Adventures in Hong Kong

I found out earlier this week that I would have to fly to HK on Sunday evening for a quick meeting on Monday morning. As I started to plan my itinerary Ben decided he would take Thursday and Friday off so we could escape for an early weekend.

We started out the first morning with some delicious dim sum at Hong Kong’s famous Maxim’s Restaurant. Dim sum is not only a variety of food, but a way of life. Locals fill Dim Sum restaurants on weekend mornings, much like the English gather for tea time. It is a social occasion that allows diners to skip the time deliberating over the menu and allow them to focus on their company (something my husband greatly appreciates). Diners order by pointing to their choice of dishes found on ornate guerdons that dance around the dining room. Each cart is filled with a variety of tiny meticulously crafted dishes, steamed dumplings, and various fried small bites.

Dim Sum is the eastern version of Spanish Tapas or Middle Eastern Mezze. It is truly my favorite way of eating, my food philosophy…small bites of everything….I wouldn’t go to an amusement park and spend the entire day on one coaster and I rarely go to a restaurant and order a giant plate of any one thing. We had perfectly crimped dumplings, fluffy pork steamed buns, crispy pickled vegetables, delicate dumplings, crunchy egg rolls, Schezwan spiced pork ribs. Did I mention the dumplings?

For those of you in Denver, there is hope of getting your hands on some wonderful Dim Sum at Super Star Asian (off of Federal and Alameda). And now having tasted what Hong Kong has to offer I can honestly say that it is just as authentic.

After dim sum we made our way on to the famous Mid-levels escalator. This ½ mile long escalator weaves it way through the heart Hong Kong Island allowing 50,000 people to travel to and from the office more effectively.

Ben and I used it as a mode of transportation and a leisure way to see the city, jumping off each and every time we saw something interesting. Several of our jump off points included a few open air markets tucked between large buildings. The markets were incredible, filled with dozens of fish, vegetables and fruits that I had never seen before. We also found a small kitchen store where I bought an old wooden moon cake mold.

We also made our way through a small district filled with handmade shops, second hand stores and a small welding store. This man was welding sheets of metal together with nothing more than a small fire and a few hand tools (Dale this picture is for you).

After wandering through the streets we found ourselves eating at a “Private Kitchen”. I read an article about private kitchens on a plane last month and knew I had to experience this new style of dining. Due to the incredible price of real estate in Hong Kong, local chefs are opening up small restaurants in high rise apartments. It not only allows chefs to cut down on rent, but allows them to focus on a small dining room. We had an 8 course Schezwan style meal that was exquisite. The dining room was quaint, the services impeccable, and the company even better.

The next morning we decided to experience Hong Kong as typical tourists would. We jumped on the Big Bus Tour and made our way to Stanley Island. I don’t know which was more fun shopping in the small stores of Stanley Market; or weaving our way through the narrow streets of Hong Kong on the Double Decker bus through beautiful Hong Kong? It is interesting how much Hong Kong reminds me of San Francisco.

Our private kitchen experience was so great the first night we decided to try it again, but this time we went for dessert. We stopped in at a charming dessert bar called Riquiqui-a must if you are in Hong Kong. The menu was simple, but very good. I had the chocolate ganache cake with caramelized bananas and Ben had the carrot cake with coconut ice cream and candied walnuts. Mmmm.

Our final day in Hong Kong was spent on the beautiful Lantau Island. We boarded the Ngong Ping Cable Car and rode from the base of the island to Ngong Ping Plateau- vibrant green village nestled in the mountains of Lantau.

We walked through the village housed with various shops, restaurants, monastery buildings, and the Tian Tan Buddha-an 85 foot high bronze Buddha statue.

After our tour of the Big Buddha we made our way to a large monastery where we had a delightful vegetarian meal prepared by the monks who inhabit it.

Our next stop was one of my favorite places in all of Hong Kong, Tai O fishing village. It is a small and humble town filled with various modest stilt houses fabricated with rusty scrap metal, old wooden crates, chain linked fences, and basically anything that floats by.

We spent hours walking through the unassuming village, being fascinated with the daily routine of the people. We watched men playing a much louder version of dominos, children tending their family market stalls, fishermen taking a nap (below) and women making local delicacies. Although most of the houses were built on the water (as seen above); we did find a few brick buildings.

Some of the tasty treats we tried included some almond meal cookies-similar to pecan sandies (left), a sweet and crispy handheld cake similar to a waffle (center), and a tuille like pastry dough filled with toasted coconut and folded into small pouches (right).

Our final journey in Hong Kong and in the Tai O fishing village was on a rickety boat ride on the coast of the South China Sea. We were able to ride through the village and get a better view of the meek quarters, see the beautiful coastline and have one of the most dodgy boat rides of my life. (By the way this is not the boat we rode on, just a picture of a commercial fishing boat that I snapped as we cruised by)