Roasted Pigeons for Dinner

Yup. We had roasted pigeons for dinner at Shui Wah Restaurant! Not only that, I also tried rice infused with pork lard and drizzled with dark soy sauce. The friendly service staff served us soybean curd for dessert after dinner... OK. I'm not counting my cholesterol levels here and I think I hit the quota of good food for this whole year! I keep surprising myself with the amount and types of food I've tasted during my stay in Hong Kong. Thanks so much to my dear friends who really enjoy life and know where to find good food! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! ^.^

So till my next adventure... signing off for now.

Afternoon Tea at The Verandah, Repulse Bay

I guess we need some tea after a walk at the Hong Kong Park so off we go to the posh looking hotel at Repulse Bay! At the table next to ours, a group of tai-tais were chatting animatedly and enjoying silver trays of petite cakes and pastries, and sipping tea. I wish that years later, all my girl friends in Hong Kong and I can gather and enjoy an afternoon tea, just like them. I also hope that by then, we would all be happily married!!

So what did J2 and I had? We shared a yummy plate of vanilla bean creme brulee, with very fresh berries. I also had Earl Grey tea and there was even steamed milk! I really like the idea of serving coffee or tea with steamed milk, not cold milk or worse, weird smelling milk.

I also like the large Longines clock at the hotel garden. Very lovely!

Hong Kong Park

J1 and her bf had to go back to work after lunch so J2 and I spent the leisurely afternoon together. Oh boy, we were so full!! What better way to burn off the extra calories than taking a walk at the Hong Kong Park nearby! It is not just a simple park with manicured flowers and plants. Within the park, there is an aviary with a whopping 600 birds of different species! The birds were well fed with fresh fruits and they looked contented and happy. There was a pair of pelicans! Haven't seen them since my Wollongong trip! We saw a very fat pigeon and I jokingly told J2 that it would become my dinner soon. Haha! Unfortunately, the Visual Arts Centre was closed for the day.

Here are some bird pictures...

Another Day of Good Food and Great Company!

It was a lovely day and I felt very happy after spending an hour exploring the Flower Market, yet again. J2 came and took me to try my favourite lean pork with century egg congee at her favourite stall. Oh, it was heavenly!! J2's congee tasted great too! J2 tried to ask me not to eat so much because we would be meeting J1 for a big dim sum lunch. Oh well... I'm on holiday and I should get to do what I like! Hehehe...

We went to Yung Kee to get century eggs and then walked to the dim sum place - Luk Yu Tea House. It has been around since 1933 and boasts of being Hong Kong's most famous and last standing traditional tea house. The experience was great! It's like travelling back in time. As we didn't book a table, we were asked to go right up to the third floor. Service was very efficient as my eyes went blurry at the speed the plates were served and taken away (depending on how fast we eat!). I think we ordered a lot, a lot of great food. The most interesting was the savoury almond soup. When the lid was removed, you could smell a strong almond fragrance. My guess is that the almond milk was boiled with pork ribs, red dates, almonds and veges. I would love to try that again next time! You order food by using a pencil to indicate on this interesting order form.

Look at what we ate!

Flower Market and Yuen Po Street Bird Garden

The Flower Market was like a large magnet for me. I kept gravitating towards it every morning. I really envy the folks living above the Flower Market. Imagine fresh flowers greeting you everyday! I'll let the photos show you a tiny fraction of what they have... And I finally get to see how a fresh peony flower looks like - too luxurious for me. I still love a stalk of rose anytime! One day, a few shops were selling delicate looking blue water lilies. So beautiful! I bet they'll look good with pink lilies in a flower arrangement. Throw in some silver dollar eucalyptus and soft yellow callas lilies... oh, what a symphony of colours and sweet smelling flowers.


I got curious and walked into the Yuen Po Street Bird Garden on the second last day of my stay in Hong Kong. Lots of people were hanging their birds on the branches and having chit-chats. The shops there specialised in birds, bird cages and bird feed. My goodness! I never imagined that the birds have a wide variety of yummy treats like meal worms, grasshoppers and scorpions of various shapes and colours, not just bird seeds! If you are not a big fan of birds, you will not like the unique smell all over the place. It reminded me of my very long dead pet rooster. Took this picture when I saw the lady patiently feeding hairless baby birds using chinese brush! One of the shops was sunning 2 large trays of meal worms. I am terrified of these creatures. My knees went weak when I saw happy wild sparrows flying around, picking the choicest morsel from the trays and in the process, flicking worms out of the trays! My god... the pathway was crawling with wriggling worms! Of course, I didn't stay there for long. Eewww.... worms....

Seafood Dinner!

A3 and I had a delicious seafood dinner! We get to pick our 'victims' and soon tucked in when the food arrived. I think we over-ordered. It was a great pity that we couldn't finish the rich, seafood soup! This is the first time I tried the mantis prawn. It tasted like crabmeat and the shell was quite difficult to peel. Guess I have satisfied my curiosity... so this is how a mantis prawn taste like!


I also like the sculptures nearby!



It was a perfect way to end a beautiful day!

More of Saigon

Next, we took a bumpy ride to a beach at Saigon. We had a leisurely stroll around the vicinity. It was really scenic with lots of beautiful butterflies fluttering around. Most amusing was a wild, big, black cow (with horns!) that seemed to appear from nowhere. I wasn't sure what to do because the path was narrow and the only way for me to run off was to climb up the slope (didn't think I could make it)... we eyed one another for a while. The cow decided to gallop past me. Boy, he badly needs a shower!

Here are some of the views. I'm also pleased with myself that I spotted a thumb-sized, orange crab scurrying around. Quite cute!

There are also interesting foliage and beautiful flowers. Unfortunately, my tiny camera was acting up so the colours seemed a bit off!

Heritage Museum & Exploring Saigon

It's Monday and as planned, A3 and I met, and had yummy breakfast (mine was the simple luncheon meat sandwich with silky smooth milk tea). After that, we set off to the Hong Kong Heritage Museum.

My deepest impression of the museum is that it has an interesting Cantonese opera heritage hall, and the New Territories heritage hall. I'm most interested in the way they presented New Territories' changing landscape over the years.

After the short visit, we met up with another friend Dr L for lunch. I decided to be brave and tried a piece of coagulated pig's blood. It's actually very tasty! And the radish just soaked up all the goodness of the broth. The noodles were very smooth, it's like a cross between the slippery pasta and broad rice noodles.
There was a large seafood restaurant at Saigon. Look at what they have! I was very surprised to see them selling horseshoe crabs. Aren't they an endangered species? These ancient animals have remained almost the same for the last 250 million years. These crabs do not have hemoglobin in their blood, but use hemocynin to carry oxygen in their blood, hence their blood is blue in colour! Their blood has been used in medical research to test drugs and implants, etc. Not sure if you can spot the mantis prawns in front. They do resemble the cockroach... There are also boats selling seafood - fresh and dried ones!

Hong Kong Day 2

A brought me to the Flower Market near the hotel on the first day. I love it very much! Rows and rows of roses welcome you everywhere... with a bunch of iris here, a cluster of lilies there, and also carnations, chrysanthemums of all hues and scents! I am in heaven! So I went to have a look at the flowers again before I embarked on the adventures for the day - visiting museums!

My first stop was the Hong Kong Museum of History. On the first floor, visitors are invited to sit and watch short documentary clips. For "Life in Frame", the series include: fashion, food and public transport. There is also a section on government documentaries featuring festivals of HK and housing in HK. I had fun at the natural environment exhibition area. The other permanent exhibition galleries include: prehistoric HK, the dynasties from Han to Qing, folk culture in HK, opium war and the cession of HK, birth and the early growth of the city, Japanese Occupation, modern metropolis and the return to China. I didn't suffer from claustrophobia as the galleries were spacious and many areas were brightly lit. It was a wonderful experience, not spooky at all.

I particularly enjoyed the exhibits on family life in the 60s & 70s, postwar education in HK, and below is one of my favourite exhibit. SO CUTE!

With the help of the Security Officer at the History Museum, I took a bus to my next museum - Hong Kong Museum of Art. But before that, I need to get some lunch as it was close to 1.30pm, way past my regular lunch time! I must say that the Museum Cafe served the best pork chops I've ever tasted! And you get a great view of the Victoria Harbour! After a big meal of pork chops, steamed veges and small portion of pasta in cream sauce, washed down with a perfect cup of coffee, I'm ready to explore the Art Museum.

There is a large collection of ceramics and a selection of paintings from the Xubaizhai Collection at the permanent exhibition galleries. Most of the areas were closed so the last place I went to was the feature exhibition on Wu Guanzhong's donated paintings. A lot of efforts have been made to enhance the visitors' experience... just look at the stain glass which replicates his painting of the HK skyline and 3 sides of walls replicating his other painting.

I ended the day with delicious Korean BBQ dinner with K. It was great to see her again! Also had a sip of Korean ginseng wine. I like the taste. Very nice!

Hong Kong Day 1

This is my second visit to Hong Kong since 2006. The only difference is that this time, I'm travelling alone but I wasn't alone the whole time. I managed to catch up with wonderful friends!


After more than a year of not having any holidays, I could finally feel relaxed when the plane took off and when I opened a packet of salted peanuts. No holiday is complete without that!


It was around evening time when I arrived. After checking in, I went for dinner with A at Wang Jia Sha, one of Shanghai's famous restaurant chains. Here's a picture of the entree dishes - my favourite was the one on the left! Cold, smooth white broad noodles (liang fen?), with fresh cucumber and ham slivers, and fragrant peanut sauce. YUM! We also had Shanghainese fried noodles, Chinese cabbage in cream sauce (dunno why it tasted a bit bitter), dessert... Oh, what a spread!