Truly Expat

Truly Expat ✈️ Expat turned full-time traveller
🌏 Authentic travel stories & hidden gems
🎙️ Podcast host | Travel guides
📍 Currently: Singapore
👇 Latest adventure

02/09/2026

POV: you didn’t bring your swimmers but the ice bath place doesn’t care

Episode 12: The Ice Bath HK

Today I’m checking out The Ice Bath HK — and they’ve got the full recovery trifecta: ice bath, sauna, and a magnesium pool, all under one roof 🧊

🧊 Ice bath — cold shock therapy that kickstarts circulation, cuts inflammation, and leaves you feeling wide awake
🔥 Sauna — deep heat to relax the muscles and sweat out the stress
💧 Magnesium pool — soaks into the skin, eases sore muscles, helps you sleep better

Plus an ice shower, regular showers, water and electrolytes to rehydrate, and if you forget your swimmers — they’ve got bathers and shorts to rent, plus towels and lockers. Just turn up and go 👌

Follow along for more Hong Kong gems!

01/09/2026

Episode 11 of getting know my new Neighbourhood in Hong Kong — today I went looking for a coffee shop in Happy Valley, and stumbled onto something worth talking about: more and more cafés here are going pet-friendly, letting dogs come inside with their owners instead of being stuck outside on the pavement.

For a city this dense, where a lot of people live in small apartments with their dogs, that’s actually a big deal — it means your coffee run doesn’t mean leaving your dog behind or rushing through it.

Small change, but it makes the neighbourhood feel a little more liveable.

👇 Would you bring your dog to a café with you?

HappyValley DogFriendly

31/08/2026

This escalator literally changes direction depending on the time of day 🛗

Episode 10 — the Mid-Levels Escalators. 6-10am, it runs downhill into Central for the morning commute. 10am to midnight, it flips and runs uphill instead, bringing everyone home.

It’s not one continuous escalator either — it’s a system of 20 escalators and 3 moving walkways, stretching 800 metres and climbing 135 metres up the hillside. The longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world.

Built in 1993, it was actually considered a failure at first — it didn’t even fix the traffic problem it was built for. But it accidentally created something else: it turned this whole hillside into SoHo, now packed with bars, restaurants, and galleries that only exist because of the foot traffic this escalator brings 🍸

📤 Save this so you don’t make the same mistake I did!

Follow for more Hong Kong history 🇭🇰

30/08/2026

This Beach Started Hong Kong’s First Bus Route (In 1910)

Episode 9 — Repulse Bay. The original Repulse Bay Hotel opened in 1920 and became the place to be seen in colonial Hong Kong. When it was torn down in 1982, the replacement building was built with a massive hole straight through the middle — so local dragon spirits could pass through to the sea.

This beach is also where it all started — literally. In 1910 it inspired Hong Kong’s first-ever public bus route, just to bring day-trippers here.

Today it’s one of the most expensive coastlines on Earth, with sand imported from Hainan and a 75-foot Goddess of Mercy statue watching over the bay.

📤 Send this to a friend who needs to see this dragon gate in person.

Save this for your next Hong Kong visit🇭🇰

28/08/2026

This tram has been running since 1904 — before most of the roads it drives on even existed 🚋

Episode 8 — the “Ding Ding.” The nickname comes from the double bell drivers ring to warn pedestrians, and it’s so iconic nobody even calls it a tram here anymore.

Hong Kong has the world’s largest fleet of double-decker trams still in service, and it’s the only system on earth that runs exclusively double-deckers 🌍

📤 Send this to a friend visiting HK — riding the Ding Ding upstairs is a non-negotiable.

Follow for more Hong Kong history 🇭🇰

28/08/2026

Quick question — how much time have you lost at airport SIM kiosks? 🙋

I've been there more times than I care to count. So when I switched to eSIMo this year, the difference was immediate. Install before you fly, land connected, keep your home number running, add a local one where you need it — all from the app.

200+ destinations. International calling built in. 24/7 support. No roaming surprises.

AND use code TRULYEXPAT for 20% off — exclusive to Truly Expat readers.

Full honest review on the blog — link in the comments. Worth a read if you've got a trip coming up! 💙

27/08/2026

Hong Kong rain doesn’t drizzle. It attacks.

Episode 7 — here’s why: May to September, warm ocean air rolls in nonstop (that’s monsoon season), and typhoons pile on even more moisture. Result? Sheets of rain that clear as fast as they hit.

📤 Send this to a friend who’s planning a trip during monsoon season — they need to see this before they pack.

26/08/2026

People rioted over a $0.10 fare increase on this ferry 🚢😳

Episode 6 — the Star Ferry. Before it existed, the only way across Hong Kong’s harbour was by sampan.

In 1966, a fare hike on this ferry sparked actual riots — curfews, riot police, armed troops in the streets. Over a boat ride.

Today it still runs Central + Wan Chai to Tsim Sha Tsui, for less than a dollar, with one of the best skyline views in the world.

👇 Have you ridden it? Worth the hype?

Follow for more Hong Kong history 🇭🇰

25/08/2026

In Hong Kong you’re never more than a few minutes from a massage 💆‍♀️ (I’ve got 5 within walking distance)

Foot reflexology has roots in Chinese medicine going back thousands of years — pressure points on your feet connect to organs throughout your body. It’s part of daily life here.

Today’s stop: ten feet tall in Central — drink menu, private rooms, drink in hand. Worth it for a girls’ day out and a long overdue catch-up 🥂

👇 Have you tried a Hong Kong foot massage?

Follow for more expat life in Hong Kong 🇭🇰

24/08/2026

Hong Kong didn’t name Aberdeen. Aberdeen named Hong Kong. 🤯

This fishing harbour was originally called “Heung Kong” — fragrant harbour. British traders mistook the village’s name for the whole island’s, and it stuck. 🚤

👇 Did you know this? Which neighbourhood should I cover next? Save this for your next trip to Hong Kong!

Follow for real history + expat life in Hong Kong 🇭🇰

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