Hong Kong 2006: Shopping

Today was the dedicated shopping day. We wanted to get the shopping done early so that we wouldn't have to worry about it last minute. As I have mentioned in my previous posts, Hong Kong is a shopaholic's dream. Every brand name retail store in the world can be found here in this city. Prices aren't as cheap as they used to be since the value of the US dollar has declined. Bargainhunters should take note that the sale season is around June and October.

First things first, we had to purchase an Octopus card to save on public transportation. The transit system in Hong Kong is called the MTR. The cost of your fare is calculated based on the distance of your journey. The MTR is very similar in design and structure to the London Underground. It's amazingly clean for a city that's so dense in population.


We immediately headed over to one of our favorite stores, MUJI, a Japanese retail company that specializes in household goods. I first discovered this store while I was studying abroad in London in 1999. At the time, MUJI's product line included stationery supplies and a small clothing line. Now, they sell food items, kitchenware, household goods, and furniture in addition to their expansive line of office supplies and clothing for men and women.

We spent about three hours in the store, making sure to inspect every square inch so that we would not miss a single item. We stay so long that the security guard was getting suspicious so I decided not to take any pictures. Finally, we checked out at around 4pm and headed over to the other stores.

At one point of the evening we ended up at some high-end supermarket and found this:

Japanese square watermelon. Amazing!

All this amazing gourmet food was making us hungry. We headed over to an organic vegetarian restaurant in Causeway Bay, Kung Tak Lam Shanghai Vegetarian Cuisine.


The dishes here are served dim sum style. Unfortunately, it was just the two of us at dinner today so we were not able to sample a lot of the food that had to offer. Here are the dishes that we ordered.


1. Shredded "Chicken" with Green Bean Sheet - This didn't taste very much like chicken but it was still very good. It's very much like a cold noodle salad.
2. Broiled Eggplant Rolls - These rolls were more deep-fried than broiled. It was a little greasy for a vegetarian dish, especially when accompanied by the chunky tomato-based sauce.
3. Vegetarian "Ham" Rolls wlth Bok Choy - This dish was unforgettable. I love mock meat and this dish did not disappoint. Root vegetables are wrapped with mock ham in a sheet of seaweed and smothered in a sweet sauce. Delicious!

After dinner, we headed over to Mong Kok where all the young hipsters hang out at night.

A familiar sight: Mr Softee, HK style

Apparently, Mong Kok is the place to shop for their rock-bottom prices. We ended up at a shopping arcade. I think it might've been called the Argyle Centre. There must've been at least 100 mini-stores or stalls inside the mall. It was great! We stayed there until the shops closed at 2am.


1. Mong Kok streets at 2am on a Tuesday morning.
2. A large crowd gathering around a storefront to catch a glimpse of the newly released DVD of Slither

New York is known as the city that never sleeps. I beg to differ. Hong Kong is just like New York but five times as intense. The streets are packed at all times. Retails stores are opened until 2am, some till 4am. A lot of the best local restaurants are open 24 hrs. It's awesome!

Still, I love New York.

Next up: Sightseeing

Hong Kong 2006: First 24 Hours

A lot of people who travel to Hong Kong come to shop. I came to do one thing only - eat massive amounts of really good food.

For breakfast, we headed around the corner from our hostel to Happy Garden Noodle & Congee Kitchen. This restaurant quickly became one of our favorite spots. It's fast, friendly, clean, and cheap!

Hong Kong has a population of nearly 7 million people. When you're in a city where the population is so dense, you learn to share the same space. In a busy restaurant like Happy Garden Noodle & Congee Kitchen, you are expected to share a table or booth with other strangers. For most travelers, this might seem uncomfortable at first. There are a few Chinese restaurants in NYC that seat their customers this way. I grew up eating in these restaurants so I am completely used to it.

Restaurant etiquette: When you are ready to order, don't expect a waiter to come over to you. You have to be aggressive and call for their attention.

Here are a few samples of some of the dishes we had during our entire stay in Hong Kong.


1. Egg Noodles in Broth with Shrimp Wontons - Less than $3 USD. Holy moly, what a bargain! They didn't skimp on the shrimp either. Most shrimp wontons have a minced shrimp filling inside but these wontons were stuffed with three whole pieces of shrimp.
2 & 3. Beef with Ginger and Scallions over Dry Noodles, Soup on the side - The ginger and scallions were amazingly fresh. This dish is a good alternative when you don't want soup. Oyster Sauce and Chinese Broccoli are on the side. I like to mix everything together so that the flavors are well incorporated before diving in.
4. Congee - This is a classic Chinese breakfast dish. It's white rice cooked over a very long period of time. Salt pork and ginger is used to add flavor to the dish while cooking. When served, it's garnished with shredded scallions and roasted peanuts.
5. Rice Rolls with Shrimp - A classic Dim Sum dish. Three large pieces of shrimp are encased in steamed rice rolls, drizzled with soy sauce. I used to eat this everyday for breakfast in NYC Chinatown. Memories, at the corner of my mind...
6. Braised Pork over Rice - We walked in one afternoon and noticed that more than half of their customers were eating this dish. It was a packed house! When we asked a waitress what the name of the dish was, she told us that it was a house specialty and that it was not listed on their menu. To make matters more complicated, this dish was also available only during lunch hours or until supplies run out. I'm a big fan of braised meat dishes. This one was no exception. The pork was tender, juicy, and super flavorful. If you don't mind picking out the bones while eating this dish, it's well worth the trouble.

After breakfast, we immediately headed over to a mall across the street to meet up with our friends Judy and Vivian for dim sum. I wasn't kidding when I said that this trip was all about food.



We had dim sum at Super Star Seafood Restaurant. Many people consider it to be one of Hong Kong's top Cantonese restaurants. I was hoping to get my mind blown but I though that their dim sum was just slightly above average. Because they didn't have an English menu or dim sum carts, we had to order by memory. Luckily for all of us, we were all pretty familiar with a typical dim sum menu. I had a feeling that we might have ordered the wrong dishes. They had a line of cooks on the side in the front section of the restaurant, throwing fresh ingredients together right before your eyes. Since we were seated in the back, we missed out on a lot of great dishes. Here is a sample of some of the dishes we ordered.


1. Steamed Rice Noodles smothered in Brown Sauce with Chili Dipping Sauce.
2. Steamed Shrimp Dumplings (Three Varieties) - This is probably the best presentation I've ever seen for shrimp dumplings.
3. Crispy Roast Pork - One of my all time favorites.
4. Fried Turnip Cake and Crispy Shrimp Rice Roll - The Turnip Cake was cold and didn't include Oyster Sauce that is usually served on the side. Maybe this is a Chinese-American thing? On the other hand, the Crispy Shrimp Rice Roll was friggin' outstanding! Minced shrimp is stuffed in a crispy dough and wrapped in a steamed rice sheet. It was awesome.
5. Classic Steamed Shrimp Dumplings.
6. Shumai
7. Hot Soft Tofu Dessert with Ginger and Simple Syrup - My all-time favorite dessert.
8. Mango Custard Dessert

But, wait! The eating does not stop here. We headed over to Hui Lau Shan, a local dessert chain for more dessert!


1. Take out counter.
2. Interiors
3. Kitchen.

This dessert chain specializes in mango desserts. My friend Rona kept on raving about it. I thought, "I like mango but how good can it be?" Holy moly. I wish they had this in the states. I'd choose this over Jamba Juice any day.


Glutinous Rice Balls in Mango Juice with Extra Mango

I was about ready to explode. We decided to head on over to the new IFC building to meet up with one of Vivian's friends, Jimmy, who worked on the 42nd floor. He told us that there was a spectacular 360 degree view from up there, even better than Victoria Peak.


The weather was amazingly clear this day. The air quality in Hong Kong is usually bad and smoggy but on this day it was absolutely perfect. What luck!


To the left is the famous Bank of China building. At night, the building lights up with animated geometric patterns.

One of the things that stood out to me about Hong Kong was all the bamboo scaffolding on construction sites.


The scaffolding is entirely made up of bamboo sticks and plastic ties. They cover entire buildings of this stuff. It blows my mind!



In the evening, we met up with one of Rona's best friends, Jone. We drove up to Victoria Peak to see the view while he ate a McDonald's dinner. Ha! Ha! The view from the decks were crowded with tourists, so Jone took us through a hidden hiking trail to experience the view in peace.



For dinner, we went to another friend's apartment for a hot pot dinner. They had purchased all the ingredients from a local supermarket. I had totally forgotten to take pictures of our meal because I was completely overwhelmed by the freshness of the ingredients. We had whole shrimp, fish balls, crab roe balls, sliced beef and a ton of veggies (which everyone forgot about). The crab roe balls were so awesome. They were so rich in flavor. I could cry just thinking about it. I'll never find this in the states.

To cap off the evening, Jone took us to a tiny local dessert shop. I was about ready to burst from all of the day's eating. Still, I could not help myself. I had to try everything.


1. Jung and Rona in front of the dessert shop.
2. Mango with Tapioca pearls (left) and Hot Papaya Soup (right) - The Papaya Soup was nothing like I've ever tasted before. It didn't taste like papaya at all but more like a winter melon. I'm not a big fan of papaya but I really loved this soup.

It was 11am when we got back to our hostel. I couldn't believe that we experienced all of this on our first day. If only I could live like this everyday. I'd do it in a second, if I had the money.

Next up: Shopping in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong 2006: The Arrival

I know it's been a while since I've posted a blog. As you can see, I've been a little distracted by Hong Kong.

I've been broke and jobless for a very long time. So how did I end up spending ten days in Asia with less than $300 in my bank account? Thanks to a very generous friend and understanding mom, I was able to make this trip happen.

Of course, none of this would've happened if we hadn't found airfare for dirt cheap. I scored round trip tickets to Hong Kong for only $350 by booking tickets through www.courier.org. When you sign up as a courier, there are a few limitations. Often you will have to fly alone. Rarely do they ever have two couriers on a given flight. Travel dates are on specific dates so you will have to be flexible. When courier companies are short of couriers for particular runs, the price usually starts dropping the closer it gets to the day or hour of takeoff. This is how I was able to get such a low price on tickets. I actually purchased my tickets two weeks before my travel date. When serving as a courier, you are limited to only one carry-on bag and one check-in bag instead of two. Sometimes you are only allowed one carry-on. The air travel courier is responsible for carrying shipping documents on international flights for a courier company. In exchange, you get a discounted, and sometimes free, air ticket.

I had a small budget of $500 for my entire trip. This allowed me only $50 per day. This budget includes lodging, food, and transportation expenses. The biggest priority for me on this trip was to experience Hong Kong's culinary delights. I wanted most of my budget to go towards food expenses, so we opted to stay at a hostel to save money. We booked a private room that included two twin beds and a private bathroom for less than $11 a night per person at the Traveler's Friendship Hostel in Kowloon, also known as "USA Hostel" and "New Garden Hostel". We figured that they do this to purposely try to confuse traveler's so that they all go to the same place.

I went to meet my traveling buddy Rona as soon as my plane landed. We didn't get to our hostel until midnight. Our hostel is located in Tsim Sha Tsui, which is at the central part of Hong Kong. It's like the equivalent of staying on Canal Street in NYC. And like Canal Street at midnight, it can get kind of shady. Our building, Mirador Mansions, was the shabbiest looking one on the block.

Immediately, I noticed a lot of shiesty looking men hanging around outside our building. I could feel their hungry eyes burning through the back of my head as we entered our building. Fortunately, our building was staffed with several security guards. Everyone is required to sign in with a passport or ID number after 10pm. We realized later that the men outside were shopping for prostitutes, most of whom are from India and mainland China. Sometimes these prostitutes would bring these men into our building to "conduct their business". It's kind of scary at first because we ride the same tiny 4 x 4 square foot elevator but you get used to it after a few days. What can I say? You get what you pay for.


1. The inside courtyard of our building, Mirador Mansion, most of which is residential. This is old-school apartment-style living.
2. A glimpse of our private bathroom. It includes a western-style toilet, a tiny sink with a shower hose attached to the faucet. The entire bathroom itself is a shower. There is a big drain on the floor.
3. Rona's bed was an actual full sized bed. It took up about 50% of the room. Our room was 6 x 6 square feet in size with no windows. The room included an air-conditioning unit and a ceiling fan to compensate for the lack of ventilation in the room. We had to store all of our things under our beds because we had very little walking room.
4. My bed, a twin. Our room included a small TV that had little reception and a telephone (includes free local calls). Pretty good for $11 a night!

More to come soon.