We stayed in South Pacific Hotel which was near the Causeway Bay MTR station in Central HK. Also just around the corner from the hotel entrance,
was a market that was open from morning till night.
I love walking in markets when i travel.
And supermarkets as well.
You get to see so many things!
The type of food they produce and consume,
the designs on the packaging,
and gauge what their lifestyle is like based on the prices. (my fave supermarket i’ve been to so far was in Spain,
the packaging designs are colourful and cartoon-ey
and i took loads of pictures but never posted them hoho)
Just looking at all the fresh slabs of meat and flopping fish made me wonder in greed how i would cook and eat them all!
I almost wished we were staying in a service apartment with a kitchen so i could buy some stuff to cook.
This thought made me question how far i’ve brought my interest in cooking… to the point i want to cook when i’m on holiday -_-
Just keep swimming… just keep swimming… just keep swimming swimming swimming…
Ok sadistic i know.
Always love admiring fresh produce – the colours, textures and scents!
And in any Chinese city, you’ll definitely find some animal parts that are gory to look at when raw
(i had to add in ‘when raw’ cos i unabashedly eat them when cooked in stew!)
Chicken feet…
And pigs’ trotters 0_o
We went to Lan Kwai Fong,
a square in Central HK chock full with bars and restaurants.
A couple of people on Twitter said that we MUST go to Yung Kee and try their roasted goose.
Being the foodie and not wanting to miss out on it,
i dragged Clem, determined on finding the restaurant that reputedly received 1 Michelin star a few years back.
Their restaurant was so full, we took a number for a table that would be available in an hour.
So we went to kill time… by having drinks at one of the bars nearby
They didn’t have Guinness on tap, but the one in the can that releases the gas instead.
I tried it.
It’s not that great.
Only Guinness on tap for me next time!
Went back to Yung Kee and we ordered half a goose,
a bowl of porridge with spare parts (for sick me)
and a fried rice with BBQ pork (for Clem).
The porridge texture was smooth but it could be less watery.
Liver and other spare parts in there were luscious.
Unfortunately, they somehow forgot Clem’s fried rice and it came an hour later,
when we had whacked most of the goose by then.
Goose was juicy with thin crispy skin.
The dish lost its lustre (when we were down to the last 4 pieces) when we found an insect embedded in it.
(I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN A PICTURE WHAT KIND OF BLOGGER AM I!?)
We stared and stared at it for a good few minutes wondering whether it was an insect. “It IS. LOOK. A leg just fell off. That’s a leg! Herbs don’t have legs!”
Flagged down a waiter to show him the piece of meat with the insect,
and he took it away mumbling something about asking the kitchen.
He never came back.
“They’re not going to say anything? What kind of restaurant is this? And now we lost our evidence too! -_-“
We later found out they removed the goose dish from our bill,
which is what they’re supposed to do when they find an insect in it,
but i was still disgruntled noone came back to apologise.
Walked around Lan Kwai Fong after dinner to get a drink before going home.
We were both feeling poorly so wasn’t in the mood to drink gilababs and party :p
I commented that LKF is like Bangsar in the 90s…
Clem said he thought it’s like Phuket cos of all the noisy bars filled with mostly white people. Except that they were wearing warm clothing.
When we were leaving, we saw a couple dozen drunk people dancing in the street spontaneously. “It’s like a street party haha.”
After a minute, someone started choreographing some dance moves which the rest followed,
and before i knew it,
i was watching an impromptu music video scene with rows of people dancing in the same sequence.
People were stopping to stare and snap pictures,
but i’m pretty sure they were loving the attention
After smiling at their antics,
we caught the train home,
popped some Panadols for our flu,
and tumbled into bed.
Friday night partying in HK was so not meant to be for us!
Just got back from HK last night and am happy to be home!
City holidays are always tiring…
cos it’s lots of running around and trying to see as much as possible.
Nothing like a beach holiday..!
When we were in a taxi in HK, i noticed a poster advertising The Flaming Lips were to perform there…
I don’t know any of The Flaming Lips’ songs.
I know about them.
And i know how some friends were making their way to Singapore for their concert,
but seeing i wasn’t a fan, i wasn’t going to go for someone i don’t listen to!
So it was really impulsive with the chance that we were in the right city at the right time!
Clem didn’t mind going cos he hasn’t been to a concert in a while.
I didn’t mind going cos i thought it looked like the sort of whacky band i’d like (after watching their YouTube vids)
Since we bought our tickets at 6:30pm and the show was an hour’s train journey away at the Expo (i know, damn last minute right!)
we had half an hour to rest after a whole day’s sightseeing before shooting out the door again.
The expo was crowded cos some other events were going on with old Chinese people,
and it was quite funny how the expo staff kept trying to point obvious concert-goers to the right direction.
Even when i wanted to use the bathroom in another area,
someone blocked my way and said, “Flaming Lips or toilet? Flaming Lips not here!”
Me: “Erm… toilet…”
Met a couple of pandas, a dinosaur frog (?) and some builders!
Really long intermission in between the two bands,
so hung around outside.
In HK, just like everywhere else except KL, smoking isn’t allowed indoors.
Some crazy psychedelic visual of a naked girl…
zooming into her youknowwhat
And out of there, the band members appeared one by one through a doorway!
The performance was quite long but crazy to the point i didn’t get bored a single bit!
‘Twas RAINING CONFETTI and STREAMERS
Then heaps of giant balloons were set upon the crowd!
[click for larger view]
Then MORE CONFETTI AND STREAMERS AND BALLOONS
The crowd went crazy, and it was such a brilliant happy atmosphere!
I was just looking up at the balloons the whole time, going to Clem, “I wanttttt….”
[click for larger view]
Lead singer Wayne Coyne put on these giant hands which looked totally bizarre but something that you’d still want to have.
It went dark,
and out of these giant hands he wore shot laser lights,
which he focused on a suspended disco ball which of course,
reflected unto the crowd!
They sang ‘I Can Be A Frog’ as one of their last songs,
and it was so fun to make animal noises!
I felt like i was in adult kindergarten
So glad we decided to go for it,
even though i got REALLY SLEEPY and wasn’t allowed to sit on the floor (just like in Singapore, why?!)
But it was freaking awesome.
The Flaming Lips are crazy, bizarre, OTT and seem not to know what ‘normal’ means.
Seeing how we usually consume more alcohol over the weekend,
i’m trying to make more fish + vege dishes for dinner on Monday nights.
It’s probably more like a psychological effect that it makes us healthier bla bla bla but it works for us!
First time i tried making aioli = olive oil + garlic + mustard + egg yolk + black pepper.
I also threw in some shreds of basil and fennel tops for flavour.
Because Jamie Oliver said i can.
This is a fennel.
I didn’t even know how to cut a fennel before that day.
When in doubt, google.
And google will bless you with many-a video on how to cut fennel.
Oh bear with me, i got quite excited about cutting fennel the right way the first time!
I’m not gonna post pictures of the vegetable broth i made cos it’s not that interesting (and i didn’t want to get steam on my camera lens).
Just threw the veggies into chicken stock in a pot.
I was so semangat, i even slipped basil and mint into slits in the salmon before frying it.
I’m usually very fussy + critical over my own cooking,
but i’d say this was my favourite i’ve cooked so far!
Tada!
My crispy fried salmon covered with aioli,
with long beans + pea pods with basil and mint in a light broth.
I’m not bothering to write down the recipe cos you can just view it *here*!
We’d been planning for weeks to make a quick weekend getaway to KKB
and decided that last weekend would be the best for most in our group to make it.
Those who ended up going:
Clem + Mathieu + myself
Jess + Alicia + Deep
NuttyNur + CrazyKylie + 2 of their friends from SG
ClaudiaOnCrack + Kevin
NuttyNur, Clouds + Kevin
This is SO Clouds’ muka distracted
The whole point we go to KKB is to chill, drink, eat,
breathe in the fresh air, play cards, visit the river,
get lost in our own thoughts, and do NOTHING.
Mathieu brought heaps of awesome food to make sandwiches
– smoked ham, hard boiled eggs, cheeses, rocket salad,
and even an onion to slice into it.
And trust me, that onion and hard boiled egg made all the difference in the world!
I simply sat in a corner and cradled my sandwich lovingly before eating it.
Best gila!
I cheated by taking away pizza + calzone + carbonara from an Italian place in KL.
Clem + the devil horns were inseparable since Fri night -_-
We brought lots of beer + vodka + Monopoly Deal! (Read: Best game EVA!)
I buried myself in a book i found on a shelf there, called A Piece of Cake.
We played cards and drank till we were sleepy,
then called it a night and made our beds with sheets we brought from home.
There are mattresses there, along with lots of bugs and dirt,
but hey, i can rough it for a few days max.
Me: “Do you think you can just LIVE here in the forest? It’d be so relaxing…” Clem: “I don’t know… i need my hot shower.”
Me: -_-
I was lulled out of my sleep the next morning by a bunch of voices steadily chanting, “Clem… Clem… Clem…”
Turns out it was some of the village kids sitting on the steps outside the toilet shack cheering Clem on while he was in there.
Hahaha.
Breakfast was more sandwiches! <3
More reading in a hammock…
Some of the kids came up to colour books and pounce on the food we offered them.
Was a great weekend… and so very lucky there was space for us at Bamboo Palace cos there are a few other travelers staying there too.
Thanks very much Antares!
(I forgot to take pictures with Antares)
He’s reissued his second album which was first out in 1986.
Called 2nd Coming, it’s been digitally enhanced by Deejay Sanuk aka Daniel Schwörer, a Swiss audio engineer and producer residing in Koh Samui.
Clem and i bought a copy,
and so did Mathieu
If you’d like to learn more about the album or how to purchase it, click*here*!
)
