Egg Tarts

I got this problem with my friends from Hong Kong.  Don't get me wrong!  I like my friends from Hong Kong! But there's this one issue that we just cannot agree upon. I am inflexible on the subject. They are inflexible too.

I'll just come out and say it.  Macau egg tarts are better than Hong Kong egg tarts.

Macau Egg Tarts are delicious.

HK ones are just meh...compared to Macau ones.

Sure, I like HK egg tarts.  I suppose they taste good.  And to be honest, I consciously go out of the way to find good ones when in HK.  But Macau egg tarts are just straight-up f--king awesome.


In Macau, I showed my parents and Jim around during our day trip.  It was more or less like my last visit to Macau, minus the gambling.  I focused on eating and sampling snack food. 

Our last day in Hong Kong included typical commoner Cantonese fare: wonton, barbecued meats, white bread with condensed milk (???) and the like.  I pigged out because it would be the last time I have Canto food for a few months, if not an entire year.

Starting Year 2: HK and Macau with the 'Rents

I'm back in Asia!  Back on the road of living another exciting year as a Canadian expat!  Starting Year Two off in Hong Kong with my family friend Jim and my parents. About a week ago, we landed in HK in the morning and went directly to our hotel at Causeway Bay.

Causeway Bay area

If you know me, you'll know that Hong Kong is one of my favorite cities the world over.  I love eating there.  I love the organization and cleanliness.  I love their subway.  I even love reading the business news every morning in HK...and this time it was really REALLY interesting with Asian markets plummeting.  I guess the only downside to HK is that it's a shopping city that's really expensive.

At the Star Ferry in  Central

Anyways, to sum up (since I'm writing this from Kunming, Yunnan and don't have time to linger on blogging), I showed my parents and Jim around the city from Lantau to Kowloon, Wanchai to SoHo.  For my own sanity, however, I demanded to go to the part of HK that I've never seen before: HK Island South.

The 'rents on a sampan in Aberdeen.

Aberdeen

St. Stephen's Beach in Stanley

That's more or less it in a nutshell.  Tomorrow, I relocate to Lijiang.  If I can get wi-fi at the place I'm staying at, then I might tell you about my travels to Macau with my parents. 

Year Two has started! I look forward to the next few weeks.  So many exciting things happening...travelling Yunnan province, going to Shanghai to see friends, and going back to Wuhan with wo de mama so she can meet Cathy.

I'll leave you with pictures of some dishes I've had in Hong Kong.

Wo bu shuo Guangdong hua! Part 5

After going back to Hong Kong from Macau, I had early dinner at a low-key local place. I was very hungry.

Wonton and San Mig. Fills you up very fast.

View in the restaurant

The last thing I did in HK was to check out the laser light show from Kowloon that overlooks Hong Kong. 

Had to hit the sack early for an early flight to Fukuoka, Japan the next morning.  But back at the Chungking Mansions, I didn't get much sleep at all.

Maybe it was me getting used to the comfy bed in Macau.  Maybe I was too excited about going to Japan. But, there was a couple next to my guest house room that were making a lot of squeaky noises on their squeaky bed.  That kept me up.

Well, that pretty much sums up my journey throughout Guangzhou, HK and Macau.  I love the Cantonese-speaking areas of China.  Hong Kong is one of my favorite cities the world over.  The places and adventures I've had in these places were awesome.  The food was even better!  I look forward to my next visit to this area of the world.

Next up...JAPAN!

Wo bu shuo Guangdong hua! Part 4

 This week will be busy.  I'm teaching 1 block of Social Studies 10 and 3 blocks of Info Tech 10.  I'm just going to put up some pictures with small descriptions for this edition of Pan Laoshi's Adventures.

Central Hong Kong

A view from Victoria Peak

Went up on the Tram, went down on foot on Old Peak Road.

Came across a nice park with a big fountain and a zoo. Headed to Causeway Bay but my camera battery died.

Central by night from Kowloon.

The next day I wanted to go to the Big Buddha, but met Annetta - a new friend.  Detoured to Disneyland HK, which is puny, especially if you've been to Disneyland in California and Disneyworld in Florida.

Annetta helping me pick out a present for Cathy.

On the way to the Big Buddha.

The Big Buddha

Annetta and I went up the Peak at night to go see Toussaud's Wax Museum.  Fought off some ninjas with my homeboy Bruce Lee.

Central...on the way to have late night wonton noodle soup. The next day I would depart to meet Gamblor in Macau.

Wo bu shuo Guangdong hua! Part 3

Hong Kong!  I love Hong Kong!  When I first went there, I fell in love with the place almost immediately.  There's so much to see! There's so much to do!  Lots of sights, lots of sounds.

李小龍 (Lee Xiao Long).  You know his English name.

Last time, I stayed with my father at a hotel.  This time, however, I stayed at the infamous Chungking Mansions.  My mom emailed me and told me that she stayed there back in the 70s with my grandmother and great-grandmother.  It was a filthy hole-in-the-wall dung heap back then, and to a certain extent it's kept a bit of that.  I was also tipped off that it has been deemed one of the dirtiest and most dangerous place to stay in all Hong Kong, for its reputation of vice is without compare in the city.

I actually didn't think it was all that bad.  Okay, a fight broke out between a security guard and a drunk ass foreigner, and the internet place tried to sucker me into paying more than they deserved, the various "businessmen" surrounding the place were so sketchy and pissed me off a number of times, a couple having loud rough sex was making it difficult for me to sleep, and the main floor often smelled like Chinese washroom.  But other than that, it was fine.  The guest house I was at was ran by a Chinese woman and a cleaned by a short Filipina.  She kept the rooms quite clean.

My HK Mansion.

The Chungking Mansions was just a place to rest.  I was in Hong Kong to bask in the glory of my favorite city in East Asia, although I'm really not all that sure if it's my favorite anymore.  Not after Tokyo.

The first thing I did was to meet my friend Stephanie, who works at a school in a different part of China.

 

OMG, soy sauce ready on the table.  You never see this in Wuhan!

 

Of course, the next thing was to get my eat on because HK food is so effin' delicious.  Canto food is a lot more similar to Chinese Canadian.  Bland to Mandarin standards.  But eats in HK reminded me more of home than of the spicy and oily dishes of Central China.

Wonton Noodle Soup, Biatch!

From Kowloon we went to Central via the Star Ferry.  After crossing, we ran into a beer and wine kiosk.  I got myself a stout beer to drink as I walked around town.  Compared to Wuhan, however, it was tai gui le.

Beer Kiosk

Buying HK egg tarts (|Macauan ones are  far superior IMO)

Walked around for a while until we arrived in SoHo, the foreigner's food haven.  Went to a Spanish restaurant and had seafood paella and rioja (my favorite wine).  I think the place was run by Pinoy (Filipinos).

Great first day with a friend and lots of flavorful food in the city that raised the immortal Bruce Lee.