My gastronomic affair with HK Part 2

To continue from where I left off...

After having the mango dessert at Shui Liu Shan, we walked around Mongkok and along Nu Ren Jie before heading back to the hotel just before it started pouring.

For dinner, Wen and Celia brought us to a village near the seaside (or was it riverside) for a sumptuous seafood dinner. The bamboo clam, lai liu har, giant prawns and scallops with crystal noodles were simply delicious.

Price: The bill came up to $100 per couple. Now, why did I still remember the price? Cos this time round I finally paid for it...

We were strolling along the riverbank before we cut it short abruptly as we received a call from Rey informing that the suppposed Category 3 Typhoon would be upgraded to Category 8 by 1130pm.

That night, it rained really hard. The wind was so strong that we couldn't even open the main door due to suction. Good thing the typhoon came late at night cos by the time morning came, the typhoon had passed HK. I was really surprised when I was out walking around Central and Causeway Bay later that day that there really wasn't that much of a damage despite the strength of the typhoon. Ir really made me wonder why Houston was hit so badly by Hurricane Ike.

Anyway, we had dim sum lunch with several other ex-colleagues/classmates of Tim. It's amazing how many Singaporeans are working in HK. We never had so many visitors in Houston. There were eight of us altogether and the bill only came up to around HK$350. That's about S$9 per person. Cheap cheap...The gui ling gao we had for dessert was not as cheap but it was very good. The best gui ling gao I ever had. I don't usually eat gui ling gao but I must say i was hooked after that. I was, however, disappointed by the quality of the gui ling gao I had at Shui Liu Shan just before I left for the airport on Monday.

Gym

I finally hit the gym, not once but twice over the weekend! I went for pilates and body balance and now I am aching all over. This shows that I really pay attention during clase and follow the routine religiously.

Ah mei's gym membership allows her to bring a friend with her on Fri, Sat and Sun. Hopefully I will continue to join her every weekend but I highly doubt I will be able to keep this up. For one, I know I won't be joining her next week since my CGG will be back in town. Can't wait for him to be back!

My gastronomic affair with HK

Everyone says there is nothing much to do in HK other than eat and shop. I beg to differ. I feel there is really nothing much to do except to EAT and EAT!

My short getaway to the ex-British colony was such a gastronomic affair that I started eating the moment I touched down and never stopped until I flew out of the self-governing territory of China.

Hong Kong is such an easy place to navigate with a very comprehensive public transport system. I was so surprised when I found out that the Airport Express train station is within the terminal. In fact, it is practically just right across the arrival hall and takes just 24mins flat to get one from the airport to the city.

However, it was a little more challenging navigating from Hong Kong Airport Express station to Central MTR station. I was looking for signs with the word "MTR" but could not find any. I had to check with the customer service staff before he pointed me to an escalator which led to an amazing underground system with so many differemt MTR lines and entrances/exits. I only realised later that the pic of a white train refers to the MTR and that of a blue train refers to the Airport Express train. I had initially thought that both pics refer to the airport express trains.

Since I arrived into the city during the rush hour, I had to jostle with the office crowd to get to Wan Chai to meet my CGG who had by then got so irritated by the repeated jingle playing in the station. After leaving my luggage in Luk Kwok Hotel, I began a wonderous food adventure.

Friday

First stop: Steamboat restaurant @ Causeway Bay (can't rem the exact name of the restaurant)

Excellent steamboat with the tastiest broth and freshest ingredients. Equally great was the high quality soya sauce dip.
Price: unknown. Wen gave us a treat as he lost a bet to Tim and so I benefitted too.

Second stop: Milk Company @ Causeway Bay

The shop sells a variety of milk pudding and drinks. I love the dual milk pudding. Very silky and flavorful.
Price: Can't remember cos Tim treated Wen, Celia and Rey in return for the dinner treat and so I benefitted again. :P

Saturday

We woke up to some century egg and lean pork porridge and chee cheong fun. The porridge for nice but the chee cheong fun CMI.
Price: Can't rem cos Tim paid for it but it's definitely cheap, cheap.

Since we shared two bowls of porridge among the three of us, I bought a po luo bao to round up the breakfast.
Price: Even though Tim paid for it again, I could remember clearly that it costs HK$3.

We took the MTR to Central Station and went up Victoria Peak. The ticket including a return funicular tram ticket and entry to the sky terrace costs around HK$45 (No, I didn't pay for it. Neither did Tim. My FIL did!). Not too expensive I would say if we had a good view of Hong Kong. It was a hazy and extremely hot day so we couldn't really see the Hong Kong skyline. Anyway, that's about the most touristy thing I did in Hong Kong.

After getting down from the Peak, we began an ardous search for the famous Yong Ji restaurant. We had to get directions from several people including two policemen before we found the restaurant.

I must say we were not disppointsd. The mouthwatering roast goose was to die for. The skin was so crispy and the meat was very juicy and tender. I dare to say it beats the peking duck at Quan Ju De in Shanghai hands down. I am salivating as I type. *drool*

Price: HK$700 for a quarter roast goose, some char siew, a plate of scallops with gai lan and a pot of soup. How did I remember when I didn't pay for it? Cos it's so expensive! That works out to about S$40 per person but it's worth every penny!

After lunch, FIL left for Macau so Tim and I decided to go Tsim Sha Shui to jalan jalan and almost died of heat stroke while walking along the Avenue of Stars. With the heat getting into us, we looked for a place to rest and cool down. We had mango dessert at the Shui Lui Shan shop at Mongkok before walking along Nu Ren Jie.

Ok, I think my post is getting a little too long. Time for me to go bathe and sleep. Will continue when I have the time.

Hong Kong

Tim took the morning flight to HK on Monday. Surprise, surprise.. he met not one but two friends who are with different companies taking the same flight as him! The world is really becoming smaller with globalisation.

As for me, I have been really busy with work. Have been working OT almost everyday. Can't wait to leave for my vacation. Guess what? My FIL is joining us in HK too!