Saturday, October 20, 2007

Halloween - Ocean Park

Tuen Mun Park-- an oasis in the town centre


Today is a public holiday in Hong Kong, my family and I took a walk in Tuen Mun Park after having Yum Cha in a chinese restaurant. Tuen Mun Park is located at Tuen Mun Town Centre. The park provides a restful and recreational place to the residents in Tuen Mun. It is an ideal leisure haunt for a family to spend the Sunday there. There is variety of facilities in the park. For example, children can play in the playground and roller-skating rink. Moms take rest with their toddlers under the leafy shade. Some amateurs bring their chinese musical instruments like erhu to perform in the amphitheatre, the elders walk along the big artificial lake. There is also a model boat pool, visitors bring their electric driven boats to play. They can have a small game with other model boat lovers too. All of these form a harmonic scenery in the park Nevertheless, this time I felt a little disappointed since the Reptile House was closed (not sure if it is under reconstruction or due to the autumn-winter seasons?) I remember there're various species of reptiles including turtle and lizard, visitors can learn more about them. I must pay a visit when it reopens again.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Mini Clay Bowls (砵仔糕)

Again, this time....Hong Kong local street food. Rice puddings in mini clay bowls (砵仔糕) from San Lung Bakery (No. 68, Pei Ho Street, ShumShuiPo). The white one is made with white sugar, and the brown one is made with brown sugar, both embellished with red beans. A lot of red beans with very pleasant note of rice !!

YumYum!! A lot of red bean....

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Tofu Fa (豆腐花)

When I go out for dinner or dim sum during lunch time, I will usually order my favorite dessert, “tofu fa” or the properly name “bean curb” pudding (豆腐花). Warm, smooth and soft tofu, serve with a layer of ginger sugar on the top… very nice

Yan Woo tofu fa (人和豆腐花) is the shop (28 Jordan Road, Jordan ) that I like most in Hong Kong. It is a franchise which sells tofu articles including tofu fa (豆腐花), dried or fried tofu, fermented tofu and soya milk.

The most beautiful beach in Hong Kong (Sai Kung Ham Tin Beach & Tai Long Beach)






This long, remote beach surrounded by rolling green mountains is known as one of the most beautiful spots in all of Hong Kong. It is an expansive bay with long, white sand beaches ringed by hills and headlands. Despite its beauty, Tai Long Wan is never crowded. Because it is hard to get there. The beach is about a 45 minute boat ride from Sai Kung, the nearest harbor. Without a boat you need to get there by hiking over a mountain.


Another way to get there is by bus rides and a beautiful walk along a well-maintained path. We get off the air-conditioned double-decker bus in Sai Kung Country Park and enjoy the views of Long Harbour as we slowly wind our way down to the quiet village of Chek Keng, before climbing up the valley between Sharp Peak and Tai Mun Shan. Just after the crest, you will discover the beaches of Tai Long Wan appear before you.

For lunch, we stop at the middle beach, Ham Tin Wan. Then, we have a swim for a quick slurp, playing football at the beach, etc.

"Pork intestine" rice rolls (豬腸粉)

"Pork intestine" rice rolls is nothing related to animal organ, it is vegetarian Hong Kong local snack, chu cheung fan (豬腸粉). It represents the glory of Hong Kong street food. I remember when I was in primary school, I usually had HK$5 dollar with 5 pieces of rice roll after school on the way back home (but now it is HK$5 for 4 pieces). It looks very plain which is white rice roll without anything inside it. However, once you drench it with sesame, chilli sauce, peanut sauce and sweet bean sauce….wow…. it taste so good !! You can find "chu cheung fan" (豬腸粉) in any local congee shop in the street.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Hong Kong style waffle - “Gei Dan Jai”(雞蛋仔).

One of my nephew's favorite food is “Gei Dan Jai”(雞蛋仔), the Hong Kong style waffle and he always asked his parents buy him one when he goes down to Jordan. The price in this shop is a little bit expensive than the same shop in other places (usually around HK$8), but strange that there is always a lot of people queue up in front of the shop and waiting his number is calling up to get HK$10 “Gei Dan Jai”(雞蛋仔). Thus, I decided to try it today as I passed the shop.
The shop is very tiny and looks old, no expensive decorations but with a lot of newspaper/magazine cuttings and photos with famous people. I firstly line up the queue to pay HK$10, then get a number, and wait quietly in the busy street for about 15mins… to get my “Gei Dan Jai”(雞蛋仔).
Wah, smell good...strong in egg…pick one small piece and have a bite....oh, my goodness! crispy outside but soft and warm inside. No wonder why so many people would like to spend 15mins waiting in the busy street just to get HK$10 “Gei Dan Jai”(雞蛋仔). By the way, spicy fish balls (麻辣魚蛋) are also recommended in this shop.


Waiting in a Big Big Queue.... !!!

Yummy Yummy!!
(sorry, the picture is not in good quality as I hold my carmea too close to the food)

Location: Shop A, #178 Nathan Road, Jordan (Exit D, Jordan MTR)

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

The Stanley Market


The weather is getting cooler at around mid 25 degree in the last few days. It is the perfect weather to do all kinds of outdoor activities as well as getting around within the city.

So I hop to Stanley Market....

Stanley is a tiny peninsula located at the southeast tip of Hong Kong Island. In the old days, Stanley was a fishing village. Today, you hardly able to find a fishing boat. Instead, tons of shops are restaurants are scattered along the area.

To get to Stanley, only certain types of transporation are available such as buses, minivan, taxi or your own private car. Since I do not have a huge budget, I choose to get there by 16M minibus interconnecting from Chai Wan MTR station.

Once I get off the minibus, I walk along the trail to reach the beach coast. Shops, souvenir stores are sit on both sides of the walking trail. After a few minutes walk, I finally see the beach coast. As I keep walking, I start hearing that my stomach is rumbling. Ok, time for lunch!! There are a number of bars and grills along the coast. And I jump into one of the restaurants and enjoy a big lunch.



The Star Ferry



The Victoria Harbour separates between Kowloon Peninsula and Hong Kong Island. In the old days, the main transporation between the two places was by sea only. The Star Ferry was in service in 1888 to carry passengers across the harbour. The early vessel was powered by steam engine and it took 40 minutes to an hour to reach the other end. In 1933, it introduced a new diesel engine ferry which shortened the crossing time. The ferry was the main transportation until the launch of cross harbour tunnel in the 70's.

Despite the multi tunnels connecting between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, today Star Ferry still plays an important role in crossing the harbour with all kinds of reasons: (1) relatively low fare; (2) connecting between two landmark on both sides - Central and Tsim Sha Tsui and (3)offers the best view of the city while other transportation vehicle will never able to offer such a view when they are traveling underneath the tunnel.

Don't forget to bring the camera while riding on the ferry. There will be a lot of opportunities taking great snapshots. For more details, you can go visit http://www.starferry.com.hk.

Enjoy your ride :)

 
Turbo Tagger