A recap of Carson's third (and final) week in Hong Kong

We're back - and perhaps sooner than expected! Carson is preparing for his flight home right now, so that has afforded an opportunity to tell tales from the final stretch of his time here. Let's get to it!

-Monday-

Before setting off for our primary destination (Sai Kung), while Carson and I were waiting for Katherine to run a quick errand, we went to see the famed "High Street Haunted House"...


It was once an asylum which, after being abandoned for many years, gained quite a spooky reputation. The interior has now been rebuilt (so only a facade of the original remains), but locals claim that, prior to reconstruction, you could hear the insane screams of long-dead patients echoing inside.

Having had our haunting fill, we rejoined Katherine and rolled to Sai Kung - a great place for seafood...

Here, Carson poses with one of the many tanks full of live seafood, including...

...cuttlefish! Before eating any, though, we wanted to spend an hour or so touring some of the outlying islands on a little boat...



...and even this floating fish farm. Near the end of the tour, we stopped at a small island beach (known as Hap Mun Bay) and found ourselves at the mercy of this vigilant cat...


Fortunately, we were not carrying any contraband...but we were starting to get hungry, so we made our way back to a strip of popular seafood restaurants and chose our favorite: Chuen Kee.


At these sorts of seafood restaurants, you can first choose exactly which items you are going to eat, so Katherine it mulling over the options. In the end, we chose...

Cuttlefish stir-fried with broccoli

Steamed abalone with ginger

Deep-fried "salt and hot pepper" mantis shrimp

...and a fish soup which, as you can see, did contain whole fish. After dinner, we went to the original location of one of our favorite dessert shops, Honeymoon Dessert...

You can't see it very well in this picture, but behind us is the original Honeymoon Dessert location, which has a very special section...


The Durian District! Honeymoon has some fantastic durian desserts, but if you are going to be eating any of them, you must sit in a little quarantine (since the smell can be quite offensive to some). We were going to be having durian, so it was off to isolation for us.

And here's the proof: A delicious durian crepe (filled with fresh durian and whipped cream).

As it happened, we stumbled upon a large Cantonese Opera production (in the final night of its week-long run) by a renown theater company...

Outside the bamboo-constructed stage

A packed house!

Cantonese Opera (something which none of us, including Katherine, had ever seen live before). I grabbed a tiny video of it as well, though it does the event little justice...

It was really quite amazing and I hope I get many more chances to watch other productions.

On our way home, we decided to stop in Mong Kok to visit one other favorite dessert shop (just to make sure Carson didn't miss out on the experience) and here is a sampling of what we ordered...

Lots of mango!

-Tuesday-

The focus of Tuesday was definitely Kwun Tong, where Katherine's parents live, so that's where we started.


Katherine points to the building where her parents reside, which also served as her childhood home.


Another wonderful lunch feast prepared by Katherine's mother - this time in Carson's honor!

After lunch, Katherine needed to accompany her father on an errand, so Carson and I split off for a little exploration of our own (strolling through apm, taking the MTR to Prince Edward, shopping in the factory outlet market on Fa Yuen Street, peeking into an Amway storefront, snacking on orange cuttlefish, waffle-like "gai daan zai", and various fresh meat jerkies).

Once Katherine and her father had completed their errand, we reconnected with them in Tsim Sha Tsui. Katherine's father wanted to stop by his university's alumni office, so we joined him for a little tour and met A-Yi, who is the office's only staff member. Together the four of us went a few doors down to Chungking Mansion for an Indian dinner at the Taj Mahal Club...

-Wednesday-

After picking up a to-go lunch at the Great Food Hall in Admiralty's Pacific Place Mall, Carson and I grabbed a bus to Yuen Long (one of the largest and most remote areas of Hong Kong). First stop, the Hang Heung Cake Shop, famous for inventing winter melon "wife cakes"...

Here Carson stands in front of the shop, clutching those precious wife cakes.

From the Yuen Long town center, we took a taxi to Kat Hing Wai (one of Hong Kong's most well known "walled villages")...

The primary attraction of Kat Hing Wai, other than seeing the tightly-enclosed architecture, is taking pictures with the old ladies dressed in Hakka-like attire!


Each picture costs HK$10 per lady, so this picture cost HK$20. Well worth the smiles on their faces.


Carson stands near the front of the walled village's central corridor. Narrow and not for the claustrophobic.

From Kat Hing Wai, we took a bus back to the Yuen Long town center and then switched to another bus which dropped us just outside the Hong Kong Wetland Park...


Posing with a Hong Kong crocodile celebrity, Pui Pui (in the distance, just over Carson's right shoulder, and rather camouflaged), who is very much a special attraction.


A typical view from within the park, which was gorgeous and absolutely full of life. A must-visit.


A few fiddler crabs scurrying about, close to the park's Mangrove trees.

We stayed until the park closed (5PM) and then grabbed yet another bus back to Admiralty, switching once more to a bus that would take us to the University of Hong Kong, where we met up with Katherine and went to dinner at BBQ (an old favorite). I didn't take make pictures there, but I did want to show you one of the dishes we sampled...


These are actually sparrows and, yes, they did taste a bit like chicken. Lots of tiny bones and few little meat, though, so perhaps not really worth the effort.

After dinner we went to Yummy Dessert (another favorite dessert shop in Kennedy Town), returned home, and had a very nice visit from Joyce and her husband Gordon.

-Thursday-

Lunch at the Greenland Taiwanese cafe with Joyce kicked off the day...

...followed by a fantastically relaxing experience at Silver Tinkling Teahouse (just outside the University of Hong Kong)...

Sipping some Phoenix Dan Cong black tea (from a 100-year-old tree in Guangdong)

My Li-Shan Oolong (from Taiwan) tea set

A few osmanthus flower jellies

After our tea, we set off for Jordan to meet Katherine's parents so that they could deliver a few goodies for Carson to take home with him. Following that hand-off, and following a few final shopping excursions, we returned to Hong Kong Island to have dinner with Elena (an old friend of Katherine's) at our favorite Shanghainese restaurant in Shek Tong Tsui...

-Friday-

Carson's final full day in Hong Kong - and we fled the country with Katherine's parents! We didn't go very far, though - just about an hour by ocean ferry to Macau (formerly a Portuguese colony). We boarded the ferry (which was quite large and felt much like an airplane) around 10AM...



Macau is famous (notorious? ;>) for its vast casinos, so upon arrival we thought we'd go see the largest casino in the world - The Venetian Macau...

Here we are in a Venice-like area of the resort which has a painted sky-like ceiling, giving you the feeling of perpetual dusk. It's a little disorienting! (Note our umbrellas and raincoats. Those aren't just cute props - the were essential for defending against the torrential downpour which pummeled Macau the entire time we were there. Inside The Venetian, though, it never rains! :>)

Three different canals connect various areas of The Venetian and you can ride gondolas (complete with serenading gondoliers) through each of them.


This platform leads down to the main casino floor.


I wouldn't normally take my picture with a large picture of George Clooney, but I made an exception in this case because Katherine's mother pointed to the picture and said it looked like my father. We'll take that as a family compliment. ;>


Down on the casino floor. We didn't do any gambling, but it was interesting just to walk around and see the games being played.

After touring The Venetian, it was lunchtime, so we set off for Fernando's - one of the best-known restaurants in Macau...

Entering the main dining room

Crusty bread

Sopa a mode da Avozinha ("Granny's Soup")

Caldo verde (soup)

Camarao frito con alho (prawns with garlic)

Caranquejo na cacarola (crab)

Leitao assado no forno (suckling pig)

Bacalhau assado na brasa (codfish)

Chocos grelhados s/ tinta (cuttlefish)

Fernando's is nestled along Hac Sa ("black sand") Beach - and the top layer of the sand closest to the ocean was indeed pitch black.

After lunch, we moved on to Lord Stow's bakery, the most famous bakery in Macau, where we tried...

Lemonade and carrot-apple juice

Serradura (aka "sawdust pudding")

Portuguese egg tarts (invented by Lord Stow himself!)

Having filled our bellies and finished our food conquests, we strolled the wet, wet streets of Macau...

Standing fairly far in front of the Ruins of St Paul's

A rain-soaked street

There were a few other things we were hoping to do in Macau, but our bodies were ready to get warm and dry, so we decided to return to Hong Kong for some hot showers. Back to the ferry! Here's a look at the boat from the outside (not actually the one we rode in, but one very representative of it)...

Other than warming up, Carson also needed to pack for his 8AM flight, and Fui Fui was hard at work with him....


In just a few minutes, we'll take Carson to the Hong Kong Airport Express MTR station and get him checked-in. It's been a wonderful visit packed full of great experiences and memories and we can't wait to have him back in town!

A recap of Carson's second week in Hong Kong

After the longest hiatus in this blog's short history comes it's longest post! Buckle up! Since there's so much information to share, I'm going to alter the formatting a bit from last week's "recap" post...

-Saturday-

We had a leisurely morning / early afternoon and went out around 3:30pm to the Palace IFC theater in Central...

Here's Carson in the main lobby after seeing a 4:30pm showing of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" (which was great!). For dinner, it was off to a nearby Nepalese restaurant in SoHo simply called "Nepal"...

The food can be likened to Indian, but there are some very distinct flavor differences. Undoubtedly delicious, however. The three curries we ordered...

...and the yak(!) cheese we ordered (with some ginger, kiwi, and stawberry)...

After dinner we wandered around SoHo for a little while and then went back home.

-Sunday-

Katherine was scheduled to be interviewed, in English, by a group of five secondary school students from Tuen Mun (for their school newspaper). The students were also interested in talking to Carson and I, so we all went to Katherine's office, spent the whole afternoon together, and had a wonderful time. Afterwards, we spent a few hours grocery shopping in Wellcome (the first time we had really gone grocery shopping since moving to the new apartment - time for a stock up!). Following that, we set off for Kennedy Town to have dinner at a very traditional soup noodle shop.

(I'm afraid I didn't catch any pictures of this day - but I'll make up for it below. :>)

-Monday-

A day spent entirely exploring Stanley...

Stanley beach

Stanley market

Stanley bay (with the famed Murray House)

Paella from our dinner at a wonderful Spanish restaurant (formerly known as "El Cid") in Murray House.

A night shot of Murray House

-Tuesday-

The day started with a trip to a Hong Kong style fast-food restaurant (known as a "Tea Restaurant") to try Hong Kong's version of French toast, which is deep-fried, delicious, and something we shouldn't have very often. ;> Carson also tried his first Hong Kong style milk tea, a critical piece of Hong Kong food culture. We then hopped on a bus to Mong Kok for a very thorough exploration, which didn't include an official lunch, but instead involved a whole lot of snacking (Krispy Kreme, beef balls, squid balls, shrimp balls, pork balls, curry fish balls, custard-filled "roasted cakes", and a Mango herbal dessert shop). We combed Sai Yeung Choi Street, Fa Yuen Street, and Tung Choi Street - well known for it's "Ladies' Market"...

After walking the length of the market, we also explored an outdoor fruit and veggie market and Langham Place before hopping on the MTR to Jordan. In Jordan, we first entered the Yue Hwa department store and slowly worked our way to the top, shopping for gifts. At the very top, we discovered a tea exhibition with many small sellers serving tea samples. To our surprise, it was one of the highlights of the day - we tried lots of wonderful and unusual teas and enjoyed lots of good conversation there. Upon exiting Yue Hwa, we saw that the sun had set, so our next stop was the Night Market on Temple Street for some more gift shopping. After walking the length of it, we went to a nearby Chinese vegetarian restaurant for a buffet dinner.

-Wednesday-

Tuesday was a very long day, so we used Wednesday to catch up on sleep and laundry. I made waffles for brunch and, that evening, we went to Jolly Thinkers (unquestionably Hong Kong's best board game cafe) in Mong Kok for hours of fun with Joyce and Ronald...

-Thursday-

We met Joyce and Jasmine (a new friend who is a faculty member of the University of Hong Kong School of Education) for breakfast at our favorite congee shop on High Street. Afterwards, Carson, Joyce and I met with Ronald for a bit of shopping in Causeway Bay and, once we'd had enough shopping, we took the trolley to Central for...

Snake soup! (Which includes many ingredients, only some of which are snake meat. Chunky!)

Carson preparing for his first bite

Down the hatch!

It was actually quite good...and, because it included so many ingredients, you hardly knew you were eating snake. Perhaps we'll try something more snake-intensive next time.

After snake, we quickly ran two doors down to Hang Fa Lau, a favorite dessert shop to, you know, cleanse the palate a little. ;> We then went for our real dinner, Carson's first hot pot experience!

Here you can see Dr Carson using a syringe full of squid meat (mixed with a bit of flour to hold it together). As the meat falls into the pot, it is instantly cooked, forming squid meat noodles (which are quite delicious). Following dinner, we went down into Shek Tong Tsui and picked up some of the first lychees of the season. Yum!

-Friday-

We spent Friday planning Carson's remaining days in Hong Kong (weighing options, prioritizing, etc) and playing video games. ;> For dinner, we went to the Xinjiang restaurant I've mentioned on the blog before...

-Saturday-

We sprung into action early on Saturday, being picked up by Joyce and her husband Gordon at 9AM for a Hong Kong style fast food breakfast in Mong Kok...

After breakfast, we went back to Jolly Thinkers (which Joyce and Gordon own and operate) to give some primary school students a bit of English practice through board / card gaming...

It was absolutely wonderful and I think the students had just as much fun as Carson and I did. Katherine met up with us after the gaming was over and the three of us went with Joyce to try "small cart noodles" (where you start with a big bowl of soup, choose the type of noodle you want added, and then choose all the ingredients you want on top)...

This was a particularly important experience for Carson to have, since his name can literally translate into Cantonese as "small cart". ;> After lunch, we Gordon and Joyce drove us to "Monkey Mountain" - something that Katherine had been telling Carson and I about for years, but something neither of us had experienced. It did not disappoint - indigenous wild monkeys were everywhere...

This isn't a zoo or natural preserve, it's just a place where a whole lot of monkeys have made their home. Historically, it has been very popular to feed the monkeys, but that is now illegal (feeding has made the monkeys a bit reliant on humans - and also a bit aggressive when they suspect you to have food). Still, that doesn't stop people from continuing to feed them, as you can see in this video...

Hungry, hungry monkeys! Walking with monkeys helped us work up an appetite of our own, so we organized an impromptu dinner with Katherine's parents and Ronald at Yung Kee (a place you've heard about before)...

-Sunday-

Carson and I decided that we wanted to explore an area of Hong Kong that I'd never been to before: Lantau Island. It is, in fact, the largest island in Hong Kong, but it isn't very populated. We grabbed the MTR in Central and rode it all the way out to the Lantau, ending in Tung Chung. From the Tung Chung MTR station, we hopped aboard the Ngong Ping skyrail (what I would call a "tram")...




It was gorgeous ride which gave us a very unique view of the Island, and also the giant Tian Tan Buddha statue...


The eventual destination of the tram is Ngong Ping Village...


...a touristy (but quaint and enjoyable) waypoint on our journey to see the Buddha...

(Even Buddha needs a high-five every now and then.)

Next up, a bus ride down to the stilted fishing village of Tai O...

We had a great time exploring the streets, shopping in the market, talking with the inhabitants, and also pink dolphin spotting on a twenty minute boat tour...

I'm afraid I didn't catch any significant video or pictures of the dolphins, but we definitely saw them and they were amazing. We were left wanting more!

Thus ends our Lantau exploration, but that was far from the end of our day. After returning to Hong Kong Island, we experienced an elegant high tea set at the Mandarin Oriental hotel...

Carson sipping his first-flush Darjeeling tea

Tiny finger sandwiches

Savory pastries

Sweet cakes

Fresh British-style scones

Clotted cream and rose petal jam (!)

Outstanding food and service! Admittedly, though, it was a lot of food and we were quite full - so we needed a few hours of walking around Central and Causeway Bay to even think about having dinner. Eventually we did feel slightly hungry, so went to a favorite Indonesian place...

...and then another trip to one of our favorite dessert shops, Hang Fa Lau, to make sure Carson experienced one more of their specialties. Then, back home for sleep (which has been in short supply recently ;>).

That just about covers the week. If you made it this far, well done!