ring ding dai pai dong

Old school, man.

What do you do when you have nothing to do on a Thursday night, no class on Friday, and its already past ten p.m. and your school be in the boonies?

Like the mannish beings that we are, the four Korean girls went and drank tons of beer and ate lots of greasy food. We were thinking about it, and we are such boys. We only meet up to do three things (listed in order of importance):

1. Eat.

2. Drink.

3. Exercise. (This is actually more like “exercise,” and it’s usually replaced or followed immediately by eating dim sum.)

On Thursday I had dinner at a friend’s home in Sha Tin who was gracious enough to invite me. I love home-cooked food!!! It was delicious, fresh, and I loved the feeling of sitting around the tube while the smell of food slowly started to waft in from the kitchen. it’s been a while since I’ve sat at a table with three generations of people all enjoying food. Lovely. I stuffed myself silly with soup, barbequed pork, rice, curry, and fresh fruit. It was glorious yummy in my tummy.

The view of Sha Tin. Very organized and straight-square city-planning, unlike the rest of Hong Kong.

I was planning to pass out after my intense food fest, but then I got a call from my favorite 언니s, the SATC girls :) and they gave me two options.

1. Buy soju and beer and watch a movie.

2. Buy soju and go to Fo Tan and drink beer there.

I picked number 2, and there we were, sitting in our sweats at the dai pai dong in Fo Tan, and somehow magically, I grew a third stomach. I thought I had three stomachs already (meals & dessert), but apparently there is late-night greaseball food stomach somewhere in here also.

Free Congee! All the CUHK kids go to Fo Tan and to the same dai pai dong for their late night drinking and snacking. They give free congee or fried rice. We got the chicken congee because it has unlimited refills. :)

This fried tofu tofu. My third time at Fo Tan, and I always have to get this tofu. I would go all the way to Fo Tan just for this tofu. I would fly to freaking Hong Kong just for this tofu. Oh, tofu, I love you. I love your crispy exterior. I love the red pepper flakes on top of you. I love your soft and silky interior. I love your sweet and sour dipping sauce. How do you do it, tofu?

People might think this is kind of weird, but these are the bomb. This is beer food right here. 완벽한 안주 ^^ I thought there was no better  안주 that could come off a chicken (besides the deep-fried wings&legs of course) except 닭똥집, but I was wrong. This is ten times better. It’s like deep-fried chicken cartilage. You know that chewy stuff on the ends of your chicken bones that most people throw away? Well, I love that ish. 닭오돌뼈~~~~~ Crispy and salty. Wash it all down with some ice-cold beer on a steamy, humid night.

I remember my first week in Hong Kong, I had the clams in black bean sauce, and I had been craving them for the longest time. The last time I had them, we were pouring the sauce over our fried rice YUM YUM. What is it about late-night eating that makes everything taste fifty times better?

Gotta include that Tsingtao. Six 640 ml bottles. HAHA. I’m going to get a beer belly. Shizzz. No idea how I’m going to wear that swimsuit in the Philippines and Thailand.

집으로 다시 갈때 이런것들 생각나서 홍콩 너무 그리울것 같아….. 먹는거뿐만 아니라 언니들하고 이렇게 수다떨고 먹고 노는거 너무 그리울꺼야.

물러서서 생각하면 언니들 만난게 넘넘 신기해.. 어떡해 코드가 이렇게 잘 맞는거지??? 좋아하는것들이 다 비슷하고 (밥.술.운동. ㅋ) 말이 너무 잘 통해.. 한사람만 빠지면 뭔가 이상하고 균형을 잃은것 같고..

언니들 만나서 너무 고마워. ^^

blueberry pound cake

I completely and utterly forgot I had taken these photos.

Looking back, my picture-taking skills were absolutely noobish and it makes me sad that I wasn’t able to capture this cake better.

Around Christmastime, my mom took up baking cakes and wrapping them in cellophane and pretty ribbons for people at our church, family, friends, pretty much everyone. And being health-conscious, she always managed to bake the most delicious cakes that happened to be fairly low in sugar and white flour.

I really miss her baking… I miss waking up in the morning on the weekends to freshly baked baguettes and cold butter.

I love Hong Kong, but pictures like these really give me food and home nostalgia.

Sorry I don’t have a recipe. Mommy’s own secret. :)

She poured the leftover batter into little cupcake papers to test the cakes and make sure they were good. So silly. Of course they’re good. ^^

It really baffles me at times how many different things remind me of home. I think I’m incredibly blessed to have grown up in an Asian-American family in a place like Los Angeles where everything is so diverse. My tastebuds usually dictate to me the strongest sense of home, belonging, comfort, and nostalgia as I’m sure is the same for many people. But so many things make me feel at home.

Korean food and the smell of sizzling meat always, always automatically put me at ease and make me feel that I’m somewhere familiar and near home. But eating crisp baguettes, clam chowder, and fried eggs reminds me of family breakfast times at home. And nothing makes me miss LA more than carne asada fries, sopes, and a California burrito with loads of spicy carrots and hot sauce. Throw in some Thai Green Curry and In’N'Out burgers with some fries animal style and a Neapolitan shake and it’s automatically a throwback to high school good old times.

Hong Kong is a place with a lot of things to offer in terms of food, it’s true, but they’re right when they say there’s no place like home. Right now, I’m missing a little bit of home, SoCal sunshine, and my dirty Los Angeles.

the perfect valentine

My sister just left Hong Kong yesterday and I miss her already T-T
I’m glad I had someone to suffer in the cold with for the week. Haha.
This week was insane in terms of weather (Don’t make fun of me. I’m from LA.) It went down to 48 degrees F and I wanted to DIIIEEEEE I felt bad for my sister because the one week she was here, the weather was absolutely terrible! Apparently, this is the coldest its been in a decade. What’s happening to Mother Earth? She’s just falling apart!

m&m cookies

I’m glad I still got chocolate for Valentine’s Day! :) Somebody loves me. <3

These cookies are very special. They made their way across the Pacific Ocean just for me~

김밥

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME I HAD KOREAN KIM-BAB??? I love it. So delicious. Being in Hong Kong really makes me miss sticky short-grain rice. I’m not a big fan of the long grain jasmine rice here….

raindrops

marion's crepes

strangest meal of all time

Nothing was open except for Cafe de Coral. What on earth was this? Sizzling chicken plate? Weird. My sister was still jetlagged and I dragged her all around HK island all day, so instead of watching the parade, we came back and KTFO.

ho ho congee&noodle

I love me some chicken feet and black bean sauce on rice. Ho Ho Congee&Noodle at Tai Po Market is pretty cheap and good! I liked the huge lo mai ggai. Can’t get enough of it.

We spent the day at Che Kung Temple and Lam Tsuen Wishing Tree. Oh dear. It was freezing. I think it’s because we were in teh New Territories or something instead of HK Island, but it was significantly colder. I bundled up the most I could, and I still thought I was going to freeze to death.

There were so many people at Lam Tsuen. Everyone was writing their wishes on papers tied to tangerines and throwing them in the wishing tree. Superstition has it that if the citrus catches in the branches, your wish for the new year will come true! We were too cold to put in the effort of throwing the tangerines, but I made a wish anyway. ;)

saffron bakery

When I first passed by Saffron Bakery at Stanley Market, I thought “Pffft.. EuroAsian bakery tourist trap.” Oh man, I am so glad Lynn made me go in for coffee. We had cheesecake (okay the cheesecake was just okay) but the coffee!

recharge

Their house coffee was the best I’ve had since arriving on the island. Coffee here definitely needs some work. HK people know how to make their tea but the coffee I’ve had has all been lacking. But the house coffee really was good at Saffron Bakery. I got a chai tea latte which was nice, also.

You can’t tell from the photos, but the weather at Stanley was miserable.

pork knuckle

My friend Sandy took us to a restaurant in Jordan that served very local food. I got the pork knuckle over noodles. I really like spiced pork knuckle in Korean cuisine; it’s full of collagen and gelatin and very good for your skin and nails. It’s prepared very differently in Hong Kong, but I love trying things like this because I know it’s not something you can find back home.

beef mein

The day we went up to the Peak, the weather was so misty and cloudy, we didn’t do anything except have some delicious Thai food and then ride the bus back down. The curry was very good, and the Tom Yum Goong was spicy and perfect for a rainy day. We couldn’t see any of the beautiful Hong Kong view though. Not a SINGLE LIGHT. What a waste :(

We also spent a day in Macau, eating egg tarts and Portuguese fusion food. This time, we also got egg tarts from Lord Stow’s Bakery. Very nice. They were sweeter and a tad less eggier than the ones from Margaret’s Cafe e Nata.

For lunch, we went to Fat Siu Lau which has been open since 1903 in Macau. The ambience of the restaurant was excellent compared to the prices. And we got to try some foods that are traditional and famous to Macanese cuisine…

pigeon

Pigeon! Oh my. Rats of sky. Yup. I have tried pigeon. The recipe for this dish has been around for about 100 years at Fat Siu Lau. It wasn’t too bad once you got over the fact that you were eating pigeon; the meat was very similar to duck.

galinha africana

I was bummed I didn’t get to try African Chicken the last time I was in Macau because it’s the most well-known dish to Macanese cuisine, so I had to have it this time. It was like a chicken cutlet in garlic and coconut sauce. Pretty good with the Portuguese fried rice.

My sister fell in love with Hong Kong street food while she was here. Especially the fish siu mai.

Lynn's favorite

During my sister’s last day, the weather finally got a bit better so we took advantage of it and went to see the Tian Tan Buddha and Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island. Took the crystal cabin all the way there which was very cool. Made my knees weak a little bit.

po lin monastery

fairy floss!

We bought the biggest ass cotton candy I have ever seen. It was as big as my torso. No, seriously, look at this thing. It’s ginormous! Love…. Had dinner at Fo Tan as our last meal before I dropped her off at Hong Kong International. Bought some shortcakes at Kee Wah Bakery and sent them along with my love back home to LA.

Miss my sister forreal <3 <3 <3 Wish she could stay here with me forever.

AHHHHH!!!

Chinese New Year break is over, and now, I have to go back to school. UGH. I have so much homework to finish and a presentation for China Business tomorrow. Depressing.

mong kok flower market

It’s the year of the Tiger!

Chinese New Year is the biggest holiday of the year in China, and everyone gets about a week off from work or school (3 days at least), and you can slowly see the city change with chocolates filling up the shelves of parknshop’s and red and gold banners lining all the streets. One big thing in Hong Kong are the flower markets. There are several all over the city: Mong Kok, Causeway Bay, Shatin… Hawkers set up stalls abounding with Tiger souvenirs, snacks, and flowers signifying good luck in love, money, etc. in the New Year.

People swarm the place as Chinese New Year is getting closer, and it’s hard to even breathe once you’re walking inside!

Today was also the hottest day I’ve experience since arriving in Hong Kong. All sorts of terrible weather today. Weather is so confusing here, I don’t know how to dress! It was about 82 degrees (24 celsius), humid, sticky, some PM showers, but windy as all hell so my skirt and hair were flying all over the place. Then it was cloudy, and once the clouds moved, the hot hot sun was beating down on me, so I started sweating like a pig.

Note to self: bring a cardigan and umbrella everywhere. And wear layers that you can remove. Geez.

local food

Originally, we were supposed to try snake which I was kind of excited about, but no one else really wanted it except for me. Boo. A local friend took us out to dinner in Mong Kok before heading over to the flower market, and we had food that was more palatable to everyone else instead. Whenever you go out with someone who knows what they’re doing, you’re always guaranteed good food. ALWAYS.

wonder what's inside that foil?

bread bowl!

This totally reminds me of gumbo and clam chowder inside those big sourdough bread bowls. Maybe that’s where they got the idea? I don’t know if this is a local HK food or something, but it was really good. It was a big soft bun filled with chicken, beef, or pork curry. They gave us gloves to rip apart the bowl and extra curry to dip it in, too.

How considerate. :)

Now if only they could be so considerate with clam chowder and sourdough back home.

chicken

oyster pancake

We were trying to find oyster pancakes like the ones they sell on Temple Street and in Fo Tan, but what we ordered turned out to be more of an oyster omelette. At least the oysters were fresh?

Not the quite deep fried goodness we were looking for.

our feast

Xiao long bao of course. And some Szechuan noodles that weren’t spicy at all. I think being Korean has pretty much ruined whatever “spicy” food Hong Kong has to offer.

Everytime I order something that’s “spicy” or “Szechuan” or that has like three chili pepper icons next to it, I’m always like “Yeah…. So….. Like… Did I order the wrong thing? Did you guys forget some, I don’t know, chili sauce in here? Like maybe you thought the soy sauce was…… No? Umm… Okay….”

The coffee milk tea was really good though. My first time having milk tea with coffee in it. Delish! Tastes a lot more intense and dark. Now, if I could find a place that served that with boba in it, I would be in caffeinated bubble tea heaven.

mong kok flower market

The flower market was really interesting. These daffodils smelled AMAZING. We were being such creepers, smelling them at every stall that had them and never buying a pot. Haha.

tangerine trees

I can’t imagine how the hell you would carry one of these home. But there are certainly people who try.

buying daffodils

may all your wishes come true in the year of the tiger!

That doesn’t say “gong hei fat choy” but GONG HEI FAT CHOY anyways.

sushi one in mongkok

I.
Love.
Sushi.

I could eat sushi everyday for a year probably and not get sick of it. It’s one of my favorite foods, and I never ever get sick of it. Raw fish, vinegar rice, soy sauce say WHAT I am so there. I freaking miss Katsuya and Koi sushi, too, from back home. It’s been a while since I’ve had either.
But who CARES because I went to Sushi One in Mongkok last night! It’s definitely no Koi, but the prices made up for it. At about 10 p.m., Happy Hour starts and all the sushi is 50% off which was SWEET. I ordered about $87 worth of sushi (about $11-12USD) and this is what I got:

lychee cocktail

hamachi, saba, and more ^^

sake aka salmon

dragon roll

king kong roll

salmon gunkan maki

That’s right, kiddies. All that sushi cost me the price of one good roll in the states.

As can be expected, I probably will be having Sushi One on the regular from now on.