Anyways, this HK visa run has at least given me a chance to catch up with my family and friends so at least I can be grateful for this opportunity, since the older we get, the harder it is to find a time to meet up and just chat.
After a night of packing non-stop, I had to board my plane from Taiwan to Hong Kong at 7:45AM (which meant I had to leave my house around 5AM), and that was not a fun experience. Traveling is tiring enough, but traveling with no hours of sleep in your system is extremely exhausting, so by the time I reached HK, I looked like a zombie.
Currently, there's an outbreak of a new strand of avian flu H7N9 which is putting many people on edge when eating poultry. This also causes people to be extra paranoid and sensitive when they're standing next to a person who is wearing a facemask and sneezing up a storm *ie. me*. I have terrible allergies that attack me at random parts of the day, and it always seems to be when most socially inappropriate. For example, the allergies attacked me when i boarded the plane, and EVERYONE would wince and glare at me in paranoia whenever I sneezed and sniffled. I don't blame them for being scared, but it certainly doesn't make me feel very good about myself. I was even stopped by the random "flu/temperature checkers" at the airport immigration booth. They stopped me and held a temperature reader gun to my forehead. I guess it's a good thing they're trying to at least be cautious of who is entering their city.
Well, I made it past immigration quite quickly and picked up my 21 kg luggage (not bad for a two month trip~) and stepped out the double doors into the very humid, sticky, and hot Hong Kong weather. I was wearing quite a lot cuz it was chilly in Taipei that morning, so I was not having fun pulling my heavy luggage around in the nasty weather. I guess it was mother nature's way of saying, "Welcome to Hong Kong, biatch!"
Waiting for the E22 bus, who's driver was really impatient as I ran up to him. He was mad that I wasn't standing at the bus stop, but luckily he stopped for me anyways, so I just smiled as not to piss him off. The lady behind me was not so lucky though, cuz he didn't stop for her. wah wah wah. On the bus, I started Skyping with my mom, which caused me to miss my bus stop (luckily I know HK well enough to realize that I had gone past my location). The buses here move a lot faster than the leisurely-paced buses of Taipei City.
After reaching my cousin's office, the secretary, Sarah, took me out to lunch in Festival Walk. We had a nice Western-style lunch at EXP, and she was very welcoming and friendly and bought me lunch saying, "Welcome to Hong Kong!" I will have to make sure I treat her to a nice restaurant when she comes to visit Taipei!
Well, anyways, I was so happy to see that HK has finally gotten into the trend of recycling. When I was living here 3 years ago, recycling was virtually nonexistent, which greatly annoyed me that such an industrialized city was neglecting its Earthly duties. Well, better late than never! And they even have separate bins for plastics, metals, and paper! Good job, HK!
That night, Ronald (my cousin), took me to a sketchy-looking restaurant in a back alley of Lan Kwai Fong (the popular bar district in Central) for a family dinner. The restaurant's food was divine, and was a fusion of Shanghainese, Taiwanese, and Western blends. The most interesting thing aside from the restaurant's exterior was the names of the dishes of the set course meal. Take a look at it. It's a poetic menu, but admittedly, it sounds a lot better in Chinese than the very technical translation into English.
The appetizer, which was composed of cold noodles, octopus, abalone, and some other mysterious seafood, which none of us could identify, but perhaps you know? (it's the long shell). The name of the dish was "Sea Genius. Saint. Mr. Da Lian. All are Half Drunk." Oh yeah, forgot the mention, they were all slightly marinated in alcohol.
Above our dining table was a view of tall apartment buildings on all four sides, which was an interesting view for a restaurant. Then it started to rain and lightning, so it was quite a view for a restaurant!
The next dish was really tasty, which was basically bamboo slices marinated in a sweet mayo-based sauce. The presentation of all the dishes were really well-done, and the servers did a splendid job explaining each meal (only they did it in Canto, so I was a bit lost)
This dish's name? It was "Spring. Snow. Dutch Yellow" haha (head scratch*)
"Ocean Front. A Little Hut with a Field"
aka Deep fried shrimp ball, vege spring roll, and KFC fried chicken (jk) the fried chicken was so divine. It was from Japan, and was juicier and more tender than any chicken I've ever had.
"Westernized Lily Pong. Small Pearls" was meat balls, and glutinous white "pearl" balls that were in a broth of ham and veges.
The next dish, which was the main course, was really really good. It was supposedly the owner's aunt's recipe, where she really enjoyed the way the Taiwanese marinated their beef, and so the owner combined that technique with wontons and a Shanghainese touch. The wontons were filled with sweet caramelized onions and pumpkin. Dish name: "Diana (I'm guessing the auntie's name) Spicy Slow-cooked Beef. Wonton." This name wasn't so poetic...
Dessert was green tea cheese cake with a side of fresh chrysanthemum tea.
A close up of the chrysanthemum tea. Had a hint of ginger, cinnamon, and honey. Really good
The open-faced kitchen
The door entering the restaurant. Looks like any ol' apartment door from the outside
Here, I'll show you how sketch the location is. These are the stairs leading up to the restaurant
Does this look like a restaurant door to you??
The restaurant is located in a random alley off Lan Kwai Fong in Central. It's called "Fa Zu Jie 法租界" named after a historical district in China outside Shanghai that was occupied and colonized by the French and foreigners back in the days of colonization.
Lan Kwai Fong
Phoebe, my cousin's sweet wife is having a baby in July! So excited for their baby girl, and she is already getting ready, including cleaning out a whole section of the fridge (in late April) for baby food space. I'm sure they are really excited about the birth, cuz I'm already really excited! They let me stay in their gorgeous apartment near Sha Tin.
If you're ever in HK, you should go to Level 6 of the The One Shopping Mall and look for a store called "Ecols." It was founded and is owned by my cousin, Ronald and Phoebe and sells fashion accessories and merchandise made out of recycled materials, like soy-bean based candles, purses made out of candy wrappers and soda pop tops. Great place to buy gifts for friends! Anyways, this is a shot with an ol' friend, Joy, who has worked at Ecols for 3 years now.
For dinner, we went to an old traditional HK restaurant called "Tai Ping Koon". It's specialties are HK favorites such as pidgeon, chicken wings, and beef noodles stir-fried. (I guess no one is really all that concerned about H7N9 here in HK cuz everyone's still eating poultry!)
Ronald ordered one of his favorite red wines. Tasted really fresh and crisp, and almost like a slightly alcoholic grape juice. Very enjoyable on a hot summer day
The popular stir-fried beef noodle
After dinner, we hit up a really good dessert place in MK called "Jia Jia" where they served good desserts for cold weather (but still good for a summer day). Glutinous rice balls filled with sweet sesame paste and in a sweet, ginger honey soup.
Cute crossover between Panda and Garfield
I am trying to get more T-shirt designs in for my part part-time job. It's a zebra!
Taking a ride in my cousin's amazing ride. I was afraid to touch it. It's more expensive than me, prolly!
Well, no trip to HK would be complete without indulging in my favorite HK meal, "BBQ Pork and Roasted Duck over rice with a side of Hot Horlick drink." Only 37 HKD which is quite cheap for the prices of food here in HK now. Really good. You can find this anymore in the city in chain restaurants like Fairwood and Cafe de Coral. Love it
Well that's about it for my adventure so far in HK. I will post again soon. Right now, I'm late for a dinner with my old VA Tech friend Vinci, who is letting me stay with him for the second part of my HK stay. Adios!
