Georgina went to attend her cousin’s wedding while Shela and myself were to fend for ourselves. My father’s best friend Ronald and his wife Maisie who reside in Sydney, Australia (whom I visited back in 2010) were in Hong Kong visiting their son so we met for lunch. We met them at Lam Tin station which a suburb on the island. We thought it would take about an hour to get to Lam Tin from Aberdeen but their subway system is so efficient that we got there in under 45 minutes. Strolled the local mall that was filled with children and their Filipino nannies. I guess we looked really out of place since Shela is Filipino and I was quite dark complexion in a suburban area without any kids in tow that the nannies gave us looks. Uncle and auntie wanted to take us for some Chiu Chow styled Chinese food and it was so delicious. We went to Laguna Plaza Club. We had: cold crab, clear dumplings with bean or green onion inside, spring rolls with wasabi, chicken with fried pepper leaves, porkchops (amazing! Not the typical fried crunchy thing you find at home), flat rice noodle with gai lan and beef. For dessert we had fried noodle pancake with vinegar and sugar and my favourite was by far the fried yam with a sugar crust. We ate like kings and queens and of course I had to have a beer with Uncle Ronald as my father is his best drinking buddy. Such an amazing lunch and great conversation.
After lunch, Shela and myself parted ways with uncle and auntie and took the subway line to Lantau for the Gateway Outlets by the airport. It was so quick and easy. We leisurely went around and ended up back at Causeway Bay and had wonton noodle soup as auntie Maisie recommended us to eat as it tastes so good here no matter where you get it. I ordered in Cantonese (I tried) but the server looked at me and smiled. The wonton noodle soup was so tasty. The shrimp wontons were just so flavourful. The best part – it was 60hkd for 2!
Lam Tin
Uncle Ronald and Auntie Maisie
09/30/12
Woke up at 630AM; Georgina and Shela slept in until 11AM. We ended up meeting up with our friends Shawn and Louisa at Tsim Sha Tsui and went shopping. Shawn and Lulu just had returned from Beijing the night before.
We went through the main mall – One Plaza then made our way to the outlets on Carlton Rd. Georgina suggested we cut through the park which seemed like the Central park of Hong Kong. Since It’s a Civic holiday and mid-autumn festival, there were tons of people out and about. At the outlets we ate at Mcdonalds and I tried the Ebi burger (shrimp patty) with sesame sauce.
It’s tradition usually for mid-autumn festival to have dinner with your family so in this case, we got to celebrate with Georgina’s extended family. After dinner, Georgina’s family brought us to the bus stop. We took the A10 to the airport and arrived quite early and checked into Terminal 2 then off to terminal 1 for boarding. HKG airport is enormous. It is in the shape of a cross and splits off into 3 wings where were all so long. We only went down 2 wings and the reward at the end was the food courts. Flight departed at 1250AM and was set to arrive 530AM in Osaka. Osaka is one hour ahead.
Georgina was born in Hong Kong and had to goto the Post Office to collect her Hong Kong Citizenship cheque. After she collected her cheque, we headed to Victoria Peak. Took the 7A bus then the subway to Admiralty then took a taxi (20HKD) to the peak tram. It cost 40HKD with return to go up the peak. We met our first Canadians on the tram going up. They have been travelling since the beginning of the month and they were in Tibet and China previously before coming to Hong Kong. The tram travels at 45 degrees and takes about 10 minutes and at the very top there is a whole new little town. The people who live up on the peak pretty much are the rich people. Hong Kong runs on escalators galore. The mall at the top has a 5 floors plus another galleria across from it. We decided to walk around the peak and take the main path about 2800M.
It was such a beautiful day to walk the path and luckily there was no smog (barely any) so we could see everything. My goal today was to recreate a photo of my mother on the peak as a teen. The heat kept the bugs away but there was no breeze so the the humidity was strong. Since the land tax is so high, there were multiple properties that have been abandoned. After our walk of the peak we were famished and decided to eat at the top floor of the Peak Plaza at Bubba Gump Shrimp. Fish n chips – can’t go wrong!
The tram up to the Peak
View from the Peak
My mother circa 1966; Myself circa 2012 on top of the Peak
We decided to taxi and subway over to Tsim Sha Tsui (zeem sha chuy). The subway station is so long that you can much walk 3-4 blocks underground where you have sections with the moovators that the airports. Tsim Sha Tsui has a large community of South Asians. Our original plan was to take the Star ferry night ride but once we past the HK Museum of art it opened up into the pier/boardwalk and I have to tell you, it was breath-taking. It was one of those moments you just stood and had to take it all in. It’s as beautiful as the postcards. We found a street of food and grabbed food at a curry house. I had the Karikake soba noodle combo – light and nice with a hokkaido pudding to end it off. The bus line for the 72 was enormous but surprisingly that line moved quickly. For each bus, there is a queue where you line up behind and for the most part, it’s organized.
The city skyline
The queue for the bus
09/28/12
We dropped off our laundry at Jackson – 38HKD for our load which is priced by weight. They returned it all ironed and folded in a plastic bag.
I wanted to go to Shek-O as that was my father’s old hangout as a teen however it was too far out and unfortunately I wasn’t abel to recreate a photo there. We made our way to Stanley instead.
The 73 bus took us all the way to Stanley Centre Rd where Stanley Market is located. The area is slopy and has a windy one-laned roads. It took a decent amount of time to travel the distance. There are a few country clubs and beach houses roadside but also some shack-like residences. The terrain and environment in this area has lush greenery and they also have grass (which is sparse or for the wealthy who can afford it). Stanley is the european area of the island and has a rich history apparently.
Stanley Market is a very constricted area with little shops lined up one by one. There are tons of expats that live in this area. We ended up walking to the Stanley Pier and it was once again one of those breathtaking moments. You get the market in the background with local residence intertwined then a boardwalk with tiny shops and a soccer field. We never made it to the beaches because we were too busy climbing rocks. Unfortunately the sunset was cut short as the cloud coverage rolled in quickly.
We ate at Stanley Restaurant and had Pineapple fried rice with chicken, cashews and veggies. Hopped on the 67 bus and to Times Square. Times square is like Toronto’s Eatons centre but is 7 floors tall.
I am a Chinese born Canadian (CBC) however if someone speaks to me in Cantonese, I for the most part understand but will respond in English because my canto is really bad and very Canadian-ized. Being in Hong Kong however has improved my listening and understanding skills however conversing-wise, nothing. Luckily Georgina is fluent. It is ridiculously expensive to live in Hong Kong especially for the size of the property. There was a story in particular that showed a family of 4 living in a 100 square meter apartment and they make 2100HKD/month which isn’t even that much to live off of. That’s 300CAD/month.
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