ElizabethRegina (3)

Head away from the main streets into the working class areas for a real breakfast experience, thin watery soups, spicy stews, congees - a wide range of dishes are to be had for much less than you'd pay for a continental breakfast in any hotel.

If you go to Hong Kong around December the place is awash with hairy crabs - not an outbreak of unpleasantness, but a gastronomic opportunity. The ones I had were steamed and once one worked out how to get inside them, the ovaries were something between scrambled egg and mashed potato.

The Sogo department stores are a one stop shopping experience. With stores in Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui, they may not be as full of bargains as the markets, but they still allow big savings on prices back home on goods which do seem to be good quality. The stores have a Japanese style, but include top fashion brands from around the world, and in classic department store style have floors devoted to particular types of products, including the bargain basement - which is at the top of the shop!