the land of dim sum – makanthon (part 1)
our close to a week long vacation in Hong Kong ended with lots of good memories and aching calves. besides the marathon, which obvious only the hub and friend ran, i had my share of makanthon and walkathon. it was extremely cold on the first 2 days we were there. the only time i managed to keep myself warm was when i am in the shower. there was no heater, and we wore at least 3 layers of clothing, plus socks and gloves to sleep.
the accomodation
we were traveling in a group of 3. the affordable hotels are generally smaller and do not have room for an extra bed. we did our sums, and we opted for an apartment over 2 hotel rooms. bow on building on bowring street was the apartment we stayed in the 5 nights.
booked through airbnb, the cosy apartment comes with 2 bedrooms, one with a queen size bed and the other with a bunk bed. the internet broadband in the apartment is fast and reliable. we hardly use the broadband connection since we each had a data sim card. traveling around Hong Kong is convenient as the MTR is just around the corner with less than a minute walk away. there are 7-11 and circle k convenience stores, and numerous food outlets surrounding the apartment.
the owner provided a map on the food outlets, laundry services and supermarkets within the vicinity too.
we totally enjoy our stay in the apartment, and the only inconvenience we encountered was the toilet flushing system issue that affected the entire building in the middle of our stay.
the makan
we stayed out late and slept in till late morning. the only time we had breakfast was the day after the marathon, and it wasn’t from the 茶餐廳, even though somewhat close, we boiled water ourselves for the instant cup noodles. we had 吃茶, noodles from 茶餐廳 and roasted meat for brunch respectively on separate days.
dimdim dimsum was our first dim sum brunch on our second day. the store was voted as one of the 101 best places to eat in the world in 2012 by newsweek. we tried the quirkier house specialties besides the usual dim sum like the rice rolls, har gow and siu mai. the pineapple bun (菠蘿包) was filled with the real pineapple fruit, and the custard bun (流沙包) comes in the shape of piggies.
with the larger team smile group, we were able to order more variety at 稻香. we had 2 rounds of the sesame bun, har gow, siu mai and turnip in crispy crust.
the sesame bun is a must-try item. similar to the custard bun, the goodness of the 芝麻糊 comes oozing out of the bun.
the har gows in both dim sum places are larger than the ones we see here in Singapore. most importantly, the dim sum meals is inexpensive, and we paid about HKD80 per pax.
the only time we had a proper lunch was before our hike at dragon’s back. the hub and er jie found a popular roasted meat joint in Wanchai – Joy Hing Restaurant (再興燒臘飯店). we almost missed the shop due to some building works and that blocked the store’s signboard.
we had a generous serving of 三寶飯 that comprises of char siu, roasted duck and soy sauce chicken, topped with chopped onions and garlic. you can opt for fatty char siu, and each char siu is thick, and probably you can get 3 thinly sliced portion back here from that one thick slice. together with drinks, the total bill came out to HKD54 per pax. do expect to wait and share tables with strangers during their peak hours.
the farthest we traveled for dinner was on our first night to happy valley. the government has clamped down on the 大排檔, and most have moved into proper stalls. we ordered a dish that looks like tofu, only to realize that it was actually fried toast topped with prawn.
a trip to Hong Kong will not be complete without the street food and the meals in 茶餐廳. i had my favourite fish dumplings, stinky beancurd and curry fish balls.
desserts made up for our tea break after our long window shopping. the Australia Dairy Company, a famous store, that sells steamed milk and scrambled eggs was near to our apartment. i had my first steamed milk in Macau, and the similar store can be found in different locations across Hong Kong. having tasted both again on separate days, i preferred the steamed milk from Yee Shun. the former was too sweet to my liking.
if you are egging on for more protein, go for the egg custard, served in real egg shells from 五代同堂 dessert shop.
lastly, not forgetting the soy milk with oil sticks after our toy hunting, and the Tai Cheong egg tarts from coach before our departure.
the makan portion takes up the majority of the post, and i shall post the remaining activities in part 2…maybe part 3…
