to shop for a little bit. The shopping in Hong Kong was great and I have a feeling that if I had more than just a backpack, we might’ve walked away with much more.
Roaming around the main shopping district.
The reward post-shopping lunch for Adam – his favorite: Thai!
City Sights
The city itself was impressive, everywhere you look there are buildings and more buildings. The fact that it’s made up of multiple islands makes for multiple incredible skylines. It was a unique place with a definite big city feel. We also were pretty lucky because during our time we had only one day of light smog. We had been warned that HK could be terribly smoggy, so we consider ourselves very fortunate that we had both great weather and low air pollution levels. I’m sure we wouldn’t have loved the city as much if either of those were drastically different.
A beautifully clear sunset on Hong Kong Island.
We lucked out with great weather during our week.
The city was beautiful at night.
Lots of huge buildings, big companies, and fancy shopping.
Overall we had a blast in Hong Kong and love that it made the list on our trip!
In Hong Kong, Adam and I had a great mix of outdoor experiences (two fabulous days of hiking) and living the city life. We spent time in the city shopping, eating, walking, and enjoying all it had to offer.
We arrived late on Friday (Adam’s birthday) and spent the weekend celebrating in a truly unique way… custom clothing! While doing our research about activities to do in Hong Kong, one caught us off guard in the “Top Activities” category on TripAdvisor: a tailor. I started looking more into it, and with fabulous reviews I grew more and more intrigued. Because of Adam’s lanky stance, he generally gets things tailored… why not skip that step and do custom from the start? It seemed like a birthday gift that would be both practical (somebody starts his big boy job next year), and a really interesting tourist activity. In a surprising turn of events, I was pretty quickly able to convince Adam that this would be fun (the kid hates shopping), and off we went!
The tailor was in the main shopping area of Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui, and easy to get to on the subway. We found our way there and entered the small, humble shop. On all the walls were reams of different types of fabric. A man greeted us and we told him we were in the market for a suit. I wanted to get right to the numbers and haggling, but their process is first to pick out the material, then talk about price (of course to hook you on your choices, but also because the fabric can inform the cost). I could tell Adam was feeling pretty overwhelmed, so I tried to take charge, but the man kept deferring to Adam. Pretty soon the Indian man in the back offered us our choice of drinks. And while we passed on the beer, we did go for some tea. I continued to try to pick things out and work more directly with the man, and I’m not sure if he was new, but pretty soon the Indian guy in the back started directing him on what to do and quickly after that we had a new helper, a wonderful woman named Anju.
Sipping tea and looking at fabrics!
Lots and lots of choices of materials!
The shop itself was pretty small, but they had a larger workshop where the sewing happened.
Anju was an expert. We talked about fabric, fit, options… and the best part was that she focused on working with me. This was fantastic for two reasons: Adam was out of the hot seat and could just relax and enjoy the experience more, and I could be the lady boss. By the end of it, she was calling me Madam and speaking about Adam as if he wasn’t there. #ladyboss
We took a long time working through the different options, and at the end of the time it really came down to price. I played bad cop to Adam’s good cop and we finally saw a number come up on the calculator that we agreed to. The final result was one suit, 4 shirts, and 4 ties. There were lots of other iterations that were heavily discussed and priced out. It was a bit overwhelming!
Once we had the invoice drawn up with our items and prices, it was time for the fun. Here Adam selected the collar style, suit style, lining fabric, buttons, and overall look. Anju really helped guide the process and her advice was phenomenal.
Working through some of the details and shape of the suit.
Taking measurements.
The winning fabric!
A runner up in the “sport coat” iteration that we explored but never went with.
The final step was scheduling the first fitting where we’d see a mock up of the suit and one shirt would be finished. With our first fitting on the books, Adam and I were both ready for a beer due to the intensity of it all. Walking out we almost giggled with our delight at the fantastic price we got and our crazy time there. We walked to a nearby mall to enjoy some delicious dumplings and decompress.
Birthday dumpling lunch! Time to decompress after our overwhelming suit shopping!
It was around this time that Adam realized his currency conversions were only slightly off…our price was about $150 more than what we thought we were paying.
While it was still a fantastic price for a custom suit, it wasn’t the giddy insanity price that we thought we had secured. Not too bad to be three months in and finally experience our first currency calculation error.
Adam and I went back for the second fitting extremely nervous. Both of us were worried that they would try to upsell us on more items and the haggling might continue. However, we were pleasantly surprised that there was no further mention of cost or other items! Anju greeted us (“hello Madam”) and worked on getting Adam’s items together. I waited anxiously as Adam tried on the suit in the fitting room. He came out and I was over the moon – it looked amazing. The tailor came out and the work began. The four of us: Anju, Adam, the tailor, and I all started talking through the progress and any tweaks. “Is this part too tight?” “Is this too loose?” After assessing every part, we identified a couple slight changes that we’d look at for the next fitting.
The suit tailor working on the pants.
The tailor chalked some of the changes onto the fabric.
Working on all the details.
The full mock up!
Next up, the shirt. There was a separate tailer for the shirt and I could tell by Adam’s face that he was in LOVE already. We did the same process with the shirt and identified a couple minor tweaks. Once Adam was changed back we put a second fitting on the books and we were done! We walked out again giddy, but this time over the ease and quality of product. Both of us were thrilled with how the suit was coming along.
There was a different tailor for the shirt and a couple minor changes were identified.
Two days later we went back for the second and final fitting. Let me tell you, the suit is SHARP. Adam came out of the dressing room looking like a million bucks. Everything fit like a dream and I couldn’t stop smiling. One simple final change was identified and we made arrangements to ship all the items home. It would just be easier and worth the money to get it out of our hair. No space when you’re living out of one backpack!
The finished product!
It looks pretty amazing.
Thanks L & K Tailors!
All in all we had an amazing experience working with L & K Tailor and would highly recommend Anju if you ever find yourself in Hong Kong and in the market for a suit. They also do women’s clothing, so maybe next time it’ll be my turn 🙂
And that’s the story of how we got Adam his custom birthday suit in Hong Kong! It was quite the unique adventure!
Around the World in 180 Days 