Hello from Hong Kong!

It's been quite a busy few days. I'm writing this from Hong Kong everyone! I'll sum up the first three days in this post.. But I must warn you that it's packed full of pictures.

We began our trip with some breakfast from Tim Hortons.




Cheese croissant for myself and a muffin for my aunt.




A donut and muffin for Mom and Dad.

We boarded the short flight to Detroit without much difficulty. Once we arrived at the Detroit airport, we had to switch planes. But we had about an hour to kill so Aunt IS and I grabbed a snack at Popeyes Chicken.




The spicy Louisiana chicken tender combo was spicy, juicy, and crunchy. It really hit the spot. The biscuit wasn't too bad. It was definitely closer to a biscuit than Tim Horton's dense version.













There was plenty of lackluster airplane food served by Delta. Check out the sad napa cabbage salad.



When we arrived in HK, my aunt picked us up and brought us over to her place to stay for the duration of our time in HK. Dinner was abalone congee. Yowzas!

Sliced abalone, shiitake mushrooms, shredded chicken, and beautifully white and crisp bean sprouts for the congee.







Dragon fruit and Oolong tea for dessert. The dragon fruit that I've had in Ottawa and Toronto pales in comparison to these. It was so much fresher and juicier. If you've never had dragon fruit before, it tastes like a mix between a kiwi and a bosc pear. It has the texture of a bosc pear and has the muted flavour and acidity of kiwi.



The next day, we had a little bite to eat in the morning. While everyone else had luxurious congee, my aunt and I had a little sandwich made of processed meat (just like the white Vietnamese sausage), butter, and sliced cucumbers. Aunty told us that she was going to bring us to have some real dim sum.










My aunt brought us around town and then guided us into the Infinitus Plaza. We had to go up a few flights of escalators before we found ourselves in the bright Chiuchow Garden restaurant. Finally, real freaking dim sum!

They started us off with a cold salad of veggies, tofu and peanuts in a slightly spicy sesame oil dressing. I liked the crisp cucumbers and chinese vegetable the best.



















We had pork and shrimp siu mai, bouncy shrimp cheung fan, and amazing braised goose breast, to name a few. Aunty said that this was her favourite place to eat the braised goose. We ended lunch with some strong and slightly bitter Chiuchow tea. My first taste of HK dim sum was a thing to remember. I wanted mooooar!

Aunty took us to a beach in Hong Kong. We rode our way to the Repulse Bay on a roller coaster-like air conditioned double-decker bus. I thought we were going to crash into buildings, cars and walls! We walked through the Kwun Yam Shrine as the sun beamed down on us. I felt like I was in an oven.











We strolled along the statues at the Repulse Bay.



I really wanted to cool off with some drinks out of this vending machine. We ended up grabbing some drinks at a convenience store beside a Pizza Hut.











We took a long break at a McDonald's/McCafé in the Stanely Market area. They actually had a separate area for the McCafé within the store. It was outfitted with their own McCafé counter and lounge chairs. Pretty cool. We weren't hungry. We just needed to get out of the heat, but Aunty bought a McNugget meal in case we were hungry. We struggled to finish the McNugget meal that Aunty bought. It was the heat.







That night, Aunty picked up a goose from one of her favourite places.









Dinner was goose with egg noodles and black vinegar.





I had a can of soda but didn't notice that the cans didn't open the same way as back home in North America. The can tab snapped pretty easily. Fail.





We had homemade che troi nuoc for dessert. The larger rice dumplings were filled with a slightly salty mung bean paste. Yum.

It was an exhausting day. I was ready for more! Woweeee!


I'll leave you with the view from Aunty's balcony. Her balcony overlooks a part of Kowloon.




This is the second time I've visited Asia. The first time was only a year ago. I know, it's crazy! I couldn't have even dreamed of this. Read all about my adventures at "Tea in Asia 2010." This is the start of the "Tea in Asia 2011" series...

>>
Day Trip to Macau: Window Shopping in Macau
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More links from the Tea in Asia 2011 trip:

• Arriving in Guilin, China: Breakfast and Tea Tasting
• Arriving in Taiwan: Seafood Dinner
• Arriving in Shanghai: Muslim Restaurant