All About Dragon Boat Festival

Today is Dragon Boat Festival - May 5 in Chinese Calendar (June 20, 2015)

Today is Dragon Boat Festival, Chinese society generally have a day off.  In Hong Kong, it's a public holiday; while in China, the holiday spans through June 19 to 22.

Let's talk about some interesting facts about the festival.

Dragon Boat Racing

Dragon Boat Racing is an important event in Hong Kong, domestically and internationally.  Every year, there are races being held, gathering local and internal rowers to create great gesture and fun.  South China Morning Post has shortlisted seven best places to view Dragon Boat Races in Hong Kong.  Click on the link below for more information.

Seven places in Hong Kong best for watching Dragon Boat Racing

Origin

In memory of Patriot Qu Yuan of Chu during the Warring States periods in China.  The little video presents the original of the festival along with some of it's associated activities and foods.




Dragon Boat Racing for Champion - Chinese Orchestra

As Dragon Boat Racing is such an important event among Chinese society, their is a famous music written for the activity.  Here it is played by Chinese Orchestra.  Click on it, enjoy the lovely music while having a sense of the races.




Dragon Boat Festival Foods

Of course dumplings are the most important.


Dumplings seem to be the only festival food being ate through out the year especially in Hong Kong.


There are many types, shapes and tastes.  But they are all wrapped by bamboo leaves and being steamed for a few hours.


Originally was meant to be thrown into the river so that fishes eat the dumplings rather than the body of Qu Yuan.

Egg yolk is an important ingredient for savory ones.  

For luxury ones, people may add pork, mushroom and many other ingredients that they like.  

As for the sweet ones, there is always lotus paste inside.

Dragon Boat Festival in Hong Kong

Shanghainese Mooncake and Dinner

Today is Mid Autumn Festival - September 19, 2013 (August 15 - Chinese Calendar)

Time for a family gathering.  But Hong Kong is a Cantonese society, all Cantonese restaurants are full.  To enjoy a festival dinner, I had two options - go western or something non Cantonese.  So we managed to make a booking at the New Shanghai Restaurant at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.  Although a little bit pricy, but good food, good service and good place, what else can we expect?

Here are some of our favourite Shanghainese dishes.

Drunk Chicken HK$98 (US$12.6) 醉鷄

Very frangrant Huadiao wine and almost boneless.  Yummy and well worth the price.

 

Deep Fried Mini Yellow Fish HK$98 (US$12.6) 香煎小黃魚

This is the signature dish and also best of the best.  I would like to recommend this to anyone visiting this restaurant.  I can't tell how delicious it is.  You need to taste it yourself.

 

Sliced Tofu with Vegetable and Salty Pork HK$78 (US$10) 咸肉百頁小棠菜

As a matter of balance of diet, I really like this dish.  Declicious and not oily and with some soup base.  Very well done.

 

Juicy Bun HK$58 (US$7.4) 小籠包

Has to take extra care, it's really very juicy.  With a bit of vinegar, it's also one of the best of the best at this restaurant.

 

Shanghainese Pancake HK$78 (US$10) 棗泥窩餅

As a festival dinner, we'd like to have something sweet to wrap up.  This is very cruncy with red bean paste stuffing.  But we don't understand how it is completely non greasy.  We dip our fingers through the dish and didn't pick up any oil.  Again, very well done.

 

The good thing about this restaurant is every thing comes very timely, hot, delicious and well presented.  But the most important thing I like is the environment.  There are sufficient space in between tables so that everyone have a reasonably comfortable (although not private) dining area.  For me, a peaceful eating envrionment is very important.  Only for this, I would like to recommend this restaurant to anyone.

 

Shanghainese Mooncake Bonus 上海素月餅

After dinner, I was thinking if the restaurant will offer us mooncake as a free dessert.  Beyond my expectation, we were given a pack of 6 Shanghainese mooncakes free of charge.  When we looked at the menu, the cost of the mooncakes valued almost half of our bill.  Excellent rebate!

 

Vegetarian Shanghainese Mooncake 上海玖瑰細沙月

There were 6 vegetarian mooncakes - 4 of penta-nuts and 2 of rosy red bean.  I'm Cantonese and it's my first time eating Shanghainese mooncake.  It's good and it's free.

 

Mid Autumn Moon

8.13pm - September 19, 2013

On our way back, many people crowded around on a foot bridge to admire the moon.  Here's the bright big moon at Mid Autumn in Hong Kong.  We used to have today as a public holiday.  But at some stage, the former British government changed the holiday to the following day.  Well, it made sense, as people admire the moon at night and sleep late, having a holiday the next day is not a bad idea.

 

New Shanghai Restaurant 新滬坊

L1 Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre

1 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2582 7332

 

Hong Kong Food Blog - Shanghinese Mooncake and Dinner

 

Hong Kong Museum Tour 2013 Summer

Hong Kong Museum Tour - August 28, 2013

Today I have a day off.  In fact I pick Wednesday because all Hong Kong museums are free, except special exhibitions.  I walk through three museums in Tsimshatsui.  Here's a summary of my tours.

Hong Kong Science Museum
There are big crowds of people, as students are still on summer holiday.  And we are like-minded people - go to musuems on Wednesday for free.  In fact at this museum, I walk through one show only and it really make my day.  I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this exhibition - WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR.  It is a special exhibition, but I don't know why they let me in FOC.  It is rare chance that we can see so many valuable and beautiful wildlife photos.  It really worth your time.

In fact I also watched a movie about cutlefishes, as I arrive just at the right time.  It's free but it's really valuable.  You'll appreciate the wonderful content and the underwater filming.  How they film the cutlefishes hunting, mating and their life span.  Howevere watching movies (free or not free) in Hong Kong, you would have to put up with a few things:  crying and talking kids, people talking on mobile phone, people turning on their ipad and other lightening devices, eating and drinking.  Athough all these were said to be forbidden, well, it's Hong Kong! 

 

Hong Kong Museum of History

Just opposite to the Science Museum.  There is another special exhibition which is FOC - The Hong Kong Observatory.  I arrived at a good time, no queueing, so I had a chance to take this scientific photo with Typhoon Vicente which visited us in July 2012.

 

As a Hong Konger, this show recap a lot of the miserable memories about the natural disasters. 

The three most distructive typhoons after war:  Wanda (1962), Rose (1971) and Ellen (1983).  Although I was very young in the 60s and 70s, Ellen hit me with unforgettable memories.  I was stucked in Macau, away from home and had to struggle with typhoon alone.  Drought in 1963, although I was a little girl, I still had clear memory how we survive through 4 hours of water supply every four days. Heavy rain in 1966 and 1972, costing enormous human life and disasters...

 

The regular show Hong Kong Story is always free.  Very resourceful, telling the history of Hong Kong from prehistoric to 1997 when China regain the power in Hong Kong.  Short movies are available.  At the old Hong Kong street, I took a few photos.

 

Typewritter

Gen Y may not have a chance to see how a typewritter look like. 

 

 

Telephone

There are several of them, but these two looks good.  I seem to have seen them when I was a little girl.

 

Fan

A typical air conditioning equipment for the general public in the 60s.

 

Radio

Yes, it's a radio, though at the size of a microwave.  During the 60s it was quite a luxury at home.  So people usually decorate/protect it with kind of beautiful curtain.

 

The Art Museum

After the two museums, I took bus to the nearby Art Museum.  But I shouldn't come, because I forgot I came here two months ago.  Didn't find anything new, just walked briefly through some of the galleries.

 

Breakfast At Island Shangri-La

Before my museum tour, I started my day with a 5-star breakfast.  Unfortunately it's 5-star in terms of money, 2-star in terms of food.  I couldn't even find someone to fry eggs.  Fortunately after a thorough search, I found someone who can cook an omelette for me.  There were very little food choices along with many empty trays.

 

 

There were actually nothing worth taking a photo.  However these two were ok.  As they were cooked to order, they were very hot.  But look, at the congee counter, I couldn't even find green onions.  Everyone in Hong Kong eat congee with green onion, I'm not sure whether it was used up without refill or there were actually none.  I ended up add some dry garlic which is never a congee mate.

 

 

The bill is really big - HK$308+10% service fee, total HK$338.8

 

I must say if it is part of your room package, go for it.  If you need to pay HK$338.8 for such a below par buffet, forget it.  With such money, you can eat a high quality fresh seafood dinner in Hong Kong.

 

 

Soho Restaurants in Hong Kong

How many Soho restaurants are there in Hong Kong? And what is special about them. These mini to medium size restaurants in Central Hong Kong are mainly situated around Elgin Street, Staunton Street, Shelly Street, all easily accessible via the Central escalator. One thing special about these restaurants is that they are all very cosy, stylish and with wide range of international foods.

My office is nearby this area. Today I make use of my lunch hour to explore the Soho restaurants and here is a summary.

Pampas - Argentinian Steak House

G/F, 32B-C Staunton Street, SoHo, Central, Telephone: 2868 6959

They claim to offer fresh organic prime beef cuts flown in direct from Argentina

 

 

Enoteca

G/F, 47 Elgin Street, SoHo, Central, Telephone: 2525 9944

60-seat Mediterranean tapas and wine bar

 

Olive

G/F, 32 Elgin Street, SoHo, Central, Telephone: 2521 1608

Contemporary Greek and Middle Eastern cuisine with an Australian flavor

F.A.B French American Bistro
G/F, 30 Hollywood Road, SOHO, Central
Telephone: 2810 1600

Quite a cozy Italian restaurant.  There are many Italian restaurants lining up at Soho.

 

El Taco Loco, 9 Lower Staunton Street,
(Off Central Escalator) Central, Hong Kong, Tel: 2522 1239
Mexican Cuisine - Signature dishes include Frijolesy, Carne Asada as well as Tacos, Burritos, Quesadillas and Nachos. Margaritas and Mexican beers are a specialty.

 

Marouche Lebanese Cuisine

G/F, 46-48 Cochrane Street, SoHo, Central

Telephone: 2541 8282

The meat is mainly sourced from the US and New Zealand, but the spices and ingredients used are imported directly from Lebanon, and even the chef is Lebanese.

Nepal

G/F, 14 Staunton Street, SoHo, Central, Telephone: 2869 6212
Evolving from the Royal Nepalese cuisine, into an assortment of contemporary dishes

I’m curious about Nepal food, so I took a photo of their menu.  Main course is BBQ/curry, your choice of meat/vegetables.  Starter is Bhenta Tareko (fried eggplant with Nepali herbs); Samosa (stuffed deep fried cone pastries with light spices) or soup of your choice (pumpkin, tomato, lamb, mixed beans), coffee and tea.  HK$98+10% service fee.

If you want to spend reasonable money and enjoy unique food in unique stylish comfortable restaurants, you may want to spend a month to do your lunches in this area.

The set lunches for most restaurants are set around HK$98+10% service fee.  This may be the way shop owners keep themselves competitive.  Please prepare to pay a little more if you choose to go a la carte.   

There are places lining up with Italian restaurants, Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, British…you name it and you’ll find it.  If you want to explore more about Soho restaurants, click here.

Hong Kong Travel Blog - Soho Restaurants

Lamma Island Outing and Seafood

If you ever have an afternoon to spend in Hong Kong, what would you want to do? Shopping? Sightseeing at the Peak or Ocean Park or Disneyland? Well I would like to suggest a leisure eco walk combining with a live seafood dinner, which is a 'must' dining experience in Hong Kong.

Lamma Island Outing and Seafood Dinner
Take the 3.15pm ferry from Pier 4 in Central to Lamma Island Yung Shue Wan. If you stay at the Four Seasons or Mandarin Oriental, it is just a 5-10 minutes walk to the Pier. In about 30 minutes, you will arrive at Lamma Island. Take a very scenic walk to Sok Kwu Wan. The route is easy to walk, even you have kids with you. Admire the beautiful landscape and beaches on the way and you will arrive at Sok Kwu Wan between 5.30pm and 6pm, depending on how quick you walk. Enjoy a live seafood dinner and take the 7.35pm ferry back to Central. In about 30 minutes, you are back to Central again. You can still make time to explore Lan Kwai Fong, if you have the energy.

Last Friday, I just went through the above itinerary. Here is a pictorial report of my journey.

On the way, make sure to enjoy the very traditional authentic 'tofu fa' dessert. Hot and cold available at HK$9@

Beautiful landscape around Lamma Island

There are beaches and observations decks where you can take a little rest on the way. When you are about to arrive Sok Kwu Wan, you'll see some fishing sampans.


When you pass by the Tin Hou Temple (Godess of the Sea), you will arrive Sok Kwu Wan in a few minutes. Feel free to visit the temple.


When you pass the temple, you'll see many seafood restaurant lining up along the seafront. Don'f forget to buy some dry seafood souveniors.

Pick a restaurant, sit down and start to pick your favourite live seafood from the tanks.

The restaurants are nearby the sea. Enjoy seaview and breeze while having dinner. Restaurants are generally available. No advance booking required.

OK, here come the dinner: Deep Fried Squid

Lobster

Garoupa duo - meat for stir fried with vegetable

below are the head and bones for steaming

Clams with Garlic and Jelly Noodle

Stir Fried Spicy Crabs

We also had fresh prawns, fried rice, vegetables, desserts and fruits

NOTE: Try to avoid June, July and August which are the hottest months in Hong Kong. October and November are the best months to do this.

Recommended restaurant: Lamma Hilton (You don't have to find it, when you arrive Sok Kwu Wan, you'll see it.)

Dinner expenses all depend on the kind of seafood you choose, but you should budget for at least HK$200 (US$25.6) per person.

More ferry and travel information about Lamma Island

Hong Kong Travel Blog - Lamma Island and Seafood

How to Eat Cheap and Good Food in Hong Kong

Many come to Hong Kong and eat. If that's you, then you need to find out what to eat and how to pay less while enjoy great food here. Eating in Hong Kong doesn't need to be expensive if you can master the time you go and eat. Also some restaurants offer discounts to holders of certain credit cards. In order not to limit your choice of food and at the same time paying less, be sure to ask the waiter when you are settling a bill.

In any case, I don't recommend to eat in 5-star hotels. They are expensive and they don't offer discount. Some 3-star or 4-star hotels do.

What to eat in Hong Kong?
Here are my list of recommendations:
* Live seafood
* Dim Sum
* Buffet
Click the links to view details from my food blog.

Dim Sum - Go for Early and Late Discount
If you are not bond to any schedule, simply avoid the peak hours (generally noon to 2pm, but it varies according to restaurants) and there are lots of advantages of doing so. Many dim sum restaurants offer great discounts beyond hours. Restaurants are less crowded and you will enjoy more intensive customer service. As for dinner, some restaurants offer late night discounts. If you arrive after 9pm (or may be 9.30pm), you will pay less.

Discounted Buffet
Buffet fans must be very happy with the wide range of foods available in Hong Kong. Indian buffet, Italian buffet, Japanese all-you-can eat, international buffet, weekend tea buffet, late night dessert buffet....etc. Again don't go to 5-star hotels. Some 3-4-star hotels are much cheaper and they offer discounts. Some offer early departure discount or one-day advance booking discount. Be sure to check when you make a booking. Generally discounts are applicable on weekdays and not weekends, holidays and festivals.



Note: 10% service charge for fine dining restaurants. No service fee for casual restaurants.

Hong Kong Travel Blog - Eating Tips