Author: F C

Mass at the Mariners’ Club, 11 Middle Road
Lan Tao Island via MTR orange line, then 23 bus
Po Lin Monastary – Big Buddha
Vegetarian lunch
Trip back
Meet up with law school friend Paul
Sheraton Sky Lounge
Last minute shopping: luggage, 7-11, Ramen
Going home at 7 in the morning.

Will clean up the entries on the plane.

We were going to Sha Tin for the dragon boat races, but we were just beat and decided to take it easy. Instead, we just hung out with YC and his work associate W at the Sheraton breakfast buffet for a couple of hours. Then we went to Tseun Wan to the Sam Tung Uk museum. It’s a renovated Hakka walled village that has been completely renovated. W lives in the neighborhood, and he had no idea that the museum was there, because it is so non-descript.

Afterwards, we made one more try to eat Hakka food. We gave up trying to find the famed movable chicken feast place, since nobody was really sure where they had moved to. W suggested this new theme chain restaurant, Hak Ka Hut. It presents rustic Hakka Chinese food in an elegant modern style. The braised pork belly with preserved vegetables were very credible, slightly on the sweet side. The salt chicken I thought was slightly overdone, but YC and his cousin thought it was pretty good. The other dishes included stuffed tofu and abalone, which were tasty, although the stuffing was on the top rather than on the side as was usual.

Afterwards, W drove us to the Sheraton, where we had drinks on the top floor cafe until very last.

One more day…

Quick outline, will fill it out later:

Breakfast at YMCA cafe – the “American Breakfast” is kind of really an English breakfast – 2 eggs, bratwurst links, hash browns, fruit salad, toast, coffee and orange juice.
Tom Lee music store
Lunch at Thai Basil with N, my longtime college friend who just had a baby boy 9 months ago. Very good food.
Bus 23 to Hong Kong University
Tea master Tonien Lee
Piano room
Robert Black College
Picked up chinese seal chops
In search of the Hakka restaurant part 2 – the second location is closed, too
Causeway Bay/Times Square
Lan Kwai Fong – Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream
Superstar Seafood

Today, lots of people, lots of heights and depths.

Exchange Square
Today was Dragon Boat Festival day, which is actually a public holiday. Thousands of house maids were out and about like it were a Sunday. We went to Exchange Square, location of the HK Stock Exchange, to get to the bus terminal for the trip to Stanley, where one of the regional races were held.

Bus ride
We took bus #260, which is the Stanley double-decker express bus. We went up and down the rollercoaster of highways on the northern side, then went through the Aberdeen Tunnel to the southern side, ending up outside Ocean Park. Then through winding roads similar to that in the northeast coast of Oahu, we went along winding coastal roads, narrowly avoiding oncoming vehicles and pedestrians. A quick stop at Deep Water Bay deposits a horde of people going to the beach, and then we were soon at Stanley Market.

Stanley Market
Stanley Market is usually a riot of stalls. Add thousands of dragon boat spectators, and you get general chaos. We bought a dozen magnets, and haggled them down by about 5 bucks. We ate at DeliFrance, a chain of French-themed cafes. The noodle dishes were sort of ok, but the apple turnover was nice and super flaky.

Dragon Boat Races
The Stanley version of the races was one part tradition, one part community festival, and one part goofball antics. The traditional part was the actual races, and the consuming of massive quantities of jung, or rice tamales to use a cultural mixed metaphor. The community part is where a lot of people get to hang out together and interact in the race. The goofball part is where the teams often choose to race in wacky outfits. One team had pirate outfits; another in wedding attire; a third team had plastic wigs. A weight loss company was giving out free samples of their tea. A gin company was giving out these hand fans that were a big hit.

IFC Center
We walked through the International Financial Center mall. The neatest thing is the theater ticket centre, where you can use an Octopus card to buy movie tickets. Really need. We then took the Star Ferry back home.

Haircut
When we got back, I decided that I desparately needed a haircut. We waited downstairs at the barber shop for about 45 minutes, when P- started being impatient. I took that to mean that she wanted to leave, and we left. It turned out that the haircutter was actually looking for us. We went back down, and she took care of the haircut. She did it all manually, without those cutter attachments or anything. Pretty good job.

Mong Kok
We took the MTR train to Mong Kok, the neighborhood next to the former neighborhood. It has changed a lot since the last time I was here. The ladies’ market was a riot of stalls filled with every possible bit of junk and clothing you can imagine. However, that was supplemented by a mass of malls, shining electronics emporiums, and restaurants.

In search of a Hakka restaurant
One of the guide books pointed to a restaurant called Chuen Cheung Kui in the area. When we got there, it was an electronics store instead. We later found out that they are really in Causeway Bay.

Langham Place
This mall is unlike any other mall that we’ve seen. It’s vertical, having 14 levels. It has 5 storey escalators that whisk you skyward. They have a main stage on the 12th floor that had a jazz/soul guitarist named Pius Chan. At the very top levels, called OZone, there are a collection of restaurants in a Vegas style setup.

Ming Ya Fe
We had dinner at this 1930’s Shanghai themed restaurant/bar. They did a good job of immersing the guests in that time. We picked the set menu, because it seemed to have a good value. The dishes included: cold drunken chicken appertiser, sharks fin soup, shanghai soup dumplings, beef and broccoli, lobster tail in chili sauce, and two slices of cake: berry cheesecake and coffee cheesecake. There was also a singing duo that was taking requests. Very satisfying – recommended.

Someone had said that travel is accelerated living, and that it true, but also accelerated eating, and accelerated shopping. Here’s a outline which we’ll have to elaborate on later.

Monday
Star Ferry
Harbour City
Aji Ichiban
Wellcome
CityShop
Korean Lunch
Hard Rock
Hotel
Hong Kong History Museum
Todai
Temple Street Night Market
Watched filming movie Ekin at market

Tuesday
Happy Garden Congee – Canton Road
HMV
Chop – Sheung Wan
Mid Levels Escalator
Peak Café
Peak Tram
Peak Galleria
Tram
Bus
MTR
Times Square
Trams to Happy Valley
Tram to Central