Unusual & unique Hong Kong date ideas

Candlelit dinners, walks on beaches, trips to the cinema… yawn! With Valentine’s round the corner, we enlisted Jane from awesome blog Hong Kong Date-a-base to shake things up with four tried-and-tested unusual and unique date ideas for Hong Kong – so whether it’s a first date or a ten year anniversary, you’ll find something fresh and new to do! 

THE FIRST DATE: Comedy Club

What makes this a great date? Nothing cuts tension on a first date like a comedian publically asking, “So, this looks like a first date, eh?”

The comedy club is a creative first date because the pressure to impress is off – the pressure is all dumped on the comedian instead! There’s guaranteed laughter, drinks, and never a dull moment.

Hong Kong has a surprisingly sound comedy scene with clubs like Take Out and Punchline Comedy.  For the sake of your date, it’s important to read the flyers to see what country the comedian is flying from – as a Canadian, I don’t understand 95% of the jokes from the UK; likewise my friends from Australia don’t understand many of the jokes told my American comedians.

Take Out Comedy Club has shows most Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights; Basement, 34 Elgin Street, Soho, Central, Hong Kong, 6220 4436

THE CREATIVE DATE: Freestyle Painting

What makes this a great date? A relationship is like writing a feature story; it’s all about angles. Freestyle painting is a great way to spend time with someone and explore a creative side that can’t be expressed over chitchat. Plus, anybody can participate in this creative date – you can either work on the same canvas or on two separate ones.

Art Jamming in Sheung Wan is one of the more popular studios to let loose in because they’ve got a variety of paints, textures and canvas sizes. Painting time here is three hours.

Art Jamming, 123 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong, 2541 8816 (closed Mondays); artJAMaLAMa, Shop 101, Level 1, K11 Art Mall, 18 Hanoi Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, 3755 4566

THE FOOD DATE: The Home Cooked Meal

What makes this a great date? You’ve got home court advantage, and in the land of shoebox apartments, a home cooked meal is a rarity.

Here are some rules for setting up the home cooked meal:

1. Prepare appetisers like olives, cheese or falafels so your guest has something to do while you’re cookin’ up a storm.
2. Don’t over complicate things. No one expects Fall Apart Cherry Lam Shanks or Chocolate Almond Picatta (whatever that is!). Meat, veg and pasta will be good enough.
3. Chances are you don’t have an oven, so here are some easy hearty recipes that you can work from the stove top: Flat Iron Steak with Chili Butter (sub the grill for a pan), Marmite Mince
4. Invest in a decent bottle of wine. Do not get Yellow Tail. If it’s red, start airing the wine out an hour before the guest arrives.
5. Use high-quality butter and salt no matter what your meal is.
6. Omit controversial ingredients like garlic, beans and lots of dairy unless you want to ruin the moment really quickly.

When in doubt, call up Secret Ingredient, a home-cooked recipe delivery system that delivers fresh (already chopped!) ingredients and dummy-proof instructions for a quick restaurant-worthy meal at home.

THE DAY TRIP DATE: Around the World in One Date

What makes this a great date? It’s hipster irony at its finest.

Only half an hour train ride from the Hong Kong Lok Ma Chau border in Shenzhen, The Window of the World is a tacky theme park that has (nearly) life-sized replicas of historic sites for a romantic stroll past Christ The Redeemer in Rio, the Eiffel Tower, Pyramids of Giza, and the Grand Canyon. At $160RMB (HK$199) entry fee, it is a bargain for a romantic trip around the world.

Remember to check your Shenzhen visa status first. Take the MTR to Lok Ma Chau, cross the border and on the Shenzhen train, take Metro Line 1 and get off at Shijiezhichuang (Window of the World) station. At this station, Shenzhen Metro opens up to a replica of the Louvre Pyramid. It brings a whole new meaning to ‘We’ll always have Paris’!

For more great tried-and-tested date ideas, check out Jane’s fantastic blog Hong Kong Date-a-base