HK photoblog mid-June

First set of photos are taken in Lan Fong Yuen, Central, HK Island. The famous HK Milk Tea is shown (both hot and cold versions - having tried them, they're really milky sweet. Not with condensed milk, just fresh milk and sugar.) We also ate Chicken chop rice, Chicken chop noodles, and Macaroni in tomato stew with pork chop. I had the Chicken chop noodles. Nice, but nothing to shout about imho. Story about LFY is that it was in danger of having to move away from it's existing premises until the loyal customers rallied and helped to raise funds to secure rental or ownership of the shop. We ate at the "new" branch, few doors away from the original branch. Anyway i'm not too clear about the history, just remember bits and pieces from what my friends told me :P

Next set of photos are taken in Hui Lau San dessert shop. First photo shows bird's nest thong sui with fruit salad, Second photo shows coconut slivers in mango puree with side of fruit salad, and Third photo shows Mango pudding with fruit salad (top left) and Mango pudding with mango puree and sorbet (bottom right). I had the Mango pudding with mango puree and sorbet...let's say it was an overdose of mango. Besides mango-centric desserts, they do serve other types of hot and cold desserts too, and the chain branch where we had these is in Mongkok.

Photoblog #4 - Dim sum brunch in Shenzhen

After the walkabout in Hong Hu Garden, this was where me and my colleagues headed to for brunch; New Star Seafood Restaurant. It came highly recommended by colleagues who ate there before.


Chrysanthemum tea. RMB6 per head. There was a better grade of chrysanthemum but it was RMB12 per head. Am no tea connoisseur so we chose the cheaper grade. haha.


Pork porridge and "lor bak" cake (white radish cake?). Both were nicely scented with the aromatic smell and flavour of pork. YUM.



Some kind of char siew bao...but not the steamed or baked variety. This one came in a proper sticky bun. Not my favourite.



Custard bao...the piping hot filling spurted out a little when we opened the bao. Haha. Custard was savoury and fragrant. Best eaten hot.


Siu mai. Moist, flavourful, succulent pork topped with some fish roe in normal wantan wrapper. Also best eaten steaming hot.



Har Gow. This was a DISAPPOINTMENT. Looked so promising from the outside, smelt delicious, but one bite into it revealed less than firm/crunchy prawns. Not sure if it was the over-steaming or use of less than freshly caught prawns that made the difference. Prefer HK (and even Malaysian) Har Gow. Will try to have a HK dim sum photoblog sometime soon.



Dan Tat @ Egg tart. Filling was creamy, smooth, egg custardy and altogether tantalizing to the tastebuds. However, the skin/pastry was oily and slightly overpowered the delicate texture of the egg custard. Prefer the egg tart in HK (refer to recent post).


And...the result of the brunch? Empty plates and cups, full stomach, and the damage was only RMB 95. That's about RM 48. For the 7 dishes, not too bad i guess. But a weekend surcharge did apply on the bill, so it could have been cheaper if we went on a weekday morning.

If i were to rate the place, it would get 7/10 for food quality, 8/10 for service, 7/10 for ambience. It wasn't that easy to find the place, but after some searching, we found it. Just head to Shenzhen Metro (Dongmen) Lao Jie Station, Exit A. Come out, and look for the Holiday Villa Hotel. The entrance is somewhere around there. Can't miss it.

Life in Shenzhen so far...photoblog #1

By now, i've finished 2 weeks in Bantian, Longgang (i kid you not about the spelling), Shenzhen. To briefly describe how Bantian is, imagine Cyberjaya, with the entire population speaking in Mandarin/PutongHua. It's equally as isolated and insular, with a rather good public transport system (thankfully). So, taking advantage of the benefit of a good public transport system, i was in Shenzhen last weekend and in Hong Kong this weekend. Both breaks did me much good (in terms of boosting my morale...haha).

In Shenzhen (SZ), thanks to my dear relative, i have been able to escape from the dreary OILY food they serve everyday. The 2 pics on the left side are of a white pepper chicken/pork soup that i had last weekend. It was spicy without overpowering my tastebuds and tongue. Of course, the extra induced perspiration combined with the hot and wet weather did make me feel hot under the collar ;) don't think we have something like it in Malaysia.























The 4 pics above shows other things in SZ i notice. Coconut water..missed it in KL before coming to SZ but had my fix in Luohu (border city between HK and SZ). Mangosteens (yes! grown in China, but don't know how it tastes like) are sold here too. BUT the thing that amazed me was the size of the onions...HUGE, in comparison to our normal 'bawang merah' in Malaysia. Wonder what miracle fertilizer was used to make them grow so big...but then again, being China, i think i rather not know...hahaha. And the melons too...maybe smaller than our melons back home but they're solid. And a cluster of them placed together brings to mind something a little more salacious, but let's not go there, shall we? ;)




















Also in SZ, there's chicken rice (ubiquitous food, true) and the usual roast duck, char siew and siew yoke on sale, near the hotel i stay in Bantian. There's a story behind it, but in short, yours truly nearly got ripped off by a cute girl who thinks i was BLIND and incapable of reading chinese characters. The picture of the chicken rice (packed) was my lunch and had some extra for that day, and it cost RMB15 (approx RM7.50). OMG! i could get chicken rice from my aunt for FOC, and it does taste better :) Guess when you have the craving, it just needs to be satisfied and taken care of :P

The bane that is fast food...

Was coming out from gym earlier today, when i spotted this huge banner advertising the current McDonald's promotion - McValue Doubles. Essentially double the original burger but not double the meal price. All i could do was to shake my head and wonder how much more people will be tricked into buying this deal for the apparent savings (eat more for less).

The reason behind today's rant is actually the increasing rate of obesity among Malaysian people. Sedentary lifestyle, coupled with "attractive" dining offers is a lethal combination. Go on, take a look everywhere. Every 1 in 5 people i spot in shopping malls happen to have a noticeably large belly/tummy, male or female. And i'm not talking about pregnant women at all. It's just sad that people are not too health conscious anymore, and are gorging on all these "empty" calories. Biggest culprit : French Fries and any kind of cola/fizzy drinks. It's fine if you eat fast food once in a while to satisfy your craving, but every other day? Gawd...i shudder to think how much the liver and heart and body would need to work to detox and recover from the oily, msg-laden, junk food that was consumed.

Ever since last November after my op, i've been on the look out for my health, and am taking good care of it now. (After about 15-20 years of neglect?). And it is paying off...i'm sleeping better, my trousers measurement have officially dropped a size, my clothes fit better than before, i'm no longer breathless after a session at gym and/or dance class, and i get sick less often. Now the crucial part is the maintenance. Thank goodness i'm not into fast food anymore, am more picky with food, have a smaller appetite, and love salads again. (Try Marmalade in BV2, any Delicious, Alexis bistro/cafe and you'll get my drift). YUMS!

How i wish i can pass along the gospel of healthy eating, but that is subject to everyone's desire to take care of themself. There is a saying that goes, "You are what you eat/read/etc etc". And yes, i do believe that whatever you input into yourself, will cause an output to be generated. So, good input leads to good output. And i can influence my immediate family's dietary practises ;) which is a good thing...now, i just need to satisfy my craving for really good hokkien char/hokkien mee. With fried pork lard. Oh YUM! (then after that, need to work out for 3 days in a row to burn off that unnecessary food intake. LOL)

Ok, rant over, and we're back to normal scheduled programming...