Perth Day Two & Three

Didn't do much during these 2 days. Spent some time at the Subiaco Market. Had yummy Vietnamese beef pho for lunch and sipped chai latte. Bought some pine nuts from a shop with an interesting name - Angry Almond!

Spent some time doing weeding at my aunt's garden and we harvested watercrest for dinner (I accidently picked some chocolate mint as well, which contributed to the 'complex tasting soup' later... oops). Dinner was home-cooked chicken stew, watercrest chicken soup and I cooked my corn & pine nuts dish. ^.^

Went to another market the next morning, and explored the wide array of plants, vegetables & handicrafts. Pity I couldn't bring back a few items: a beautiful peacock made from wires, 2 marble sculptures by a European artist. Lunch was a big bowl of Ipoh Hor Fun. Yum!

Perth Holiday

Arrived in Perth on Friday the 13th. Was looking forward to a relaxing holiday...

We had dinner at the South Ocean Chinese Seafood Restaurant. My favourite dish? The finger-licking snow crab cooked in the Hong Kong "pei fong tong"style with lots of garlic, shallot and dried chilli.

Felt great to window shop at Woolies and Priceline. I'm back in Australia!!

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....