Christin and Jared in Hong Kong: Day 2

Our second day was devoted to forging further east on the north face of Hong Kong Island. Here's the map...

We started by descending to Kennedy Town. While there, we took a peek in the Smithfield Road wet market...

Stalls full of hanging raw meat were perhaps not their favorite part of the day

We grabbed a few freshly-baked buns from a nearby bakery for breakfast and had them by the seaside...

The Kennedy Town section of the harbor is heavily trafficked, so the waves are pretty choppy

Fueled up and ready to go, we climbed aboard the "ding ding" trolley...


...and rode it all the way to Wan Chai...

Treasure hunting for big bargains in factory outlet shops

Exploring the numerous furniture stores...

...and successfully finding a small gift (it's a secret, though, so it isn't pictured!)

Lunch at our favorite shrimp noodles shop...

...where Christin and Jared got lots of challenging chopstick practice

Sampling one of Hong Kong's most famous street snacks, coconutty waffle-like "little eggs", from perhaps the most famous shop that makes it

With Wan Chai conquered, we set sail for Causeway Bay on the MTR...

Even on an early Monday afternoon, the MTR was jam-packed

Causeway Bay is one of the best shopping districts in Hong Kong and we made the most of our time there...

In awe of the Times Square shopping mall

Crossing Hennessy Road towards the Sogo department store

Taking a fruit juice break (kiwi, watermelon, and mango) at Honeymoon Dessert in the World Trade Centre mall

We were all shopped out by 4PM, so we joined Katherine (who had to work most of the day) at home for a meal delivered from our favorite traditional Cantonese restaurants. A few of the unique items...

Fluffy egg whites with clams and broccoli

Sliced abalone with "winter mushrooms" and stir-fried lettuce

Yum!

We attempted to watch a movie after that, but could only stay awake for about 30 minutes of it, so jet-lag took us to bed once again.

Christin and Jared in Hong Kong: Day 1

Our fist day was spent fairly close to home, on the northeast corner of Hong Kong Island. Here's a look at the miles of territory we covered (highlighted in orange)...

Since jet lag had us all up by 6AM, we decided to head out for some early morning dim sum at the Star Seafood Restaurant in Sai Ying Pun...

Weekend mornings are always packed at dim sum restaurants...

...but, fortunately, we didn't have any trouble finding a table at 7:30AM.

After breakfast, we took an easterly stroll through the streets of Sai Ying Pun, Sheung Wan, and Central...

This hair salon is just "so-so"

Perusing the many dried seafood shops on Des Voeux Road West

Stopping by the Western Market in Sheung Wan

Cutting through the cramped bazaar of Central's Li Yuen Street...

...where shops were guarded by the most unlikely soldiers

Outside the Landmark in the heart of Central

A Filipino cultural demonstration (a common sight on Sundays in Central) as spied from a walkway between Alexandra House and Prince's Building

Outside the Legislative Council building in Statue Square

Around noon, we worked our way up the Mid-Levels escalators and had brunch at the Life Organic Cafe, a great vegetarian spot...

Enjoying the comfort of the rooftop balcony

Gray's frittata

Christin's granola with soy yogurt and fruit

Katherine's mushroom omelet

Jared's poached eggs

After brunch, the journey continued up-hill...

Looking down on the Mid-Levels escalators from Caine Road

...until we cut west and reached the University of Hong Kong...

HKU's front entrance on Bonham Road

Main Building, where Katherine has her office

Outside Eliot Hall

Once we finished the University tour, it was time to head back home and rest for a bit. Just before 6PM, we ventured back out for dinner at BBQ, our favorite teppanyaki joint...

BBQ is very popular and always packed

Digging in to the grilled skewers!

We had octopus...

...eggplant, fishballs, and a host of other tiny treats

With dinner concluded, we returned home and tried to stay awake for as long as we could. By 9PM, though, the struggle was too great, and sleep took us all. A great first day!

Christin and Jared Arrive!

My sister and her husband have just strolled into Hong Kong for a two-week stay!

Exiting customs and immigration at the airport

Their first minibus ride

Dinner at our favorite Xinjiang restaurant (including stir-fried green beans, minced camel wraps, lamb dumplings, and yogurt)

Dessert at a classroom-themed sweet shop (Christin is having an apple crumble tart and Jared is having chocolate "snow flower ice" (like shaved ice cream)

This was just the first night, but I'll be updating the blog with our adventures as they unfold.

Winter Wonderland!

No, this isn't Hong Kong's first ever snowfall, but it is the first I've seen of it in a long time! I'm in Radford, VA at the moment, winding down a trip to the USA, and I don't think I've seen snow since Katherine and I moved to Hong Kong two years ago. It's nice that a little flurry dropped by to say hello. :>

A trip to a Chinese herbal doctor...

One of the foundational components of traditional Chinese medicine is herbology, a practice whereby various natural ingredients (dried roots, flowers, barks, berries, horns, insects, etc) are brewed together to form a concentrated tonic (藥). The tonic is used to nurture the patient, helping to correct whatever imbalance has weakened his or her body, and the ingredient combination is uniquely crafted based on the patient's particular needs. I may not fully (or even marginally) understand how it works, but it has been practiced for many thousands of years, and a billion or so people rely on it today. I'm not one to argue with that kind of track record.

When both Katherine and I came down with a nasty bug this week, we decided to take a trip to the herbal doctor that Katherine frequents the most, giving me my first ever experience. (I've been inside herbal doctor shops with Katherine many times before, so that wasn't new, but I've never been a patient.)

After describing my symptoms to the doctor, he took my pulse (on both wrists in succession), examined my tongue, peered down my throat, and asked a few additional questions about the general state of my body (including what foods I had been putting in it recently). Shortly thereafter, he wrote out a list of ingredients on his prescription pad and handed it off to his pharmacist. The pharmacist quickly went to work, sorting and measuring an abundance of dried ingredients from the large glass jars that lined the wall behind his counter...

My prescription

Next came the brewing process, but that takes a few hours, so we went back to our apartment to rest. Later, around dinner time, we picked up our medicinal drinks and toted them home...

As black as midnight

Down the hatch!

"You displease me!"

As you can see by my reaction (which was not at all staged - Katherine caught my genuine response before I regained composure), this wasn't a walk in the park. It was, without a doubt, the most difficult dose of liquid I've ever had to swallow. One or two sips wouldn't have been bad, but the cumulative effect of the whole cup was...unpleasant. Still, I got through it (twice, actually - two cups spread across two consecutive days), and I'm glad I did. Hopefully both Katherine and I will start to feel better soon.

Celebrating continued employment...

Before reaching tenure, Katherine works on a contract basis for the University of Hong Kong. Her initial contract was for three years (concluding at the end of 2010), but this week, the University decided to go ahead and renew her contract for an additional three years (concluding at the end of 2013). We didn't expect that to happen this early, so it was somewhat of a surprise, but obviously something exciting and worth celebrating. As such, last night we went to 西碼頭環 ("Western District Pier"), a recently-discovered favorite seafood restaurant of ours on the Kennedy Town seaside, to commemorate the occasion...

豆苗 (green pea sprouts) in broth

東風螺 (or "花螺" - a species of sea snail) in a spicy sauce

花蛤 (or "花甲" - a species of sea clams)

Slices of venison with asparagus, onions, and potatoes in a sweet sauce

Every dish was outstanding (though the snails took a little more prying work than we would normally prefer ;>) and it was a lovely evening.

Show time...again!

Last night our residence hall held a karaoke-style singing contest and the band was asked to close the evening with a brief show. Like last time, I was asked to be a guest performer on two of the pieces (different than those I played before)...

Katherine recorded a video of the second song's final two minutes, so I thought I'd share that with you (beware, though, that the audio capture abilities of our little digital point-and-shoot camera are not so impressive ;>)...

It's a swing-pop-rock tune called "如果我是陳奕迅" ("If I Were Eason Chan") by Mister that's fantastically fun to play. As part of my preparation, I crafted my own arrangement of the drum score (which we'll also use as a teaching tool in the band). You are welcome to take a look at it if you're curious (the video above starts in measure 24).

The band has a few more performances this month, but my playing is done for the time being. I'll return to laying low and cheering from the crowd.