Sunday, January 29, 2012

The Travel Bug: Views from Tokyo Tower

As earlier mentioned, we managed to make it up Tokyo Tower just in time to catch the sunset...


Heard someone saying that this road was also know as "Tokyo Tower #2" because of the way it runs.


Looks even more like the tower at night when the orange lamposts are lit and the headlights from traffic stream along it.


On clear days with good weather, you can actually see all the way to Mount Fuji.


We were really lucky, we caught the changing colors of Fuji-san as the sun went down.


Tokyo at night is really beautiful.


Posted this earlier (when I wasn't sure if I would get round to doing this post), but here's the shot of Odaiba and the Rainbow Bridge again. It was also taken from Tokyo Tower.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

The Travel Bug: Tokyo Tower

For some unknown reason, it never crossed the minds of *Shinta and I to go to Tokyo Tower during our many visits to Tokyo. This time round however, we were with a friend who had never been to Tokyo before, so we decided to pay a visit there.


We eventually ended up in the vicinty twice, and managed to take many different shots from different angles. The first time was still in 2011, we rushed over and managed to get there just before sunset. According to *Shinta, it's international standard that telecommunication towers must be painted alternating red and white.


We decided to take the elevator all the way to the top (another post on that later...) and by the time we came back down, it was night.


Tokyo Tower at night looks totally different but just as gorgeous.


The second time we were there, was to go to Zojoji Temple for the New Year Countdown. The place was super packed... At the stroke of midnight, everyone releases balloons with their wishes tied to it into the air.


This time, Tokyo Tower was lit differently from the other night. Notice how the date has changed to 2012!


One last shot of the Tower from Roppongi...

Saturday, January 21, 2012

The Travel Bug: 東京にもあったんだ (Tokyo has it too..)

I absolutely love going to Tokyo. Now I don't bother to lug around my zoom lens anymore, I just fix by 28mm onto my 60D and leave it there. For some reason, the black and white mood seems to fit quite well...

I love the busy streets of Tokyo.


The energy of the place is almost visible as people dance around each other.

This little boy caught my attention as he ignored the brightly lit stands and stared at the faded drawings on the ground.

Not a candidate for black and white, but I love night shots of the city with the bright white lights from offices and the streaming orange lights from traffic. Visible in this shot is also the beautiful bay with the rainbow bridge spreading across it.

Friday, December 2, 2011

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!

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Yung Kee
32-40 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2522 1624

http://www.yungkee.com.hk/
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday, November 26, 2011

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.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Lan Fong Yuen
G/F, 2 Gage Street, Central, Hong Kong
Tel: +825 2544 3895

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

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.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

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.
Blog Widget by LinkWithin