DimSumDolly* - the different morsels of the life of a foodie

Celestial Court 天寶閣

Contrary to popular belief, I don't have dimsum every day even though I currently live in the land of dimsum. I usually go for dimsum only when I have visitors. I went to Celestial Court at Sheraton Hotel when my friend, R, was visiting in early Dec. He's the same friend I went to Bo Innovations and Tastings Wine Bar with. Every time we meet up, all we do is eat.

As he had a voucher to be used at the Sheraton Hotel where he was staying, we decided to use it for dimsum.

I liked the tea light placed under the tea pot to keep the tea warm. I thought that was a nice touch.

This plate of spring rolls wasn't ordered by me. I usually order the steamed items only. But R had to have his spring rolls. I call it his typical American behaviour! Haha. Anyway he ate all of it. I wasn't going to waste calories on those spring rolls.

Pork dumpling (siew mai 烧卖) the usual suspect, topped with crab roe.

Plump and fluffy roast pork buns (char siew bao 叉烧包)

Prawn dumplings (Har Gow 虾饺)

Some fried radish cakes and slices of lotus root which I actually enjoyed more than the radish cake. It was like eating chips!

This isn't a regular on dimsum menus so we decided to give it a try. I can't remember its name but it had a piece of chicken and a slice of Chinese mushroom wrapped in fish maw and then put to steam. It was light yet tasty and full of the ingredients' natural flavours.

Claypot beef brisket with rice flour rolls (牛腩肠粉). The was really tasty but probably best eaten after eating the other steamed dimsum that are lighter in flavour.

The pièce de résistance which even came in its individual mini bamboo steamer. The bottom orange bit you see is a thin slice of carrot with Chinese mushroom sitting on it. The Chinese mushroom is in turn stuffed with chicken, topped with scallop, sea urchin and bonito flakes. OK, it all sounds very good, but actually I think the raw sea urchin was a bit wasted in this. Its natural sweetness was lost among all the other flavours dancing on your palate as you bite into the piece. A tad disappointing.

We also had steamed fish head in black bean sauce. Nothing like eating the cheeks!

Fancy mango pudding with the gold leaf shreds. Nothing to rave about. Frankly any normal dessert shop in HK could do one just as good.

Black sesame pudding topped with gold leaf shreds as well. All I can say is that the gold is more nicely contrasted in this than the mango pudding. Again, the taste was mediocre and isn't something I'd bother to order if I were to go there again.

Overall it was a pretty good dining experience and service was good. But for now, once is enough as there are many other dimsum restaurants to check out!

Celestial Court
Sheraton Hotel
20 Nathan Road
Tsim Sha Tsui
Hong Kong
Tel: + 852 2369 1111

Dragon's Back 龍脊

Dragon's Back (龍脊) is one of the most famous hiking trails in Hong Kong and it's an easy trail to walk. Looking at the crazy crowds in Causeway Bay and the skyscrapers in Central, you'd never guess that such beauty existed in Hong Kong Island.

I went to Dragon's Back in November when my good friend and her fiance (now husband) visited. The length of the hike is a mere 4.5 km and can be completed in 2 to 2.5 hours.

Here are some pictures.

To get to the start of the hike, take the MTR to Shau Kei Wan Station and get out at Exit A3. From there, take bus 9 or a taxi. Then get off at Cape Collinson bus stop. The bus will pass a wooded hillside, then a tiny roundabout. Alight at the stop just after this. The end of the hike will take you to Shek O Road. Then make your way on foot to To Tei Wan village (there are signs to sign post it). From there, take a bus back to Central or Shek O village. I'd recommend going to Shek O to have a look at a more laid-back area of Hong Kong Island.

Sh!ok

When I feel like having some Singaporean fare, I sometimes head to Sh!ok. In Singlish, 'Shiok' (spelt rightfully with an 'i') is a word us Singaporeans use to express pleasure and delight at something that brings about these feelings.

At Sh!ok, you'll most likely hear lots of Singaporean accents among the diners as my fellow countrymen go there and get their fix of food from home.

I like their longan drink - a nice pick-me-up on a hot summer's day. In winter, you can have it warm.

One of my favourite dishes there is this Fried Pork with Kam Heong. Kam Heong is a paste that's made with some curry leaves and some spices that I, unfortunately, couldn't identify. This dish is really tasty though, and is a definite must-eat.

I also like their fried carrot cake. Their black version is better than the white one, so I'd just stick with the former.

My last favourite is their Kaya Toast. What's special about this kaya is that it's very light and its texture is like custard rather than jam which is the norm in Singapore. This type of kaya is known as seri kaya and is hardly found even in Singapore. It's made the traditional nonya way and Sh!ok doesn't use any preservatives in their kaya, which is why their kaya only keeps for three days.

A friend told me that their Bak Chor Mee (minced pork noodles) is good, so you might want to give it a try if you're there. However, I'd give their Bak Kut Teh a miss if I were you. When I tried those two dishes, they were very disappointing in taste. The Bak Kut Tek soup was a bit bland and flat. There's always a today's special and those of you who love laksa will have to go on Mondays to get your laksa fix. The second time I went was a Tuesday and that day's special was Char Kway Teow. It could have been good except for the fact that it lacked wok hei. Despite some misses, Sh!ok is still a decent place to get some Singaporean fare.

Sh!ok
66 Peel Street
Soho, Central
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2899 2001

Tofulism 豆腐主義

I don't subscribe to any religion, but if I were forced to, my reply could possibly be 'Food and I'm sure I have many fellow believers'. ;p A branch-off of it for tofu devotees would be Tofulism. I love tofu and most of the time I'll eat tofu in whatever form it comes in.

I came across this Tofulism outlet when I ended up in Tung Chung after finishing a hike in Lantau Island. Ivan of Food Recentrunes joked that this is the religion of old lecherous men. Why? Because in Chinese, the phrase '吃豆腐' (eat tofu)' means to take advantage of a woman in a sexual way. Ha.

Well, see it any way you want, but Tofulism sells tofu in many forms. You can get soya bean milk (豆浆) in various flavours - plain, papaya, mango, watermelon, ginger, green bean, red bean. You can also choose to have soya beancurd (豆腐花) with some of mango, green bean and red bean.

Those jars on the shelf are fermented soya beans (南乳) which is used in more commonly used in stewing and stir-frying meat and vegetable.

Pieces of pan-fried tofu are also sold together with these pieces of vegetables (sweet potato, green chilli and eggplant) that have been dipped in batter and deep-fried. I didn't think these looked very appetising. I tried the plain soya bean milk and a few pieces of the pan-fried tofu. The soya bean milk was fresh but I thought the tofu wasn't particularly good. Five pieces of tofu cost me HKD11 and the soya milk was HKD6. The food was a little disappointing, but nevertheless I like the idea of a place devoted just to tofu!

Tofulism
G/F Shop No. 8
Fu Tung Shopping Centre
Tung Chung, Lantau Island
Hong Kong

Tung Chung to Tai O

Instead of taking the cable car to the big bronze Buddha statue in Ngong Ping, my fellow hikers and I took the healthier but much longer option of hiking all the way there from Tung Chung (where the MTR station is). From Ngong Ping, we hiked for another 1.5 hours to the fishing village of Tai O. Here are pictures from the hike that took place on 9 Jan.

A photo taken at the start of the hike. Our first rest stop was the cable car tower at the top of the picture.

Walking on the broadwalk that follows the same route of the cable cars above.

At this point of elevation, we were able to see Hong Kong's Chep Lap Kok international airport and the cable cars at the right of this photo.

At our third rest stop, there were several wild dogs who were eyeing the food brought by hikers passing through.

Our lunch stop accorded us a lovely view of the sea and airplanes flying towards the airport - spot the plane on the left upper third of the photo! We were probably about 450m above sea level at that point.

One for the album! It doesn't look like it, but it's really the sea down below. The clouds have cast their shadows on the sea hence it looks a little dark!

A view of the Buddha from afar. We still had about 40min of walking to do before reaching there.

A side view of the Buddha facing Lantau Peak.

Finally we reach Ngong Ping station and the Buddha!

From Ngong Ping, we hiked along the cliffs that line the coast to make our way to Tai O.

I love the sea! I love cities that are surrounded by water. There's something about the ocean that I find so compelling.

Along our way to Tai O, we came across a family of free roaming cows. The calf is so cute! Never expected it in Hong Kong, did you?

An old lady hangs fish out to dry at her home in Tai O. The residents of Tai O lead such a vastly different lifestyle from fellow Hong Kongers. You almost can't believe it's Hong Kong when you're in Tai O.

To reward ourselves after a 5-hour hike, two fellow hikers and I treated ourselves to a bowl of soya beancurd each in Tai O's village centre. It tasted especially good as we were exhausted by then!

石磨坊 Shek Mo Fong (Stone Mill Place)

For a small neighbourhood, Tin Hau has many dessert eateries. It seems like this area that's a stone's throw away from Causeway Bay, but sans the craziness, is made for me the dessert monster.

I'm a big fan of the Cantonese dessert pastes that are grounded from nuts. At 石磨坊, literally translated to mean 'stone mill place', they do these grounded nut pastes very well. Sesame, walnut and almond pastes can be commonly found around Hong Kong, so when I go to 石磨坊, I usually go for the chestnut or cashew nut pastes which are less common. Back in Singapore, I can't find anywhere that sells it!

Chestnut dessert paste 栗子糊 HKD18

I love chestnuts, so I tend to go for the former most of the time. But as chestnuts are seasonal, the chestnut paste is only available during autumn and winter.

Cashew nut dessert paste 腰果糊 HKD18

Or if you fancy trying two different flavours, you can have them mixed as shown in the picture above with a mix of chestnut and cashew nut paste. It costs the same, i.e. HKD 18, to have it mixed.

This black and white concoction is a mix of black sesame (黑芝麻) and almond (杏仁) paste.

Another popular dessert is this black sesame roll filled with pieces of mango and black glutinous rice (芒果黑芝麻糯米卷). It's served warm and tastes pretty good surprisingly! The glutinous rice gives it some added texture.

Apart from these desserts, 石磨坊 also serves shaved ice desserts. There's also a yam and sago baked pudding which is pretty good. It's a substitute (though it can't really replace the real thing) when I get cravings for my favourite Teochew dessert 'Or Ni'.

石磨坊 Shek Mo Fong
Shop 3-3C Lau Li Street
Tin Hau, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2398 9493

五代同糖 Five Generation Desserts

五代同糖 is one of my favourite places for desserts in Hong Kong when it comes to shaved ice desserts, which Hong Kongers call 雪花冰. This type of shaved ice dessert originated from Taiwan and is now a favourite with Hong Kongers, judging from the number of dessert places that sell it.

The star of 五代同糖's various flavours has to be its durian shaved ice (see above). It's creamy, rather than icy and has a strong, yet not overpowering durian taste. It's almost like eating ice cream. We were told by one of the staff there that the ice contains milk and durian; the milk slows the melting process thus allowing you to linger and enjoy the dessert for a longer time. It surprisingly goes well with cornflakes, with the cornflakes giving an added crunchy texture.

The yam flavoured shaved ice that comes with red bean and some green tea-flavoured syrup. I'm a big fan of yam, but for some reason, I don't like yam done in this way. I didn't think the yam tasted real, and it somehow didn't go well with red bean. Other flavours I'd recommend are guava (very refreshing) and peanut. If you're a die-hard chocolate fan, go for the chocolate one. Mango lovers can opt for the mango-flavoured one which comes with mango syrup, pomelo and sago. That one's very refreshing too on a hot summer's day.

Do note that the English name in the title is what I've translated from its Chinese name and is not its official one. I like its Chinese name though - there's a play on sounds here. The word 糖 ('tong' in Cantonese and 'tang' in Mandarin) is pronounced the same way as the word 堂. In Chinese, 五代同堂 refers to five (五) generations (代) living under the same roof (同堂), with its intrinsic meaning being that of an extended family living in harmony. It signifies happy family life and that life is sweet. Very apt for a dessert eatery, no?

五代同堂
Shop G11, G/F Elizabeth House
No. 250-254 Gloucester Road
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 3486 8528

Tai Mo Shan 大帽山

After all that eating I've been doing, I had to get rid of some of the calories - though it's not quite enough to help me lose some weight. Right now I feel like a bear going into hibernation during winter. It's getting cold in HK and I'm eating more. My body also seems to be going into hibernation mode by storing layers and layers of fat, a large majority of which centres at my tummy. Gosh, I look like I have a baby bump. It's embarrassing ... a baby bump with no baby inside. Eeeks. But as long as I'm living in HK, this baby bump is unlikely to go away. I think the only way I'm ever going to be thin is if I lived in somewhere in Africa where good food is scarce.

Anyway, in my bid to expand some energy, I went hiking on Sunday. This time it was up Tai Mo Shan (大帽山) the highest peak in Hong Kong at 957m. Its name translates literally to 'Big Hat Mountain'.

This picture was taken on my way to the meet-up point at Tai Po Market MTR station. I'm quite pleased with this shot taken with the Colour Accent function in my camera. I got on at Yau Ma Tai, the first stop of the Kwun Tong line (green line on the MTR map) hence it was rather empty.

The hike of the day was to hike long Stage 8 of the Maclehose Trail which is the route for the Oxfam Trailwalker charity run that takes place in Hong Kong every November. The Trailwalker route is 100km long that runs across the New Territories from Sai Kung to Tsuen Wan. The charity run requires people to be in teams of four. You have a maximum of 48 hours to finish the run as a team. Most people do it overnight. The tough Gurkhas from Nepal hold the record for doing it in 11+ hours. If insanity does strike, I'll do it next year ... am kinda considering it.

Way down below is the hustle and bustle of the busy suburbs. It's so therapeutic for the soul to be up here with a nice view, fresh cool air and tranquility. I find that I need to get away from all the crowds and small spaces every weekend to recharge myself. It's the only way to stay sane in this city.

Once again, I'm awestruck by Hong Kong's natural beauty. While climbing up I'm mentally cursing myself for subjecting myself to such torture, but once up there, all that effort is rewarded by lovely views. The scene is made all that much sweeter 'cos of all that effort put into getting there.

My fellow hikers and I passed through Lead Mine Pass enroute to Tai Mo Shan and we ended up in some place called Tsuen Kam. While hiking, we came across numerous mounds of cow dung. Later, we spotted wild buffaloes grazing in the grassland.

The Hong Kong weather Observatory sits at the top of Tai Mo Shan, and is closed to the public. Hence there is no way going right to the summit. But anyway, we were close enough - probably just about 25m shy of the peak. It was hard work getting up as there were many steep slopes and stairs to climb. Do this every other day and you're guaranteed buns of steel!

Tai Cheong Bakery 泰昌餅家

Yes, yes, I know Tai Cheong Bakery has been written about millions of times in newspapers and many other blogs because it has the most famous egg tarts (蛋撻) in Hong Kong and possibly the world, thanks to former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten and all the brouhaha that was created when it was forced to close down its original outlet due to high rent back in 2005. Hey, I remember queuing up for 45 minutes with fellow food blogger Chaxiubao back in May 2005 in their last few days of operation at their original outlet.

Hong Kongers were so dismayed at the impending closure of their favourite egg tart store that they managed to find another shop space down the road from their original outlet for them to reopen. So thankfully Tai Cheong's egg tarts haven't disappeared from Hong Kong.

Anyhow, I figured I can't be in Hong Kong and not post an entry about this egg tart institution. After being made famous by Patten's affection for them, these tarts are now affectionately also known as 肥彭蛋撻, literally translated to 'Fat Patten's egg tarts'.

The bakery doesn't sell egg tarts only - you can also buy other traditional Cantonese pastries like 沙翁 (a form of puff that's deep fried and sprinkled with sugar), chicken pie, bread, egg rolls, sesame candy, osmanthus pudding, sesame pudding, wife's pastry, sponge cakes, etc. But really, the star is the egg tart.

I can never resist these yellow darlings especially when they're fresh out of the oven. What I love about Hong Kong is that I can get freshly baked egg tarts at almost every street corner where there's a Mom-and-Pop traditional bakery. On weekday mornings, I especially love the smell of freshly baked egg tarts in the morning when I walk past a bakery on my way to the bus stop where I catch a bus to work. Anyway, I like the shortcrust pastry egg tarts more than I like the flaky pastry (酥皮) ones. Tai Cheong egg tart's shortcrust pastry are so buttery and delicious.

I also found out that certain branches (yes, they have expanded!) sell it cheaper. The Wan Chai branch (Shop No. 2, G/F, 74-80 Johnston Road) sells one for HKD4.5 but the main branch and the one in Causeway Bay (Shop B Jardine Centre, 50 Jardine's Bazaar) sell it at HKD5 each. I suppose these places have higher rent.

Other branches can be found in Queensway, Mong Kok, Kowloon Bay, Diamond Hill and Sha Tin. The main shop is located at 35 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central.

Tastings Wine Bar

One of the most interesting things about Central is that there is a good mix of both fancy and modern versus old and traditional eateries. They somehow co-exist to form this vibrant and eclectic gastronomical scene in the pulsating heart of Hong Kong. In a nondescript lane an offshoot from Wellington Street sits Tastings Wine Bar. It's a nice place to go for pre- or post-dinner drinks. Happy Hour runs from 5-8pm.

Bottles of wine stored in sleek fridges for tastings. You slot a pre-paid card in and you choose whether you want a tasting portion, half-glass or full-glass. It'll also be able to record the wines you've tried so that you can keep track of the ones you've had.

The bar

My friend, R, and I ordered the Happy Hour appetiser platter that consisted of buschettas, mini beef slices and cherry tomatoes on a small slice of baguette, and bite-sized slices of pizza. I had a Riesling and he a Cabernet Sauvignon. Loved the beef slices with cherry tomatoes, but the other two tasted very ordinary.

The cellar

You can also their cheese platter. Take your pick of three cheeses that are on their menu. We had the roquefort, parmesan reggiano and brie de meaux. There's also blue cheese available for those who love them.

We left at about 7.45pm, having hung out there for close to 1.5 hours already. By that time, the place was filled with young, mobile professionals in Central who has just knocked off work. It's a pretty nice spot to hang out for wine lovers. I also like the idea of allowing people to buy tasting portions so that they don't have to burn a huge hole in their wallet in order to try a new wine.

Tastings Wine Bar, Basement
Yuen Yick Building, 27 & 29 Wellington Street
Central, Hong Kong
Tel: 2523 6282

Bo Innovation

My friend, R, the travel geek was in town for a few days and as is the usual case when we meet, we ate a lot. He flew off this morning and I feel a little sad that I have one less foodie friend to hang out with. Last night, we went to Bo Innovation and were impressed by Demon Chef Alvin Leung's (that's how he brands himself) creations that made use of scientific knowledge to bring out the best in the fusion of ingredients from various types of cuisines.

Our booking was made for 7.30pm but found that we were only the second table to be seated. As the night progressed, more people came and the inside seating area was filled by about 9pm - and this was a Monday night. The restaurant does only one seating per night so best to make reservations.

The chef's table seats only six people. If you want those spots, definitely make reservations.

I love the table setting. There are two menus for the night - the tasting menu (six courses for HKD680+) and the chef's menu (13 courses) that costs double the price. Our pockets weren't THAT deep so we went for the former. For wine, we chose a Cabernet from Napa Valley.

Raw oyster with snow pea shoots, ginger snow and some sauce that was both slightly sweet and citrus at the same time. Sorry, can't quite remember what it was. Think it was kumquat or something. Forgot to take notes. I loved the play of flavours in the mouth.

The second appetiser was this squid ink noodles topped with raw sea urchin and dried shrimp flakes. To eat it, you have to mix everything up first and then pick it up with a pair of chopsticks. That was the eating style as recommended by the waitress anyway. Each dish was explained to us in detail by the wait staff who served it. I loved the mix of Italian (the squid ink noodles), Japanese (raw sea urchin) and Chinese (the dried shrimp flakes) cuisines in this dish.

Seared scallop carpaccio with snow peas and honey miso sauce and a few pieces of guoba (锅巴) to add a crunchy texture. 锅巴 is a type of rice cracker that's commonly used in Sichuan cuisine.

The coolest dish on the menu had to be this molecular xiaolongbao (小笼包). And no, this is no egg yolk. This post-modern interpretation of the traditional dumpling has the xiaolongbao broth wrapped in a skinned made from gelatined broth and topped with a strip of red vinegar. It slids into your mouth and the broth squirts out with the slightest bite. Absolutely delightful and smart!

The last appetiser was this smoked trout topped with a vinegared bak choy and ginger jelly. The order in which to eat it is to have the smoked trout first, followed by the bak choy and then the ginger jelly. I loved the smokey flavour of the trout and the sourish bak choy followed by the tangy ginger jelly were wonderful palate cleansers. Those black specks are black bean powder.

My main course was a piece of smoked pomfret with a piece of foie gras topped with apple foam. The apple foam was a delightful pairing with the rich flavours coming from the smokey fish and the oh-so-sinful-but-pleasurable foie gras. My friend went for the wagyu beef (Grade M9+) that sat on top of some steamed rice rolls (肠粉) and laced with black truffle oil - another smart take on a traditional street food found on the streets of Hong Kong. For the wagyu beef as a main, you'd have to pay an extra HKD350 for a 4oz piece and HKD550 for an 8oz piece. That piece of beef was tender, juicy and robust in flavour. Enough said. It's wagyu - nothing else needs to be said.

Flyfish roe fried rice. One of the best fried rice I've ever had. The tiny flyfish roe gave the rice a crunchy texture and a beautiful orange sunset colour. It almost looks like Indian bryani rice!

The dessert was banana slow poached in Chinese wine served atop silky smooth chocolate ganache. The humble banana has never tasted so good. I'm beginning to think this Chinese wine paired with chocolate combination is my favourite food duo du jour.

To prepare your senses for the next course, a small bowl of petals is brought out and liquid nitrogen is poured over it. You're supposed to inhale the sweet floral smells and enjoy the visuals. I call this stage 'smelling the roses' cos life should be about that and eating and enjoying one's food should be a part of it.

The petit-fours were these sweet little morsels served in a cute little cage (they were stacked on top of one another and there was a cover). These petit-fours all had hawthorn (山楂) used in them. Bite into that sesame ball and a rush of hawthorn juice bursts into your mouth. I'm not a fan of macaroons because I usually find them too sweet. But this rose-pink one was so lovely in colour and tasted great with its light hawthorn flavour. The slightly pink cube is a hawthorn-flavoured marshmallow that melts in your mouth and the last nougat-tasting morsel had hazelnuts and hawthorn in it.

After finishing our petit-fours, we thought we had come to the end of our meal. We were stuffed really and I don't know how I would manage the chef's menu had I gone for it. But as luck would have it, my friend, R, bumped into a friend at the restaurant. His friend and his friend's date had gone for the chef's menu. The date couldn't stomach the main she ordered and his friend sent it over to us instead. So we had an extra course. Wahahaha.

Our bonus round: Wild pigeon with red rice topped with longan (龙眼) sauce. The pigeon didn't taste too gamey and was cooked to perfection. The longan sauce was also a great accompaniment to the rice and pigeon.

Similar to a night out at the theatre, Leung was like the director who put together this wonderful sensory experience with the help of his staff who were a fantastic cast. Service from the wait staff was impeccable and there's even a staff member waiting to hand you a hot towel when you step out of the washroom!

The restaurant deserves its two stars awarded by the Michelin guide, and even though it'll burn a huge hole in your pocket, it's worth every penny.

Bo Innovation
Shop 13, 2/F J Residence
60 Johnston Road
Wan Chai, Hong Kong
MTR station: Wan Chai (Exit A3)
Tel: +852 2850 8371

Christmas Cheer

Two Sundays ago I went to Flower Street (花墟街) , that's located in the absolutely crazy, but oh-so-Hong Kong district of Mong Kok (旺角), and came across this shop by the corner selling all sorts of Christmas decorations. One step into the shop and you couldn't help but be infected by all that Christmas cheer. It felt like Christmas Wonderland, and even the most cynical of souls would have forced out a smile. I was feeling miserable that day because of something, but stepping into that shop and spending an hour and a half in there with my friend, deciding what to decorations to buy, really cheered me up.

So here's what I've done to my little abode with the decorations I bought that day.

My tiny Christmas tree in the corner

My Christmas tree is a rather interesting and beady version of the actual one. I love it. :) It has green, red and silver beads at the end of each 'branch' which is bendable.

A snowman on the door knob that only cost me HKD16 which is approximately SGD3. A pretty good and cheap find!

A Christmas garland with fake red berries and small little pine corns (these are real) hangs by the entrance to my room. I had intended to hang it on my front grill but decided it added more cheer inside the flat where I could see it.

So even though I don't celebrate Christmas in a religious sense, I'm pretty happy with the little Christmas cheer I've brought into my tiny abode!

Four Months Down

Friday night, and I've spent it alone in my shoebox-sized flat in Tin Hau. Had I been in Singapore, I'd be out with friends having great conversation over a delicious dinner. The feeling kinda sucks; I'm not very good at being alone these days. I guess I'm sick of being lonely. When I went back to Singapore for 1.5 days I was SO happy to be able to catch up with my closest friends and have deep, heart-to-heart conversations with them without afraid of being judged. How I miss that!

I guess thank god for Internet broadband where I can download episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" and "30 Rock", two of my favourite comedies. And thank goodness for online chatting which allows me to chat with friends back home.

The hardest part about relocating is really the building up of a social network again. I'm not Miss Social Butterfly or Miss Party Goer so I don't meet that many people. Hell, I haven't met anyone new in the past month or two. Also, being new, you just can't be someone's next best friend over night. Such things take time and sometimes I wonder if I'm strong enough to stick around that long.

Not taking into account the emotional side of things, I have to say I really love living in this city. I've always known I love it, but now I love it even more. Hong Kong really does have an immense charm of its own. There's always something dwelling in the small alleys and side streets waiting to be discovered. The food's fantastic in this city and there's good food catered to every budget.

I love the hiking and paddling, and the easy access to the scenic spots. Many people don't realise that Hong Kong is actually very beautiful. Did you know there are actually waterfalls on Hong Kong Island itself? Waterfalls, streams, rock pools etc...all waiting for the intrepid traveller to discover. The hiking and paddling are things I'm definitely going to miss when I leave Hong Kong.

In a few days' time, I'll have been in Hong Kong for four months. It's been a pretty good four months I guess. Work's been manageable (albeit I work overtime every day and I have to work tomorrow - on a Saturday morning) and colleagues are nice. Yet, I never feel I'm settled. The other day, my colleague asked me if there was any point in my life where I felt very settled, where you could tell yourself 'This is it. This is home.' I told her immediately that, no, I've never felt that way. I'm too restless a being. I guess I might feel settled if I have a partner and that's probably when I might have a sense of where home is. For me, home is where the heart is. Cliched but true.

No regrets in coming to Hong Kong though. I'm enjoying the change of environment and love discovering new places in the city. It's nice to be away from Singapore for awhile - makes me appreciate home more. Am getting more chances to practise my Cantonese as well!

Anyway, am just rambling and writing out some random thoughts here. Sorry if I sound whiny and repetitive, but writing is cathartic for me. And heck, no one really reads this blog anyway.

Have a good weekend everyone.

甜姨姨 Auntie Sweet

The area I live in, Tin Hau (天后), has several eateries specialising in Hong Kong desserts and 甜姨姨 is one of my favourites.

It's located along Tsing Fung Street, which is the street just below the flyover. It's usually packed to the brim on Fri and Saturday evenings.

If you love mango, go for this ultimate mango dessert that consists of mango juice, mango ice cream, fresh mango slices and dried mango strips. You'll be mango-ed out.

This is my favourite dessert there - durian soya beancurd (榴莲豆花). I know it sounds weird and looks rather gross, but it's delicious. I come here and have this when I need my durian fix. Trust me, every durian lover whom I've brought here and has eaten this has said it's good!

This is the ubiquitous mango pomelo dessert (杨枝柑露). It was nice but pretty ordinary.

Their seaweed jelly drink with fresh fruits consisted of diced watermelon, honeydew and mango in mango juice together with some jelly cubes. It was called 'seaweed jelly' but I didn't taste any seaweed.

Another mango dessert you could go for is the mango green tea jelly which was delicious too. There's also jasmine tea jelly to choose from. I like their tea jellies with their faint accents of tea when you bite into them.

天后清風街13號地下
13 Tsing Fung Street
Tin Hau, Hong Kong
Opening hours: 3pm-3am

Bao Dim Sin Seng 包點先生

I happened to be walking along Aldrich Street in Shau Kei Wan (筲箕灣 - a district to the northeastern side of Hong Kong Island) and I came across Bao Dim Sin Seng 包點先生 - a shop that specialises in steamed buns. I was very taken by the wide selection of buns in the shop and couldn't resist taking a few snapshots.

I loved the shop signage

Different types of Mantou (饅頭) or steamed buns. There are ones filled with spring onions, while others are plain, and others have chocolate etc. What a variety!

See the bakers at work behind glass screens in the shop

The purple buns are my favourite 'cos they're filled with yam paste. I love anything that has yam (also known as taro)! The orange ones that look like pumpkins are filled with black sesame (黑芝麻包). There are also buns filled with meat & vegetables (菜肉包） and chicken & mushroom (香菇鸡卷) among others.

These buns were so adorable. The yellow ones in the form of chicks are filled with lotus paste while the porcupine ones are filled with red bean paste.

If you want your buns steamed and piping hot, place your order at this counter and bite into a steaming hot bun straight away!

Tai O

One of my oldest and best gal pals, Des, came to visit a couple of weeks ago over the weekend. It's so nice to see a familiar face and great to be able to indulge in girly chat. One of the places we went to was Tai O, a fishing town in an obscure part of Lantau Island. The town is known as the 'Venice of Hong Kong' but trust me, it's a rather poor cousin of the Italian city.

Nonetheless, Tai O is not without its charm and tourists flock there despite the journey being quite a trudge from either Tung Chung MTR station or the Mui Wo ferry terminal. Here are some snapshots from Hong Kong's version of Venice.

Stilt houses all cramped next to each other.

Fish being dried and preserved

More dried fish, cuttlefish, prawn paste etc. Stuff I'm not very fond of!

Eeeks! Look at this stingray!

Vendors selling cuttlefish grilled over charcoal. Love that smoky charcoal flavour, but I'm not a fan of cuttlefish so I didn't buy any to munch on.

For some reason, every other eatery and street vendor was selling soya beancurd. I like the ones stored in wooden buckets like these. I love that traditional look.

A type of tea called 紫背天葵茶 that's produced in Tai O. Its English name is Matthiola incana R.Br, and I gather it's a type of herb. It's supposed to be good for quenching thirst, dispelling 'heat' from one's body, preventing high blood pressure and aiding digestion. The tea is a reddish-purplish colour and you can find the tea being sold in bottles all around the town centre.

Tangerine peel - used a lot in Cantonese soups and desserts (糖水)

Despite the not-so-pretty stilt houses, the backdrop of the hills makes the place look rather scenic.

I thought this was hilarious - "Snow White Spouse Wanted".

Cute round salted egg yolks

We were walking around the stilt houses and came across one that had old-fashioned stoves like these, still heated by charcoal and wood. Don't see much of this these days.

A calligraphy shop's grill has classical Chinese poems written on every panel of the grill. A common theme ran through the different poems - they all had to do with how time flies by so fast without us realising it and thus we have to treasure the little time we have in this life. How true.

Double Deer Stream Trek

I went stream trekking along Double Deer Stream in Sai Kung last Sunday. It was an awesome hike and I've concluded that Sai Kung is one of the most beautiful areas in Hong Kong. Here are some snapshots.

Campers at the beach where we started our hike

The first rock pool we came across along our trek

Two of the guys scaling the second rock pool along our way

If you look carefully you can see me making my way across the rocks in my red bikini towards the jumping spot

I can never back away from such challenges. So I stepped off the cliff that was about 10 metres in height without spending too much time up there thinking about it. The more you stand up there to ponder, the worse it becomes. So off I went and screamed my way down. But man, those few seconds were liberating!!!

Scaling up the rock wall. There's me in the black top carrying the orange backpack.

The easy part of the trek

Our lunch spot. Most of us couldn't resist taking a dip in the pool. I swam under the waterfall too and had a bit of a natural jacuzzi!

Scaling another rock wall with the stream to the right

And we are rewarded with a view after reaching the top

Making our way across a tricky part

This jump - only about 1.5 metre - was a piece of cake compared to the one I had done earlier!

Enjoying a bit of a massage by the cascading water

Ah, how nice...our very own private pool! We were sharing it with some fish as well!

The rolling green hills of Sai Kung and the sea beyond. Breathtaking.

Teresa Festival

I'm thankful that the area where I work, Quarry Bay (鰂魚涌), has many eating places to cater to many palates and budgets. Even 7-Eleven sells hot food like rice boxes and noodles. If I were to write a single entry on all the different places I usually or can go to for lunch, it'd take up probably close to 100 entries (maybe more)!

Anyhow, this short entry is about the delicious cookies by Teresa Festival.

I paid HKD65 for this packet of butter cookies which I wolfed down in two days. Yes, I'm a cookie monster. The cookies are of the crunchy sort and it came in an assortment. Some were plain, some had almond bits, others had swirls of chocolate dough, a morsel of jam, and one was topped with poppy seeds. The cookies are also sold in a big glass jar - these make really good gifts!

To celebrate one of my colleagues' birthday recently, he requested an American cheesecake. Cheesecake lovers will like this dense cheesecake. They do cheesecakes in several other flavours too. I also tried their chestnut mousse cake (below). I wasn't wow-ed by this cake, possibly because I didn't think there was enough chestnut puree.

My favourite is still the cookies and when I want a good cookie fix - I make sure I only eat good ones so that I don't waste my precious calories - this is where I'm going to get it.

Teresa Festival
Shop 5B G/F, 7-9 Hoi Kwong Street
Quarry Bay, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2565 1368

Sha Tin 18

A few weeks ago, thanks to my friend Felix, I got to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon and evening in Hyatt Regency Sha Tin. Felix was staying there for a short while, and told me to go over to make use of the pool and to chill out in the hotel that's located in a scenic part of the New Territories. The hotel is a three-minute walk from the train station 'University' (大学).

The view from the club lounge on the 25th floor. I had a very leisurely swim in the pool, soaked in the jacuzzi for half an hour and made use of the sauna. Boy was it relaxing.

We had lunch at the Chinese restaurant in the hotel called Sha Tin 18. The restaurant has an open kitchen concept and serves Cantonese and Northern Chinese cuisine.

We had some scallop dumplings （带子饺） which were small and really mediocre in taste.

The skin of the braised chicken feet (凤爪） was still rather chewy and hard which, according to Felix the gourmet, means it wasn't deep-fried long enough. The sauce, however, was very tasty and flavourful.

We also ordered some dumplings which I liked. The skin had the nice springy texture to it. I only wished there was more meat stuffed into it!

Steamed beef balls is an item I like to order. This one was alright but it didn't stand out.

We also had the pork and century egg congee which I thought was good. It was smooth and tasty, and I liked that it came with the peanuts, spring onions and preserved radish on the side.

What I enjoyed most in Sha Tin were two of their homemade ice creams. They were two flavours I had never tried before - Chinese wine chocolate (五粮液朱古力) and papaya snow fungus （木瓜雪耳）.

The papaya snow fungus ice cream was very light in flavour with traces of papaya. The bits of snow fungus embedded in the ice cream added an interesting texture to this rather guilt-free dessert. The crispy and wafe-thin sesame wafer was also delicious to munch on.

Now this I have to say is one of the best chocolate ice creams I've ever had. I love chocolate and I take every opportunity to eat chocolate ice cream. This one was silky smooth and the Chinese wine (五粮液) being mixed with the dark chocolate is such a brilliant idea. The bitterness of the Chinese wine really enhances the flavour of the chocolate and my god, the wine hits you the moment that ice cream touches your palate. I swear I could get drunk on this Chinese wine chocolate ice cream. LOVE it.

So my conclusion is that the main food items in Sha Tin 18 are pretty mediocre. The star items are these two homemade ice creams. A definite must-try!

I'm Still Alive!

OK, just to prove I'm still alive, kicking and eating in Hong Kong, here's a picture of me about to tuck into some steamed egg custard - one of my favourite desserts - taken last Saturday. I've been lazy with my blog and I know I need to start writing again. I know by now I don't have many readers left (not that I had many to begin with) with the long hiatus so I'm not too concerned about putting my photo up. Haha.

More soon, I promise!