I left for Hong Kong before CNY… and my sweet parents came to send me off! Of course it was also an excuse for them to explore the new Terminal 3. I treated them to some Shanghai cuisine on the 2nd floor before I left and it was really yummy!
Well… this time going to Hong Kong has been the coldest I remember. I think temperatures should be warming up by now but when I was there it was about 10C. It was a comfortable temperature for me… cool but not cold. While I could still run the streets in leggings and skirt… the locals are wearing ski jackets like it’s below freezing. I can’t help but feel that they are very exaggerated or that the people of Hong Kong have zero tolerance to the cold weather.
The first place I went was to Avenue of Stars to catch the city light show. It was quite a spectacular sight to see the buildings across the bay all lighted up with Chinese New Year greetings and lights that blink to the music. Here’s a picture of me pretending to be a director!
For those who’ve never been there, Avenue of Stars is similar to Hollywood’s Walk of Stars where there are little hand imprints on the floor with the celeb’s name.
I’m not too familiar with the names of many Hong Kong stars but I did know a few such as Jackie Chan… Jet Li… Andy Lau… Jacky Cheung… and my hands almost fit the Maggie Cheungs’!
The main attraction of Hong Kong for me is the food! It’s cheap and absolutely fantastic! Even those on the street are good. Here’s a meat pie recommended to me by the auntie at the stall… very nice and warm for the cool weather.
and the desert was a fruit cocktail that is much nicer than it looks.
The best Tim Sum is at Maxim Place City Hall. Recommended to me by my Uncle Edmund.
It is the traditional push cart style and even though the place is huge… it was filled up pretty fast. Thank goddness I went early! I took a photo at the table to show the crowd… the waiter didn’t think I was weird so it must be pretty common to ask for pictures… lol… Remember these pictures are taken before the lunch time crowd!
The view of the bay from the restaurant is gorgeous! I ate like there was no tomorrow. I never knew I could eat so much! And I totally don’t regret it. I wish I could have gone there with friends that way I could sample more food! Anyone organizing a trip call me yah?
After the meal I was off to do some shopping at Kowloon so I took the ferry over. The ferries are old but very well maintained.
Here I am at one of the boutiques… the whole flight of stairs is a fashion runway presentation… quite impressive though my camera doesn’t capture it well.
I know I’ve been blogging a lot about HK food but I can’t help it… eating was all I did and food is all I could think of… in fact these pictures are making me drool. So if you go to HK don’t miss out on …
the yummy mango dessert… found almost everywhere and is totally packed with mangos…
the carrot cake with XO sauce… I’m actually allergic to seafood and therefore XO sauce but I took the risk and it paid off!
the famous custard buns… which are more like buns with butter and condense milk. It sounds simple but it’s heavenly. Many celebs come to this particular diner just for these buns. If you are keen drop me an email and I’ll give you the directions.
And the famous duck from this restaurant that is listed in Forbes magazine as the world’s top 15 restaurant. It has a whole list of awards and the first 4 or 5 pages of their menu states the awards. Many of the dishes there are highly recommended but I only tried their duck which was quite a wait to taste it. Again… email me for info if keen.
On the whole… though my HK stay was short it was memorable. The HK people have very good service attitude these days and Singapore has a lot to learn from them. If you are wondering why I didn’t go to any touristy attractions… well… it’s because I’ve been there before. Went to Ocean Park a couple of times and Disneyland HK is just not worth going if you’ve been to Disneyworld at Orlando. Even Disneyland at Tokyo and Paris couldn’t compare so I’m not gonna waste my money with HK’s version.
I missed CNY with my close family and friends but I’m sure they’ll understand. I did catch my first glimpse of cherry blossom blooming at the nearby park even though its a little early in the season and I do love cherry blossoms.
