So woke up yesterday morning at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep. Stoopid body wanting to wake up at normal time :/ Also had a bit of trouble with the bed and pillows. The bed is very hard - probably the hardest bed we've had since Hiroshima in 2009. And three of the pillows are quite thick - only had one that was thin.
Got up at around 6am to blog and download photos and gps. That was mostly all done by about 7am. Then had to get the sweetie to wake up.
Murky view from our room at the hotel in the morning
Eventually went down for breakfast which was pretty good.
Breakfast bar at the hotel
Came back up to finish getting ready and got in contact with @Chrispycon. Finally got out the door at 10am - six hours after I woke up. Yeup.
So met up with Chris and we went for a wander down to Causeway Bay so the boys could get some coffee at a funky little cafe (I had hot chocolate). Chatted for a while and caught up which was nice.
Chris at Café Corridor
Signs in Café Corridor
Photo by Stu
Then headed out into the rain again (it rained. All. Day.) and wandered around Causeway Bay looking at stuff and going into a shopping centre and more wandering.
Tang Lung St looking east
Pinwheels at Hysan Place
Stu with a bear at Line Friends in Hysan Place
Atrium at Hysan Place
Pool in an atrium at Hysan Place
Hennessy Road intersection
Umbrellas in a queue on Hennessy Road
Ladies bathroom in Hysan Place
Lego Woody and Minifig at Lego store
Innis Free store
Yee Wo Street
Causeway Bay Tram Terminus
Came back to the hotel around midday to get organised and have a snack for lunch.
Metropark Hotel, Causeway Bay
Murky view from our room at the hotel
Snacks to keep us going before the Foodie Tour
Then headed out again to go up to Tai Po Market (it took four trains to get there) for our third Foodie Tour in Hong Kong. Not just food, but a bit of history about the place.
Our first stop was Chan Hon Kee for some rice rolls - we tried some filled with pork liver and also some with dried scallops. I think I preferred the scallops.
Making the rice paper
Rice paper rolls - with pork liver
Rice paper rolls - with scallops
Our second stop was a bbq meat shop. It would have been Yat Lok, but they were closed for a few weeks, so we went to one a few doors down. There we had roast goose with rice spaghetti noodles. I think the goose was probably my favourite dish of the day (altho having to pull out all the bones was a bit painful).
Roasted goose with rice noodles
In between we went up to the railway museum and also Man Mo Temple.
Narrow guage steam locomotive
Inside a carriage at the railway museum
Super skinny highrise building in Tai Po
Markets in Tai Po
Man Mo Temple
Photo by Stu
Man Mo Temple
Photo by Stu
Man Mo Temple
Our third stop was Macau Phoenix City Souvenirs which is a nut/sweet shop where they make their own nut confectionary. We got some sample bags of candied pumpkin seeds, candied peanuts, and a sweet chewy ginger thing. I was holding cameras and umbrellas so it was all a bit complicated, so just tried a bit then put the rest in my bag to have later.
Sample of nuts we got
Nuts and candies at the candy store
Nuts and candies at the candy store
Also walked down to the river to have a look at the "peaceful" side of Tai Po and across into the newer government developments on the other side.
View east from Kwong Fuk Bridge
View west from Kwong Fuk Bridge
Our fourth stop was Snake King Hoi for snake soup. I've never had snake before. And you know how people say about things "it tastes like chicken" - will this time it was actually true. It was surprisingly like chicken in both texture and flavour.
Our guides - Elise and Silvana
Snake soup
Our fifth stop was Miss 3, which was housed in a big building that has both wet markets as well as stores that sell cooked food. There we had deep fried squid balls which were pretty good, some steamed mullet with black beans which was very tasty - maybe my second favourite dish of the day, and some steamed glutinous rice with crab - crab is always super fiddly but this dish was more about the rice.
Tai Po Hui Market and Cooked Food Centre
Steamed glutinous rice with fresh crab from Miss 3
Steamed mullet with black bean sauce from Miss 3
Deep fried squid balls from Miss 3
Our final stop was sweet beans for dessert soup. They gave us three to try - almond, walnut and black sesame. The almond I probably liked best, but I struggled to get through it.
Almond Soup and Black Bean Soups
For some reason this tour felt really *long*. It was the same time as the other tours (four hours), but maybe because of my lack of sleep, maybe because of the rain (it rained. all. day.), maybe because it was dark for the last half of the tour, I just felt super tired by the end of it. Too tired to feel up to meeting up with Chris for drinks - we'll have to try for another night.
Made the long trek back to the hotel and collapsed in a heap.
View from our room at the hotel by night
View from our room at the hotel by night
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