Swear. I bought 1 dress, and I think that
would hardly count as shopping. I also bought some Osmanthus Tea as pasalubong
for some friends, but it was like 4 packets and hardly made a dent on my
budget. For me, shopping in HK entails going home to Pinas with a slight tinge
of buyer’s remorse. Hindi naman nabutas
wallet ko mashado…or yun kay C.
So what did C and I do for the entire
weekend that we were there to celebrate our 9th year anniversary?
EAT. Yep. Nothing brings people closer together than eating together, is what I
always say, and C and I needed some QT for quite a while na.
I was in-charge of itinerary for our trip,
but of course, bilang isa’t kalahating kalat, I didn’t really write it down
until Friday afternoon, 3 hours before we left for the airport.
SATURDAY
First stop: TIM HO WAN. This is the ONLY
Michelin Star dimsum restaurant, and the cheapest one at that. Usapan namin ni
C was gigising kami ng 8 am so we can leisurely walk from our hotel, BP
International House in Austin St., Kowloon, to the fabled hole-in-the-wall
dimsum place. I knew from all the reviews that there is usually a 1-2 hours
queue. Therefore, 9 am ako finally
bumangon after much prodding from C. Pag gising ko nakaligo na sha. Medyo panic
akesh… I brought too many clothes and 5 pairs of footwear for a 2 day vacation,
and I knew it was gonna be hell deciding what to wear.
I was done by 10am (Miraculously! --- Tim
Ho Wan opens at 10am, btw.) and we had a long leisurely 30 minute walk to Kwong
Wa Street. Alam ko na agad kung saan yun resto even before I saw the sign, kasi
nakita ko na yun mga taong nagkakagulo on the sidewalk. TAE. Ang dami na nila.
Locals, regulars, tourists, chinese, Filipino, and whatever else na nationality
siguro. 10.30 am pa lang yun, Pare. Merong mama dun sa harap ng resto na may
sariling podium. He lists down your number when you get it. You also have to fill
out your own order sheet. The first order sheet we got was green, and when we
looked at the menu it was all in Chinese characters (hànzì)!!! Kumusta naman?!
Siguro kasi it was C who got it and hindi naman mapagkakailang Chinese sha so
yun pang Chinese binigay sa kanya. C had to go back and ask for an English
menu, which was in a yellow sheet. Whew… Akala ko mag-ee-eenie meanie minie moe
kami dun sa isa eh. Filling out the sheet is really important especially for
tourists… why? Because NONE of the restaurant staff speaks any English, and it
also makes things go a bit faster. 
We were number 50 on the list dahil na-late
nga ako gumising... La dee dah… So anong gagawin habang nagiintay? Eh di
kumain…
We found this charming little Italian Café
right next to THW called “Ocio” that served wonderful foamy cappuccino and yummy
light tiramisu. But of course, between the two of us, coffee and a dessert will
not be enough, so we both ended up each nursing a tall glass of iced tea while
we waited for 2 hours.
Finally, at around 12.20pm the manong at
the podium screamed “NAMBAH FEEF-TEE”, and I waved my hand over some people’s
heads “HERE!!!” We were ushered in to the tiny, maybe 50 sq m. resto, filled
with patrons, and were sat on the farthest corner. Table for 2 hungry turistas.
The manang waiter took note of our order sheet to prepare the bill and
proceeded to scream something in the kitchen, while another manong waiter
served us fresh hot tea.
While waiting for our order, manang waiter
was talking to the group of 4 seated beside us (and when I mean beside, I mean
sobrang lapit nyo na sa isa’t isa na pwede mong maamoy kung naligo yun katabi
mo or hindi --- in my case pwede ko nang maamoy silang apat sa closeness
namin). They were of course speaking in HK Cantonese, and I thought they were
just having any normal conversation until manang waiter suddenly and very
unceremoniously took our order sheet from our table, her pale white arm barely
missing hitting my face and then showed it to the people sitting beside us. I
saw C laughing, and manang waiter was laughing with him, and they had a little
exchange where C kept agreeing with her, so I just asked what it was all about.
Apparently pinagalitan ni manang waiter yun apat kasi they only ordered 4
dishes, and pinagngudngudan ni manang yun order sheet namin sa kanila, saying
basically: “Tignan nyo nga sila! Dalawa lang sila tapos PITO ang order nila!
Konti yang sa inyo, dagdagan nyo pa!” Sumunod naman yun apat, at di ko alam
kung mahihiya ako or what…
So we ordered:
- Steamed fresh shrimp dumplings
- Steamed dumpling in chiu chow style
- Steamed pork dumpling with shrimp
- Steamed fish dumpling with fungus and chinese soil celery
- Baked bun with BBQ pork
- Pan-fried turnip cake
- Vermicelli roll stuffed with beef
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Pinaka-winner talaga yun Baked bun with BBQ
pork --- madami na rin nagsabi nyan actually, pero iba talaga pag natikman mo.
Malinamnam yun bread na manamisnamis na may alat, tapos perfect yun positioning
nun meat inside the bun, and tamang tama din yun dami nun filling, and the meat
itself was parang asado pork, but kind of richer na hindi over-powering.
Obviously I’m still dreaming about it. All the other stuff we had was great of
course, I liked the vermicelli roll a lot too.
Anyway, I just want to point out na parang
mas sumarap yun pagkain namin nun nalaman ko kung magkano yun bill --- HKD
110!!! That’s about Php700 for both of us!! WINNER TALAGA! Sa dami nun kinain namin,
sooooobrang sulit talaga. I happily gave a tip after our meal.
2ND Stop: LAMMA ISLAND. Ito
talaga ang adventure. I had really no idea how to get there. It was really a
great thing that the MTR System in HK is OSOM, to say the very least. It was
easy enough to get around. I read about the island online and it’s supposed to
be a great seafood place where you can do dampa-style dining (pick your fish or
shellfish of choice from the multitude of aquariums laid out in front of you
and the nice people will kill them and cook them pronto.)
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| view from our seats on the ferry |
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| one of two temples found in Lamma Island |
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| rows of fishing boats docked at Lamma Island |
It was a great day to be out at sea really. The sun was up and shining on everything. The ferry ride was really pleasant and relaxing. We sat on the upper deck of course, for maximum sun exposure.
It was a good 45 minute ride I think before
we got to the port. I felt that I had to go to the banyo the moment we docked,
so off I went to the public toilet --- and immediately exited said public
toilet when I saw na it was one of those that basically was just a hole on the
ground and you had to squat all the way down… it was also not very tidy and it
smelled… kaya kong mag-go sa likod ng puno, and even sa talahiban, pero wag
naman sa ganun ‘teh. In short, pinigil ko sha at nag-mind over matter mantra na
lang ako.
We walked the trail that was supposed to be
heading to the beach. I told C that we should buy some mosquito repellant and
he said “no need” --- and therefore napakalamok nun pinuntahan namin. Although
it was a good leisurely walk, we didn’t make it to the beach kasi nangati na
ako ng todo. We went back to the restaurant row and ordered some lobster and
scallops --- which was nothing spectacular --- mas masarap luto natin dito sa
Pinas… and I had some beer (my solution/remedy for anything) to soothe my
itchies.
At 5.10pm we had to make a mad dash to the
ferry. The next ferry out of the island was at 7 pm na, and we had dinner with
some friends scheduled. So kahit nan aka-palda at medyo may amats, takbo naman
ako, and knockout when we got to the boat.
3rd Stop: F.I.N.D.S. Restaurant.
After changing in the hotel to some decent dinner clothes, we went to meet
Candy and Melvin at FINDS. The resto is memorable for us kasi once upon a time,
when C and I went with some friends there, wala talaga kaming pera at mga
dukhang kakatapos lang namin mag bar nun. Ginusto talaga ni C na bumalik dun
now coz may pera na DAW kami ngayon (medyo mythical ang statement na ‘to for me
sa totoo lang…)
FINDS stands for Finland, Iceland,
Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, an all fine-dining Nordic cuisine. We
all had set meals with wine pairing for each meal (except C). Pinakamemorable
for me yun salmon platter appetizer nila. It was different ways of cooking
salmon all in one plate, with each kind just the perfect size. Each meal is
explained to us, and the Nordic portion of each meal is highlighted.
The meals are quite pricey. So if you’re
planning to try it out, better look at their menu first. Each dish costs about
HKD250 on average.
We had a nightcap with Candy and Melvin at
Bahama Mama’s in Knutsford Terrace. Apparently this was one of Melvin’s
hangouts. It was a local bar, which I appreciated. Comparable to maybe Cable
Car, during its hay-days… cheaper
drinks, loud music, darker lighting and a lot of kwentong inuman. C’s
bestfriend, Ivan, came over and had drinks with us.
SUNDAY
1st Stop: BP INTERNATIONAL HOUSE
CHINESE RESTAURANT: This was our last day. Ivan’s mom offered to feed us lunch
in this restaurant right at the basement of our hotel. Sobrang tuwa ni C kasi
makakakain na sha sa wakas ng white chicken na tunay nyang inaasam asam sa HK.
Unfortunately, the white chicken there wasn’t that good. I think the stuff you
see along the streets would have been better. Still, it was a good meal with
Auntie Daisy, and we had some good dimsum.
The desserts were rather interesting. One
was jell-o like cubes filled with Osmanthus petals which was very refreshing
and light. The other was blobs of sweetened fried flour that you dip in cream –
that was yummy and sweet.
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| C with best buddy Ivan; on our way to Soho |
2nd Stop: McDO. After walking around with Ivan going to Soho and Antique street, we ended up at McDo where I insisted we had a rest and I could buy the happy meals set. Why? Dahil Hello Kitty ang theme ng kanilang give away --- in preparation for Addie’s 1st birthday. Actually I don’t know why they called it happy meals, eh parang mas mahal pa yun mga stuffed toys dun sa pagkain na binili ko. But, oh well, anything for my inaanak.
3rd Stop: Crystal Palace, ICC
Tower. Dahil medyo nagtitipid din naman kami ni C, we took the free bus ride
from our hotel to the airport express terminal which was in the ICC Tower. When
we got there, we were able to get an early check-in for our flight and check-in
our luggage as well. This left us with almost 2 hours free to roam around the
ICC before heading to the terminal.
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| Entrance to Sky 100 elevator lobby |
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| Elevator ceiling that counts down til you reach the top of the ICC |
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| the Awesome View from Sky 100 |
We couldn’t resist not going to SKY 100,
which was the viewing deck of ICC --- the tallest building in HK. When you get
to the very top, and get to see the 360-view of HK, that’s when you are reminded
that it’s really a harbor more than anything.
There are a few restaurants in SKY 100, and
I of course convinced C to have merienda in one of them --- and we had more
dimsum at Sky Crystal, a Shanghai fine-dining restaurant with a beautiful
crystal chandeliers and spectacular view of HK. I suggest that if you’re going
to SKY 100 you might as well have a meal in one of the restaurants to have the
total experience and not just keep taking photos around the viewing deck.
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| Our view from our table at Sky Crystal |
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| Amazing detail |
Finally, we had to go home. Our last meal before landing sa Pinas was of course PAL’s in-flight meal, and my sweet and sour pork with rice was actually not that bad. Unfortunately, we had no idea that there was a storm raging in Pinas that Sunday. Due to the blackout in the terminal, and the fact that the rains couldn’t let us land, our flight had to park at the Clark airport to refuel (which took 2 hours), before we were finally allowed to land in Manila.
Still, despite the no-shopping vacation, the long walks and the 4 hour landing delay, I couldn’t imagine going through any of that without C. He is and will remain to be my biggest adventure (even if he does drive me crazy half of the time – but hey, every adventure has its twists and turns, right? Can’t be smooth sailing all the time… no fun in that…)
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