On a crossroad opposite Causeway Bay metro station, there is a tiny leftover triangle of space due to the rounding of the pavement. Perfectly filling it, between the traffic and the boiling river of pedestrians, is a tent. Before it, neatly placed, sit a pair of clean trainers awaiting their master's return. It's someone's space, defended by a wall of respect.

Here is the yin and yang of old and new, not opposing but harmonising — a place where female construction workers fix traditional straw brims to their hard hats with duct tape.

Our awaited time machine clangs to a halt. It's double-decker and narrow-gauge with bum-numbing wooden seats. The glass and chrome world outside the tram gradually shape-shifts into lanterns and fairy lights: from pensions and portfolios to Dried Seafood Street – all the way to Kennedy Town and back for the price of a carrot.

Back in the future, each head office seeks to outdo the next in lavish elegance. Above me, so high I may fall backwards looking at it, the mirror maze touches the sky which is small – a blue handkerchief far away.

Down in the underpass, two casually-dressed young women have slung a blanket over the handrail and anchored the other side with water bottles. They sit on a brightly-patterned duvet, quietly reading, taking their safety and privacy for granted.

On the other side of the road, we discover the East End Brewery ("let no man thirst for want of real ale") famed for its pale ale, outdoor courtyard and endless supplies of monkey nuts. We follow the example of the city suits in their fashionably nerdy lens-less glasses and drop the shells on the floor.

Nearby, we can hop on a number 5 which will skirt Happy Valley racecourse and deliver us to the door of the Cosmopolitan Hotel where we have planned an evening on the horses – in our room. Betting for cocktail sticks, we watch the races from our enormous window and, when it's over, a changing pageant of light from the neon skyscrapers.

And in the morning, we will linger over the breakfast buffet, happily combining dim sum and tuna rice with bacon and toast as the fancy takes us – a little yin and yang to start the day.

• A five-night stay at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, including flights from Heathrow with Cathay Pacific Airways, costs from £799 with Flight Centre (0844 375 2119, flightcentre.co.uk). Further information on Hong Kong: 020-7432 7700, discoverhongkong.com