The Travel Bug & Food Bytes: Yung Kee in Hong Kong

The usual pilgrimage to Yung Kee for tourists... I went there twice over 2 trips, and both times involved a wait of 30min (@3pm on a Sat) to 60min (@6.30pm on a weekday). Its unbelievable how busy the place is at all times. Since I wasn't in any particular rush, I volunteered to do the waiting on behalf of the rest of the party. Making a reservation is only possible if you do it with sufficient notice. Otherwise, join the herd of walk-ins squeezing in the tiny reception area on the second floor.

List of things to order is pretty standard. The only question is whether you want a portion, half or whole goose. *Shinta has decided that instead of ordering half a goose, next time just order 2 portions of the goose leg. That way you get the juiciest, most choice part of the goose. Strangely, the standard was a little inconsistent over my 2 visits there. The first time, the goose was hot with crispy skin and tender juicy meat sandwiching a generous layer of fat. The second time round however, the goose felt a bit overdone and not as yummy as before.

I'm a fan of the cured meats, although the rest of my companions each time weren't, and I had to struggle to finish it all. Next time I'll just order a portion of my favorite liver sausage and not the entire mixed plate. The traditional sausage is not bad as well, but not particularly special. These are of course available for take-away. Just slice it up and put it in the rice cooker, and let the fats drip into the rice as it cooks.... mmmm.....

When I accidentally forgot to order the famous century egg with pickled ginger the first time round, the waiter not-very-gently reminded me about it. These melt-in-the-mouth delicacies don't have the pungent strong taste that haunts many other century eggs. Believe it or not, these can also be bought as take-away in a box of 6, which I ended up doing so for friends back home in Singapore who were craving this particular Yung Kee version of it.

I wasn't particularly keen to order this when they brought it around on a tray offering it to each table (not sure why they did that...), but my friend likes it a lot so we took a plate. It was nice and gooey, but in general a bit too sweet for my taste.

There are a whole lot of other good dishes to order at Yung Kee (the first 5? 6? pages of their menu lists all the accolades they have won), but unfortunately my party was never large enough (or hungry enough) to indulge in ordering anything more than the "must-orders". Next time I guess!

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Yung Kee
32-40 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2522 1624
http://www.yungkee.com.hk/
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The Travel Bug & Food Bytes: Lan Fong Yuen in Hong Kong

Other than stopping by HKIA for flight transfers to various parts of China, I had the chance to spend a few days there for my own leisure a few times as well.

A few years ago, mango related desserts were really popular in Hong Kong and there were branches of Xu Liu Shan popping up everywhere.

Now, however, they seem to be mostly on Kowloon side and I couldn't find any around Central at all. Instead, when I needed a break in between shopping, I headed to Lan Fong Yuen near the mid levels for their famous milk tea.

Obviously you don't go to this kind of place for the ambiance. Much as I wanted to try the hot version, the stifling weather (unusual for autumn) forced me to go for the cold milk tea. Exhausted and dying of thirst, I probably enjoyed this a lot more than I normally would, because it was a little bit bitter.

Since each time I went it was just supposed to be a "pit stop", I had to restrain myself from ordering the heavier dishes. Went instead for the sweeter stuff such as the toasted bun with condensed milk. While it looked great, my sweet tooth would have prefered a more generous topping of the condensed milk.

The other well-known snack there is the french toast. This one was as unhealthy as it looks in the photo below, and as delicious as it was unhealthy.

I had a bit of trouble finding this place initially. Gage Street is not exactly a major road and hard to find amongst the confusing maze of back roads. The easiest way is probably to head to Lyndhurst Terrace where the famous Tai Cheung egg tart bakery is.

Entrance to Gage Street is along Lyndhurst Terrace just before the shop, and Yan Fong Yuen is on the left at the start.

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Lan Fong Yuen
G/F, 2 Gage Street, Central, Hong Kong
Tel: +825 2544 3895
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The Travel Bug: Jiangsu, Suzhou

Passed through Suzhou on a business trip and was there for a really short while only, so I count myself lucky that I managed to visit one of the many gardens Suzhou is famous for. This was the Humble Administrator's Garden.

I loved wandering around the paths surrounding by water and gorgeous green plants.

Even the flower gardens were beautifully arranged.

We could also enter the buildings and admire the old Chinese furniture.

Imagine if your study window looked out into this view.

The other area I managed to see was the Suzhou Industrial Park. There's an eating area very much like Clarke Quay by the lake where there are many both international and Chinese restaurants located. Taking a walk by the lake after dinner was a very pleasant experience with the cool weather.

There's a saying "上有天堂，下有苏杭". From the little that I managed to see of Suzhou, I think there's something in it! If you're in Shanghai for holiday, given Suzhou's proximity especially with the high speed train operating, there's no excuse for not visiting the place.

The Travel Bug: Jiangsu, Nanjing

I've seriously lost count of how many times I've flown to China this year for business... Not just Shanghai and Beijing, but the smaller cities too. That's usually a pain because either transfers via HKIA or long car rides are required. One of the perks however, is getting to scout out cities to see if they're worth going to for my own holidays, and staying in hotel rooms like this:-

Was going around Jiangsu and passed through its capital, Nanjing. Sadly didn't have time to check anything out, except for a 10min walk by Xuan Wu Hu.

Our dinner was held near the Qin Huai River, allowing us a good view of the activities.

At night the entire area is lit up, and you can see the Confucius Temple which is popular with tourists. River boats also ply the area for tourists willing to fork out the cash.

Nanjing looks quite interesting if you're into Chinese history and all. For me though, I think I like Suzhou better, which will be the subject of my next post.

2011 Formula One Singapore: (Part 2)

(continued...)

Food this year was catered slightly differently. Nobu had a suite open to everyone at Paddock club, while Jean Georges had their own restaurant at the lobby area, but not in the individual suites. It was super packed all the time and half the dishes we wanted had run out by the time we managed to get in.

The lobster is always good...

Not sure what these guys were doing, but I guess they are quite entertaining in their own way...

Decided to try catch the Big Bang guys at the Padang after the preliminary runs were over.


The walk was super far and the place was super crowded with tons of screaming fan girls waving placards and even an ipad!

At first we were stuck behind some barriers at the back, while the hoards of people who had probably waited for hours were in front. Luckily for us, the security guards decided to open up the front area and we managed to get a really good close up view of them.

Have to admit I'm not as familiar with Korean music as I am with J-pop, and even worse when it comes to Korean rap. Seungri I think is really good looking though!

Crossing my fingers that I'll get to go again next year!

2011 Formula One Singapore: (Part 1)

This year's tickets didn't come in a fancy box, but were no less exciting to receive...

Only had tickets for the Friday practice run this time, but the excitement was still in the air. We went early as usual to check out the events and take a ride on the flyer.

Cityscape of Singapore just before the sun starts setting looks pretty good although slightly hazy.

The Singapore flyer is probably one of the fewtourist attractions I would probably bring out of town friends to.

Highlight of the F1 is not so much the race but the Pit Walk. This time I made sure I took photos of the soon to be crowned champion Vettel's garage.

View from the drivers' seat?

Managed to snap a shot of Vettel as he waits to exit the Pit Lane.

One of the key reasons I enjoy going to the F1, is to try practice my panning shots. Managed to get a nice one of Webber...

Overhead shot of Hamilton...

to be continued...

What happened in Mar to Jun

It's been a super busy few months... Sorry I haven't had time to update this blog!

Trips made: 7
Countries visited: 5
Flights taken: 16
% time out of the country: 30%

MBS

There's no way someone like me would cough up S$100 (~US$70) to enter a casino in Singapore, but apparently there's a viewing gallery above the MBS gambling floor that is open to public. I was quite surprised that anyone could walk in to view and take photos, and innocently took a few shots before my friend pointed out that I was actually standing right next to the "no cameras" sign.

Anyway this was only half of the entire gambling area. It's actually a pretty disturbing scene, with the sound of the machines producing a pretty loud hum at a certain frequency, the cigarette smoke wafting up from the smoking floor at the bottom to all the non-smoking floors above.

We couldn't wait to get out.

My Daily Cuppa...

Even on the weekends I can't do without my daily cuppa when I get up...


Lately *Shinta and I have been trying out Papa Palheta. Sadly their original branch at Hooper Road is no longer encouraging sit-ins. It's much closer to town and a pretty nice chilling area.


Instead, they're directing everyone over to their new outlet at Kampong Bugis (near ICA) where they've set up a proper shop.


I like the concept of a place to chill and drink good coffee, but ultimately I think Oriole still wins in terms of quality and smoothness of the espresso drinks.

Fukubukuro / 福袋 / Prosperity Bags

*Shinta saw an advert in the Straits Times that Taka Singapore was selling Fukubukuros /福袋 / Propsperity Bags, so I thought I would write a little post on our experience with them in Japan...

Usually on the second day of the New Year (ie 2nd Jan), department stores or brand stores would sell these 福袋. Basically the concept is that you pay $x for a sealed bag without knowing the conents. Usually the individual prices of the contents would add up to much more than $x, but of course its a matter of luck whether you like the items or not. Even hours in advance, there are always snaking queues at all the entrances of the departmental stores like Daimaru and Takashimaya, with hordes of shoppers dying to get in. One very popular item is the departmental store 1000 yen (S$17) bags containing a variety of items ranging from clothes to household goods. *Shinta and I unsuspectingly joined the queue on the ground floor which looked only about 20 persons long, without realising the entire of the restaurant floor at the top was packed with snaking queues of serious hard core shoppers.

Each person is allowed a max of 5 bags, and "tickets" are handed out at the queue on the ground floor to make sure there's enough. When *Shinta and I told the guy at the entrance that we only required 1 ticket each, he repeated his question again and looked at us disbelievingly... People actually come prepared with trolleys and all to carry the bags back! It was a slight mistake for us non-residents to queue for these, because we ended up queueing a good hour for it, and even though they're probably really great value for money, the contents were mostly household related stuff like soba, cooking sauces, instant coffee, chocolate powder and.... canola oil?

What I liked a lot more were the specific clothing/brand 福袋. These go by brand and size and are usually pricier depending on the brand. Most start off at 10,000 yen (about S$170) but the Nike one I had for example, had a really good coat, sweat pants, jersey and t-shirt with a total price tag of about x5. Even brands like Tommy, Theory, CK had them, and they disappear really really fast! I was sorely tempted by an Anya Hindmarch 福袋 at around 30,000 yen (about S$51). I think the most expensive 福袋 I saw was a Lewin one at 100,000 yen (S$1700)!! The food department in the basement where the confectionary, biscuits etc are also had them, but these are different because the contents of these are all the same and shops would display them upfront.

*Shinta loved this kind of shopping...! No need to try the clothes on, no need to wonder whether the colour is right or the cut makes you look fat... Just pick up the bag and go! Here's a photo of our haul...

I managed to restrain myself and only bought a few. I think while there were some really good finds, I'm not sure what to do with those pieces that don't fit me at all. Probably have to give them away... *sigh*

Break a leg...

So yes... my injured leg. I've been wearing the immobiliser for 2.5 weeks now, few more days to go before I get it checked out by the ortho and hopefully can get rid of this really uncomfortable brace. Normally one has to wear it for 4 4-6 weeks, but I had spent a week after the fall innocently walking around Japan not knowing how hurt my leg was... Ignorance is bliss but foolilsh?

Update: Got to wear it for 2 more weeks.... grrr.....

Obviously this gets a lot of attention everywhere I go. After countless queries from colleagues, I have made the following observations:

Observation 1: People's minds can be so different, but sometimes they work all in the same way. The questions I get are always the same and in the same order:

Q1) What happened??!!

- "I fell while skiing"

Q2) So what's wrong with the leg??

- Depending how much I want to play it down or play it up, my answer varies from "It's a slight fracture" to "I broke my leg". Actually a fracture is the same as a break... but somehow calling it a break makes people think its a lot more serious??

Q3) Where were you?

- "Japan"

Q4) It must have hurt a lot?

- "At first it did but it's not too bad now."

Q5) Is there good skiing there? or What color slope were you on? (mostly from other skiiers)

- This one is a bit embarrassing so I try to give a little more detail... "I was on a red slope which wasn't too difficult but I lost concentration for a moment and fell, but the ski didn't snap off so my leg was trapped in an awkward position"

Observation 2: People will always ask at least 2 questions. Even if I attempt to answer Q1 and Q2 at one go to pre-empt them, they will then move on to Q3. *Shinta says its because they're trying to be polite and they can't just end the conversation right away. So they need to ask a following question to show they they are concerned.

Observation 3: It takes about 1 stop before people give their seat up to me on the bus/mrt. I wouldn't really mind that much except for that period of time, everyone on the bus stares at me without getting up. I mean if you don't want to give up your seat, at least pretend to be asleep or something like you normally do for pregnant women and old folks!

Anyway I can't wait to be rid of it! My injured leg is noticeably thinner than the other having lost muscle mass. Am just hoping the physio etc is not too tough and that I can fully recover quickly!

Spotted #8

Seriously...