Sunday, February 15, 2009

Hong Kong (Part 3)

So, I finally get to the Hong Kong portion of my "Hong Kong" posts. On Sunday morning, my Mom, Dad, and I went to the ferry port to board the ferry back to Hong Kong. And to avoid seasickness, all three of us sleep through the entire 1 hour ferry ride. Once we get there, we get on a bus to meet up with my aunt (mom's little sister). After dropping off all our luggage, we head out on the town. I requested that we go back to where I grew up and my the kindergarten that I went to. It was really cool to check out where I used to live. I don't really remember any of it... just really vague bits and pieces that may or may not just be what I THINK I remember after seeing pictures of myself when I was little. Nonetheless, it was nice to be back there again and listen to some of the stories from my mom.

That night, we had Hot Pot (Fig. 1), where you just have a big pot of boiling water in the middle and you throw veggies and raw meat in there until it's cooked. We had a bunch of different meats and veggies. My favorite is the beef of course... very thinly sliced beef. I think I had a whole plate by myself. :P

Fig. 1

The next day, we woke up early enough to head to Immigration Servies to get my Hong Kong Permanent Residents Card. Even though we had an appointment time, we STILL had to wait over an hour before we were seen. We were first screened by a very unfriendly worker. My dad had a few questions for her and she snapped back saying that we needed to ask the official (supervisor). Then when she approved me, I had to wait for an official. Another 20 minutes. Finally got called. At least the official worked quickly. We paid, and then we were on our way to meet my aunt for some dim sum!

The dim sum restaurant was more upscale and lots of business folk were in there having their lunch. I liked a lot of their dishes. Everything was fresh and tasty, including the chicken feet (foreground in Fig. 2, closeup in Fig. 3). YUMMY! hehehe.

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

The rest of the day, we walked around Hong Kong for a while, before deciding on heading up to The Peak. Along the way, we had some egg custard? I think it's egg custard. I really don't know what it's called in English. I just know it's yummy. And it's a dessert. And it can be eaten hot or cold. And they make a milk version too. I had the egg, my mom and dad had the milk. Here's a picture after I finished eating it... so it might look kinda gross. haha.



We took a hike up to the tram for The Peak, which is one of the highest points in Hong Kong. Now it's a tourist trap. The tram drops you off in a shopping center that doesn't seem to have any exits... We had to leave through a back hallway. LOL. I did take a picture to show how high we were once I was able to get out (Fig. 5)

Fig. 5

We didn't do any shopping or anything. Just basically went up there just to say we did it. Didn't even stay to eat or anything. Just took a few pictures and then went back down. And that pretty much concluded our nice touristy, sight-seeing day. We went home and had some home-cooked Chinese food... err, I mean... just food. hehe. Here's a nicely crafted New Year's Cake made to look like goldfish (which is a sign of wealth and fortune) that we had as dessert. :)


Actually kinda creepy looking.... HAHA. And then the next day was my last day in Hong Kong. Went to Hong Kong Disneyland with my mom, aunt, and cousin. So I'll save that post for another day. :) I'll end this post with a nice shot of Hong Kong Island, taken from Kowloon (which is still a part of the whole of Hong Kong, but is on the mainland). I just thought it looked cool with the reflection on the water... with the Red, White, and Blue too. hehe.

2 comments:

Aek said...

You actually like chicken feet?! I don't find it very appealing. Oh well.

Ah, The Peak (forget what it's called in Chinese). I remember taking the tram and hiking up there. We did it at night. Now I have nostalgia . . .

It sounds like you had a ton of fun while you were there. ^_^

naturgesetz said...

I can handle sardines okay, even enjoyed smelts for a couple of years, but I imagine that the bones in the chicken feet would be a bit too much. I like gnawing the meat and connective tissue off bones, but I don't enjoy crunching bones.

Well, who knows, maybe with the batter, I'd enjoy them.