2013 - Hong Kong (I)

DAY 28 - October 6, 2013 - The Peak

This morning, I had to wake up early to catch the first train to Hong Kong at 8:19AM. I simply do not like how the system works: Chineses do not line up.

I arrived at Hung Hum Station (紅磡站) at 10:17AM. I reloaded the Octopus Card at the Seven 11 and took the metro to Shamrock Hotel. At each metro station, there are young workers helping and guiding the tourists near the turnstiles or the tickets machines. After the check-in, I purchased a HK$50 SIM card. Therefore, I contacted my friends.

Shortly, my friends met me and showed me around. We had lunch together.

Round 1:

Round 2@Yee Shun Milk Company:

Following lunch, we passed by Temple Street (廟街). Merchants were setting their shops to be ready for the night market.

We went to The Peak in Hong Kong Island. There is a shopping mall: The Peak Galleria (山頂廣場). We ate egg tart (蛋撻) at Tai Cheong Bakery. Introduced in Hong Kong in the 1940s, egg tarts have become very popular ever since and come with many variations. In 2011, egg tart was classified as number 16 on World’s 50 Most Delicious Foods complied by CNN Go.

Then, we walked a loop on the mountain which takes about 45 minutes. We left around 5PM. It started to get crowded. There are bars and lounges. Apparently, the best time to go to The Peak is at sunset, around 5:30PM. To go to The Peak, you can either drive or take the shuttle train from Central (中環).

I had dinner at my godmother’s family. On my way back to the hotel, I passed by the night market at Temple Street (廟街). There are lots of shops. Beware of pickpockets.

Sources:
Hong Kong food: 40 dishes we can't live without

2013 - Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (IV)

DAY 25 – October 3, 2013 - Ordinary Day

Today was a relaxing day. I woke up at around 11 AM. I had lunch at Macau Street restaurant with other family members.

Late afternoon, I visited a fashion studio.

DAY 26 - October 4, 2013 - Liwan District

This morning, I visited Liwan District (荔灣區): Shamian Island (沙面島) and Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street (上下九步行街).

Shamian literally means "sandy surface" in Chinese. The land covers an area of 27,000 square meters, 900 meters from west to east and 300 meters from north to south. The island was connected to the mainland by two bridges. From Song to Qing Dynasty, Shamian was served as an important port for Guangzhou's foreign trade. After winning the Opium War, the territory was divided into 2 concessions given to France and United Kingdom; 4/5 belonged to the British and 1/5, to the French. From the 18th to mid-19th century, Shamian was the only location where foreign traders were permitted to set up their warehouses and factories. Today, Shamian is famous for its multitude of Western style buildings left over from history. The European architecture makes the island a prime destination for photo shooting.

(Pictures to come)

Between Shamian Island and Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street, there is a street with many pet shops
selling fishes, turtles, dogs, cats. There exists a type of fishes called rainbow fish. They are colorful and attractive. Do not purchase any of them. Apparently, the color on these species fade away once you bring them home. The sellers dye the fishes.

At Shangxiajiu, I finally tried some snacks (小吃) at Lin Lin (林林).

Then, I had Dimsum a Lianhualou (連花楼).

In the afternoon, I left to Longmen (龍門), a county located 2.5 hours from Guangzhou by car. We had supper in a restaurant.

After the hotel check-in, we went to karaoke located in a different floor. The karaoke room includes a dancefloor served by 2 employees.

DAY 27 - October 5, 2013 - 1 Fish 5 Dishes

It was the first time I had breakfast on the street. I had freshly made Rice Noodle Roll (腸粉) from the little oven.

Following the morning meal, we went up to the mountain. We took a boat ride while enjoying the beautiful landscape.

Time to prepare food:

(Look carefully: these chickens have beard.)

For lunch, we had fresh vegetables, 1 big fish cooked into 5 different dishes and 1 beard chicken. We were 14 people and could not finish eating the food on our table.

Following lunch, we returned to Guangzhou. I had my last supper at J M Chef, in Shamian.

2013 - Panyu, Guangdong, China (II)

DAY 24 – October 2, 2013 - Biking with my family

In the morning, I went biking with my family at Dafushan Forest Park (大夫山森林公園), located at Panyu (番禺). A lot of bicycle rentals are available. You can feel the fresh air. You have to go early in the morning. We arrived at around 10AM. It was already crowded. We stayed there for about 2 hours. When we left the park, there were even more people coming in. It is usually less crowded during normal days. Besides ordinary people, there were also professional bikers training themselves with their team . There was one thing I did not like: many of the ordinary people do not know how to bike appropriately; they were blocking the roads. For example, if you are a slow biker, you should ride on the right hand side. In addition, they stopped at anywhere instead of on the side. Another situation can be shown as a few friends biking together side by side. Anyhow, I had fun!

Finally, I went to my village: 鍾村. It is located besides Dafushan Forest Park. I discovered family members which I have never met before. Apparently, I have a lot of cousins. I only met 2 of them. One of my grandfather’s sisters has fourteen children in their family. I am not able to count the amount of cousins I have. For lunch, we ate fresh vegetables, fish and meat.

We also drank bee wine (approx. 42%). Apparently, this drink is good for health. What surprised me was the drinking tolerance of one of my aunts. I have never seen such an old lady remaining in normal consciousness after chugging many shots of alcohol.

Following lunch, we visited my cousins’ home.

This evening, we had supper at Bing Sheng, Guangzhou. My cousins came out to town for us. Happiness! We drank Chinese white wine, slightly above 50%.

Following supper, I went to play mah-jong with my aunt and my cousins up to I can't recall the time in the morning. This was my first time playing outside with an automatic mixer table. Usually, either I play at my friends’ home or I invite them over my place.