★ Memories: Hong Kong Trip [2013]

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Day 1

My mum works in the fashion retail industry so she has to visit HK at least 4 times a year. However, due to academic commitments, I can only follow her in December (where I have longer holidays). I have been to HK numerous times before this so most of the place I've mentioned here would be the usual food and things I do in Kowloon area.

However, these are the places I've been to before and places you should visit if you're in HK for the first time (not in this post):

1. Hong Kong Disneyland

2. Ocean Park Hong Kong

3. Ngong Ping 360 & Lantau Island

4. Madame Tussauds Hong Kong wax museum

5. Victoria Harbour & Avenue of stars

6. Lan Kwai Fong

If you have time to spare, you should also go Macau for a day trip. Macau is pretty and rich in culture. However, when I went 7 years ago, I was underaged for the casino and there's nothing much to do for me there. Ended up eating Portuguese egg tarts on the street while watching flocks of pigeons flying around...not to mention the ferry from HK to Macau made me so nauseous..

Would love to visit Lamma Island as well as I've never been there before!!

Anyways, after Taiwan, we went to the airport around 5am and arrived at Hong Kong around 10-ish?

The weather in HK was sunny, just the way I like it! In Taiwan, it just drizzled for the whole day, which kinda spoiled all the fun :(

After checking in the hotel, we went straight for some Dim Sum!

1) Barbecue Pork Roll

2) Rice Noodle Roll (Chee Cheong Fun)

3) Shrimp dumplings (Har gow)

4) Steamed pork ribs / Siew Mai / Black pepper beef

We went to Tsim Sha Tsui (尖沙咀) to do some shopping and went to The Sweet Dynasty for dinner.

1) Pineapple pork (凤梨咕噜肉)

HKD $90; BND $15

hmm...it's a bit pricey for me. $15 for like 8 pieces of meat? It was undeniably good though.

2) Noodles with Chinese Spicy minced sauce (香辣京都炸酱面)
HKD $58; BND $9.50
Super yummy! But I felt it's a bit too salty..

3) Tofu with salted fish and chicken cubes (咸鱼鸡粒豆腐烫)
HKD $95; BND $10.50
You can skip this..it's not that nice.

4) Rice Noodle Roll with XO Sauce (XO酱炒肠粉)
HKD $50; BND $8.20
I didn't know this is chee cheong fun until mum said so. It tastes like bigger strips of kueh tiaw to me xD

5) Rice
HKD $10; BND $1.60
I like the porcelain rice bowls..very pretty!

After that, we tried their desserts. Well, it's call The Sweet Dynasty for a reason...

6) Tofu pudding with chilled mango sago cream & pamelo (杨枝金露豆腐花)
HKD $38; BND $6.30
I think this is very cool! When this dessert was served, there was this smoky effect oozing out from the bowl. It maintains the dessert's cool temperature till you finish it! Someone from the neighbouring table even asked us what is it called so they can order it. Hehehe

7) Tofu pudding with almond juice (豆腐花杏仁露)

HKD $30; BND $5

so-so..I'm quite disappointed with this because the almond taste doesnt really blend well with the tofu pudding in this one. It makes the whole dessert kind of bland.

8) Hot Tofu pudding (热山水豆腐花)
HKD $22; BND $3.60
Classic Tofu pudding, cooked with sugar syrup. Tofu pudding's texture is very smooth; not powdery at all. The best choice for people who have a sweet tooth. :)

9) Fresh Honeydew with sago cream (鲜蜜瓜西米露)
HKD $30; BND $5
Average. The honeydew balls were not sweet at all on that day :( I've tried better honeydew with sago cream.

On our way back, we ordered 2 Hui Lau Shan (许留山)!! They have like the BEST drink ever! This is a must try. I drank almost everyday whenever I go HK. Been craving for them since my December visit in 2012.

Mango juice with fresh mango cubes & aloe vera (green jelly) / Hasma 雪蛤 (white jelly)

The mangoes are really sweet! We enjoyed it very much ^_____^

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Day 2

Egg tarts & coffee for breakfast.

Lunch:

1) Roast goose with rice

2) Char Siew with rice

3) Signature iced milk tea

4) Herbal soup

Fish Siew Mai! Healthy and delicious!!

Dinner:

We went to Langham Place, Mongkok to have our dinner..

As usual, the place was crowded and we had to queue for the restaurants, regardless of the time. People still queue for dinner at 9pm o___o

Tried The Dining Room (南小馆). I'm surprised that I've never heard of the restaurant before! Apparently, it is quite popular...

- Forbes (Forbes Life) 2013: the best of Hong Kong - one of the five restaurants for a blowout dinner

- HK Magazine 2012: Top Tables - one of the best new restaurants in Hong Kong

1) Noodles with sesame sauce (风味麻酱拌面)

HKD $30; BND $5

Yummy! It is spicy and has the sesame fragrant that goes well with it!

2) Signature fried bun (招牌生煎包)
HKD $38; BND $6.30
The skin of the buns were made just right and crispy. The filling was juicy and tasty! One of my favourite dishes of the night :)

3) Da Liang Fried Rice (大良炒饭)
HKD $58; BND $9.50
No idea why it's called Da Liang Fried Rice o_o
I'm not so much of a rice lover, so..this is just moderate for me. Don't think it worth $10..could have ordered 2 portions of the noodles!

4) Shrimp dumplings with spicy sauce/chili oil (虾肉红油炒手)
HKD $38; BND $6.30
Another fave dish of the night! We all agreed that this was better than the shrimp dumplings we had in Ding Tai Fung!!! Must try!

5) Four season beans/Fried long beans (煸四季豆)
HKD $48; BND $8
The first time I ate the four season beans in HK was in this place (forgot the name) & I still think it was the best four season beans that I've ever had till now. This one was just ok.

6) Xiao Long Bao (鲜肉小笼包 & 无锡小笼包)
Both are HKD $38 each; BND $6.30
We ordered Wu Xi Xiao Long Bao..but when we tried it, we felt like it's very similar to the normal xiao long bao...there isn't much difference. :\

Service : ♥♥♥♥♥

Food : ♥♥♥♥♥

Ambience: ♥♥♥♥♥

Price : ♥♥♥♥♥

In the same building, Langham Place, 4th floor, we saw Man Ji Desserts..

1) Almond tea with black glutinous rice (杏仁茶配黑糯米)
HKD $25; BND $4
Mum's choice. I can only say it doesn't suit my taste...

2) Tofu pudding with mango (甘露豆腐花)
HKD $30; BND $5
Mel's choice. Weird but oddly nice combination.

3) Tofu pudding with mango and green tea ice cream (甘露豆腐花+ 绿茶)
HKD $39, BND $6.40
Dad's choice. It's the same as Mel's but with an additional green tea ice cream.

4) Black sesame dessert with tangyuan/glutinous rice ball (热汤丸配芝麻糊)

HKD $27; BND $4.40

My choice! I like that it's not very sweet and it's a warm dessert - just perfect for HK's cool weather. The only thing is that the black sesame would temporarily stained my teeth. Mel was laughing at me whenever I talked or smiled after eating it.. :<

Service : ♥♥♥♥♥

Food : ♥♥♥♥♥

Ambience: ♥♥♥♥♥

Price : ♥♥♥♥♥

The service was disappointing. I understand that there were many people and it was packed..but the waiters and waitresses there are so rude D: They don't smile, they show impatient gestures and facial expressions...they speak Cantonese to you (eventhough if you don't speak..) but fortunately, I can speak and understand Cantonese. I know Hong Kong was infamous for their inhospitality..but the contrast was made stronger after my visit to Taiwan. Taiwan people are so nice!

Oh..we also saw a Hello Kitty exhibition at Langham Place~