Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Hong Kong Harbour Front and Korean BBQ


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A stunning part of the Museum of Art.


We spent a leisurely day in HK the day after we arrived from Guilin. There’s no surprise here, but we had dim sum once again.

I can’t remember what the restaurant was called. It was in a building where each floor had a different restaurant. That doesn’t help much but that’s fine.

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We tried the steamed chicken feet with black bean sauce, youtiao cheung fan (aka zhaliang), and the beef cheung fan. There wasn’t anything special about these three dishes, they’re just your standard dim sum fare.

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Aunty recommended the steamed sticky rice. She said it was just like the stuff in lo mai gai. Mom thought the dish was really fragrant and seasoned very well. I had some, but as you probably know by now, I don’t typically like rice unless it’s in the form of congee or rice noodles.

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I thought these were red bean-filled sesame balls, but, to the delight of everyone at the table (except me), they were actually filled with a sweet taro paste. I shared a quarter of one. To be honest, it wasn’t bad at all. It was quite a nice change.


We took a nice stroll along the Avenue of Stars after lunch. The weather was a tad muggy, but since we were walking along the harbour front there was a nice breeze. I could’ve spent the day along the harbour front.

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A stop at a tourist magnet was included. It was in the middle of a tourist area so it makes perfect sense.

We walked a few blocks and ended up on the top of a parking garage. It was a perfect view for taking night shots of the HK skyline. Aunty said that the spot would be a great spot to watch the nightly light show. It was getting close to dinnertime, so she suggested that we go grab some dinner before coming back. But I wanted to be there for the sunset as well. In the end, we rested our tired feet and waited for the sun to set.

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Although my legs were screaming for some rest, I couldn’t help but watch a few young hawks through my camera lens.


Every night at 8pm, A Symphony of Lights begins with narration followed by music, and lights and lasers projected by various buildings along the harbour front. This was so much better than a light show we saw in Guilin – and we didn’t even have to pay for admission!

As sad as it was, I didn’t have a tripod with me. But I improvised and used the railing to stabilize my camera.


Once the light and laser show was over, we turned our attention to filling our stomachs.

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Aunty guided us to the Nan Yang Won Korean BBQ restaurant. It was an AYCE (all you can eat) Korean BBQ place. I was quite excited.

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There were a variety of things to choose from; bulgogi (marinated meat), samgyupsal (pork belly), seafood, kimchi, pickled veggies, and even chap chae, dukkboki, clams, and fried rice. I'd be satisfied with all of that alone, but they had more to offer.

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Sushi!

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Their dessert selection wasn’t bad either; Grass jelly (the black stuff to the bottom right of the photo), jello, slices of oranges, cherry tomatoes, and, a few flavours of ice cream (not pictured).

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My first plate consisted of a few appetizers. Chap chae, a sad looking dukkboki, a freshly fried spring roll and chicken wing, slices of salmon sashimi and slices of some kind of pork. Great description, eh?

The only thing that stood out to me was the well-seasoned chicken wing. I thought I’d give one a try when I saw them come from the kitchen. Am I ever glad I did. The chicken wings had a crisp coating covering juicy meat.

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It tasted even better with a bite of kimchi. Wow, I love Korean food! I loved having a plate of pickled veggies like bean sprouts, cucumbers and daikon.

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I only took a few photos at the beginning of the meal before I put away my camera and rolled up my sleeves. The first plate consisted of beef bulgogi, white fish, and spare ribs.

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Marinated squid and raw shrimps was the second plate. I lost track of what we ate after these two plates.

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The best item that had to be barbequed award goes to… the beef bulgogi. It caramelized on the grill and the fat basted the meat as it cooked. The bulgogi was slightly sweet and the meat was so tender. Deeeeeelish!

I’m not really sure how Korean AYCE BBQ restaurants work, but do they usually have lettuce, herbs, peppers, gochujang (red pepper paste), garlic, and rice? It would’ve been more enjoyable if we were able to wrap what we cooked.

With our eyes glazed over, we slowly made our way out of the restaurant and hopped on a bus. Definitely a sign of a food coma. Everyone teased me because my cheeks were a bit rosy, but when I looked at everyone else, they all had rosy cheeks too! The food was so good that our cheeks were pink with satisfaction.

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We past by the bright Bank of China Tower on our way back to Aunty’s place.
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More links from the Tea in Asia 2011 trip:

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