To be dead honest, I was skeptical of what Hong Kong had to offer. The service didn't look so promising on Bourdain's HK episode. And after all, people've been telling me how expensive things are over in the land of TVB drama serials (and funny names haaaaa!) and I wasn't looking forward to burn such a big hole in my pockets anytime soon. Thankfully, Mumsy decided to sponsor me a little so I didn't have to fork out as much. Digressing, yes, I'm a cheapskate like that; if not now, then when?
I'm sure I've only managed to skim through the surface of what Hong Kong has to offer to its visitors during my 4-day stay, but I was really impressed. Impressed by the seemingly endless (and well-linked) MTR underground passages that more than 2.2 million commuters use daily, the magnificent display of city lights from The Peak, endless shopping possibilities and not forgetting, all that variety delicious food(!).
One thing that I could not get (and will not anytime in the near future) was the pace of life. If you'd always thought that Singaporean's pace of life was fast, the average Hongkonger's pace is that mulitplied by four. That walk fast, eat fast, and talk fast. I had the feeling that if I stopped walking all of a sudden on a busy street in Hong Kong, I'd probably get trampled on to death. Okay, mildly exagerating here, but you get the drift, don't you? Guess it's all about getting used to the culture.
I'm not going to go into details about what we did daily, but I'm just going to come up with some "lists". It's much easier to read, and probably more informative too. So first up, my favourite topic...
10 Things To Eat In Hong Kong
1. Have some chunky Char Siew, Roast Goose, Roast Pork from any roast meat shop; the ones that we have here in Singapore are merely just thin slices of red-lined pork. Char Siew can be the main ingredient for a bowl of noodles in HK, but they can only be used for garnishing purposes in our wanton noodles here.
2. Have some Wantons/Dumplings; these are big and succulent with fresh prawns and pork fillings. There's definitely a difference in size of the dumplings.
gui ling gao
3. Traditional desserts a.k.a. Tong Shui; for example, almond and sesame pastes, herbal jelly and so on. They taste a lot better than what you can get here in Singapore, at least from my tastebuds.
4. Hui Lao Shan, the mango dessert place that's all over Hong Kong. I used to think it was really good when they had one outlet here in Singapore (a few years back), but now I think it's pretty over-rated. Still, no harm trying.
5. Smelly Tofu! It doesn't taste as bad as it sounds, seriously. I thought it was pretty bland (though slightly tangy), but KH said that's because it's been toned down much over the years due to hygiene reasons.
6. Curried Fishballs, the fishballs have a very different texture as compared to what we have here. It's chewy, rather than Q, and I thought they were quite nice to chew on. And they also have Curried Cuttlefish and Pigs' Ears; you pick the sticks that you want, and the vendor throws them all into a thick, boiling curry soup base. It's a little spicy, but I think that's what nice about the whole thing. You can always opt for the non-spicy fishballs, like what Siaos did.
7. Deep Fried Pigs' Intestines. Stuffed with meat, deep fried and served crispy with some sweet and salty sauce. Arteries-cloggingly unhealthy but I loved it so much!
8. Dim Sum. What you can get in Singapore, you can get it here too, only better. Either that, or I've been having really lousy dim sum in Singapore. I thought what was really memorable was the Har Gow and Chicken Claws; the Har Gow skin is the nicest I've ever had, not too dry, not too thick with a chewy consistency and the Chicken Claws are not dyed red, but yellowish.
9. Egg tarts. You can get them from Cha Chan Tengs, or dim sum places. We had the ones with the layered pastry crusts and while they tasted really nice, I thought they were not mind-blowing. Maybe I've yet to have the mindblowing ones, or maybe, I'm just not an Egg Tart person. I still like them nonetheless, don't get me wrong.
this is a bo lo yau.
10. Pineapple Buns (Bo Lo Bau). As the egg tarts, you can get these from Cha Chan Tengs, or bakeries (though I think getting them from Cha Chan Tengs feels like the more HK-ish thing to do). The only pineapple thing about this bun is its resemblence, and not the taste since there's no pineapples involved in the making. Siaos had the Bo Lo Yau, a variation whereby a slab of butter is stuffed into the bun. I first got to know bout this from Crystal Jade's Bakery, and I actually prefer the variation with Char Siew in it.
Food is generally more expensive in Hong Kong (a bowl of wanton noodles will probably cost you S$5 on the average), so be prepared to splurge if you are going for a makan fest. That's probably what you hear from most people who've been to Hong Kong... but really, they forgot to add that the portion's kinda big too, and I guess that more or less justifies the prices.
